Operation Red Cross

Magazine story on Operation Red Cross
https://maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=28888&relPageId=2&search="operation_red%20cross"

Greg:  I have a great deal of material on this. Here's
one of my notes.....Martino was in prison with my guy
Robert John Gentile of Youngstown, ransomed by RFK.....jko


John Martino, electronics expert.  Worked the slot machine rackets and surveilance opeartions in one
of Trafficante's casinos. Arrested
in Havana in 1959 by Castro for "smuggling" and counterrvolutinary
actions. In 1962 he published of his story of time in the Cuban prison system, "I was Castro's Prisoner". 
In June of 1963 he was part of the
"Bayo-Pawley Affair"  (7 June, 1963)

Operaton Red Cross  June 8, 1963

William Pawley, Suicide prior to HSCA investigation

Flying Tiger II

Sunset Island...Miami...Biscyne Bay

Eduardo "Bayo" Perez
Fought with Raul Castro, during revolt
Connected to July 1961 Double hit on Castro and Raul, Guantanamo
NYT article June 16, 1963 detailing Gen Bayo and Gen Lister training camps
in Cuba, Perez was nicknamed after Bayo


Rip Roberstson

Ken

Mike

Soviet Military Defector #1
CALIMERO RAMIEREZ JEREZ

Soviet Military Defector #2
DANIEL ESPOSITO TORRES

Alpha 66

Richard Billings

Terrence Spence

9 or 11 CIA trained exhile

1.  Luis Cantin
2.  Alfredo Mir
3.  Julio (?)
4.  Evangelio Rufin Calaro    June 12 NYT article on raid
5.  Manuel Quiza Docal        NYT
6.  Eddy Jose                 NYT
7.  Ramon Crespin             NYT
8.  Mor Ruiz                  NYT
9.  Juan Espinosa Gonzales    NYT
10. Jorge Rodriquez Rriana    NYT
11. Reynaldo Jermo Hernandez  NYT
12. Jorge Rufin Lustre        NYT
13. Ricardo Morales Navarrete NYT

9 or 11 unknown

John V. Martino

John Rosselli


others of note
Luce
Howard Davis...Interpen instructor
Theidire Racoosin
Bill Boggs
Hal Hendrix
Jay Mallin
Gerry Hemming
Student Revolutionary Directorate
Jack Gore
Sturgis
International Anti-Communist Brigade members
Congressman Willima Kramer
Mrs. John H. Perry
Senator James O. Eastland
LTG Pat Carter, CIA deputy director
George P. Hunt, Life  (Mr. Hunt/LHO)
John McCone, CIA
Commandos L

Martino related to Philadelphia Mafia Boss Angelo Bruno, he went to work
with Alan Roth, Miami developer, who built the Deauville Hotel in Havana,
and leased it to Trafficante. Martino who had worked slots in Alantic City
went to Cuba to work for Trafficante.

Arrested July 1959.

1962 published book "I was Castro's Prisoner" with Nathaniel Weyl.

Anti Castro Lecture tour.....main sponser John Birch Society


MARCH 1964




On March 3, 1964, Sam Papich generated a Confidential Memorandum on MARTINO
which was withheld. [FBI 64-44828-8 Sam Papich to D.J. Brennan; NR 3.11.64]

S.A. James O'Conner had received orders from J. Edgar Hoover: "With regard
to the information furnished by MARTINO, Bureau desires that MARTINO be
pressed to force production of his source in order to pin down this
allegation. If he continues to be evasive and uncooperative on this point,
set forth results of recontact with him in LHM form suitable for
dissemination for President's Commission. Consideration with then be given
to suggesting MARTINO be subpoenaed before President's Commission."
[FBI 105-82555-33199 - page 2 w/h]

On March 13, 1964, S.A. O'Conner interviewed Nathaniel Weyl, who said he
"was not sure of the identity of his source, with respect to the information
that LEE HARVEY OSWALD had contacted the Cuban intelligence by telephone
from a private home in Miami. He said that his source for this information
may have been a newspaper article written by James Buchanan. He recalled
that Buchanan had quoted FRANK STURGIS, described as an individual active
in the Cuban situation at Miami, as stating that STURGIS knew that OSWALD
had made such a call from Coral Gables, Florida, to the Cuban intelligence
office in Miramar, Havana, Cuba. Mr. Weyl said his source for this
information may have been JOHN MARTINO, who, in turn, may have obtained the
information from either BUCHANAN or STURGIS...With respect to the information
that JACK RUBY had made a trip to Havana, Cuba, to deal with an individual
named PRASKIN, Mr. Weyl stated he had been informed of this by an old friend,
 Carlos Marquez Sterling, resident at Washington, D.C...Mr. Weyl said he did
believe that OSWALD had been in Miami, Florida, in the past, and it was his
recollection that Jim Buchanan, or possibly the latter's brother,
Jerry Buchanan, had told him that OSWALD had attempted to infiltrate
 anti-Castro groups in Miami, but had been rejected by these groups because
he was uncommunicative as to his background. Mr. Weyl said that it was
probably Jim Buchanan who told him that his brother Jerry had been involved
in a scuffle with OSWALD in downtown Miami, and that Jerry Buchanan had
punched OSWALD. Mr. Weyl said this incident was supposed to have occurred
when OSWALD was observed distributing some pro-Castro literature in Miami...
He said he recalled that OSWALD reportedly attempted to join the anti-Castro
organizations known as the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil (DRE)
(Cuban Student Revolutionary Directorate), and Unidad Revolucionario (UR)
(Revolutionary Unity). Mr. Weyl said he had no corroborative information
concerning the alleged stay of OSWALD in Miami, other than the news articles
by Jim Buchanan and contact with Fernando Cabada, described as a leader
of UR."

S.A. O'Conner interviewed Fernando Fernandez Cabada, who said he never
furnished information to the Weyl regarding OSWALD.

    O'CONNER RE-INTERVIEWS MARTINO: MARCH 1964

On March 24, 1964, S.A. James O'Conner re-interviewed MARTINO. "With
respect to  information that Cuban friends of MARTINO knew that OSWALD had
contacted the Cuban Intelligence Service in Cuba by telephone from a private
residence in Miami, Florida, MARTINO claimed this was correct information.
 He refused to identify the source of such information, claiming that to
pinpoint the source could conceivably result in harassment, if not more
serious consequences, to the source or his family in Cuba.

"MARTINO stated the information concerning such an alleged telephone call
by OSWALD to Cuban intelligence did not originate with his friend, 
Felipe Vidal Santiago, a Cuban exile active in anti-Castro activities. He
also stated the information had not originated with  STURGIS, an American
citizen residing in Miami, who has been engaged in anti-Fidel Castro
activities, and who headed an organization called the Anti-Communist
International Brigade. Mr. MARTINO stated that the information in this
respect had not been received from James Buchanan, although he had discussed
the information with Buchanan. MARTINO stated he would contact his
confidential source as soon as the latter had returned from Tampa, Florida,
to Miami, expected to be March 22, 1964, and would seek to obtain his
consent to interview by the FBI.

"With respect to the other alleged information that Cubans with whom
MARTINO might have contact had stated that JACK RUBY had gone to Havana,
Cuba, to engage in a shady deal with one (FNU) Praskin, who was also alleged
to work with Cuban communists and be tied up with call girls in Cuba,
MARTINO stated as follows:

"This information came in the form of a letter from Cuba, which was shown
to MARTINO by a Cuban whom MARTINO said was named Jose Madero. He said
Madero, a man in his late 30's, had infiltrated back into Cuba as of
December 1963, and was thus no longer available. MARTINO said he had known
Madero when he was incarcerated in Cuba during the period July 1959 to
October 1962. MARTINO said the letter was not directed to Madero, but to
another individual not known to MARTINO. He said he had no idea where the
letter might now be located. He said the letter related that Praskin had a
business on Sanja Street in Havana, and that he supplied American girls to
'Girlie Shows' operated by Chinese in Havana. He said the letter made no
mention of the nature of the shady deal alleged to occur between RUBY and
Praskin, and did not indicate when RUBY had gone to Havana or how he had
traveled...

"MARTINO stated this same source had informed him that OSWALD had stayed
in the home of a pro-Castro Cuban in Miami, Florida, and had paid this
pro-Castro Cuban the cost of a long distance telephone call made from the
home of the pro-Castro Cuban to Cuba. MARTINO further stated that according
to his source, the pro-Castro Cuban, after the assassination had occurred,
made the statement, 'I didn't think it would go this far.' in referring to
OSWALD.

"MARTINO said that additional information to establish that OSWALD had been
in Miami was received was received by him from Jim Buchanan. He said he used
to give a lot of stories on the Cuban situation to Buchanan, and during the
days immediately following the assassination, Buchanan, during a telephone
call, told him that Buchanan's brother, Jerry Buchanan, had a fistfight
with LEE HARVEY OSWALD at Miami, Florida, about a year prior to the
assassination. According to MARTINO, OSWALD at that time was attempting to
get aboard a boat [Alexander Rorke's Violyn III] that was being used by
Jerry Buchanan and anti-Castro exiles in connection with their anti-Castro
plans. Mr. MARTINO told Jim Buchanan that he intended to use this
information in his speeches if it were true, and Buchanan told him to go
ahead and do so. Mr. MARTINO stated he never used the information, however,
because he considered it 'confidential to the government' and he was 'Not
fighting that battle.'"

MARTINO also told S.A. O'Conner that OSWALD had secretly flown from the
Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, to Cuba, and that  his source had the name of
the printer in Miami OSWALD used to run-off his Fair Play for Cuba Committee
leaflets, and even had a copy of the check OSWALD used to pay the printer.
The funds had been withdrawn from the account of the Miami Chapter of the
Fair Play for Cuba Committee .
jko