Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, Volume XXIII, Mexico, Cuba, and the Caribbean

33. Memorandum From Secretary of State Vance to
President Carter¹

Washington, June 19, 1978

SUBJECT

• Contact with Castro’s Representative, Jose Luis Padron

Attached (at Tab A) is a summary of the main points of Dave Newsom’s talk with Castro’s representative, Jose Luis Padron, in New York on June 15.² As previously agreed, Dave will brief Congressman Fascell on that portion of the conversation dealing with prisoners on Tuesday morning.³

We now have two questions before us:

1. The timing and form of a follow-up on the prisoner aspect of the conversation.

2. Whether, and in what form, to follow-up on the broader political aspects of the conversation.

Prisoner Release

In the various conversations which Padron has had with Cuban exile representatives, he has given them a total of six lists of persons who have been, or currently are, prisoners together with the number of dependents, all of whom presumably are covered by Castro’s decision to permit such persons to leave Cuba. The six lists include, with dependents, 1596 persons.

Dave explained both to Padron and the exiles that we cannot respond to this aspect of the approach without further examination of the matter within the U.S. Government and that this could take some time. I believe that we should move promptly to give the Cubans a definitive response on whether we are prepared to receive these people.

I suggest therefore that:

1. With your authority and coordination with the NSC I approach the Attorney General on an urgent basis and seek his authority to tell the Cubans that we will propose parole entry for those in this category permitted to leave Cuba. If approved, funding will have to be worked out with Joe Califano at a later date.

2. That once we can speak more authoritatively on this matter, Dave seek a further meeting with Padron to relay the answer.

The six lists are attached at Tab B.⁴ Any further conversations with Padron on the prisoner issue would presumably also deal with the question of the four remaining U.S. citizen prisoners.

Broader Political Issues

David Aaron had one previous conversation with Padron which covered broader aspects of U. S.-Cuban relations.⁵ Padron covered this same ground with Dave Newsom. Zbig and I had agreed that David Aaron would continue to be in touch with Padron on the political issues while we in the Department would take care of the prisoner issue. If Padron can be taken at face value, it would seem worthwhile to continue to explore with him Cuban policies. It would seem, in this case, particularly important to follow up on the question of circumstances under which Cuba might be prepared to withdraw its troops from Angola and Ethiopia. Cuban actions towards Puerto Rico suggest another topic.

With your approval, I will be talking to Zbig on how we conduct future conversations with the Cubans on political issues and in particular how we respond to the latest conversation with Padron.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. That you authorize me to discuss the question of the admission of these Cuban prisoners with the Attorney General.⁶

2. That I talk to Zbig about how we follow-up on the political aspects of the two previous conversations with Padron.⁷

J

1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Subject Chron File, Box 60, Alpha Channel—Cuba, 6–8/78. Secret; Nodis. Carter initialed the memorandum indicating that he saw it.
2. Tab A is attached but not printed. A full transcript of the June 15 meeting with Padron is in the Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, Box 61, Cuba, 5–7/78.
3. June 20.
4. Not attached and not found. In an August 10 memorandum to Attorney General Bell, the Secretary stated that the Cubans would be paroling 48 prisoners and 31 dependents into the United States, with as many as 500 to arrive in the future. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Subject Chron File, Box 60, Alpha Channel—Cuba, 6–8/78)
5. On April 14, Aaron and Gates held an informal meeting with Padron to discuss the Cuban presence in Africa. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, Box 61, Cuba, 2–4/78)
6. Carter checked the approve option.
7. Carter checked the approve option and initialed below the recommendations. Negotiations with the Cubans regarding the prisoner issue continued through July and August 1978. The minutes of Newsom’s July 5 meeting with Padron are in the Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, Box 61, Cuba, 5–7/78. In a memorandum to Carter on July 7, Brzezinski expressed concern delegating the negotiations to Newsom and Tarnoff, stating that having them discuss issues beyond the scope of prisoner repatriation was “not a good idea.” (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Subject Chron File, Box 60, Alpha Channel—Cuba, 6–8/78) Newsom, accompanied by Aaron, met with Padron again on August 8. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, Box 61, Cuba, 8/78) An August 23 meeting of Justice, State, and NSC representatives set guidelines for prisoner parole, permitting Justice and the CIA to screen the parolees. During the meeting, the number of dependents allowed to accompany the prisoners was lowered to 30. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Subject Chron File, Box 60, Alpha Channel—Cuba, 6–8/78)