April 21, 1976

By PHIL GAILEY

The White House, responding to threats and insults from Cuban Premier Fidel Castro, promised Tuesday to take "appropriate action" against any U.S.-based groups involved in a recent attack on Cuban fishing boats in international waters off the Florida coast.

Government sources here said a Justice Department investigation of the incident is focusing on two Miami-based exile groups, Brigade 2506 and the National Front for the Liberation of Cuba, both of which have claimed responsibility for the attack.

An unidentified armed boat recently attacked two Cuban fishing trawlers in the area of Cay Sal Banks, midway between the United States and Cuba. One of the boats was sunk and a Cuban fisherman was killed.

EVEN THOUGH the incident took place in international waters, a Justice Department spokesman said, the United States can prosecute those responsible if "the preparations (for the attack) took place in an American port."

In Havana Monday, Castro threatened to junk the three-year-old anti-hijacking agreement between the United States and Cuba unless Washington finds and punishes those responsible for the attack.

White House press secretary Ron Nessen told reporters Tuesday that "appropriate action" will be taken if U. S. laws have been violated.

He also said the United States will continue to honor the anti-hijacking pact and expects Havana "to do the same."

Nessen said the United States on April 16 notified the Cuban government through the Swiss Embassy in Havana that it is investigating the incident.

PRESIDENT FORD'S spokesman said Castro knew this when he blasted the United States on Monday in a speech marking the 15th anniversary of the aborted Bay of Pigs invasion carried out by Cuban exiles with U. S. support.

In his Havana speech, Castro warned, "If aggressions against Cuban fishing vessels do not cease, it will be the end of the Cuban-American agreement on maritime and aerial hijackings."

He also denounced President Ford as a "vulgar liar" for suggesting that the Soviet Union was responsible for Cuba's military intervention in Angola. Castro claimed Russia "never solicited our sending a single Cuban soldier to that country."

"Ford and (Secretary of State) Kissinger also lie when they blame the U.S. Congress for the defeat of North American intervention in Angola by failing to approve funds," Castro was quoted from the broadcast of his speech.

THE CUBAN prime minister said that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency used sizable funds in Angola, and that no aid from Congress would have changed the outcome.

Nessen declined to comment on Castro's reference to Ford as a "vulgar liar."

State Department officials here are closely studying the Castro speech. They seem more concerned about its political significance than the prospect of Havana terminating the anti-hijacking agreement.

FOR ONE THING, the hijacking of American airliners is not a serious problem since U. S. airports installed tight security measures a few years ago.

Politically, however, some U. S. officials here believe the Castro speech, with its insults to President Ford, is another setback to efforts begun last year to improve relations between Washington and Havana.

They feel that both sides now have lost interest in normalizing relations - at least for the time being.