Miami Herald
September 1, 1964

Exiles Claim They Raided Radar Station


Cuban exile leader Manuel Artime said Monday night anti-Castro commandos destroyed a radar station manned by three Russian officers and 150 Cuban soldiers in Southeastern Cuba in a dawn attack Sunday.

The raiding party struck by sea from a secret base, said Artime, secretary of the Revolutionary Recovery Movement.

The 68-minute attack began at 6 a.m. against the installation at Cabo Crus on the south coast of Oriente Province, Artime said.

He said he had no reports of casualties either among the attackers or the defenders, but that the radar site was destroyed.

According to Artime, the radar station was responsible for intercepting many boats carrying refugees fleeing Cuba.

Artime said the attackers traveled in two boats and landed on a reef one mile away from the radar site. He did not specifically know how many men were in the raiding party.

Some of the attackers walked a mile to their objective while others carried out a diversionary attack, Artime said.

The exile leader spoke at the home of a Cuban friend in Panama.

Artime declined to give details of the operation including questions of whether the attackers remained in Cuba or made their way hack to the unspecified place whence the raid was launched.