Official History of
II
Frente, Alpha 66, M.R.P.
June, 1965.
[NOTE:
This history of Alpha 66 was
obtained from an American who received it for a donation
of six
dollars.
The American writes:
"Back in
the 1960's I was a young,
very anti-communist, idealistic high school student.
(I am still
anti-communist and idealistic, but no longer quite
so young, alas!) I
was in
mail contact with Alpha 66 and Comandos L, and for a
couple of
years my ambition was
to go to Florida, get training, and take part in
raids against Castro. Only the fact that a
bus ticket to Miami was $88
from Texas kept me from doing it. I took
Spanish in high
school solely
because I wanted to get involved in all this...Ah,
to be innocent
again! I
recall sending a $6 donation, which was a lot of
money to me
at the time; it went into the
provisions for a boat that the US
captured. I got a very nice letter from a guy
in the Miami
office
thanking me; I don't suppose they had a lot of
supporters of my age..."]
This circular has been prepared to furnish detailed
information on
II Frente-Alpha 66-MRP and our struggle for Freedom
and Democracy
in Cuba through the destruction of the Communist regime of
Fidel
Castro. The history, plan of action (Plan Omega), and
aspirations for the Cuba of tomorrow, of our organization
are
briefly covered.
I. History of
II Frente-Alpha 66-M. R. P.
A. El Segundo Frente Nacional del Escambray - The
Second National Front of the Escambray
The Second National Front of the Escambray (II Frente) was
organized 10
November 1957 at Banao, Las Villas Province, in the
Escambray Mountains
by Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, Jesus Carreara, Domingo Ortega
Gomez, Evarado
Salas Valdes, Anastasio Cardenas and others. The
Second
Front was formed to fight the Batista dictatorship then
ruling Cuba,
and took its name from the Escambray Mountain range, 150
miles from
Havana and the fact that it was a second front of war
against the
Batista regime, while, the rebels in the remote Sierra
Maestra in
Oriente Province, under Castro, constituted the "first
front".
The II Frente rapidly grew in size, drawing support from the
universities, non-Communist political parties, and other
democratic
elements, until it numbered 3,000 armed men, under the
command of 23
year old Cmdte. Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo by the end of December
1958. (The fact that II Frente, as contrasted to the
26 July
Movement of Castro, has always been almost completely free
of Communist
infiltration is a source of great pride to our
organization.)
With the triumph of the Revolution, II Frente, as with 98%
of the Cuban
people, was willing to accept the leadership of Fidel
Castro, and most
of the leaders and members returned to private life.
As the
Communist ties of Castro and his cohorts became evident, II
Frente
gradually became opposed to and alienated from the
government, and
planned to return to war. By mid - 1960, II Frente was
in
conspiracy against Castro; two of the leaders, Cmdtes Jesus
Cabrera and
William Morgan were arrested in October 1960 (and shot March
11, 1961),
but most of the leadership escaped - many arriving in exile
at Key
West, January 27, 1961. They were detained by
immigration
authorities at McAllen, Texas until June 8, 1961, and then
released. (Meanwhile, the thousands of guerrillas who
had
returned to the Escambray Mountains were gradually
eliminated by
Castro; the last survivors escaped to the US in early March
1961.) After their release, the exiled leaders set
about
reorganizing II Frente in Miami, in exile, and coordinating
their
activities with their subordinates in Cuba who had escaped
detection,
and had re-established II Frente inside Cuba. By late
December
1961, Menoyo was able to announce that powerful guerrilla
units had
risen up in Cuba on November 10, 1961, and that II Frente
Nacional del
Escambray was again functioning as a military force in the
Escambray
mountains. The military commander in the hills, Cmdte
Evarado
Salas, however, was captured and shot July 19, 1962; sector
commander
Capt. Alberto Tartabul died in battle in August; Capt.
Adolfo Sargen
Perez died in May 1963; and many other leaders and soldiers
of II
Frente died in subsequent months, but replacements have
always been
ready and willing, and II Frente continues to exists as an
organized
guerrilla force inside the island to the present.
Since June
1961, the exiled leaders and men of the organization have
devoted all
their efforts to aiding their companions inside Cuba and
preparing to
return to battle there, themselves.
B. Alpha 66
Alpha 66, the prototype and the most famous of the Cuban
exile commando
organizations, was founded in February 1962 in Puerto Rico,
by Antonio
Veciana, from members of the Association of Public
Accountants of Cuba
(in exile), former businessmen, and former associates in the
M.R.P.
underground in Cuba. (where Veciana had been chief-of-action
for three
of Cuba's six provinces) The organization took its name from
the first
letter of the Greek alphabet, signifying the beginning of
the war
against Castro from exile, and from the 66 men present at
the first
meeting. Originally organized to use the members'
financial
experience to raise money for military action against
Castro, it soon
became one of the most famous anti-Castro military
organizations.
The first of its famous commando raids occurred on September
10, 1962,
when two Cuban ships were destroyed and an English
freighter, the
Newlane, damaged in Caibarien harbor. The raiders
managed to
defeat pursuers in an air-sea battle and escape. The
next attack
followed on October 8, 1962, when commandos landed on the
Cuban coast
and attacked a Russian base at Isabella de Sagua, in Las
Villas
Province, capturing arms and flags, and killing 20 Russian
soldiers. Shortly thereafter, on October 19, 1962, it
was
announced that Alpha 66 and II Frente Nacional del Escambray
had united
to further the war against Communism in Cuba. Under
the command
of Cmdte Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, the next attack was carried
out at Juan
Francisco Beach in Las Villas Province December 4,
1962. The next
and most important attack came on March 17, 1963, when the
commandos
entered the harbor of Isabella de Sagua and sank the Russian
ship Lvov
at the dock, by gunfire. This, coupled with a similar
attack by
another group of raiders a few days later, against the
Russian ship
Baku, resulted in the attempted suppression of the
activities of II
Frente-Alpha 66 by US authorities, in obedience to Russian
demands. Leaders were arrested and ordered not to
leave the
limits of Dade County, Florida; pressured by the US, the
British raided
the base at Key Williams in the Bahamas and confiscated much
material;
Menoyo was arrested by a British naval vessel in
international
waters. Nevertheless, despite this harassment, the
organization
vowed to continue: On May 19, 1963, in the most spectacular
raid to
date, a training camp for foreign Communists at Tarar Beach,
16 miles
from Havana, was attacked and destroyed. Meanwhile,
Menoyo was in
New York City, to announce that a pact was being signed in
Tampa,
Florida, proclaiming the incorporation of the M.R.P. into
the alliance
of II Frente and Alpha 66.
C. M. R. P. -
Movimiento Revolucionario del Pueblo
The MRP, or Revolutionary Movement of the People, was formed
inside
Cuba by a group of high officials of the Revolutionary
Government of
Cuba, and others, who considered that the treasonous
adherence to
Communism by Fidel Castro had been a betrayal of the
Revolution.
By late 1960, the MRP had become the most important
anti-Castro
underground organization inside Cuba. Because of the
large size
and high degree of activity, the top leaders of the MRP soon
became
known to the G-2, or Secret Police, and were gradually
driven into
exile, by police pursuit. The round-up of all
suspected
anti-Communists at the time of the Bay of Pigs fiasco also
damaged the
organization, although it was able to rebuild. A
comprehensive
plan for a rebellion was attempted to be put into operation
in October
of 1961, but an informer betrayed the attempt, and Veciana
and other
leaders were forced to flee. In exile, these leaders
and others
organized a branch of the MRP to aid the organization still
inside
Cuba, which had again been rebuilt.
With the unification of the three groups on May 19, 1963,
all efforts
were devoted solely to military preparation for Plan
Omega. For
over a year the organization devoted itself to raising funds
establishing delegations, recruiting men and obtaining a
secure base
for training and operations. On September 17, 1963,
Menoyo
declared that he expected to be able to begin military
operations in
about six months. In the first week of May, 1964, amid
an air of
mystery and expectation, Menoyo and a number of his former
officers and
men disappeared completely, followed by others in the weeks
that
passed. Nothing except rumor was heard by the public
for eight
months, and then, on January 24, 1965, the Communist
government of Cuba
announced that Cmdte Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, and three of his
officers,
Captains Domingo Ortega Gomez, Noel Salas Santos, and
Ramonin Quesada
Acosta had been captured by militia and army troops the day
before at
Baracoa, Oriente Province. After a propaganda display
on Cuban
television, the four have been confined in G-2 prisons in
Havana,
without a word as to their future fate. (After their
capture, Castro
claimed that the Dominican Republic had allowed II
Frente-Alpha 66-MRP
to operate a base in that country, and that the government
had given
the organization various forms of military aid.) On
February 9,
1965 Cmdte Armando Fleites Diaz, an MD graduate of Havana
University,
and formerly Menoyo's second in command, was named military
commander
by the leaders of II Frente-Alpha66-MRP, and initiated plan
to continue
the military operations as before. On April 24, 1965,
Communist
dominated rebellion broke out in the Dominican Republic,
causing
removal of the base of operations to another area
temporarily. At
present writing, July 1965, Plan Omega continues in
preparation as
before, with only minor changes.
II. Plan Omega
In the history of II Frente-Alpha 66-MRP and its military
operations
against the Communist regime in Cuba, there has been two
stages: the
period of commando operations, from September 1962 to May
1963, and the
period of Plan Omega, from May 19, 1963 to the
present. The
famous commando attacks were carried out with a dual
purpose: First, to
demonstrate that the aura of invincibility that had grown up
around the
Castro tyranny after the failure of the Bay of Pigs, was a
myth - that
Castro was vulnerable and could be attacked and defeated at
selected
weak points; second, to bring proof to those still suffering
inside
Cuba, particularly to those members of the organization
still fighting
in the underground of the MRP and as guerrillas of II
Frente, that the
Cubans in exile had not forgotten their country and their
duty to it,
and were continuing to fight to free Cuba from exile.
With the
completion of the series of attacks, the exile community and
the people
inside Cuba had learned that Castro regime was vulnerable -
especially
after commandos of II Frente-Alpha 66 had landed on the
beach at
Tarara, 16 miles from the heavily guarded capitol, and had
destroyed a
Communist training school there. Since the objective
was the
eventual liberation of Cuba, it was time to turn from these
military/propaganda operations to the strictly military
operations that
could defeat the Communist regime decisively, and destroy
it. At
this time, taking into account both the capacities of the
organization
inside and outside Cuba, and the strengths and weaknesses of
the
Communist regime, a coordinated plan was drawn-up,
encompassing these
aspects, and containing many elements designed to direct the
strength
of the organization most effectively to the liberation of
Cuba.
From Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet -
signifying the end,
this plan was proclaimed to the public as Plan Omega, the
end of the
Communist regime. The plan, following the historical
pattern of
resistance to tyranny in Cuba's history, centers around the
internal
rebellion, sparked by external elements. Often in
describing
"Plan Omega", it is easier to mention first what it is not,
since
mistaken impressions seem to envision completely different
military/political strategies. First, Plan Omega
involves no
frontal attack or invasion nor conventional warfare of any
form.
After the sad experience of the Bay of Pigs, it should be
obvious that,
with any army of 100,000, a militia of 300,000 and a strong
defensive
air force and anti-aircraft defense system, supporting the
Castro-Communist regime, to engage in "conventional war"
with Cuba,
involving involving landings on beaches, etc. would be
impossible
to all except the most powerful military nations on
earth.
Second, Plan Omega does not support the organization of any
Cuban
Government-in exile, but rather calls for the establishment
of a
Government-in-arms inside Cuba, representing both those in
Cuba who are
opposed to and fighting against the Communist regime, and
those from
exile who have returned to their country to fight.
Third, Plan
Omega does not depend or nor expect any action on the part
of the OAS,
the United States, or any Latin American nation against
Castro's Cuba
since II Frente-Alpha66-MRP feels that Cuban Communism is a
Cuban
problem, to be solved - and destroyed by the efforts and
sacrifices of
the Cuban people, with any help that may be forthcoming from
individual
supporters from other nations. Fourth, while II
Frente-Alpha66-MRP fully supports all economic measures
taken against
the Communist regime in Havana, it feels that war, rather
than
blockades and boycotts hold the key to the liberation of
Cuba - a
Second War for Independence to be waged by the Cuban people
themselves
for the redemption of their homeland. Rejecting these
methods as
impractical, ineffective or unfeasible, then our
organization turns to
the historic pattern of Cuban rebellion, dating back to the
struggle
for independence against colonial Spain in 1868-95.
Relying upon
elements still inside Cuba, those who have continued there
the struggle
as guerrilla units of II Frente Nacional del Escambray, or
in the
nation-wide underground of the MRP, plus other
anti-Communist elements
that have escaped detection or capture, Plan Omega calls for
a renewal
of guerrilla warfare and sabotage on a wide scale.
This rebellion
or insurrection however, must be sparked and led from the
outside by
elements in exile, as has always been the case in Cuba to
provide the
leadership, and to provide the impetus and organization to
the revolt
by their return. Following the classic pattern of
guerrilla
warfare and rebellion (as illustrated by current Communist
efforts
throughout the world), Plan Omega then envisions a gradual
increase of
rebellion inside Cuba, until, with the increasing successes
of
guerrillas, the revolt will rise into a vast sea of
increasingly open
opposition to the Communist regime, until Communism is
eventually swept
from the island forever. Plan Omega realizing that the most
difficult
aspect of the plan is the establishment of the guerrilla
front in the
mountains, when the guerrillas and cadres must fight fierce
Communist
resistance to continue their existence as a force, accepts
that perhaps
many attempts will be made and many will fail, with the loss
of many
officers and men, before the first stage is passed, and the
guerrilla
front is secure in its existence, and able to assume the
offensive. With this grim but willing determination to
accept
early defeats to assure the later establishment of military
force
inside the island, Plan Omega is invincible. With
willingness to
continue until the ultimate victory, regardless of how many
must fall
to achieve the liberty of our country, success is
inevitable.
III. PLATFORM
Our platform or Program, as a basis for the Free Cuba of
tomorrow, was
accepted by II Frente-Alpha66-MRP at the time of their
unification, at
Tampa, Florida, May 19, 1963, in a pact signed in front of
the statue
of Jose Marti, Apostle of the Liberation of Cuba. The
present
platform or program is based on an earlier one drawn up by
II
Frente, a year earlier. In a long and detailed
document, the
ideology of the organization was detailed, together with
recommendations and suggestions for the cure of various ills
that exist
in Cuba society that paved the way for the dictatorship of
Batista and
the Communist regime of Castro. The eight page
document has been
translated into English, and summarized as the following
twelve points:
1. A representative, democratic system of
government,
with the re-establishment of all human rights and liberties;
condemnation of all dictatorships.
2. The authoritative re-establishment of
the
Constitution of 1940, with its juridicial [juridical] powers
and laws.
3. The exercise of popular sovereignty
through the celebration of prompt free elections.
4. A democratic land reform, which will
determine
just payments for land and facilitate its ownership by the
farmer who
works it.
5. The acknowledgment and respect of
the rights
of private property and a system of free competition within
present day
economic principles.
6. The acknowledgment of the gains of
labor and the freedom to organize unions.
7. The support of the establishment of a
program of compulsory military service.
8. The refusal to acknowledge any treaties
or
commitments made by the present Communist regime, especially
those with
the Communist block, with whom relations will never be
maintained.
9. The freedom of education, supervision
of public
schools, respect for private education, and support of full
autonomy of
the Universities.
10. Support for a plan of low-cost public
housing for
classes of small resources, to be available by means of
long-term
payments to be established by law.
11. The demand for the banishment of
Communism in all
its forms, and with all its fellow-traveling organizations.
12. The support for equality of all Cubans
before the
law, with the guarantee of freedom of worship, and the
acceptance of
moral standards of Christianity as the criterion of human
existence.
(Complete copies of the platform in Spanish are available)
PREPARED BY THE PROPAGANDA DEPARTMENT OF II FRENTE NACIONAL
DEL
ESCAMBRAY-ALPHA 66-MOVIMIENTO REVOLUCIONARIO DEL PUEBLO,
JUNE 26, 1965.
National Headquarters in Exile: 109 S.W. 12th Avenue, Miami,
Florida
End of Page
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