Office of the Historian

224. Memorandum From Director of Central Intelligence McCone to President Kennedy0

Washington, December 3, 1962.

Three indicators from Cuba that worry me are:

1.
Detection of the presence of new and more sophisticated Soviet communications equipment as part of the air defense system. This would suggest that we soon would face the prospect of operational SAM sites manned by Soviets.
2.
Che Guevara’s statement to the London Daily Worker that peace has been assured and that Cuba will pursue the arms struggle already taking place in a number of Latin American countries such as Venezuela, Guatemala, Paraguay and Colombia. This would indicate no intention to halt Castro subversion in Latin America.
3.
Mikoyan’s public statement in Moscow that he had achieved Soviet objective of maintaining a Communist regime in the Western Hemisphere.

These three statements would prompt extreme caution on the part of the United States in any agreement which might give Castro and the Communists a sanctuary.

John A. McCone1

  1. Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DCI/McCone Files, Job 80-B01285A, Meetings with the President. Top Secret. Drafted by McCone. A note on this memorandum indicates that McCone took this paper to the White House on December 3 and stopped by the President’s office to drop it off after lunch.

    This memorandum was attached to McCone’s memorandum of the Executive Committee meeting at 10 a.m. on December 3. McCone noted in the memorandum on the meeting that “later in the day I met with the President privately and pointed out to him my concern over Soviet conduct in Cuba.” (Ibid.) See the Supplement.

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  2. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩