The Christic Institute’s allegations that there has been a ‘secret team’ of CIA and ex CIA personnel operating since the early 1960s right through to the present day have had a surprising amount of publicity in Britain considering that this is the kind of conspiracy theorising which is normally anathema to our straight media. It must help being a radical Christian!
The central document in their allegations is The Affidavit of Daniel P. Sheehan, 45 A4 pages with appendices and an index. Most of it is extremely solid, but there is a section, reprinted below, dealing with the mid sixties, which is very interesting, amounts to an explanation of the assassination of John Kennedy, but is, in my view, wrong. At any rate, I have never seen anything resembling this in any other serious look at the assassination. That this is an explanation of November 22 1963 isn’t stated but is definitely implied by the juxtaposition of paras 70.9 and 70.10.
It is also worth noting that there is a glaring error in 70.3: Resorts International had not been formed when the Mafia were expelled from Cuba.
However, overall the affidavit is worth getting: $10.00 (US) from The Christic Institute, 1324 North Capitol St. N.W., Washington DC 20002,
USA.
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The First “Contra War”: Organized Crime and Right-wing Terror-Politics
- 70. Sources #48 and #49 described above, as well as Sources #67 and #68, who are tenured professors at accredited universities in the U.S. who conduct professional research into government documents, interview persons in the U.S. intelligence community, and teach accredited courses regarding the history of the activities of our American intelligence community – as well as Source #69, who is a retired official of the United States Customs Department and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (now the Drug Enforcement Administration), and Source #70, who is a former Southeast Asian Border Police officer, and Source #71, who is a retired CIA official – have communicated evidence to Plaintiffs’ Counsel which constitutes probable cause to believe that the following facts are true regarding the Defendants in this case:
- 70.1. That, in late 1959, immediately after Fidel Castro drove Dictator Batista out of Cuba, former United States Vice President Richard M. Nixon established, and chaired, a Special Committee within the United States National Security Council with the express assignment of developing – and executing – a plan by means of which to mount a covert “Contra” war against the socialist government of Cuba, utilizing expatriate indigenous right-wing Cubans who had been loyal to dictator Batista. The objective of this non-Congressionally authorized operation was to undermine, weaken, and eventually, overthrow the revolutionary socialist government of Cuba. It appears that this secret operation was then code-named “Operation 40.”
- 70.2. That, in late 1959, then Vice President Richard M. Nixon, with the direct participation and cooperation of United States Central Intelligence Agency Director Allen Dulles, undertook the supervision of the recruiting of expatriate, right-wing Cubans who had fled from Cuba to Miami, Florida – and caused to be established two secret military training bases for their “Contra” forces, one south of Miami, Florida, and one in Guatemala. CIA Director Allen Dulles assigned CIA Agent and former Marine Corps officer Carl Jenkins to supervise the training of these “Contra” forces in guerilla warfare tactics in Florida and Guatemala. The objective of this Nixon-Dulles supervised operation was to train and to secretly infiltrate these expatriate Cubans back into Cuba, where they would set up centers of guerilla military resistance to the Castro-led socialist government. These forces would also mount terrorist military attacks against the economic infra-structure of Cuba, making it difficult for the new revolutionary government to organize and operate the economy.
- 70.3. With this covert NSC-CIA program underway in early 1960, then Vice President Richard M. Nixon secretly “reached out” to one Robert Maheu, the Chief of Staff and de facto Director of billionaire Howard Hughes’ financial empire. At the time Maheu was working with Nixon on a secret, non-Congressionally approved project which may have involved underwater activities and been named “Operation Desktop”. Because of Maheu’s secret status known only to Richard Nixon and President Eisenhower, Richard Nixon selected Maheu to attend an equally secret meeting, in early 1960, in Florida, with two men representing former Havana Mafia “Don” Santo Trafficante – whose fabulously wealthy Havana Casino, Hotel and prostitution operation run by Resorts International, Inc. (a Meyer Lansky Mafia company) had been driven out of Cuba, along with Trafficante’s business associate Batista in 1959.
- 70.4. At this early 1960 Florida meeting between Robert Maheu (representing Richard Nixon) and John Roselli and Sam Giancana (representing Santo Trafficante, a Meyer Lansky Mafia Lieutenant), it was agreed between Richard Nixon and Santo Trafficante that the NSC’s secret Operation 40 would be secretly “supplemented” by secreting, within this operation, a “private” sub-operation – which was to be supervised directly by the Mafia’s Havana Lieutenant Santo Trafficante. This secret, “private” unit was to be a political assassination unit assigned to murder Cuban President Fidel Castro, his brother Raul Castro, Che Guevera and five other revolutionary Cuban government leaders.
Former associates of Cuban dictator Batista and of Resorts International boss Santo Trafficante were, according to this early 1960 Nixon-Trafficante agreement, to be selected out of the Operation 40 participants by Santo Trafficante – and then secretly trained, as political assassins, by Trafficante and his Mafia associates, at a secret ‘Triangular-Fire Training Base” to be located in Mexico. Those selected from Operation 40 by Santo Trafficante to become members of the “Shooter Team” were:
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- Rafael “Chi Chi” Quintero;
- Felix Rodriguez (AKA “Max Gomez”);
- Luis Posada Carriles (AKA “Ramon Medina”);
- Rafael Villaverde,
- Raul Villaverde;
- Ricardo Chavez;
- Frank Fiorini (AKA Frank Sturgis);
- Rolando Martinez; and two other Cuban Americans.
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One of the “supervisors” of the group was to be E. Howard Hunt, code-named “Eduardo.” This secret “Shooter Team” began training in early 1960.
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- 70.5. When John F. Kennedy received the Democratic Party nomination for President in the Summer of 1960, he was briefed by a CIA officer about the existence of Operation 40 and its objectives – but it does not appear that he or Robert Kennedy were ever briefed about the existence of the Shooter Team. However the Shooter Team continued to train – and, indeed, between 1960 and 1963, initiated several efforts to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro.
- 70.6. Between January of 1961 and April of 1961, the low-profile, guerilla-infiltration strategy of Operation 40 was transmuted in a plan for a full-scale military invasion of Cuba, to be staged at the now-infamous Bay of Pigs. This invasion, using the personnel of Operation 40, failed disastrously in April of 1961.
- 70.7. However, by June of 1961, Robert Kennedy had re-grouped the tattered remnants of the old Operation 40 forces and re-initiated the old, lower-profile, strategy of infiltration and guerrilla “raids” into Cuba. This re-born Operation 40 was named “Operation Mongoose.” This covert “Contra” war was secretly pursued by the Kennedy Administration from June of 1961 to November of 1963.
The supervisor of “Operation Mongoose” was, then 34-year-old, Theodore Shackley. His Deputy was Thomas Clines.
This operation, functioning in a working partnership with Mafia Lieutenant Santo Trafficante, operated from a base located in a few buildings on the campus of the University of Miami. This base – and the operation itself – came to be called “JM/Wave.”
These “Contra” war operations – and their associated Trafficante-lead political assassination sub-operation – were directed by Theodore Shackley and Thomas Clines from 1961 to 1963.
- 70.8. During 1963, several participants in Operation 40 were caught smuggling narcotics into the U.S. from Cuba and the use, by the program, of former Batista and Trafficante criminal associates in the program began to cause “problems of control” of illegal “profiteering” in the program. But the program continued – as did the operations of the “Shooter Team.”
- 70.9. In November of 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
- 70.10. In 1965, “Operation Mongoose,” and JM/Wave, were shut down and Theodore Shackley and his Deputy, Thomas Clines were transferred to Laos.
For Kennedy assassination buffs: as well as the excellent Third Decade and Robert Cutler’s idiosyncratic Grassy Knoll Gazette, we receive Paul Hoch’s newsletter Echoes of Conspiracy, now in volume 9. Third Decade and Echoes of Conspiracy are the best there is. Send $5.00 (US) to Paul Hoch, 1525 Acton Street, Berkeley, CA 94702. That should get a year’s worth (four issues).
We received a circular from the Assassination Archives and Research Centre. Items of particular interest:
- The Second Gun is a film by Ted Charac about the assassination of Robert Kennedy. We haven’t seen it but from reports of it Charac’s film documents the facts about the second gun in the attack. The real assassin of Kennedy is widely presumed to be Thane Cesar who was standing behind Kennedy at the time – the autopsy showed that Kennedy had been shot at point blank range from the rear. Sirhan Sirhan was blasting away in front of Kennedy. Charac’s film is now available on VHS video from him at PO Box 396, Beverley Hills, Ca 90213. Said to be $55.00 (US) but inquiries from outside the US might find additional postage charges. With 1988 the 20th anniversary of RFK’s death, some UK TV people might do worse than look at Charac’s movie.
- AARC is planning an International Journal on Political Assassinations, perhaps in 1989, and is looking for people in as many countries as possible to send them articles/clippings on assassinations.
For general information, membership details, AARC services, write to AARC, 918 F Street N.W., Suite 510, Washington DC 20004, USA
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