606. Notes on the 137th Meeting of the Working Group on Cuba, Department of State, Washington, November 7, 19601
Washington, November 7,
1960
1. Ambassador Bonsal at Meeting: Ambassador Bonsal attended today’s meeting. Among other comments he suggested the following:
- a.
- Use of TV in Getting our Message Across in Cuba. Could we possibly insert our own material into Cuba’s TV channels? Could we telecast from a plane?
- b.
- It is more important every day that we contrast Fidel Castro’s original sayings and pronouncements with what he is saying now. We should keep hitting this contrast.
- c.
- Recent publicity relating to the Guantanamo naval base has not been helpful to the United States.
- D.
- Our memorandum of rebuttal submitted to the UN2 in answer to Castro’s charges was excellently done and should be given maximum dissemination.
- e.
- GOC transfer under security conditions of the Embassy’s Attaché plane away from its customary air field points up a propaganda opportunity for us. Castro made loud noises about changing barracks to schools. In practice, however, after effecting this conversion, he then turns around and arms the students and teachers at the same schools to the very teeth. This fact might well be publicized.
[Here follows discussion of USIA activities regarding Cuba, Pentagon propaganda, employment by the AEC and OAS of Cuban nationals, the Cuban Government’s recent arrest of David Salvador, the Soviet bloc arms shipments to Cuba, the Inter-American Defense Board’s handling of the Cuban situation, and a list of action assignments.]
- Source: Department of State, ARA Special Assistant Files: Lot 62 D 24, Working Group Notes. Confidential. Prepared by Devine on November 8. Participants at the meeting are identified only as the “10:30 Group Members.”↩
- See Document 589.↩