Office of the Historian

99. Central Intelligence Agency Information Report1

TD/[report indicator not declassified]/11487–80
Washington, April 28, 1980, 1133Z

COUNTRY

  • Cuba

SUBJECT

  • Plans of Cuban Government to Permit Mass Exodus of Refugees to the U.S. (DOI: [number not declassified] April 1980)

SOURCE

  • [4½ lines not declassified]

1. [3 lines not declassified] said that Fidel Castro is planning to permit 1.5 million Cubans to leave the country for the U.S. [name not declassified] said the principal reason for this policy decision is the economic embargo directed toward Cuba by the U.S. Government.

2. [name not declassified] also stated that, if the Mariel-Key West boat operation was stopped by the U.S., the Cubans would resort to any means to facilitate the exit of people from Cuba. One option would be the dumping of Cubans on Florida shores in order to produce a situation similar to the massive concentrations of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees.

3. [name not declassified] also stated that the Government of Cuba was going to allow any aircraft to fly into Cuba to pick up individuals [Page 218] desiring to leave the island. (Field Comment: On 25 April 1980, the Government of Cuba announced that it will permit aircraft to be used in transporting Cubans to the U.S.) A chartered DC10 aircraft is scheduled to arrive in Miami, Florida on 25 April carrying approximately 110 Cuban emigres.2

4. References: [less than 1 line not declassified]

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, North/South, Pastor, Country, Box 18, Cuba, Refugees, 4/26–30/80. Secret; Wnintel; Noforn; Nocontract. Sent to the Department of State, JCS, DIA, DIRNSA, FBI, NSC, and the White House Situation Room.↩
  2. Another intelligence report, [text not declassified], April 28, concluded, “Fidel Castro is selectively emptying the jails in Cuba of petty criminals, narcotics users and pushers, prostitutes and social misfits and placing them on the boats leaving the country.” (Ibid.)↩