Pseudonym: Santell, Norman
A series of memos in November and December of 1964 from Raul Hernandez mentioned Santell, with AMBIDDY-1 (Manuel Artime Buesa) and AMJAVA-4 (Rafael Quintero) also prominent.
104-10163-10173: ARTIME BUESA, MANUEL (VOL XIII).
07/29/64: Memo from Nestor D. Sanchez, WH/SA/SO/HH to Chief, WH/Security: Subject: (Artime) Buesa, Manuel Francisco 201-310636: "1. It is requested that the sterile telephone answering service on Washington D.C. telephone number 638-4640 be extended until 25 September 1964. 2. It would be appreciated if your office handle the necessary arrangements to extend the answering service." R. J. Hernandez's name was below and to the left of Sanchez's.
104-10163-10173: ARTIME BUESA, MANUEL (VOL XIII).
08/06/64: Cable from Director to Panama City (Orig: N. D. Sanchez, WH/SA/SO/HH): Slugline RYBAT TYPIC YOBITE AMWORLD: REF: DIR 40165: FOR JENKINS: "1. Message received from AMBIDDY-1 (Manuel Artime Buesa), ETA Panama 7 August. 2. Also raises subject parents difficulties in PBRUMEN (Cuba) and asks if we can arrange asylum thru Mexicans. While most sympathetic AMBIDDY-1 personal problem, see no way securely intercede his behalf without compromising relationship and indicating ODYOKE (U.S. Government) interest to Mexicans." Releasing Officer: W. Hood for Desmond FitzGerald, C/WHD. Authenticating Officer: Samuel Halpern, ADC/WH (SA).
104-10163-10173: ARTIME BUESA, MANUEL (VOL XIII).
11/17/64: Memo for the record from Raul J. Hernandez, WH/SA/SO/HH: Subject: Telephone Conversation Between AMBIDDY-1, Norman Santell and Martin Ferrer: Date: 17 November, 1964, 1030 hours: "1. AMBIDDY-1 (Manuel Artime Buesa) stated William King will advise Philco today that AMWORLD no longer wished to employ Jim Lee. A-1 sent a message to the base for Lee to return to the U.S. 2. A-1 reported he received a call from Nilo Messer who said that Robreno wished to see AMJAVA-4 (Rafael Quintero) to make arrangements for the 'summit' meeting. It appeared to A-1 that the representative of the dissident group in Spain wants to deal with a higher ranking person than Nilo Messer. Nilo has received indications that the representative has already left Cuba and is somewhere in Europe on a shopping spree. Mr. Santell suggested perhaps it would be best for AMJAVA-4 to arrange the meeting in Paris rather than in Spain. A-1 agreed. AMJAVA-4 will probably leave for Spain on 21 November after his meeting with Carl..."
104-10163-10173: ARTIME BUESA, MANUEL (VOL XIII).
11/21/64: Memo for the record from Raul J. Hernandez, WH/SA/SO/HH: Subject: Telephone Conversation Between AMBIDDY-1, Norman Santell and Martin Ferrer: Date: 20 November 1964, 2100 hours: "1. AMBIDDY-1 (Manuel Artime Buesa) called to say he had just returned from Costa Rica where he spoke to President Orlich and his brother. The Orlichs made no mention of expelling A-1, but, to the contrary, are willing to continue to support AMWORLD. The only request made by President Orlich was that the arms barge be taken out of Costa Rica for fear the Communists would learn of its existence. A-1 said he will comply. 2. The topic of conversation quickly changed to the newspaper article by Hal Hendrix which greeted A-1 upon his arrival from Costa Rica about A-1 involvement in smuggling activities in Costa Rica. We informed A-1 that Al Burt had intended to publish a similar story but was scooped by Hendrix. We asked A-1 what he thought of the idea of having President Orlich issue a complete denial as soon as possible of A-1's smuggling activities in Costa Rica. A-1 felt a presidential denial was essential in counteracting this damaging publicity. A-1 stated he would call President Orlich the first thing in the morning on this matter. Another suggestion to neutralize Hendrix's story was for A-1 to see Al Burt as soon as possible and categorically deny the story. If need be A-1 might want to invite Burt to Costa Rica to speak to President Orlich and confirm A-1's side of the story."
104-10163-10173: ARTIME BUESA, MANUEL (VOL XIII).
11/21/64: Memo for the record from Raul J. Hernandez, WH/SA/SO/HH: Subject: Telephone Conversation Between AMBIDDY-1, Norman Santell and Martin Ferrer: Date: 21 November 1964, 1030 hours: "1. The undersigned telephoned AMBIDDY-1 to see if he had an opportunity to speak with President Orlich. A-1 stated he was unable to reach the President but did speak to the President's secretary. The secretary advised A-1 that he was unaware of the Hendrix story but he assured A-1 the entire story would be denied. A-1 informed Headquarters that he has sent Manolin Hernandez with a copy of the story to see President Orlich. A-1 commented that the initial reaction in Miami to the story was one of indignation toward Hendrix. 2. When we called A-1, he was on his way to see Al Burt. A-1 had already talked to Burt by phone and they had made an appointment to discuss the entire matter this morning. Burt told A-1 on the phone that rumors concerning A-1's activity had reached him. A-1 said eh would tell Burt that President Orlich would issue a complete denial of the Hendrix allegations. A-1 was cautioned not to forget that Burt is primarily a newspaperman and therefore to be on guard as to what he tells Burt. 3. A-1 was advised to take a firm stand against Philco concerning Jim Lee. Lee should be sent back to the U.S. as soon as possible. A-1 was requested to reject any proposals by Philco for consultations in Miami or Central America concerning Lee. A-1 should tell King to telephone Philco on Monday (23 Nov) and make it quite clear AMWORLD cannot afford to pay needless travelling expenses of Philco representatives. King should also ask for a price list for the spare parts. If Philco cannot comply, A-1 was advised to tell them he will buy his spare parts elsewhere. 4. According to A-1 Babun has loaned a PC to A-1. He promised to send us data on the boat."
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12/07/64: Memo from the record from Raul J. Hernandez, WH/SA/SO/HH: Subject: Telephone Conversation Between AMBIDDY-1 and Martin Ferrer: Date: 3 December 1964: "1. AMBIDDY-1 (Manuel Artime Buesa) called from Houston, Texas to say that he had just arrived from Central America. A-1 was advised to proceed to New York to meet with Mr. Santell and Carl. A-1 agreed to get on the first plane to JFK airport. 2. A-1 stated that VICTORIA was the operation against Casilda. A-1 stated that AMJAVA-4 (Rafael Quintero) had gone on the operation. A-1 contended that he could no longer hold his troops back. A-1 asked if approval had been given to the CAONAO operation and to the Casilda operation. The undersigned stated that Mr. Santell would discuss the entire matter with him at their meeting. A-1 expects to return to Miami for a few days and then go to the Dominican Republic for the CAONAO operation. After the CAONAO operation, A-1 will go to Paris to meet with the representative of the dissident group."
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12/07/64: Memo for the record from Raul J. Hernandez, WH/SA/SO/HH: Subject: Telephone Conversations with AMBIDDY-1 and Martin Ferrer: Date: 6 December 1964, 1630 and 1645 hours: "1. After being notified by the Office of Security that AMBIDDY-1 had called on the emergency number, the undersigned returned A-1's call. A-1 stated he had just received a message from AMJAVA-4 saying the Santa Maria was located at Cerrania Bank due to bad weather and would remain six hours at that position. In the message A-4 said he would comply with the order given him to return, however, requested Operation VICTORIA be reconsidered. A-1 requested that the following portion of A-4's message be passed to appropriate persons: 'I (A-4) request the suspension of Operation VICTORIA be reconsidered for the good of future operations because a person who loses faith in operations, believing himself subject to foreign decisions, is a demoralized person.' In light of A-4's message, A-1 urged that suspension of Operation VICTORIA be reconsidered. I assured A-1 that his message would be delivered. 2. DC/WH/SA was notified of the above passage. On the instructions of DC/WH/SA the undersigned called A-1 and advised him that the contents of his conversations with Mr. Santell (Sanchez) on 5 December were still valid and our position regarding Operation VICTORIA remained the same."