Cubans in Scandinavia

[James Richards]

I'm wondering if anyone has any information regarding the following.

In mid 1962, two Cuban exiles made a trip to Finland to attend the World Youth and Student Peace and Friendship Festival. Their names were John Koch and Enrique Felix Beloya and they arrived there via a stop over in Stockholm. These guys were from the DRE and their plan was to write 'DRE' all over the walls of the Cuban deligate's quarters.

Now this seems like a long way to go and an expensive trip just to participate in vandalism.

John Koch is a very interesting character given that he was closely associated with Manuel Artime and Rafael Quintero. He was also an Agency asset with the cryptonym AM/HINT-26.

In August of 1963, Koch was also in cahoots with Victor Hernandez in a plot to bomb Cuban targets using explosives sourced in New Orleans. He was also mixed up with the infamous Louisiana training camp.

Koch was born in Havana but looked white.

If anyone can add some details regarding the Scandinavian trip it would be greatly appreciated.

James

Edited June 6, 2007 by James Richards

[Antti Hynonen]

James,

Not that I'd personally know any details about these festivals (nor the 1962 festival itself, a bit before my time), but at any, rate I came across an interesting article on the net, which claims the CIA funded the participation of some Americans for such trips.

http://www.cia-on-campus.org/surveil/steinem.html

Perhaps this helps explain how Koch and Beloya were able to finance their little excursion.

[Antti Hynonen]

http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsingin_nuo...estivaalit_1962

The above for those who read Finnish . According to the Wikipedia article above, the USA and UK initiated a simultaneous "counter-festival" with more western and non-communist views. It was for this purpose that the CIA and US goverment would pay for and send some participants. It seems like such festivals were of a great concern to the west at the time.

The DRE is mentioned as a participant organization in the counter festival.

FWIW

Edited June 6, 2007 by Antti Hynonen

[Francesca Akhtar]

James, I don't know if you have seen this memo but it has some more details on the trip:

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...mp;relPageId=28

(it continues on the page after as well)

[John Dolva]

My apologies for cramming a lot into this post. In looking for an answer there seems to be numerous avenues to explore, some, or none of the following may be fruitful. Particularly perhaps the rather delicate position Finland was in at that time as far as balancing western and eastern interests.

Some apparently disjointed items of interest:

While apparently disjointed, they together show that Scandinavia at this period of time was an important nexus for cold war aspects, as well as the anti-apartheid stance as opposed to the Southern US segregated states pro Apartheid stance.

LBJ: "Among his trips this year (61) was a visit to Scandinavia in September. His tour of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, countries that had never before received an American official of his rank, was intended to reassure them of United States interest in their welfare.

...He also represented the United States at the funeral, in Stockholm, for Dag Hammarskjold*, former secretary general of the United Nations."

*"Tomorrow we shall meet,

Death and I -.

And he shall thrust his sword

Into one who is wide awake"

There also was/is an American-Swedish society that Lyndon visited in Stockholm.

____________________

The MSC had an interest in the trips as well:

http://www.mdah.state.ms.us/arlib/contents...31|2|1|1|56198|

____________________

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/spe...l/fl/f210}5.htm

Box: 4 Fold: 39 Sweden - Dwight D. Eisenhower: Visit 1962 - Correspondence

July 1962 DESCRIPTION: Contains correspondence from Dwight D. Eisenhower to J. Graham Parsons, re the former's visit to Sweden, 1962. Total 3 letters: TLS 7/16/1962, TLS 7/31/1962, and 1 autograph transcription of undated letter. Includes xerox copies for dated letters.

Box: 4 Fold: 40 Sweden - Dwight D. Eisenhower: Visit 1962 - Memos/Itineraries

July 1962 DESCRIPTION: Contains mimeograph copies of typed U.S. embassy memoranda and itineraries relating to the visit of Dwight D. Eisenhower to Sweden.

Box: 4 Fold: 41 Sweden - Dwight D. Eisenhower: Visit 1962 - Photographs

July 1962 DESCRIPTION: Contains b/w photographs taken during visit of Dwight D. Eisenhower to Sweden.

__________________________

John Steinbeck wrote speeches for Lyndon Johnson and he did some work for the United Nations. The climax of his years as a writer came on December 10, 1962, in Stockholm, Sweden, when he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

___________________________

A delicate diplomacy:

http://www.answers.com/topic/neutralism

"The Kennedy Years John F. Kennedy was the willing heir to this relationship with Europe's neutrals. Mirroring the findings of the 1955 neutralism study, a State Department study released in 1961 admitted that there were many variants of neutralism arising from "unique, indigenous conditions." The new administration was reassured by the fact that the European neutrals were stable nations that had proved impervious to communist influence, so Washington was content to let these favorable trends mature.

Illustrative of Kennedy's approach was his response to a visit to Washington in the fall of 1961 by Finland's President Urho Kekkonen and the subsequent "note crisis" provoked by Moscow... On his visit to Washington, Kekkonen met with Kennedy and received a public endorsement for his country's neutral course.

Soon thereafter, alarmed by Finland's expanding outreach to the West, Khrushchev sent an official note to Helsinki invoking the consultation clause of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, a move that potentially threatened Finland's sovereignty...The U.S. ambassador to Finland privately reassured the Finns of America's support, then bowed to Helsinki's wish to address the crisis in its own way. After a visit to the Soviet Union, Kekkonen succeeded in defusing the crisis with Finland's independence still intact."

So concurrent with this period, Lyndon, his occasional speech writer, and Eisenhower, all passed through the area.

Neutralism (Sweden) and an independent/neutral Finland was a major issue in the Cold war.

__________________________

http://www.palmecenter.org/RegionsAndCount...outhAfrica.aspx

"In the early 60’s the Swedish labour movement became involved in the struggle against the apartheid regime, and contributed in many ways to its fall. As early as 1961 then Prime Minister Tage Erlander took part in an ANC meeting in Lund (in southern Sweden) on what Sweden could do in the struggle for freedom, and Olof Palme did not spare words when he spoke against apartheid. The labour movement was among those strongly involved in ISAK (the Isolate South Africa Committee), and as a result Sweden was the first country visited by Nelson Mandela when he was freed from prison."

(Olof Palme was also to become a major anti Vietnam war activist as well as a supporter of Cuba's sovereignty. A look at the formation of the non-aligned movement of which Cuba is the current head may not go amiss.)

http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people4/S...chori-con5.html

Sweden's Leadership Role

"Tell us a little about how Sweden's foreign policy and the kinds of commitments you had talked about earlier, coming out of your party, related to that millennium agenda. Because when one looks at the record, Sweden, across the board, takes a leadership role in many of these areas, and for a small state it's surprising. One always thinks that it's only the major powers who can contribute.

-In 1962, already, we set up the 0.7 goal of GNP for foreign assistance, because we saw that as part of our national security policy, that as long as you're having injustices and poverty and conflicts out there, we can never in the long run develop our own society behind walls, or under a glass. This was in '62, and there was Olof Palme, he was secretary of that group. It was the same time when the War on Poverty started in this country, or was announced by Lyndon Johnson and Michael Harrington, which inspired us -- we knew Michael Harrington, Palme met him, too, and that inspired us, too.

But there were two wars on poverty. Ours, in '62, was against world poverty, because we had already gotten started on our own society. Lyndon's was the [domestic] War on Poverty, which was obvious, then. Again, there was a war that disturbed that -- Vietnam, of course. So over the years, we have set aside a lot of money for development and cooperation, and I think that we made a difference in many fields where other countries held back. The anti-apartheid struggle, for instance, we were early on involved in humanitarian support and legal support to the ANC, and also for liberation movements. That was very important."

Martin Luther King's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech December 10, 1964 Oslo, Norway

"I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when twenty-two million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award in behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice.

I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeing to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sunctuary to those who would not accept segregation..."

Nobel Peace Prize

http://nobelpeaceprize.org/eng_com_nom.html

"The prize awarding ceremony on December 10 is the final result of a long selection process. The rules permit a division of the prize among no more than three laureates. The Norwegian Nobel Committee bases its assessment on nominations that must be postmarked no later than 1 February each year. Later nominations are included in the following year's discussions."

"Information about the nominations, investigations, and opinions concerning the award is kept secret for fifty years."

"Nomination for the Nobel Prizes

Each year the respective Nobel Committees send individual invitations to thousands of members of academies, university professors, scientists from numerous countries, previous Nobel Laureates, members of parliamentary assemblies and others, asking them to submit candidates for the Nobel Prizes for the coming year. These nominators are chosen in such a way that as many countries and universities as possible are represented over time."

(The data base shows that by 1955 King had not been nominated. So he was nominated at some time between then and late 1963. The nominees won't become public knowledge until 2013.)

__________________

So, in many ways Scandinavia, and perhaps Finland in particular in some isses, was an important region at the time of this youth conference. We have a number of Scandinavian Forum members, Norway, Sweden and Finland who could perhaps look locally into this?

[John Dolva]

My apologies for cramming a lot into this post. In looking for an answer there seems to be numerous avenues to explore, some, or none of the following may be fruitful. Particularly perhaps the rather delicate position Finland was in at that time as far as balancing western and eastern interests.

Some apparently disjointed items of interest:

While apparently disjointed, they together show that Scandinavia at this period of time was an important nexus for cold war aspects, as well as the anti-apartheid stance as opposed to the Southern US segregated states pro Apartheid stance.

LBJ: "Among his trips this year (61) was a visit to Scandinavia in September. His tour of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, countries that had never before received an American official of his rank, was intended to reassure them of United States interest in their welfare.

...He also represented the United States at the funeral, in Stockholm, for Dag Hammarskjold*, former secretary general of the United Nations."

*"Tomorrow we shall meet,

Death and I -.

And he shall thrust his sword

Into one who is wide awake"

There also was/is an American-Swedish society that Lyndon visited in Stockholm.

____________________

The MSC had an interest in the trips as well:

http://www.mdah.state.ms.us/arlib/contents...31|2|1|1|56198|

____________________

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/spe...l/fl/f210}5.htm

Box: 4 Fold: 39 Sweden - Dwight D. Eisenhower: Visit 1962 - Correspondence

July 1962 DESCRIPTION: Contains correspondence from Dwight D. Eisenhower to J. Graham Parsons, re the former's visit to Sweden, 1962. Total 3 letters: TLS 7/16/1962, TLS 7/31/1962, and 1 autograph transcription of undated letter. Includes xerox copies for dated letters.

Box: 4 Fold: 40 Sweden - Dwight D. Eisenhower: Visit 1962 - Memos/Itineraries

July 1962 DESCRIPTION: Contains mimeograph copies of typed U.S. embassy memoranda and itineraries relating to the visit of Dwight D. Eisenhower to Sweden.

Box: 4 Fold: 41 Sweden - Dwight D. Eisenhower: Visit 1962 - Photographs

July 1962 DESCRIPTION: Contains b/w photographs taken during visit of Dwight D. Eisenhower to Sweden.

__________________________

John Steinbeck wrote speeches for Lyndon Johnson and he did some work for the United Nations. The climax of his years as a writer came on December 10, 1962, in Stockholm, Sweden, when he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

___________________________

A delicate diplomacy:

http://www.answers.com/topic/neutralism

"The Kennedy Years John F. Kennedy was the willing heir to this relationship with Europe's neutrals. Mirroring the findings of the 1955 neutralism study, a State Department study released in 1961 admitted that there were many variants of neutralism arising from "unique, indigenous conditions." The new administration was reassured by the fact that the European neutrals were stable nations that had proved impervious to communist influence, so Washington was content to let these favorable trends mature.

Illustrative of Kennedy's approach was his response to a visit to Washington in the fall of 1961 by Finland's President Urho Kekkonen and the subsequent "note crisis" provoked by Moscow... On his visit to Washington, Kekkonen met with Kennedy and received a public endorsement for his country's neutral course.

Soon thereafter, alarmed by Finland's expanding outreach to the West, Khrushchev sent an official note to Helsinki invoking the consultation clause of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, a move that potentially threatened Finland's sovereignty...The U.S. ambassador to Finland privately reassured the Finns of America's support, then bowed to Helsinki's wish to address the crisis in its own way. After a visit to the Soviet Union, Kekkonen succeeded in defusing the crisis with Finland's independence still intact."

So concurrent with this period, Lyndon, his occasional speech writer, and Eisenhower, all passed through the area.

Neutralism (Sweden) and an independent/neutral Finland was a major issue in the Cold war.

__________________________

http://www.palmecenter.org/RegionsAndCount...outhAfrica.aspx

"In the early 60’s the Swedish labour movement became involved in the struggle against the apartheid regime, and contributed in many ways to its fall. As early as 1961 then Prime Minister Tage Erlander took part in an ANC meeting in Lund (in southern Sweden) on what Sweden could do in the struggle for freedom, and Olof Palme did not spare words when he spoke against apartheid. The labour movement was among those strongly involved in ISAK (the Isolate South Africa Committee), and as a result Sweden was the first country visited by Nelson Mandela when he was freed from prison."

(Olof Palme was also to become a major anti Vietnam war activist as well as a supporter of Cuba's sovereignty. A look at the formation of the non-aligned movement of which Cuba is the current head may not go amiss.)

http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people4/S...chori-con5.html

Sweden's Leadership Role

Q - "Tell us a little about how Sweden's foreign policy and the kinds of commitments you had talked about earlier, coming out of your party, related to that millennium agenda. Because when one looks at the record, Sweden, across the board, takes a leadership role in many of these areas, and for a small state it's surprising. One always thinks that it's only the major powers who can contribute.

A - In 1962, already, we set up the 0.7 goal of GNP for foreign assistance, because we saw that as part of our national security policy, that as long as you're having injustices and poverty and conflicts out there, we can never in the long run develop our own society behind walls, or under a glass. This was in '62, and there was Olof Palme, he was secretary of that group. It was the same time when the War on Poverty started in this country, or was announced by Lyndon Johnson and Michael Harrington, which inspired us -- we knew Michael Harrington, Palme met him, too, and that inspired us, too.

But there were two wars on poverty. Ours, in '62, was against world poverty, because we had already gotten started on our own society. Lyndon's was the [domestic] War on Poverty, which was obvious, then. Again, there was a war that disturbed that -- Vietnam, of course. So over the years, we have set aside a lot of money for development and cooperation, and I think that we made a difference in many fields where other countries held back. The anti-apartheid struggle, for instance, we were early on involved in humanitarian support and legal support to the ANC, and also for liberation movements. That was very important."

Martin Luther King's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech December 10, 1964 Oslo, Norway

"I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when twenty-two million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award in behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice.

I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeing to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sunctuary to those who would not accept segregation..."

Nobel Peace Prize

http://nobelpeaceprize.org/eng_com_nom.html

"The prize awarding ceremony on December 10 is the final result of a long selection process. The rules permit a division of the prize among no more than three laureates. The Norwegian Nobel Committee bases its assessment on nominations that must be postmarked no later than 1 February each year. Later nominations are included in the following year's discussions."

"Information about the nominations, investigations, and opinions concerning the award is kept secret for fifty years."

"Nomination for the Nobel Prizes

Each year the respective Nobel Committees send individual invitations to thousands of members of academies, university professors, scientists from numerous countries, previous Nobel Laureates, members of parliamentary assemblies and others, asking them to submit candidates for the Nobel Prizes for the coming year. These nominators are chosen in such a way that as many countries and universities as possible are represented over time."

(The data base shows that by 1955 King had not been nominated. So he was nominated at some time between then and late 1963. The nominees won't become public knowledge until 2013.)

__________________

So, in many ways Scandinavia, and perhaps Finland in particular in some issues, was an important region at the time of this youth conference. We have a number of Scandinavian Forum members, Norway, Sweden and Finland who could perhaps look locally into this? There should be groupings and individuals that could provide answers.

Edited June 6, 2007 by John Dolva

[James Richards]

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

Francesca, I haven't seen that document before so thank you for posting it. As previously stated, it seems like a very long way to go for an act of vandalism.

Anyway, for those who have access to the various on-line document archives, may I suggest researching John Koch. It will definitely be worth the time and effort.

Cheers,

James

Edited June 6, 2007 by James Richards

[Antti Hynonen]

Francesca Akhtar Posted Yesterday, 02:08 PM

James, I don't know if you have seen this memo but it has some more details on the trip:

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...mp;relPageId=28

(it continues on the page after as well)

Francesca,

Thank you for posting this. The document is in fact several pages long. Most interesting is the fact that these two "refugees" from Cuba, just happened to stay in the same hotel (Klaus Kurki) as Lee Oswald did some 3 years prior. Gee, the CIA must have had a good deal with that hotel!

[John Dolva]

My mum's Finnish. She's now close to 90 and remembers Klaus Kirku stories of a very cruel upper class Governor of a territory and a landlord/slaver with a very bad but in parts embellished reputation. As Finland in parts and whole was alternately ruled to some extent by Sweden and Russia, he was an opportunist but tended towards the Sweden. This was over a hundred years ago. Mum's going to look up some of the Finnish books that she brought to Australia when we migrated here. Her dad was an editor of a Finnish newspaper that the family had to leave when the territory they lived in after WWII became Russian territory.

Edited June 7, 2007 by John Dolva

[Francesca Akhtar]

Francesca,

Thank you for posting this. The document is in fact several pages long. Most interesting is the fact that these two "refugees" from Cuba, just happened to stay in the same hotel (Klaus Kurki) as Lee Oswald did some 3 years prior. Gee, the CIA must have had a good deal with that hotel!

Yes I noticed that and was going to comment on it. I'm sure this wasn't just a 'coincidence'! Thanks James for starting this thread. I often wondered about Oswald's trip to Finland but was not aware of any cubans being in Scandinavia. They do get around don't they?!

Perhaps the hotel was used by the CIA as some sort of meeting point for agents arriving there?

There are quite a lot of documents on John Koch on the MF site. If I find anything else of interest I shall post the link.

[Lee Forman]

Timing looks off, but title was interesting. No hit for that specific crypto, but 6 cross references for AMHINT and DRE.

AGENCY : CIA

RECORD NUMBER : 104-10171-10042

RECORDS SERIES : JFK

AGENCY FILE NUMBER : 80T01357A

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

ORIGINATOR : CIA

FROM : CHIEF OF STATION, JMWAVE

TO : CHIEF, TASK FORCE W

TITLE : REPORT OF INDEPENDENT DRE INFILTRATION OPERATION

DATE : 05/28/1962

PAGES : 3

DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER - TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

SUBJECTS : AMHINT; DRE; JFK ASSASSINATION

CLASSIFICATION :

RESTRICTIONS : OPEN IN FULL

CURRENT STATUS : RELEASED WITH DELETIONS

DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 06/08/2004

COMMENTS : JFK64-26 : F5 : 20040302-1052582 :

Any relation to Koch of the 2506? Sorry - left Pawley and Rourke in....

http://www.therealcuba.com/Americans%20Kil...20in%20Cuba.htm

7.Eugene Herman Koch – Killed in combat

Age: 22. U.S. citizen. Date: 17-04-61. Location: Bay of Pigs, Las Villas province. Occupation: Engineering student at

University of Villanueva, Havana. Place of residence: Havana. Description: Paratrooper, member of the 2506 Brigade,

killed in combat during the Bay of Pigs invasion.

8. William D. Pawley - Suicide

Born in U.S.A. Date: 06-63. Location: Miami, Florida. Occupation: Businessman / C.I.A. agent. Place of residence: Miami,

Florida. Description: Committed suicide after U.S. Navy ships accidentally machine-gunned the infiltration boat Flying

Tiger II, killing the entire infiltration team. He was in charge of this mission, designed to smuggle Soviet defectors out

of Cuba.

10. Alexander I. Rourke Jr. – Missing in Action

Age: 37. Born in U.S.A. Date: 24-09-63. Location: Cuban airspace. Occupation: Freelance writer. Place of

residence: New York, N.Y. Description: Disappeared with Geoffrey Sullivan in a Beechcraft bi-motor aircraft on a

flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Panama (after refueling in Cozumel, Mexico) during an anti-Castro mission

piloted by Sullivan. Earlier, on 25-04-63, they had bombed an oil refinery in Havana with homemade bombs, but the

bombs had failed to explode. Notes: Son of a former Manhattan District Attorney. There is an outstanding reward for

information on his whereabouts.

[James Richards]

Lee,

Herman was John Koch's brother but I am not sure that is him you listed. Maybe.

Yes, I'm sure staying at the same hotel was a coincidence.

Bottom line is that Koch was one of the real operators for both the Agency and the DRE plus several other covert dealings. His asset status was allegedly dropped in 1962 but I do not believe this to be true.

Francesca, I do hope you take the time and look into Koch. This document has been redacted in the past but it confirms his crypto as AMHINT/26.

James

Edited June 7, 2007 by James Richards

[Francesca Akhtar]

I found a memo about a 'Walter Koch' and a supposed alias. Any relation to the ones we have been talking about?

The document mentions cuban agents but their names have been written in by hand and their first names are difficult to make out. The surnames seem to be 'Duque' and 'Garcia'.

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...amp;relPageId=1

[Steve Thomas]

Lee,

Timing looks off, but title was interesting. No hit for that specific crypto, but 6 cross references for AMHINT and DRE.

AGENCY : CIA

RECORD NUMBER : 104-10171-10042

I read through it. It's a dispatch report from JMWAVE concerning the successful infiltration into Cuba of two assets, without JMWAVE support.

After the insert, the Cuban government called them "escapees", apparently not knowing that the two infiltrators has been smuggled into Havana.

The AMHINT "safehouse" was not compromised.

Steve Thomas

[James Richards]

I found a memo about a 'Walter Koch' and a supposed alias. Any relation to the ones we have been talking about?

The document mentions cuban agents but their names have been written in by hand and their first names are difficult to make out. The surnames seem to be 'Duque' and 'Garcia'.

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...amp;relPageId=1

Francesca,

I have no idea regarding Walter Koch but I wouldn't think he was related.

The Duque referred to is Evelio Duque who the Agency went after very aggressively. They wanted to recruit him for infiltration activities. Duque teamed with Jerry Buchanan on many occasions and the two became close friends.

I have been told that Duque and Buchanan may have been in Texas at the time of the assassination. Even though I still favor Felipe Vidal Santiago as being DCM, one must take a close look at Duque.

I have spoken about him and Buchanan before here on the forum and I have also posted this comparison in the past, so my apologies to members for doubling up.

If you check deeply into Duque and the various documents available on him there seems to be a contradictory profile. On one hand, he is seen as someone who will benefit the Agency for raids into Cuba and then there is the derogatory information painting him as a possible G2 agent.

FWIW.

James