◆ SpookStack

TOP 3ECRET removing Castro from the leadership of the Cuban Government, the principal questions faced by CIAts Western Hemisphere Division, by the Department of State, and by other concerned principals in the United States were: What is Fidel Castro? By whom is he controlled? What does he represent? Is he, or is he not., a Communist? The nature of the Agency's interest in answers to these questions is reflected in various of the records for the period beginning in the mid- 1950's when it appeared that the Agency depended in considerable part on the reporting from the American Embassy offices in Havana. Commenting on a report entitled "Antidemocratic . Antecedents and Activities of Fidel Castro" prepared by President Batista's Military Intelligence Service , (SIM) -- apparently in response to a request from the Bur6 de Represi6n a las Activadades Communistas (BRAC)* to the Counselor of the American ·Embassy (Amembassy) in Havana, Lincoln Vinton Chapin, told the CIA repre- sentative among other things, that: , * Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities. - 2 -