Cryptonym: AMQUIP-1
104-10306-10024, p. 32 shows that on 6/6/63 the (Special Group Augmented) discussed various possibilities of establishing channels of communication to Castro." Vidal had previously got wind of this through Colonel Bishop and was livid.
104-10164-10061: See reference to AMQUIP-2, C-84394, 201-282119.
124-90131-10023, p. 11: The size of his FULN group was estimated to be less than 100, with all eight elements combined. Also see 1993.08.05.10:41:34:710005 - p. 423 - the FULN included Manuel Aguilar aka Julio Duarte.
104-10172-10162: Bill Harvey refers to Vidal Santiago in his 6/21/62 report.
124-90106-10092, p. 4 - Vidal Santiago on the 1963 list of Cuban Raiders Ordered Not to Depart.
104-10221-10118, p. 4 - Born 2/3/26 in Havana; Cuban Naval Academy graduate, 1946; founded Movimiento de Liberacion Democratico Revolucionario (MLDR); Naval Assistant to the Minister of Defense, 1954-56; head of Maritime Police, 1959; Cuban Naval Attache in Venezuela when he defected; a founder of UFLN. UFLN leader was Humberto Nunez Espinosa. The plan was on 3/25/63 Vidal and Evilio Duque planned to smuggle arms to five guerrilla units in the Escambray. This operation was suspended when Vidal learned Duque was working with William Johnson and Frank Fiorini, and that Duque was spreading false rumors about Vidal.
Researchers John Simkin and Larry Hancock believe Vidal and Roy Hargraves are the best candidates for the Dark Completed Man and the Umbrella Man. See https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKsantiago.htm
104-10162-10042: TRAVEL INSTRUCTIONS.
3/18/60 cable from WH/4/FI Ralph Seehafer to Mexico City: "...assigned crypt AMQUIP-1 and advise him we desire AMWAIL-3 (note: Joaquin Sanjenis aka AMOT-2) meet with him soonest. HQs will advise rendezvous data when AMQUIP-1 visa problem solved...Request thru debriefing re 300 man group AMQUIP-1 reports he has in Cuba. POA granted AMQUIP-1 16 Mar...WH Comments: Concerns effort by AMWAIL-3 to go to Caracas to recruit Vidal as a member of the AMWAIL (Agrapucion Montecristi) group but was unable to get visa.
104-10162-10039: ARTIME AND JOSE CARAGOL BONA FIDES.
3/22/60 cable from WH/3/MEXI to Bogota and Mexico City: The background to this message was that "AMQUIP-1 learned from Jose Caragol that LITAINT-1 (Angel Lorenzo Saavedra Correa - known in the US as "Manuel Villafana Martinez") and LITAG-1 (Jaime Varela Canosa) were going to defect." The message stated: "Info...from (Manuel) Artime stated Jose Caragol was informer for Castro who now living Mexi. Suggested caution in evaluation of any info originating with Caragol which relayed by AMQUIP-1. For Mexi: Request Mexi try obtain current info on Caragol bona fides. See 104-10241-10183 for background data on Jose Caragol. Also see 1993.11.10.08:31:22:150005: Reel 1, Folder J - ARTIME BUESA, MANUEL, 4/18/60, p. 64:Manuel Artime's notes - "Things Accomplished". "...Contacted the revolutionary group of Felipe Vidal through his brothers in Miami. To give them something to do, I am going to get them to organize a counterespionage group in Miami."
104-10162-10232: SOURCE INFORMED STATION IDEN LEFT FOR GUATEMALA CITY
6/16/60, cable from Bogota to Director: "AMQUIP-1 informed station IDEN left for Guatemala City 15 June seek assistance for AMQUIP-1 group. AMQUIP-1 learned from brother (that) Manuel Antonio Varona, Aureliano Sanchez and Manuel Artime planning hold meeting San Jose, Costa Rica and AMQUIP-1 to be invited. Presumes this meeting of A1? 'Cuban friends' in (USA). AMQUIP-1 says he has not received invitation nor travel expenses."
104-10217-10116: MEMORANDUM: SUBJECT - OVERDUE ACCOUNTS
"In July 1960, Headquarters advised Station Bogota that (AMQUIP-1) with two aides would be traveling to (USA) to assume the post of Navy Chief in the FRD Directorate and visa assistance was requested. Routine difficulties followed including no funding by the FRD until finally in August 1960 the Station had to advance funds for (AMQUIP-1) and one companion $150 each required by the Consulate as evidence of solvency...since that time, (AMQUIP-1) has become a security risk. He is considered an opportunist and associates with people with whom (CIA) wishes no contact."
104-10221-10222: FELIPE VIDAL SANTIAGO
"Vidal arrived in the United States on August 9, 1960, from Bogota, Colombia...he was a lieutenant in the Cuban Navy from 1944 to 1956. In 1958 he affiliated himself with Fidel Castro and after January 1, 1959, he was appointed chief of the Maritime Police by the Castro government. On October 15, 1959, he was appointed Naval Attaché at Caracas, Venezuela. He defected on March 7, 1960 (and found temporary haven in Colombia)...on April 8, 1961, Vidal applied for political asylum (in the US). Vidal indicated that in the United States he would reside at 708 NW 23rd Street, Miami, Florida, and he had in his possession a document identifying himself as the coordinator of the anti-Castro organization Movimento de Liberacion Democratico Revolucionario...". During April 1961, he brought former Supreme Court justice Julio Garceran out of Cuba. In Oct. 1961, while working with a suspected Castro agent, Jack Cannon, Cannon's boat was sunk off the Cuban coast and $80,000 in arms were lost. In Aug. 1962, Vidal refused to let Frank Sturgis participate in bombing raids on Cuba. On 10/22/62, Vidal and American adventurer Roy Hargraves were planning a military mission to Cuba. On Nov. 1962, Hargraves was hired by "an old Nicaraguan revolutionist" to put a fire bomb in an unidentified boat. Marginalia identifies Vidal as 201-267043, and CIA document DBA-31065. (12/26/62 FBI memo) Also see 104-10167-10446: By 1/5/62, C/WH/4/PA-Prop Stannard Short said that Vidal was considered a security risk, associating with people with whom CIA wanted no contact. Also see 1994.04.28.14:57:28:100005 - p. 172 for further details.
9/6/60 cable from MASH to Director: "Crisis in military staff only one facet of relations AMEER (Aureliano Sanchez Arango) and (the) balance of AMCIGAR (the FRD Executive Committee). Lines of authority and responsibility of MASH committees badly snarled (in view of) recent insistence (by AMEER of) his perogative as AMCIGAR (FRD Executive Committee) member. General ill feeling and distrust (among) senior AMRASPERS (FRD members) toward AMEER also applies (to) 'his boys'. In military field these include Oscar Diaz (ground), Orlando Garcia (recruiting) and Felipe Vidal Santiago (naval)..."
6/25/62 dispatch from C. W. Matt (probably Robert S. Moore) at TFW to Chief, JMWAVE: Seeking info on "composition, plans, political orientation and capabilities" of any group affiliated with the individuals at the center of 5/25/62 memo, HZPA 12311. Memo makes clear one of those individuals was Felipe Vidal Santiago, 201-267043. TFW also hopes to use AMDENIM-1 (Alberto Fernandez Hechevarria) to approach Bernabe Sanchez.
1993.08.05.11:22:30:590052: MEMO WITH ROUTING SHEET AND MATERIALS RE VARIOUS INDIVIDUALS OF INTERE
Re 10/22/62: Houston says that the 10/22/62 raid on Cuba by Vidal and Hargraves may have happened, but that these two men had no CIA affiliation and the raid was not sponsored by the CIA. See 2/15/65 letter from CIA general counsel Lawrence Houston to Assistant Attorney General Walter Yeagley.
Dick Russell, High Times Magazine (August 1996)
December 1962-November 1963: Exile militant Felipe Vidal Santiago, arrested on a 1964 sabotage mission into Cuba, told his captors that in Washington, D.C. in December 1962 he'd met with a lawyer/lobbyist connected to a "Citizen's Committee to Free Cuba." This lawyer informed Vidal Santiago of a conversation he'd had with Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, soon to be U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam, who said he'd heard from Kennedy aide Walt Rostow of "a plan to open a dialogue with Cuba." "Vidal told us he was very surprised," says Escalante. In fact Vidal, infuriated and betrayed, had alerted his exile cohorts, as well as a CIA contact, Colonel William Bishop. "It was almost like a bomb, an intentional message against Kennedy." Vidal was also an information conduit for General Edwin Walker, the ultra-right Texan paramilitary leader at whom Oswald had allegedly taken a shot in April 1963. And FBI files call Vidal a "very close friend" of Miami mobster John Martino, who intimated to family and associates that he had foreknowledge of the JFK assassination... Felipe Vidal Santiago told Cuban intelligence that on the weekend before the assassination, he was invited to a meeting in Dallas by the CIA's Colonel William Bishop. "It was supposed to be a meeting with a few wealthy people to talk about financing anti-Castro operations," says Escalante. Bishop left on his own "for interviews" numerous times during their stay in Dallas. After approximately four days they returned to Miami. Not long before his death in 1993, Colonel Bishop confirmed to this writer that he'd had knowledge of the JFK plot. The Cubans indicate that the Vidal-Bishop Dallas trip concerned plans for re-taking the island once Castro's people had been implicated in the assassination.
4/16/63 interview with Felipe Vidal Santiago, who was in custody. Vidal's documents had been seized, containing identifying data of large number of people considered by his organization as "militant communists. Vidal stated he makes this type of information available regularly to CIA, and is in frequent contact with Mr. Francis Quebodeaux, District intelligence Officer for INS, Miami. Vidal stated that he has organized and recruited for a CIA contact who operates out of Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and during his detention in Opa-locka, Florida, by INS in October, 1962, he did not reveal that he was working for CIA." Vidal was Cuban Naval Attaché in Venezuela when he resigned his post to work against the Castro government. "He collaborated in founding of the Frente Unido de Liberacion Nacional (United Front of National Liberation) and is Secretary of that organization. (Page 4 of 9 is missing.) Pages 5-6: Vidal planned an operation for 3/25/63 with three groups participating: Los Pinos Nuevos, ECA, and his group FULN. "Vidal explained that he intended to sign a military manifesto with Evilio Duque and five underground leaders in Cuba. It was planned that Vidal would help Duque take arms to Cuba to help supply these different guerrilla units in Cuba. These five guerrilla units in the Escambray Mountains of Cuba would also agree to follow the political and propaganda directives of Vidal's and Duque's organizations." When Vidal ascertained that Duque was involved with (Bill) Johnson and the American soldier of fortune and mercenary, Frank Fiorini, Vidal began to doubt the advisability of continuing on with the operation scheduled for March 25, 1963...Vidal feels that he has been betrayed and deserted by Duque, and is now happy he did not become further involved with Duque. Vidal stated that the operation of March 25 was suspended, and he has no immediate plans to put it into effect."
Larry Hancock, Someone Would Have Talked (2007)
Several 1963 Vidal Santiago-General Walker meetings: In addition to his involvement in the Bayo-Pawley mission, John Martino was personally involved with Felipe Vidal Santiago, Frank Fiorini/Sturgis, and others within the Miami exile community including individuals who had been part of the "casino" scene in Havana. Vidal mentioned several visits to General Walker during 1963. Walker himself had limited personal funds and relied on his connections to right-wing organizations and in particular, to H.L. Hunt who was largely responsible for funding Walker's campaign for governor in Texas. There is no documented account of Vidal meeting with Hunt or Hunt's representatives. However, Hunt's behavior after the assassination suggests that he may have been concerned about somehow being implicated, at least by his associations or remarks. Also see 124-10332-10032, p. 4, where Larry Howard is seen on 8/18/63 driving a 1957 Chevrolet with a blue bottom & white top. Is the same vehicle seen outside Gen. Walker's residence? See https://www.maryferrell.org/php/marysdb.php?id=5511&search=1957%20AND%20CHEVROLET Also see FBI File 2-1622 on Rolando Masferrer, Vol. 85, Section 236-246 - page 77: "On ...August 19, 1963, he observed another vehicle with three Cubans departing the vicinity of Big Pine Key [Florida]. He described the vehicle as a 1957 Chevrolet, bearing 1963 Florida license 1.33002. The driver was a "medium sized Cuban with a prominent black mustache". Was this Vidal - and did he drive this vehicle from Miami to Dallas? See 124-90033-10091, p. 3: on 2/15/64 Martino introduces Vidal to FBI agents.
p. 3: On 11/11/63, MM T-1 said Vidal had just returned from Dallas, where he visited General Edwin Walker. (p. 8) MM T-1 is Howard Davis, 639-S https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htmldocId=192913#relPageId=2&tab=page Vidal said he has been associated with Roy Emory Hargraves for about the past two years and at times gives Hargraves money..." Unpleased by support Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo and Manolo Ray/AMBANG-1 receive from State Dept. and Gov. Munoz Marin. (at p. 9) Vidal admitted that about two weeks before the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, he left Miami, Florida and visited Dallas, Texas. He stayed there five days and...visited General EDWIN E. WALKER for the purpose of getting Walker's views concerning the Cuban situation...Walker did not donate any money and...did not want to get involved in Cuban revolutionary activities and was involved in his political campaign of running for the position of Governor...Vidal denied that he asked Walker for any money donations..." The Miami Herald reported on 1/6/64 that on 1/5/64 a 22 foot cabin cruiser caught fire and sank "...with Mrs. Dickey Chapelle, 4700 SW 8th Street, Edward Collins, 220 NW 8th Avenue, and Roy Hargraves, 4170 SW 8th Street, aboard. The article stated that after the fire started, Felipe Vidal, 2293 NW 7th Street, in his boat, the Rubio...tried to lift the trio to safety...all four person were burned and were rescued from their boats and taken to a hospital in Miami...Collins said Chapelle hired him and Hargraves to take her on a cruise of the area...Chappelle, Hargraves and Collins said they were going to go on a military mission to Cuba (and had with them an anti-tank gun that had been hidden at Vidal's house)...they were at sea...(when) the boat exploded and caught fire...(Gerry) Hemming was the instigator of this would-be military mission..." See 104-10048-10439 - 1/64 - Frank Fiorini reports Vidal's plans for a raid on Cuba - which led to his death.