Cryptonym: ERACERB-1
104-10241-10134: MEETING WITH FORMER PRESIDENT LUIS SOMOZA
7/1/63 Memorandum of Conversation between DC/2 Louis Napoli and former President Luis Somoza. Prior to the meeting Napoli had received a briefing from Seymour Bolten of SAS. Somoza told Napoli that "from conversations he has had in Washington (he has spoken to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Assistant Secretary of State Martin, and Secretary of Defense MacNamara) it is evident to him that the US is not about to mount a large-scale movement or invasion against the island...The governments of Costa Rica and Guatemela...support Somoza in organizing a movement designed to oust Castro...he said that he has been in direct negotiations with Manolo Artime and other leaders of exile groups who are in search of real estate or other support in order to fight Csstro..."
Late July 1963: "On August 22, 1963, Ruben de Leon, former Cuban Minister of Defense and Coordinator of the anti-Castro organization Armed Forces of Cuba in Exile, stated that about a month ago, Luis Somoza told Emilio Nunez Portunado, former Cuban delegate to the United Nations, that he (Somoza) had talked to United States Attorney General (AG) Robert Kennedy. AG Kennedy reportedly said it was necessary for Somoza to work out the Cuban problem and to unite Cuban exiles. Somoza recommended that Manuel Artime Buesa/AMBIDDY-1 be designated as the leader of the Cuban exiles."
104-10308-10081: AMWORLD--SHOWDOWN MEETING BETWEEN AMBIDDY-1 AND ERACERB-1, WEEK OF 29 JULY 1963
Week of July 29, 1963, memo by Henry Hecksher: "Show-down meeting" between Manuel Artime/AMBIDDY-1 and President Luis Somoza of Nicaragua. "The following is AMBIDDY-1's description of a showdown with ERACERB-1...ERACERB-1 stated that he had been called by ERLOOP-1 from Miami to tell him that Tony Varona and (Carlos) Prio desired to talk with ERACERB-1. He would receive them (in) order to set their minds at rest and to make sure that they bother neither Nicaragua nor AMBIDDY-1...(ERACERB-1 said) he knew that perhaps the only individual who could clear him among the America was AMBIDDY-1. He understood that Carlos Prio did not have the prestige to say that ERACERB-1 was not a dictator. Besides, Prio says many things today and others tomorrow. Prio was one of the men who had launched an invasion against Nicaragua in the days of ERACERB-1's father (Anastasio Somoza Garcia, dictator from 1936 until his assassination in 1956) and he would never forget it...After this discourse, AMBIDDY-1 told ERACERB-1 that AMWORLD-2 had called to say that ERLOOP-1 had created a mess in Miami, drawing up lists of candidates, recruits, and other things. AMBIDDY-1 told ERACERB-1 that it was his impression that ERLOOP-1 was recruiting on his own. This plan, AMBIDDY-1 pointed out, will not work because his camps were going to be small camps. ERACERB-1 could imagine 10,000 Cubans who wanted to fight. Where will we keep them? Who will take care of 10,000 Cubans?...ERACERB-1, in answering, accepted full blame for ERLOOP-1's activities, having told him, thinking of a subsequent invasion, to recruit Cubans willing to participate in it. ERACERB-1 promised to order ERLOOP-1 the following day when he expected him to suspend permanently all recruiting. AMBIDDY-1 is sure of this because Captain Perez told him that ERACERB-1 in fact told ERLOOP-1 to stop recruiting."
180-10113-10416: WILLIAM D. PAWLEY
FBI files affirm that Luis Somoza and Manuel Artime met in late July 1963.
Nov 1963: FBI memo quotes Somoza as telling Cuban exile leaders in July 1963 that "the US government had named ARTIME to be the head of the military part of SOMOZA's plan to overthrow the CASTRO government in Cuba."
104-10240-10432: EXTRACT FROM CABLE/MANUEL ARTIME
8/6/63 extract from cable WAVE 2269, source QDDALE: "Manuel Artime. Artime's activities (in) Nicaragua were discussed and when QDDALE made critical remarks re fanfare with which Artime was attempting (to) establish ops bases in Nicaragua, Luis Somoza defended Artime. This defense rested on Luis Somoza's contention fanfare was (US government) inspired due to insistence (US government) must be afforded plausible denial (of) any anti-Castro activities mounted from Nicaragua...QDDALE gained impression Luis Somoza was hoping some responsible individual from (the USA) would attempt (to) coordinate Artime's and Luis Somoza's concepts and programs. (WAVE comment: Implication being that QDDALE was totally suited for coordinator's role.)