Communist Threat to the United States Through the Caribbean
U.S. Senate Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, of the Committee on the Judiciary.
Tuesday, May 6, 1960
Testimony of Salvador Díaz-Versón
(Through an interpreter)
Senator DODD. Will you take the chair and give your name and address?
Mr. SOURWINE. What is your full name?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Salvador Diaz-Verson y Rodriguez.
Mr. SOURWINE. What is your business or profession?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Newspaperman and writer.
Mr. SOURWINE. Were you ever in the army?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. I was Chief of Military Intelligence from the year of 1948 until March 10, 1952.
Mr. SOURWINE. Were you ever Chief of Criminal Investigations and the investigation of communism in Cuba?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Yes, sir; in the year of 1933 for the first time, and in 1948 until 1952 in an official capacity, although since the year of 1928 I have dedicated myself to study to investigate Communist activities in America.
Senator KEATING. Since what year?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. 1928 on.
Mr. SOURWINE. Were you a supporter of Batista?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Since the 10th of March of 1952 when Batista had the coup d'etat, I lived for 2 years in Miami as an exile.
Mr. SOURWINE. During Batista's regime?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Yes, Sir.
Mr. SOURWINE. Were, you ever a supporter of the Castro movement?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Never. I was a member of the Carlos Prio movement, and I also refused to participate in any meeting with Fidel Castro.
Mr. SOURWINE. Is it true that the Castro regime destroyed files on Cuban Communists?
Senator KEATING. Just one minute before you answer that.
You have never been at any time a supported of Batista, is that correct?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Yes, sir.
In 1933, when Batista took the power, a group of revolutionaries that had join, we joined the 4th of September movement, of which movement Batista was a member. But that reunion did not last but 5 months and 22 days. We immediately opposed him.
Senator Keating. And what was in that year?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. 1934.
Senator KEATING. And you have ever since 1934 opposed Batista; is that correct?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. When Batista first established his first connection with the Communists in 1934, I opposed him.
Senator KEATING. Have you always since that time opposed him?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Yes, sir, affirmatively.
Senator KEATING. And you think- that any efforts of his to return to Cuba would not be in the interest of the Cuban people; is that correct?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. You make reference to the present time?
Senator KEATING. Yes.
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Negatively. The Cuban people would never support the Batista regime again.
Senator KEATING. And you personally would never support it again?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. No, Sir.
Senator KEATING. I want to make a comment.
I think that we should make it very clear at the outset of testimony that we do not want, to call any witness who is a supporter of Batista or who feels that his return to Cuba would be of interest to the Cuban people.
One or two of the other witnesses have been rather equivocal in that matter. I think we should avoid calling witnesses in this proceeding that are not ready to testify under oath unequivocally that they are opposed to the, Batista regime.
We have plenty of evidence, I believe, without calling such witnesses -- I do not think that they add anything to the proceedings, because they could well be shown to have a bias. And I think the testimony of this witness has been made considerably more weighty by his unequivocal testimony that lie is opposed to the return of Batista in any shape or form.
Proceed.
Mr. SOURWINE. Is it true that the Castro forces destroyed files on Cuban Communists?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Yes, sir.
Mr. SOURWINE. How many such files?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. I had privately an archive which comprised 250,000 cards of Latin American Communists and 943 personal records. This was the result of my trips all over Latin America visiting country by country, what were the conditions of communism, and what numbers of Communists there were in each plaice. That archive was stolen and destroyed by the Communists on January 26, 1959.
Senator KEATING. When you say stolen and destroyed by the Communists, can you be more specific?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Do you want the name of the persons that, went there, the ones that did it?
Senator KEATING. Were you there at the time?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. No; I was not present at that moment. I had an employee who took care of the archives. A group of four men armed with machineguns arrived.
Senator KEATING. When was this?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. January 26, 1959. They gagged the employee, they destroyed the furniture, and they took what was inside the metal files. The neighbors, because, it was an apartment house, saw from the balconies that it was a truck of the 7th military regiment. They testified, and it was published in the newspapers of January 27 of 1959 in Havana.
Senator KEATING. Where were you then?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. I was working at that time in the newspaper Excelsior, where I was in charge of redaction, of writing.
Senator KEATING. When did you come to this country?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. The 19th of March of 1959.
Mr. SOURWINE. I show you a list of names which you gave the committee, and I ask if you can, of your of knowledge, state that each of the individuals here listed has been indicated in the official files as Communists?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. Yes, Sir; all of those names represent persons well known by me to be Communists with a long history, but I wish to request permission of the Senators to state that from this date that I gave this report to the present time, the situation in Cuba has changed extraordinarily, and that new situations have been created.
If you will permit me briefly, I will make an explanation.
We, the investigators of social problems of the Communists, have already established that Cuba is now a socialistic Soviet republic. And we haven't established that this capriciously, but because the Communists have a bible, which is a book entitled "Leninismo," written by Stalin, which is a consulting book to all the Communists in the world to establish socialist regimes. It appears here that there are two types of revolutions, a bourgeois revolution and a socialist revolution, and Stalin stated perfectly which one was one type and which is the other type.
In accordance with those studies, through investigations which are not mistaken, because they are laboratory studies, a professional group, as specialists in this study of communism, we have arrived at the total conclusion that in Cuba, there now exists a regime socialist Soviet. And I have written, compiled a booklet of sociology that I am mailing to all the universities in Latin America where, after I have explained the technical studies of the Communists, I explain in sketches how the Soviet regime operates now in Cuba. I can leave the Senators a copy. It is written in Spanish.
Mr. SOURWINE. Mr. Chairman, I ask that this be received, subject to the ruling that its printing be withheld subject to the committee's determination.
Senator DODD. Yes.
(Booklet referred to was placed in the subcommittee files for reference.)
Mr. SOURWINE. In regard to this list, at the time you gave it to the committee, it was secret and we accepted it with that classification.
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. I can repeat it publicly -- I can repeat them now if you so desire, Senators.
Mr. SOURWINE. I don't think it is necessary for the witness to repeat them. I just want to know if the witness has any reason why the list should not be printed in the public press?
Mr. DIAZ-VERSON. I have not. I will be satisfied if it is published.
Mr. SOURWINE. I ask that this list go in the record, then.
Senator DODD. It may go in.
(The list referred to with the explanation made by the witness at the time, is as follows:)
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