Speech #880010749

Mr. President. to my mind. this episode emphasizes the whole question of the extent of the subsidization of Cuban exiled groups and publication outlets. It raises in my mind a question of how much it is costing the American taxpayers to keep publications and political organizations of this kind operating among the Cuban refugees. A still more serious question is. For what purposes does the CIA subsidize them? These Cuban refugees are well known in Congress as a source of allegations about both the illfated Bay of Pigs invasion and. now. the state of Soviet military forces in Cuba. Bohemia Libre modestly calls its own pictures "sensational." With the current spate of congressional reports. as opposed to administration reports. the Russian buildup. which cite alleged missile installations and alleged numbers of Russian troops in Cuba. one must assume that other Members of Congress have been offered not only pictures but countless allegations. as well. by the Cuban refugees. their political organs. and their publicity organs. I am very much concerned about the practice of the CIA of giving financial subsidies to these organizations and publications. It raises the suspicion that they can be used by the Agency to whip up and inflame American opinion and. in effect. to influence the making of policy on Cuba in a way that the CIA is not permitted to do directly.