The Crusade to Free Cuba
Author: jpshinley
Email: jpshinley@my-dejanews.com
Date: 1998/07/16
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The fund-raising drive to be known as the Crusade to Free Cuba had
an abortive beginning when NO Mayor Victor Schiro proclaimed November
6 to December 6, 1961 to be "March of the Paper Bullets for
Democratic Free Cuba Month." "Paper Bullets" were identified as dollar
bills, which were to be given to the FRD. (NOTP; November 7, 1961; s
2, p 4)
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After some retooling, the obliging Mayor Schiro proclaimed December
and January to be the "time of the Crusade to Free Cuba." (NOTP; Dec
1, 1961; s 2, p4) A kick-off meeting was held December 1 at the
Monteleone Hotel. The principle speaker was Manuel Gil, a Cuban exile
who would become involved with INCA. Other Cubans present were
Arcacha, Carlos Quiroga, who would later speak to Oswald in an attempt
to infiltrate Oswald's FPCC group, and Arnesto Rodriguez. Another
speaker was Norman Thomas, identified as a "New Orleans freelance
writer, [who] spent two weeks in Cuba during October." (NOTP; December
2, 1961; s 1, p 6) A Norman Thomas was listed as editor on the
masthead of William George Gaudet's Latin American Report (contents
pages from the February 1960 and June 1962). Dr. Alton Ochsner is
listed as a director of Latin American Report in the February 1960
issue.
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The Crusade picked up steam with the naming of William
A. Monteleone, of the Monteleone Hotel, as general chairman. A
city-wide committee was named which included Robert D. Reily; former
superintendent of police, Provosty Dayries (the man who fired
Banister); city Councilman Paul V. Burke, who had opposed Banister's
police corruption probe at every opportunity; Arnesto Rodrigues and
Manuel Gil. (NOTP; December 3, 1961; s 1, p 19)
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Another gathering at the Monteleone Hotel in late Decemeber
featured a speech by Arcacha himself. Arcacha is now described as a
delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Council (CRC) rather than the
FRD. To offer an explanation as to why the Cuban populace did not
rise up against Castro during the Bay of Pigs, Arcacha gave the
following dubious account: "There were 33 people in my office. Of
these 33, only five were for Castro. But they were armed with machine
guns as were other Castro militiamen. When the invasion came they
pointed the guns at us, wouldn't even let us leave the office for
lunch." (NOTP; December 29, 1961; s 1, p 6) Funny that the reporters
interviewing Arcacha at the time did not notice that he was being held
by armed men.
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Another speaker was Ronnie Caire, decribed as a coordinator of the
campaign. Caire indicated that some of the money raised would be used
to keep the anti-Castro underground active. And he offered that "Cuba
has missiles. And these missiles will be only 20 minutes away from New
Orleans. Suddenly we find the thing in our own backyard. If this
doesn't shake you up at night, I don't know what it takes. Caire
stated that the had checked out Arcacha and the CRC before becoming
part of the Crusade. "I checked unofficially with the CIA, the
un-American activities committee of the House of Representatives and
the State Department. From every national check source came back the
answer, 'This is the group.' I also checked up on Arcacha personally."
(ibid)
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William Monteleone also piped in: "The revolution in Cuba is no
comic opera. It is an international drive aimed at encircling the
United States and capturing all of Latin America." (ibid)
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The next big event in the Crusade was a parade down Canal Street on
January 20, 1962. Arcacha is now conspicuously absent; the parade was
led a Carlos Quiroga. The paraders carried a large Cuban flag into
which people were encouraged to toss their contributions. Mrs. Harlod
K. Marshall was identified as women's committee
chairman. J. B. McMahon the large donor's chairman, and Maurice Andry
as finance committee chairman. (NOTP; January 20, 1962; s 3, p 4;
January 21, 1962; s 1, p 21)
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The day after the parade, Monteleone stated that the drive would be
extended throuh January 31. Mention is also made of a two-hour
telethon held over the weekend. (NOTP; January 22, 1962; s 1, p 8)
Was this the telethon Rancier Ehlinger said Gordon Novel was involved
with?
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A new name is that of Luis Rabel, brought in to replace
Arcacha. (ibid) Notice that the Times-Picayune gives no hint of
Arcacha's departure or the reasons for it. According to the CIA
document cited above, "the FRD in New Orleans threw Arcacha SMITH out
of the organization in early 1962. Some Cubans said Arcacha SMITH
stole money entrusted to him for the counterrevolution." (p 2)
During the Garrison probe, Ronnie Caire was interviewed by Frank
Klein, who filed a memorandum dated January 23, 1967. Caire said he
was first approached by Arcacha around November or December of
1961. He could not recall if Arcacha had been referred by anyone. "The
Crusade lasted about three months and was a failure and [Caire] says
that he lost about $10,000 on the deal in expenditures for which he
was never remimbursed. He believes that all that was raised was about
$4,000 and that [Arcacha] pocketed some cash contributions." (p 202)
After the debacle of the Crusade, Arcacha worked for Caire from
February to September of 1962. The relationship was terminated when
Arcacha departed New Orleans after telling Caire that he had arranged
business in Mexico. (p 202) Caire identified Arnesto Rodgriquez as the
leader of the "anti-Arcacha" faction in the Cuban community. (p 203)
Caire had an uncertain recollection of being introduced to a "Toni
Varona" by Arcacha. (p 204)
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A memorandum of February 14, 1967, summarizes Sciambra's interview
with Ernesto (aka Arnesto) Rodriguez. Calling Arcacha a "bad hombre",
Rodriguez recalled that at one meeting of the Crusade "there was an
argument between RONNIE CAIRE and some of the Cubans over the way that
the finances were being expended. It seems that there was a complaint
that the money was being used to pay some of ARCACHA's personal
debts." (pp 787-8) Rodgriguez also claimed contact with Oswald during
the summer of 1963. (p 787)
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Rodriguez recommended an Orlando Piedra as a good source of
information on the N. O. Cuban community. (p 787) In February of 1962,
Piedra, described as former "chief of investigations for the secret
police of deposed President Fulgencio Batista," shared his secret
files on the early career of Fidel Castro. Piedra had been in New
Orleans since September 1960. (NOTP; February 10, 1962; s 2, p 3)
According to James and Wardlaw, Plot Or Politics, page 160, Piedra was
in New Orleans until the onset of the Garrison probe.
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Jerry Shinley
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