Spycraft - Melton [144]
America still maintained diplomatic ties with Castro’s government, but relations were strained and the situation between the two countries was clearly deteriorating. A conflict surrounding sugar imports to the United States along with American condemnation of tightening government controls on Cuba’s press, trade unions, and universities angered Castro. Cuba had also resumed diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, welcoming the new Russian Ambassador Sergei Kudryatsev. Fifteen years earlier, Kudryatsev had been declared persona non grata by the Canadian government after being linked to an extensive network of Soviet spies in that country.6 The Soviet Union now had a toehold in the Western Hemisphere, a “friend” in Castro, and a presence just ninety miles from the United States.
From the U.S. perspective, the signals Castro sent out to the world in speeches and interviews were mixed. Human rights abuses were reported by Cuban refugees in Florida and the Cuban leader’s pledges not to nationalize businesses seemed hollow. In one of his odder pronouncements, Castro banned Santa Claus along with the importation of Christmas trees in December 1959, bizarrely labeling both St. Nick and spruce trees as “imperialistic.”7
As formal rupture of relations between the two countries became more likely, the CIA began making “stay behind” arrangements for intelligence activities on the island. Stocks of technical gear and espionage equipment were cached in the countryside. Agents who could no longer safely be met in person were given alternate communications plans and covcom systems, such as secret-writing materials and maps to the cache sites.
During the summer of 1960, CIA officers had spotted suspected surveillance by Cuban security officers, prompting the office in Havana to organize a small countersurveillance team of recruited Cubans to protect its operations.8 At the same time, other elements of the CIA were already planning White House-approved covert operations against Cuba, including an armed invasion of the island by a refugee counterrevolutionary force and a possible assassination of the Cuban leader.9
The September audio operation took on urgency with the possibility that all official Americans could be ordered out of Cuba, rendering support for any technical attack virtually impossible. Already, a similar audio operation a month earlier against another target failed because of logistical problems. Adding to this growing list of concerns, September was midway through the hurricane season, and Hurricane Donna, forming in the Caribbean, threatened to disrupt travel to Cuba and upset operational timing.10 Given the circumstances, a delay of even a few days could see this opportunity slip away.
A TSD team was needed to take advantage of a rapidly closing window of opportunity, but audio techs were in short supply. It was late summer and some were on annual leave, others scattered in transit to new assignments, and ongoing operations consumed the remainder.
Wally, an experienced field tech on home leave after a tour in Asia, was redirected to the operation, and postponed a visit to his parents. Andy, an engineer who developed audio gear, saw the operation as a chance to get his feet wet by helping in a routine installation. The firsthand experience, he believed, would help him to understand and anticipate operational problems and design better equipment for the techs in the field. Dave, as head of the personnel-strapped audio unit, also stepped up to the requirement. No one had any reason to believe the three would not be home within a few days.11
After making contact with their case officer in Havana, the techs unpacked the tools and audio equipment. Everything was in order, when fate threw the team a curve. Unexpectedly the building owner got cold feet and withdrew the offer for access. It was a disappointing development, but the case officer conveying the news to the techs assured them their trip would not be in vain. The local