249. Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs’ Special Assistant (Hill)1
BRIEFING MEMORANDUM—CUBA
(1) Domestic Situation
In the six weeks since the flight of President Batista and the emergence of Fidel Castro as the victor in the civil war, a fully stable, organized and responsible government has not emerged in Cuba. On the one hand the Cabinet and Government of President Urrutia contain a number of moderate and respected men, generally friendly to the United States. They are handicapped by lack of liaison and understanding with Castro as well as a considerable breakdown of the [Page 396] government machinery, particularly in the public safety forces and civil administration, attendant on the flight and purge of Batista functionaries. On the other hand, Castro has principally occupied himself with triumphal appearances to the neglect of government affairs while his lieutenants and men have moved in to take over Cuba’s military and police establishments and other functions without apparent coordination with the titular government. Some anti-Batista groups—notably DR, the fighting force of the students’ organization—are somewhat disaffected by Castro’s failure to allow them to share in the spoils and there is some unrest and grumbling about the Government’s failure to come to grips with Cuba’s problems.2
(2) Foreign Relations
The new regime’s attitudes and intentions towards the United States are still in the formative stage. There is no question that Castro and especially some of his rebel lieutenants bitterly resent what they consider to have been the hostile attitude of the US Government, and they have publicly attacked this Government and fomented anti-American feeling. On the other hand, Castro professes an admiration for the American “people” and a desire for good relations, a line followed by the titular government with perhaps greater sincerity and consistency. To date no concrete action has been taken or formally proposed against the US or its interests (we took the first official steps with respect to the withdrawal of the military missions), and the Cuban rebels who have taken over have generally been cooperative with our representatives in Cuba.
A major problem emerging is reflected in the mounting number of reports that certain elements in the Castro Government—especially the Argentine Communist-liner Major “Che” Guevara—are contemplating and planning active support to revolutionary activities against Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Paraguay. Exiles from all over the Caribbean have flocked into Habana in hope of help. It is, however, difficult to tell whether anything concrete has yet been worked out and what the attitude of the Cuban Government and Castro will eventually be toward these activities.
Likewise, the Cuban Government’s and Castro’s attitude towards Communist activities is still in the formative stage. On the one hand, the technically illegal Communist Party has come into the open and is working actively in the field of labor, press and propaganda, etc. and Guevara and a few other Castro leaders have given them help. On the [Page 397] other hand, Castro followers have moved to exclude Communists from the national labor leadership while the Government of Cuba has taken the position it does not intend to recognize the Communist countries.
US Objectives in Cuba, for the present, may be summarized as strengthening the moderating and stabilizing influences on Castro and the Cuban Government. Diplomatic and other US Government operations in support of this objective are in a particularly delicate stage since intimation of US official pressures in the present atmosphere would tend to play into the hands of the anti-American elements.
- Source: Department of State, ARA Special Assistant Files: Lot 62 D 24, Cuba 1959. Confidential. Drafted by Hill.↩
- Another assessment of developments in Cuba since the fall of Batista was contained in a report to the Director of Central Intelligence, February 4, 1959. (Eisenhower Library, Dulles–Herter Series) Text of the report, which among other things described the situation in Cuba as tense and “far from stable,” is published in Declassified Documents, 1981, 270B.↩