LIBERAL
Cuban
GROUPS
PRO-CUBAN GOVERNMENT
[REF: binder part 19 ]
Organization Name:
ALIANZA DE TRABAJADORES DE LA
COMUNIDAD
(ATC)
(Community Workers Alliance)
Leader: Walfrido Moreno
Address: 4431 SW 75 Ave., Miami, FL
(meetings)
Prominent members: Varela, Clara (Vice President)
De La Fuente, Evelio
Navarro, Julio
Synopsis:
Walfrido Moreno arrived and settled in New York City in the
late
1940's.
In the late 1950's Moreno returned to Cuba and resided there
for a
brief
period of time. While in Cuba, Moreno held a minor
post in
Fulgencio
Batista's government, but soon he became disenchanted with
what he
termed
as "governmental abuses" and he abandoned his post.
Moreno
remained
in Cuba until Fidel Castro's takeover, and during that time,
he
befriended
many high ranking revolutionary army officers.
Moreno returned to the U.S. in the mid-1960s and resumed
anonymity.
In 1978, Moreno and a group of Cuban exile figures joined
what was
later
termed "The 75 Group". The group, led by Bernardo
Benes and Rev.
Manuel
Espinosa, travelled to Cuba and engaged in a political
dialogue with
Cuban
government officials. As a result of the encounter
between Cuban
exiles
and Cuban officials, the Cuban government agreed to release
hundreds of
political
prisoners and to re-open flights between Havana and
Miami. While
in
Cuba Moreno reaffirmed his ties with high ranking government
figures.
Having achieved their humanitarian goals, Walfrido Moreno
and dialogue
participants
Marcos Raul Correa and Vicente Dopico established ATC.
As
originally
planned, the objective of ATC was to develop an amicable
relationship
with
Cuban government officials which would enable Cuban exiles
to travel to
Cuba.
According to Moreno, family reunification was his ultimate
goal, and he
became
disenchanted with Correa and Dopico's profiteering
tactics. As a
result
Moreno removed them from the organization. ATC
continued its
reunification
flights until the early 1980s, when Cuba canceled its
reunification
plan.
According to Moreno, ATC consists of approximately 3000
members.
Members
pay a monthly club fee of $10 and become eligible to travel
to
Cuba.
ATC selects travelers every month and submits their
names to the
Cuban
Interest Section in Washington DC. Those persons who
are
permitted
to travel to the island are issued a visa by the Cuban
government and
are
later given a travel date. ATC members purchase their
airline
tickets
solely through ABC Charters.
Moreno claims to have an amicable relationship with ABC
Charters owner
Vivian
Mannerud, however, he does not conduct business with Marazul
Travel or
CBT
Tours.
Moreno's family reunification views have been perceived as
open
collaboration
with the Cuban government, and as a result, ATC group
members have
encountered
hostile anti-Castro demonstrators at various rally sites.
Organization Name:
ANTONIO MACEO BRIGADE
Leader: Andres Gomez
Address: Miami, FL
Prominent members: Salazar, Manning
Soto, Felisa
Meyerson, Harold A.
Zorn, Jean G.
Smith, Geoffrey D.
Prieto, Yolanda
Valdes, Nelson
Synopsis:
The Antonio Maceo Brigade is a leftist organization, headed
by Cuban
exile
Andres Gomez, which has been involved in local activism
since the
mid-1970s.
In the past, the organization has had close ties with the
Workers
Socialist
Party and ATC. The group publishes a marxist newspaper
entitled
"Areito".
Andres Gomez and Walfrido Moreno of ATC travel to Cuba on a
monthly
basis.
Organization Name:
SHEPHERDS FOR PEACE
Leader: Rev. Lucious Walker
Synopsis:
Promoters of "Friendship Caravan", a goodwill gesture which
generated
medicine
and other essentials for the Cuban government.
Assembly of
liberal
and leftist groups throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Organization Name:
CUBAN COMMITTEE OF BAY OF PIGS
VETERANS
Leader : Miguel Guitart
Prominent members: Belen Torres
Synopsis:
Guitart, a self proclaimed socialist, has chastised U.S.
government's
foreign
policy towards Cuba. According to Guitart his group
consists
approximately
of 110 members. The group publishes two liberal
newspapers
entitled
"Giron" and "Argos Iberoamericana".
Organization Name:
SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY
Leader: Tom Fiske
Synopsis:
A registered political party that advocates leftist
views. Groups
leadership
has close relationship with the Antonio Maceo Brigade and
ATC.
Organization Name:
VA POR CUBA!
Leader: Rodolfo Echevarria
Synopsis:
Group representatives have demonstrated at U.S. Government
facilities.
In favor of lenient commerce guidelines between U.S. and
Cuba.
Member
group of "Shepherds for the Peace".
End of Page
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