Office of the Historian

624. Memorandum From the Director of the Office of Intelligence Research and Analysis for the American Republics (Hall) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter American Affairs’ Staff Assistant (Devine)1

Washington, December 21, 1960.

SUBJECT

  • Comments on Attached Memorandum by S/P, Mr. Smith2

The feeling in RAR is that the attached memorandum is generally outdated and that it shows a lack of understanding of Latins and the Latin American ambiente. Mr. Smith makes one or two good points, but as a whole it does not indicate a great deal of depth. For example, he states that Castro has no seriously conceived economic or social programs. (Point 2 of the memorandum.) If nothing else the policies thus far implemented indicate a desire to “free” Cuba from US domination. The recent Bettelheim Mission to Cuba3 recommended a comprehensive [Page 1185] economic development program along Marxist lines. If adopted, this program will certainly provide a serious direction to the Cuban planners. It is the trend of present programs—their collectivist tendencies—which must be kept in mind, not the lack of a program. To suggest that the Castro appeal is purely emotional does not, I think, give the devil his due. In point 5 of the memo Mr. Smith states that Castro and the Soviet Union hope for US intervention in Cuba. RSB and RAR do not feel that this is the case. If we believe too strongly that the Bloc and Castro desire intervention we may then lose sight of the principal aim of the Soviets in Cuba, i.e., the establishment of a violently anti-US, pro-Communist regime in the Western Hemisphere for use as a springboard to other Latin American countries.

The arguments against US intervention in Cuba are strong enough without pinning them to a belief that intervention is what the Soviets want.

I would suggest that our recent SNIE on Cuba4 is the best answer to a number of the outdated thoughts in the memo.

  1. Source: Department of State, ARA Special Assistant Files: Lot 62 D 24, Cuba Miscellaneous Jan. –Feb. 1961. Confidential. Drafted by Lawrence S. Eagleburger (INR/RAR) and initialed by Hall.↩
  2. Document 555. Smith’s memorandum had been circulated in November to the members of the 10: 30 a.m. Working Group on Cuba for comment. Hall’s memorandum, printed here, as well as memoranda from other members of the Working Group commenting on Smith’s paper, were attached to a memorandum of January 17, 1961, from Devine to Coerr which summarized the various comments. (Department of State, ARA Deputy Assistant Files: Lot 62 D 24, Cuba Miscellaneous, Jan. –Feb. 1961)↩
  3. Professor Charles Bettelheim of the Sorbonne visited Cuba and, in a memorandum of September 19, submitted various recommendations to the Cuban Government on economic development planning. A Spanish translation of Bettelheim’s report was sent to the Department as an enclosure to despatch 821 from Havana, October 11. (Ibid., Central Files, 837. 00/10–1160)↩
  4. Document 620.↩