Mr. REYES. They have now between 70 to 80 of the most modern types. The other ones he put out in Verde Olivo. Mr. FASCELL. We have had other testimony, and you have corroborated it, of the visit of a Russian nuclear sub to Cuba. Have you any information as to how that submarine was serviced? Mr. REYES. Mr. Chairman, on July 26, 1 year ago today, last year, a Soviet squadron went to Cuba and it was there for a courtesy visit. That was all. It was the first time that a Soviet fleet visited the Western Hemisphere. Maybe I am wrong, but I do not know of any other fleet of the Soviet Union that has visited the Western Hemisphere since it was discovered. On May 14, there was another naval squadron that went to Cienfuegos in the southern part of Cuba, and there was a nuclear sub among this squadron. This time it was not a courtesy visit. It was refueling and resupply. This was stated by Havana, and it was, of course, corroborated by military experts. Actually, they went to Cuba to refuel and resupply. They turned to the northern part of Cuba, to Havana, and apparently they stayed there 3 days. When they left, they crossed parallel No. 24. We sent our cameras in a plane and we have the film, as I said before. Leading the squadron was what is called a carrier. It was not an aircraft carrier. It was for helicopters. On the back part of that ship they have a landing strip for helicopters. It is very well defined in the film. Immediately behind, there was a diesel sub. Two miles behind, another sub. Behind, a Soviet naval destroyer; and behind, a Soviet tanker. At the side, some distance, there was an American destroyer. This was 30 miles off Key West. SOVIET SUBMARINES IN CUBA Mr. FASCELL. Do your photographs indicate whether there was any kind of a submarine tender in the squadron ? Mr. REYES. When you say "tender," you mean nuclear submarine? Mr. FASCELL. Any kind of submarine tender, a service ship for the submarine. Mr. REYES. Yes, there was a tanker ship at the back. Mr. GROSS. They would not need that for a nuclear-powered sub. Mr. FASCELL. They might for diesel-powered subs. I am curious about this because we have had some reports about the buildup in Cuba of service capabilities for nuclear submarines. I just wondered whether these capabilities are land based or ship based. Mr. REYES. In Pinar del Rio Province, in Cabanas-Marielit has been said, there is a submarine base, and in the southern part of Cuba in the Isle of Pines, it has been said also there is a submarine base for the Soviet Union. Mr. FASCELL. But for what kind of submarines? You see, that is important. You have one kind of land-based service for diesel submarines, and you have another kind of land-based service for nuclear submarines. The two are entirely different propositions, although both types of subs can be serviced from a service ship, a tender. Mr. REYES. We have had reports that there is a permanent Soviet naval squadron in the Caribbean right now. Apparently one of the ships in that permanent Soviet naval squadron is a nuclear submarine. Mr. FASCELL. Where would they be based? Mr. REYES. It could be Cienfuegos, or it could be Havana, because the Havana harbor has been prepared by the Castro regime, with the military quarters they have there, as a base for submarines. Mr. FASCELL. As a naval base? Mr. REYES. Yes, sir. Casablanca dock is a military place, and nobody is allowed to be there. When these ships were unloaded, when these mysterious boxes were unloaded, we have been told there were Russian frogmen around it and nobody could approach over there. Actually, Cuba has been converted to a Soviet military base. Plus the fact that we have the reconnaissance flight bombers going to Cuba. This is a proven fact. Now we have the Antonov-24 and the Antonov-12, which in mercy operations have been going to Cuba. They have flown to Iceland, Halifax, and Cuba. They are refueled in Cuba and then go on to Peru with help and support. But Cuba has been used as a base for refueling. The TU-95, the Bear plane, has never been out of the Soviet Union before, according to the information I have. This is the first time that this huge plane has landed on foreign soil like Cuba. Mr. ROYBAL. Where does Castro get the fuel to service these submarines? Mr. REYES. Sir, I am not an expert on the matter, but if the Soviet Union is sending oil to Cuba to maintain lights and water and it is costing $1 million per day, according to information I have, I do not see any obstacle to sending this kind of fuel to the nuclear submarine. Mr. ROYBAL. Is it not also possible that some of our own allies are sending fuel oil to Cuba? Mr. REYES. From the Communist world? Mr. ROYBAL. Our own allies. Is it not possible that it could come from Great Britain or from Canada or some other country? Mr. GROSS. Whose tankers are going to Cuba, do you know? Mr. REYES. As far as I am concerned, they are tankers of the Soviet Union. I know they have trade with Mexico because Mexico has diplomatic relations with Cuba. Now Chile is becoming involved and is going to trade with Cuba, plus Canada, plus Spain, France, and Great Britain. All of these nations are trading with the Castro regime. We do not know the amount, and I cannot state right now what they are trading, but it could be possible, sir. Mr. GROSS. Those flatbed trucks excited some curiosity on my part. I assume the flatbed trucks and their tractors that you described as having Soviet military personnel on them, are Russian tractors and flatbed trucks. Were the others operated and guarded by Cubans, Russians or British? The British sold quite a number of motor vehicles of one kind or another to them a few years ago, particularly buses. Do you happen to know whether those flatbed trucks are Britishmade, or what? Mr. REYES. No, sir. I do not know the nationality. It seems that they are Russians. Up to now, it seems they are Russians. They are working there in very tight security. The number of Soviets in the island is increasing more and more. The latest estimate is about 10,000 Russian troops inside the island. This is what we believe, 10,000 Soviet troops in the island. Mr. MORSE. Not at the moment. CUBA'S "FISHING" FLEET Mr. FASCELL. What about the increase in the so-called fishing type vessels? I remember there was the Omicron class which featured a 50foot vessel with a lot of electronic gear on it. Are there reports about any increase in the number of those vessels or other changes in the fishing fleet? Mr. REYES. The reports that we have, Mr. Chairman, are that the so-called fishing fleet of Castro is not actually used for fishing. Some are used for the guerrilla type warfare. With these kinds of fleet they can put a member of a guerrilla group in any deserted beach of the hemisphere, and then take him away. Some of this so-called fishing fleet has been used according to the reports that we have to smuggle not only men but also weapons, and it is believed that the cache of weapons that Castro sent to the Venezuelan guerrillas in 1964, and they were put into a certain beach in Venezuela called Baraguana, was deposited there by a so-called fishing boat. Actually they can smuggle also some kinds of drugs, narcotics, because we have to be very clear in the way we believe that the Castro regime sponsoring, in a large amount, the drug situation in the hemisphere. He has got two goals in this matter. First, he gets American dollars, which he is hungry for, and secondly, he gets disruption of the family, which is the base of our contemporary society. There are also reports that the Castro regime fishing boats have been seen near Marquesas and Dry Tortuga off the western coast of Florida, and people believe that they are there not only for the purpose of smuggling drugs or men, but also to spy as to what is going on, on Cape Kennedy. We have had reports not confirmed that these boats are near those places when some kind of launching takes place at Cape Kennedy, so this electronic gear that they have can very well be aimed at spying as to what is going on in Florida. You know Florida is considered the moon port, and all of these ships are very close, plus the fact that they can be sent to any part of the globe, South America or any other place, and used as a weapon to transport men, to transport weapons, and to transport advertising, propaganda, publicity. This is a link of the Castro regime. We doubt that it is for the so-called fishing fleet, because if they have the fleet for fishing, why can the Cuban people not have fish in Cuba? There is a rationing of fish in my country, and they cannot eat fish. Mr. FASCELL. The Cubans were fishing the shrimp beds between Florida and Cuba very heavily at one time. Aren't they fishing there any more? Mr. REYES. The report that we have is that they have been seen there, and that we are upsetting the industry in Key West. Mr. FASCELL. We have had reports, Mr. Reyes, that they were not fishing, that they were not interfering with the Florida shrimp fishermen. I wondered, therefore, what happened to the Cuban shrimp fleet. What are they doing? Does anybody know? Do we have any evidence about where they are, what they are doing? Mr. REYES. We do not have evidence. Mr. FASCELL. The Cubans are good fishermen. Mr. REYES. That is right. Mr. FASCELL. They always have been good fishermen, but you say fish is in short supply in Cuba today? Mr. REYES. Right; and we are an island, and the Cubans are fishermen per se, and we don't have the fish, and these ships are seen in the places that you have mentioned, so we believe they are smuggling men, smuggling narcotics, or spying. We don't have conclusive evidence but we have the moral evidence, the moral conclusion that this is going Mr. FASCELL. Do you want to add anything at this point, Dr. Reyes? Have we covered everything? Mr. REYES. I think I have covered all. The only other comment that I would like to make, if I may, is this: There is a very interesting report in the Detroit News of June 28, 1970, where they show part of the drawings that I just showed the committee, and they make some kind of report on what I have been saying to you, some, though not all, that I have told you. There are two paragraphs that I would like to read, to bring it to the attention of the committee, because it was out of my hands, but it was a surprise for me, and I think this will summarize my presentation. The newsman who is writing the article says: "If Reyes' reports are true, it means that the Russians may be mounting their first serious challenge to the United States in the Western Hemisphere since the 1962 missile crisis. "But are they true? "There are some government officials who believe that the truth lies somewhere between Reyes' accounts and the official Pentagon denials. "A top ranking Senate investigator said that while he discounts part of Reyes' charges he has seen classified documents that verify at least part of the broadcaster's allegations." Mr. FASCELL. We appreciate your bringing that to our attention because I would like to see those classified documents. Dr. Reyes, there is one aspect of this whole question that we haven't discussed and I think we ought to touch on it now. THE DECLARATION OF FREEDOM You were the author, I believe, of a document called "The Declaration of Freedom." Is that correct? Mr. REYES. Yes, sir. Mr. FASCELL. Tell us something about that. Mr. REYES. We have a struggle for independence. We are fighting for the freedom of Cuba. Mr. FASCELL. When you say "We," who do you mean, the Cuban refugees? Mr. REYES. The Cuban people. Mr. FASCELL. The Cuban people? Mr. REYES. The Cuban people. We want freedom. We are freedomloving people. We are peaceful people. We don't want to interfere with any nation. We are really ashamed of what Castro is doing, putting the Soviet Union in our country, giving to them our independence, our freedom, our sovereignty. We were always good friends of the United States, with very close ties and I am sure that when my country will be free we will be more friendly than ever with the United States, and with the rest of the nations of the free world. We are struggling to get freedom, independence, sovereignty, and all of this can be achieved in the great way that your nation did it on July 4, 1776, by a Declaration of Independence. We have been struggling how to get our nation free under the law, respecting the law, and a group of Cubans joined, at the end of 1965, and we wrote a declaration, a declaration of freedom. The declaration frames in itself the principles that we want for a free country, the principles of God, the principles of countryland, the principles of the family, the respect of the law, the respect of human rights, the right of the people to vote, the freedom of religion, the freedom of education, the freedom of expression, free enterprise, all benefits for the farmers, for the fisherman, for the workers, the balance between capital, money, and the labor people, and let's say the eradication of communism and any form of totalitarianism. We embodied the principles of this declaration in a written paper, and we took it to the San Carlos Club in Key West, Fla. The San Carlos Club is part of the Cuban-American history. There our great patriot of the war of independence, Jose Marti, declared in 1892 the basis for a free Cuba, and on January 23, |