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Cryptonym: AMTRIBE-5

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Definition:
AMTRIBE-5 was Marcelino Martinez Tapia. A cable on November 29, 1963, stated that IDEN A was AMTRIBE-5. A cable on November 30, 1963, mentioned that IDEN A was Marcelino Martinez Tapia.
Status:
Documented
Discussion:
The cable on November 30, 1963, also stated that IDEN A was dropped in October of 1963. Also, an article by Don Bohning in the Miami Herald on June 3, 1964, stated that Marcelino Martinez Tapia, along with two others, had been executed. Martinez was from a prominent family in Camaguey, and had been a former Cuban congressman.

An article by Ana Dolores Garcia in June of 2013 mentioned that Marcelino Martínez Tapia was born on September 25, 1915, in Santa Cruz del Sur. He was allegedly the son of Antonio Martinez Bargaza, a politician and a landowner in the area. Martinez was allegedly known to his friends as "Pajusa", and was a lawyer by profession. Furthermore, the article stated that Marcelino Martínez Tapia was arrested on April 5, 1964, along with Alberto Fernandez Medrano and Manuel Paradela Gomez. On June 2, 1964, Marcelino Martinez Tapia was allegedly executed, along with Fernandez and Paradela.
Sources:

104-10075-10323: JMWAVE CABLE RE IDENTITIES

11/29/63: Cable from JMWAVE to Director: Sluglines DIR CITE WAVE 8327: RYBAT TYPIC AMKHAN: REF WAVE 8326 (IN 70538): "IDEN A - AMTRIBE-5. IDEN B - AMTRIBE-7. IDEN C - Oscar Diaz."

104-10075-10322: JMWAVE CABLE RE SPECIAL WATCHLIST FOR INCOMING AND OUTGOING TELEGRAMS

11/30/63: Cable from JMWAVE to Director: Sluglines DIR CITE WAVE 8326: RYBAT TYPIC AMKHAN: Page 3: ..."2. 3600 SW 17 Terrace former accommodation address of AMDAMP-3. Marta Perez 560 Jann Ave, Opalocka is AMDAMP-3 new accommodation address assigned July 63. Florentino Trabanco Cardenas is friend AMDAMP-3. Marta Lafonte Jimenez is fiancee AMDAMP-3. Calle 11, NBR. 113 Bajos is inside accommodation address AMDAMP-3. Marcelino Martinez Tapia is IDEN A. dropped Oct. 63. Dr. Augusto Gallardo is IDEN B. Preparing dispatch analysis significance these addresses on DSE list. 8300 SW 29 St., Miami is former WAVE accommodation address used Feb. to Sept. 62 when discontinued. Issued AMBRINY-1 and AMGLEN-9 during this period..."

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP75-00149R000100880008-0.pdf

06/03/64: CIA collection: Article in the Miami Herald by Don Bohning: Headlined: Three 'Prominent' Cubans Executed; Accused of Espionage Work for CIA: "Three Cubans whose executions were announced Tuesday by the Castro regime were from the most prominent families in Camaguey Province, exiles said. The three were identified in Cuban government announcement as Alberto Cesareo Fernandez Medrano, Manuel Paradela Gomez and Marcelino Martinez Tapia. The Cuban communique said they were executed by a firing squad as 'members of the Central Intelligence Agency' carrying on espionage work inside the island...Martinez Tapia was a former Cuban congressman. The Cuban government claimed Martinez was a former member of RESCATE, a Cuban exile organization headed by Dr. Manuel (Tony) Varona. There was no confirmation here. Execution of the three, announced Tuesday by Havana radio, took place Monday. It was believed they had been imprisoned from three to four months...In announcing the executions, the Cuban government charged Fernandez with using his Lions' Club position as a cover for his efforts to collect military, economic and political information and 'to make contact with other CIA agents in all provinces.' It claimed he had been recruited by the CIA in 1961 and received 'special instructions' in Coral Gables before returning to Cuba in 1962. Prison sentences for two other prominent Camaguey Cubans were also announced. They were Jorge Bermudez Combar and Manuel E. Zayas Bayan, whom the government claimed were 'CIA men.' Bayan is a former governor of the province..."

https://decamaguey.blogspot.com/2013/06/tres-martires-camagueyanos-etiquetas.html

06/04/2013: Article by Ana Dolores Garcia on the website decamaguey.blogspot.com: Headlined: Three Camaguean Martyrs: In Memory of a Sad Date: "Forty-nine years have passed since the execution in the city of Camagüey of Alberto Fernández Medrano, Marcelino Martínez Tapia and Manuel Paradela Gómez. A fact that shocked the Camagüey community, which was a show of arrogance and a sign of the determination of the Castro regime to impose itself through terror. The three victims of that disastrous endeavor were three figures who are well known for their good manhood and their well-deserved prestige, earned through their civic and professional activities. They paid with their lives for precisely that, and were turned into a symbol and sign of punishment...Marcelino Martínez Tapia, known to his friends as 'Pajusa', had been born in Santa Cruz del Sur on September 25, 1915 and was the son of Antonio Martínez Bárgaza, a politician and a highly respected landowner in the area, and his wife Adela Tapia. Like Fernández Medrano, he chose the legal profession as a professional activity and practiced as a lawyer and notary in his office on General Gómez street, almost on the corner of Cisneros. He had also triumphed in politics, and had been an honest and worthy Representative to the House. Member of a family with solid Christian principles, a practicing Catholic and of great appreciation in the community, Marcelino Martínez Tapia was a thorough, generous, jovial man and always ready to help. This is his popular ancestry, not only in the city of Camagüey, but throughout the wide area of ​​Santa Cruz del Sur, where his family-and personally he-were always very dear, sealed his fate. He was arrested on April 5 along with Fernández Medrano and Paradela, and 52 days later, after a very summary trial, he was shot immediately at dawn on June 2, 1964. His body was handed over to his family on the condition that they bury him in Santa Cruz del Sur in the presence of only three relatives..."

Contributors:
Gavin McDonald

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