Page images
PDF
EPUB

bility of having Cuban government funds at your disposal, whether or not you might have left Cuba a rich man.

Mr. LANZA. Sir, dignity, human dignity and personal dignity, is worth a lot more than money. Had I done such a thing, I would have been considered and I would consider myself a deserter and a true opportunist. The reasons for my defection were a matter of principle and not of personal gain. Mine were reasons of a man who loves liberty. Mr. SCHULTZ. Thank you. I wanted to establish just that fact. Would you tell us, Mr. Suarez, what the Communist Party of Cuba was called prior to the revolution?

Mr. LANZA. The Popular Socialist Party.

Mr. SCHULTZ. How strong was the Popular Socialist Party during the last regime, of Batista?

Mr. LANZA. 16,000 members.

Mr. SCHULTZ. Were communists publicly known to hold office, positions in the government, during the Batista regime?

Mr. LANZA. No, the members of this party did not occupy positions of importance or of minor importance in the government of Batista. Mr. SCHULTZ, Then the communist influence, whatever it was, did not materially affect the revolution as it related to the Batista government?

Mr. LANZA. I am sorry. Would you repeat the question?

(The pending question was read by the reporter at request of counsel.)

Mr. LANZA (to counsel). I have to repeat the question for him again. Mr. LANZA. Absolutely not, no.

Mr. SCHULTZ. Mr. Suarez, did you personally believe that it is possible to work with the communists without losing control of the revolution?

Mr. LANZA. NO. The communists control everything. I am speaking of communists that belonged to the party.

Mr. ZION. Communists that belong to the what, sir?

Mr. LANZA. I am referring to party-line communists, because there are other communists that only say that they are communists.

Mr. SCHULTZ. Would you describe for us the economic condition in Cuba prior to the revolution?

Mr. LANZA. I would say that prior to the revolution the economy of Cuba was quite good; I would say that it was good. There was some inequality: there were some things that were not absolutely right, especially in the rural areas, but even then there was a relative prosperity. We had a record sugar crop, and I would say it was generally good and it was good enough to satisfy the basic needs of the people. So we could say that it was, in general terms, good.

Mr. SCHULTZ. What has happened since Castro took over-and I am referring to the economy-what has happened to the economy?

Mr. LANZA. Well, the economy certainly has been in very bad shape; the economy is really a disaster, and quite a bit of those disasters occurred because of the very many mistakes that were made in the economic planning, especially in the field of agriculture.

Since 1959, that is to say, when the revolution took over, there were a series of errors, mistakes-mistakes that in a normal course of events would be corrected, but those mistakes were made over and

over again. Also, we could say that by 1965, when the Prime Minister himself took over all matters related to agriculture, the situation went from bad to worse. If I were going to choose one word to describe the economy of Cuba, I would have to say that it is a disaster.

Mr. SCHULTZ. Mr. Suarez, would you comment on the intellectual freedoms and other freedoms, such as right to criticize the government, freedom of speech, as experienced by the ordinary Cuban citizen?

Mr. LANZA. In Cuba there is no form of liberty. Individual liberty is completely restricted. There are no individual liberties in Cuba. There is no intellectual liberty or freedom in Cuba at all. Now, as you know, a person is not allowed to travel freely outside the country. He is not allowed to make any criticism or political comments. As a matter of fact, there is a saying that says that inside the revolution, everything; outside the revolution, nothing.

Also, writers and artists are greatly restricted. They are not allowed to exhibit their works, and their works have to fit within a pattern, within a framework that the government permits.

As to freedom of the press, there is none; there is only one newspaper, and that one is called Granma, and this newspaper is personally supervised by the President of the Republic, who determines what is to be printed in it.

Mr. SCHULTZ. Mr. Suarez, do you see any correlation between the lack of freedoms and the deteriorating economy?

Mr. LANZA. Well, I do not see it that way. I believe that in this particular case, one thing has nothing to do with the other. I believe that the failures in the economy are due to poor planning and to the improvised manner in which the economy is handled.

I would like to point out, though, that a contributing factor has been the elimination of the incentives. It was thought that everybody would be working in favor of the revolution, and the revolution itself would be the only incentive. So it is a lack of incentives that has been a negative factor.

There is indeed a lack of intellectual freedom and intellectual liberties which has produced, has resulted in some kind of a conformism. Everybody wants to conform to the established pattern.

Now, another thing that has happened is that there is an absolute lack of a knowledge in Cuba as to what goes on in the rest of the world. I would say that, informationwise, Cuba is 50 years behind its time. Some events of great world importance have been completely ignored, including the landing of a cosmonaut on the moon.

Mr. LANZA. Let me check. He may mean "astronaut," but I did think he said "cosmonaut."

Correction, sir; he meant to say "astronaut" rather than "cosmonaut."

But anyway, the landing on the moon, the events of the landing on the moon, which was an event of great importance, was not published in the papers; no publicity was given to it except some time later there was a small note in a weekly magazine of very little importance and very small circulation.

Mr. SCHULTZ. Mr. Suarez, as a government official, were you required to participate in courses of instruction in Marxist-Leninist philosophy or communist ideology as practiced in Cuba?

Mr. LANZA. All government officials in Cuba have to take courses to be trained in Marxist-Leninist philosophy and doctrine.

Mr. SCHULTZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have no further questions.

Mr. PEPPER. Mr. Suarez, what information do you have about military activities of the Soviet Union in Cuba?

Mr. LANZA. Sir, we are not specialists in that field. I would like to say that it is common knowledge that Cuba is really an armed camp, that there is a very large stock of weapons, and some of these weapons are certainly very sophisticated. And, although over there in that country this is referred to as defense, we know very well that these weapons have a tremendous fire capability. Just before I left, I have heard that there was more and more of these new and sophisticated weapons.

Mr. PEPPER. Mr. Suarez, do you have information as to what submarine or other naval activities the Soviets are carrying on in Cuba, what facilities, if any, they have been constructing?

Mr. LANZA. No, only what I have read in the United States newspapers, American newspapers.

Mr. PEPPER. Do you have any information as to whether, Americans in any considerable numbers are going to Cuba to be indoctrinated into communism?

Mr. LANZA. Sir, when we were in Mexico, I saw some of the Americans that were on their way to Cuba. Among them were some of the members of the Black Panthers. I know also, because it is common knowledge, that some of them were being trained in addition to getting, taking courses in political philosophy and doctrines, that some of them were being trained in urban guerrilla warfare and sabotage methods, but I do not have a personal knowledge of it. It is common knowledge that this is happening. It is also common knowledge that in Cuba there were camps, military camps, where Latin Americans were trained for these purposes.

Mr. PEPPER. Mr. Suarez, have you any information as to whether, with Castro's cooperation, the Soviets have recruited any of the communist Cubans and employed them in their surveillance or spy activities in this country?

Mr. LANZA. I do not have that knowledge, sir.

Mr. PEPPER. Mr. Suarez, do you have any information as to whether the Cuban diplomatic representatives in countries where they operate are actually serving or do serve also as intelligence agents of the Soviet Union and communism in general, as well as the government of Castro in Cuba?

Mr. LANZA. Without any doubt, yes, sir.

Mr. PEPPER. Mr. Preyer, do you have any questions?

Mr. PREYER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I want to thank Mr. Suarez for his testimony. First, to make a comment about it, reading his statement, it is a perfect example of the old story of the revolution, begun with high ideals, being corrupted by those in power. He has given a very good example of it.

Also I want to commend him for his care in which he qualifies his statements when he says, "I do not have personal knowledge of it" or "I do not know." This gives the rest of his testimony more of the ring of truth when he says, "This I do know." In fact, the whole testi

mony has the density of truth to me, and there are a number of specific examples here which are not the kind of thing you make up.

The question I wanted to ask relates to the guerrilla warfare in South America. He stated that this went on at least up until October 1967, when Che Guevara was killed, and he points out that during this period of time the Russians were not supporting Castro's guerrilla warfare program in South America because they were aiding Brazil. were aiding Colombia and other South American governments at the time Castro was undercutting.

What is the situation now? Is guerrilla warfare still being fomented by Castro in South America or has that program ended, and if it is still being fomented, how is that affecting relations with Russia? I am sorry for such a long question.

Mr. LANZA. Thank you very much for your kind words, sir. If I may, I would like to point out that you really interpreted very well when you said that the revolutions are often corrupted, they are damaged by their leaders. I thank you for expressing the fact that what I have said has a ring of truth in it.

Now, speaking of this contradiction in policies or this conflict in policy between Cuba and the Soviet Union, around 1965 or so, when the guerrilla warfare was intensified in Latin America, I would like to say that there was something to it: there was a certain coolness between the two governments because they were apparently pursuing two different purposes.

Now, as to the Cuban Government itself, they believed and they had the great hopes that this small guerrilla warfare and small wars could become great wars, big ones. At the same time, you must remember that the United States was heavily engaged in the Vietnam conflict and, for that reason, they were distracted from events in this hemisphere.

The guerrillas failed throughout Latin America for several reasons. In the first place, they did not get any support from the rural populations. They had expected it, but they did not get it. Also, from the guerrilla point of view, there must have been a very poor approach to the way in which they were trying to gain over the population. Of course, everywhere in the world you see changes in policy and in the way that things are conducted. The reasons could be, or the methods could be objective or subjective, and here I am using the language of the revolution.

Now, the tactics have sort of switched now from the urban areasI mean from the rural areas to the urban areas, and now the guerrillas seem to be operating within the cities, within cities throughout Latin America. Also, the continuation of this guerrilla warfare might be another form of distracting the attention of the Cuban people themselves; this may be another way of getting public opinion on their side. As to the question or the comments you asked me to make on the relationship now between Cuba and the Soviet Union with respect to a guerrilla warfare, I may say that I really do not know much about that subject. I do not know enough on that subject to make a worthy comment. As a matter of fact, I was surprised to learn of the Soviet operation, or the Mexican operation done by Russia, the sending of Mexican communists to Korea.

I would say, generally speaking, that Cuba is engaged now in Bolivia and also in the activities of the Tupamaros in Uruguay, because

the activities of the Tupamaros are very much a copy, this is a faithful repetition of the techniques used at the beginning of the Cuban revolution.

I also want to say that I am sorry I talk for such a long time.

Mr. PREYER. Thank you for your testimony, and I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for my time.

Mr. PEPPER. Mr. Zion.

Mr. ZION. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Suarez, you stated that the economy under Batista was in pretty good shape, and yet you felt obligated to join a revolutionary movement in opposition to Batista. Castro, since the mid-forties, had been known as a student activist, a troublemaker. Weren't responsible people like you able to find some other alternative, some other leader that might have been more responsible to correct the problems rather than Fidel Castro?

Mr. LANZA. Thank you, sir. Truly we could say that the economy at that time, that the economic situation could be classified as being in pretty good shape. This is true. But we could also say that there were needs for reform in Cuba. One of the worst things was the corruption that was prevalent amongst the government people.

But I would like to say that there was not only corruption in the Batista government but in other governments prior to Batista. It is also true that Fidel Castro was known as a troublemaker or, if I may use a Cuban word, a revotoso. I met him when he was at the University of Havana, and he was truly an energetic man of rebellious nature. But he certainly was very rebellious against Batista, as were many of us.

Now, I would like to add that we did search for other leaders. We wanted to find some people of enough prestige that could carry on an effective opposition to the Batista regime, but I must say that those were not easily found; they were not found.

Fidel Castro represented at the time the man, the figure who could carry on an effective movement against the regime. He was actually the outstanding leader. It is said that there was an overwhelming majority against Batista which averaged 90 percent or so, and I would say that some of them were not pro-Castro; they were more against Batista than anything else. But I would say we were Fidelistas; I was in favor of Fidel Castro.

Mr. ZION. During this time in the fifties, there was a wealthy pharmacist and real estate owner named Dr. Juaquin Garcia Mara, who was supplying pharmaceutical products for the revolutionary forces. I wonder if you knew Dr. Garcia Mara.

Mr. LANZA. No, sir, I have never heard that name. No, I don't think his name is well known in Cuba.

Mr. ZION. Did you know Fidel's younger sister, Juanita?

Mr. LANZA. Yes.

Mr. ZION. She testified before this committee that in her opinion her brother Fidel put up the total economy of Cuba as sort of collateral to Russia in exchange for arms and ammunition. I wonder if Señor Suarez feels this is true.

Mr. LANZA. It is true that he practically hocked the economy of Cuba to Russia. I believe that the total debt to Cuba amounts to $3 billion. Mr. ZION. Is that to Cuba?

« PreviousContinue »