Crusade of Revolutionaries Against Communism
(CRAC)
[Reference: NARA RIF #124-10294-10061]
June 30, 1959
The Director
Mr. A. H. Belmont
1-Mr. Belmont
1-Mr. Donahoe
1-Mr. Nasca
1-Liaison
ANTI-FIDEL CASTRO ACTIVITIES
INTERNAL SECURITY-CUBA
Mr. I. Irving Davidson, registered Nicaraguan agent who has been
volunteering information during past two months regarding the Caribbean
developments, contacted me at 4 p.m. today and said he had urgent
information to impart. I arranged to see Davidson at 4:30 p.m. at
which time he related the following story to myself and Special Agent
R. D. Cotter:
Davidson said that he has spent much of his time during the past 10
days with Captain Francisco Rodriguez, Cuban Army captain who recently
defected from the Castro regime, and his cousin, Francisco Maria
Rodriguez Couceiro, an attorney who came to United States (US) with
Captain Rodriguez. Both Captain Rodriguez and Rodriguez Couceiro
have been previously interviewed by Bureau and are self-admitted
representatives of anti-Castro group known as Crusade of
Revolutionaries Against Communism (CRAC). Davidson claimed that
he had arranged with them to meet Cardinal Spellman of New York and
Spruille Braden, former prominent US diplomat in South America, last
week. He said both Spellman and Braden approved CRAC's plans to
oust Castro.
According to Davidson, there are at least a half dozen different
anti-Castro organizations in and out of Cuba; however, the CRAC group
is the only one which is well organized, heavily backed by the
"substantial" people in Cuba (professional men, engineers, etc.), and
has sufficient financial support to pose a real threat to Castro.
In the latter connection, Davidson said that CRAC is being backed by
the wealthy Cuban sugar magnate, Julio Lobo, although this fact is a
highly guarded secret known to only a few people. He described
Julio Lobo as probably the wealthiest individual in Cuba who owned a
number of sugar mills and who is internationally known in financial
circles. Davidson expressed the belief that if responsible US
leaders knew that Lobo had aligned himself with CRAC forces, the US
might adopt a more favorable attitude and might be willing to encourage
CRAC leaders in their plans.
Davidson said that Lobo is now in the US undergoing an extensive
medical examination at the Leahy Clinic in Boston and that it is
expected Lobo will spend several days this week at the Boston Memorial
Hospital under the care of Paul Dudley White, who attended President
Eisenhower following his heart attack. Davidson said that Lobo is
also maintaining a suite at the Sherry-Netherlands Hotel, Room 1809,
New York City. According to Davidson, Lobo's current visit to US
was not prompted primarily by need for medical examination but was made
in hope of contacting US officials and securing US approval for CRAC
plans.
1-Bufile (2-1423) (Davidson)
I09-584
RDC:mth
(6)
[page 2]
Memorandum to The Director
Re: Anti-Fidel Castro Activities
109-584
Davidson claimed that with knowledge of Lobo, Captain Rodriguez, and
Rodriguez Couceiro, he has been in touch with Mr. McCray of the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the past week. Davidson believes
that McCray is CIA expert on Cuba. Davidson had advised McCray of
Lobo's connection with CRAC and of latter's desire to discuss Cuban
situation with responsible US officials. According to Davidson,
McCray expressed great interest at first and indicated he would
immediately notify top CIA officials, including Allen Dulles. In
fact, McCray reportedly indicated to Davidson that a CIA representative
would be in touch with Lobo at New York City on June 29. Davidson
said that, despite this assurance by McCray, Lobo has not has yet been
contacted by CIA or other US representatives.
As a result, Davidson said that Lobo and other CRAC leaders have
indicated that they may be forced to deal with Generalissimo Trujillo
of the Dominican Republic and with irresponsible Cuban elements
(referred to by Davidson as "riffraff") who have taken refugee in
Dominican Republic. In this connection, Davidson pointed out the
CRAC leaders have up to now avoided any entanglement with Trujillo or
Cuban forces in Dominican Republic (led by Jose Pedraza and Colonel
Esteban Ventura), despite tempting offers to join forces.
However, CRAC leaders feel that if they do not get approval of US they
will be forced to make a pact with Trujillo.
Davidson said that Lobo and other CRAC representatives did not desire
any material assistance from US in the way of money or men. He
said that Lobo had already pledged to completely underwrite the
campaign against Castro from the financial standpoint and that CRAC's
military plans were already formulated without any reliance on US
assistance. He said that the CRAC leaders only wanted one
assurance from US; namely, they wanted US to guarantee that when the
attack against Castro is launched, and Davidson indicated it would come
from Guatemala, US would see to it that there is no interference from
Trujillo or Cuban "riffraff" in Dominican Republic. Davidson said
that he has already advised McCray of CIA of the foregoing as well as
the decision of CRAC leaders to join forces with Trujillo if the US
does not give its approval within the next day or two.
Davidson pointed out that, according to his information, Cuban forces
in Dominican Republic plan to attack Cuba within next 20 days.
OBSERVATION:
Concerning Lobo, Bureau files show his full name is Julio Lobo
Olavarria. He is reputed to be worth several hundred million
dollars and for a number of years has been dominant figure in Cuban
sugar industry.
[page3]
According to CIA National Intelligence [CAN NOT READ] Cuba, Lobo,
included as one of key Cuban personalities, has reputation for sharp
and unethical practices and is considered strictly an opportunist
politically. He was born in Venezuela 10-30-98 and during World
War II his firm, Galban, Lobo and Company, acquired unsavory;
reputation for dealing in black market and reportedly contributed money
to fascist groups in Cuba. During 1942-1943 FBI conducted
investigation of Galban, Lobo and Company and several affiliates,
including his New York representative, the Olavarria Sugar Corporation,
to determine whether they were engaged in pro-German activities;
however, investigation failed to develop any substantial evidence of
pro-German activities or other activities inimical to US interests.
I pointed out to Davidson that the facts he had to furnished appeared
to involve a policy matter which is within the province of other US
agencies. I again reminded him the FBI is not in a position to
set policy and that our function is simply to collect intelligence and
conduct investigations where appropriate. I also pointed out to
Davidson that he had already given the facts in this matter to CIA and
that CIA has presumably discussed the situation with the State
Department, but that in view of possible significance of data we would
disseminate it to the interested agencies. I told Davidson that
other agencies would be in a better position to properly evaluate this
data if it was openly attributed to him and he readily agreed that his
name should be disclosed as the source.
ACTION:
We are making appropriate dissemination under date of 7-1-59 of the
information provided by Davidson to State Department, CIA, the military
agencies, the Joint Staff, and the Department. Facts related by
Davidson are being set forth without comment.
End of Page
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