The New York Times
April 9, 1961, p. 1

Castro Foes Call Cubans to Arms; Predict Uprising

U.S. Aid Is Denied

Miro Insists an Attack on 'Tyrant' Can Start Without Invasion

By Sam Pope Brewer

The chief of Cuban anti-Castro forces in the United States issued a call to arms to all Cubans yesterday to overthrow the regime of Premier Fidel Castro.

The call was contained in a declaration drawn up by the Cuban National Revolutionary Council and promulgated by its president, Dr. José Miró Cardona, who was Dr. Castro's first Premier.

Denouncing Premier Castro as a tyrant, Dr. Miró Cardona said that internal unrest was growing rapidly in Cuba. He expresses confidence that a general uprising would take place.

In Cuba, tension mounted as the Castro regime and its enemies prepared for what many there believe would be a "fight to the death."

'Conquer or Die'

The statement issued by Dr. Miró Cardona as head of the National Revolutionary Council declared:

"To arms, Cubans! We must conquer or we shall die choked by slavery. In the name of God we assure you all that after the victory we will have peace, human solidarity, general well-being and absolute respect for the dignity of all Cubans without exception.

"Duty calls us to the war against the executioners of our Cuban brethren.

"Cubans! To victory! For democracy! For the Constitution! For social justice! For liberty!

Scoffs at Invasion Reports

After issuing the statement, Dr. Miró Cardona scoffed at reports that an invasion had already begun. He said that the revolt must come, and would come from within the country.

Of his talks with State Department officials in Washington last week, he said: "There was nothing formal. I explained the aims of the united revolutionary group and what we are striving for."

The Cuban Revolutionary Council was formed March 21 to unite the many anti-Castro exile groups. The council met Friday night at the Hotel Lexington to draft a policy statement that was made public at a news conference held by Dr. Miró Cardona in the Hotel Roosevelt.

Dr. Miró Cardona vigorously denied reports that his group had been backed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. He said it was formed "exclusively by Cubans and not just those in exile, but by the fighters in Cuba."

He emphasized that is was formed "without any interference by any organization outside Cuba."

Asked whether he had ever talked with the C. I. A. he said: "Definitely, no. I have never had any connection with this or any other outside organization."

The National Revolutionary Council's statement was distributed by Lem Jones Associates, Inc., of 280 Madison Avenue, a public relations firm.

Flood of Invasion Reports

A recent flood of reports has created the impression that an invasion of Cuba, carried out by Cuban exiles, might occur at any moment.

Dr. Miró Cardona has consistently refused to support this view. He said yesterday than an invasion at this time would be "a tremendous mistake."

One the other hand, he is confident of an early general revolt by the Cuban people against the dictatorial regime imposed by Dr. Castro in the name of a revolution that Dr. Miró Cardona and his group supported before it swerved to the Left.

Asked how the Cubans were to get the arms to fight, Dr. Miró Cardona said only: "They are going to Cuba. How they get there is our problem."

Asked whether the declaration heralded an immediate risk against Dr. Castro, Dr. Miró Cardona said: "This is only a first statement from the Revolutionary Council. It is a call to arms to all those who have not yet taken up arms, but I cannot talk of future plans."

He added that "uprisings are already going on" but that there had been "no decision yet as to an invasion."

The lengthy statement issued by the council, said:

"Cubans, our country is occupied by a foreign army at the service of those who betrayed the revolution. It is our duty to our revered liberators to expel the tyrant from our soil."

The document was principally an indictment of the Castro regime on the ground that it had betrayed the liberal ideals of the January, 1959, revolution against the dictatorship fo Fulgencio Batista.

It said that "today all the power of the state have been concentrated in the hands of the most insolent demagogue ever known in America, a mockery has been made of justice; liberty has been abolished; the country has been ruined; the bleeding nation has been delivered to a voracious Russia and the rulers have dedicated themselves to preachments of hatred and extermination."

It called on Cubans "to re-establish national independence" and "to establish in Cuba a permanent democratic regime in which liberty and social justice will operate effectively and harmoniously."

Restoration of Ideals

Dr. Miró Cardona denied the movement was "counter-revolutionary." He said he was trying to restore the ideals of social revolution discarded by the Castro Government.

The statement said that Dr. Castro had betrayed the students by imposing political overtones on teaching and "forcing culture into uniform"; the workers by abolishing the freedom of unions; the peasants by forcing them into communes instead of the cooperatives he had promised, and the landowners by wholesale confiscation instead of reasonable agrarian reform.

Finally, it said, Dr. Castro "betrayed Cuba by delivering her sovereignty to Soviet Russia."

It promised Cubans that "there was not going back to a past which we all oppose-neither communism nor reaction."

The statement promised elections within the "unextendable terms of eighteen months after the downfall of the tyrant." Dr. Castro made a similar promise more than two years ago, as he took over control of Cuba, but he still has set not date for the elections.

Dr. Miro Cardona promised no persecution, after the "new revolution," of members of Dr. Castro's militia "just because they belong to that political army."

The statement accused "Castroism" of seeking to "extend its empire" over all Latin-American countries under direction from Moscow.