COINTELPRO: Cuba Part 1 Of 1

Cold open. This is a declassified FBI memorandum titled “Counterintelligence Program – Cuba,” part of the COINTELPRO series. The document originates from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is dated September twenty‑fourth, nineteen‑seventy, with supplemental memoranda from August nineteenth, nineteen‑seventy. It is notable because it reveals the bureau’s plan to fabricate and disseminate letters to the editor in Tampa, Florida, as part of a covert effort to influence public opinion about Cuban exile activist Cris Amor. Provenance. The memorandum was released to the public through The Black Vault website, a repository for government records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The file appears in the Black Vault’s archive under the title “COINTELPRO: Cuba Part One of One,” and the full text is available at archive dot org slash download slash cuba‑part‑1‑of‑1 slash Cuba Part 1 of 1 _djvu.txt. The document. The opening cover sheet notes that the best copies obtainable are included, and that any blurred or difficult‑to‑read pages are the result of the condition of the originals. It is marked as a Freedom of Information and Privacy Act request. The first memorandum, addressed to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is dated September twenty‑fourth, nineteen‑seventy. The subject line reads: “Counterintelligence Program – Cuba – Nationalistic Tendency.” The memo states that a copy of a letter to the “Letters to the Editor” section of the Tampa Tribune, fictitiously signed by Mrs. Maria Davignon, is enclosed. The letter has been rewritten in accordance with bureau instructions dated September first, nineteen‑seventy, and is being resubmitted for bureau authority to mail in connection with the captioned program. The memo requests that, if authorized, the Tampa office will follow the same writing and mailing procedures as set out in the referenced Tampa letter to the bureau dated August nineteenth, nineteen‑seventy. It notes that the subject, Mrs. Davignon, has not had any of her letters published since July eighteenth, nineteen‑seventy, and therefore the bureau should await the mailing of this edited letter until the subject has another letter published. A second memorandum, dated August nineteenth, nineteen‑seventy, repeats the request. It specifies that the letter will bear a return address of Gallardo Apartment Hotel, Apartment six hundred four, Magdalena one one zero two, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and that the envelope should bear a San Juan postmark. The memo asks for bureau authority to send an identical letter, prepared on plain white, unwatermarked bond paper and handwritten, to be forwarded to the San Juan office for mailing. The memorandum includes a narrative from an unnamed Tampa correspondent, dated September twenty‑fourth, nineteen‑seventy, describing the correspondent’s observations of Cris Amor’s letters to the editor praising the Cuban government and criticizing United States policy. The writer explains that Cris Amor, born in Spain, lived only a few years in Cuba as a child, and has never returned since. The writer recounts that Amor initially regarded Fidel Castro as a “George Washington of Cuba,” continued to defend him even after the government’s turn toward communism, and later claimed that communism was best for the people. The writer notes that Amor helped establish the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, hosted gatherings praising Cuba, China, and Russia, and that refugees from Cuba expressed dismay at Amor’s pro‑Castro stance. The writer suggests that publishing the fabricated letter could provoke public reaction against Amor’s pro‑Castro, anti‑United States activities, and might encourage other individuals to write counter‑letters. The memorandum concludes that none of the information contained in the fabricated letter can be traced back to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and that its disclosure would not reveal any source. The writer indicates a willingness to await bureau comments and expresses appreciation for any guidance. Context. No additional contextual statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation accompanies this release. The Black Vault entry provides only the document text and its archival citation. Outro. This is what the public record looks like at its most