Donovan Finds Castro Talks Costly, Frustrating
HERALD AMI NEWS, Klamath I alls. Ore.
Tuesday, April 16. 1963
PAGE J
NEW ORK i L"P1 James 1 guess my (ace is pretty well
B. Donovan, the one-man freedom known by now. Three of the men
train for persons imprisoned in got into a car with me and the
Cuba, has been losing two things other four into another car and
recently sleep and monev
The Brooklyn lawyer, who ne
gotiated the release of the Bay
of Pigs prisoners and more re
cently nine American skin divers
we drue to one of the four
houses maintained by the Cuban
Ministry of External Affairs.
Everything was ready for me
there and I put in a call for
told in an interview todav about Castro.
the physical and mental strain of Some Long Delays
negotiating with Fidel Castro. j "Sometimes I get to see Castro
"They work at night down right away and sometimes lirere
there," he said. "One night I got I is a delay of hours. 1 stal led
three hours sleep, another time i talking w ith him on Saturday and
two hours and a third night none
at all. Once Castro phoned me at
2 o'clock in the morning and an
nounced we were going fishing at
6 o'clock. We did, too."
So far as money is concerned,
lawyers estimate Donovan has
lost $100,000 in legal fees because
of his work in rescuing prisoner
tn Cuba. He is counsel for the
Cuban Families Committee and
serves without pay. Not that he
is about to become a pauper be
cause he is a member of a well
known firm that has 18 lawyers
on its staff. But he has made sub
stantial financial sacrifices ever
since he was named by the
Brooklyn Bar Association to de
fend the Soviet spy. Col. Rudolf
Abel. Subsequently Donovan nego
tiated the exchange of Abel, who
was taken out of federal prison,
and traded for L'2 pilot Francis
(Jary Powers. That led to the doz
en trips he has made to Cuba
and his work is not finished yet.
There are still 22 Americans held
by Castro and Donovan hopes to
negotiate for them in about 'a
month.
How docs he establish contact
with Castro and go about getting
into Cuba?
f scs Intermediary
"Well," he said, "I'll tell you
ahout one weekend. On Friday,
March 15, 1 was in federal court
here. When I want to go to Cuba
1 make a phone call to Havana
to a person who is a sort of in
termediary down there. 1 had put
in a call and Friday afternoon I
got word that clearance had come
through.
"I didn't make a reservation,
but 1 went out to ldlewild Airport
and got a seat on an Eastern Air
lines jet for .Miami. 1 always fly
down there at night. At Miami
1 went to a hotel and registered
under an assumed name. You
have to be careful to choose a
name that matches the initials on
your baggage and I use Davis a
lot of the time.
"I only carry one bag contain
ing tropical clothing and a brief
case. From the hotel 1 phoned a
restricted area of the Miami Air
port and got in touch with Pan
American which provides a small
plane for the flight to Havana. 1
asked them to get clearance for
me to fly across the Cuban anti
aircraft batteries. It came
through pretty fast this time and
we took off lor Havana.
"Seven men well-armed and
wearing black silk suits met me
at Havana. I didn't have to show
a visa or a passport or anything.
continued through on Sunday
March 17.
"Saturday he took me for an
aulomobilf ride and we kept ne
gotiating. He is always very cour
teous and correct and he gave me
a good lunch of fruit cup. chicken
soup, red snapper, salad and col
fee. Alsu an excellent cigar.
"By Sunday 1 could seme that
the negotiations weren't getting
very far, so 1 decided to try the
luck of the Irish. I said to Cas
tro: Look, do you know what day
this is? This is Saint Patrick's
Day and Saint Patrick is my pa
tron saint. They are painting a
green line down Fifth Avenue in
New York and getting ready to
have a parade.
" 'Do you know who one of the
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WON'T USE CAR .
WASHINGTON ( UPI '-Speaker
John W. McCormack said today
House Clerk Ralph R. Roberts has
agreed not to use his government
provided limousine to go to near
by race tracks any more.
McCormack told newsmen
Thursday that "Mr. Roberts will
use the car strictly for official
purposes."
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1 big heroes of South America is?
Bernard O'Higgins is his name
It's bad luck to deny anything to
an Irishman on Saint Patrick's
i Dav. and what's more vou have
two American women in prison
and one of them is named
O'Neal.' "
Appealed To Castro
Somewhat to Donovan's sur
prise this Celtic appeal impressed
Castro. He went away for a while
and then returned and said he
was releasing the two women.
Geraldine Schamma and Martha
O'Neal.
They came out of jail wearing
their denim prison clothes and
Donovan flew back to Miami w ith
them on Sunday.
"Monday morning," Donovan
said. "I was back in federal court
and the judge looked at me sort
of surprised and asked: "Well,
where have you been and what's
new?
Donovan's successes in Cuba
have caused rumors that he is in
the pay of the Central Intelli
gence Agency and actually is
working in behalf of the U.S.
State Department in an attempt
to negotiate some sort of diplo
matic accommodation between
Washington and Havana. Donovan
says that if something plus in a '
diplomatic sense comes out of his
work he will be glad, hut he
stoutly denied he was working for
the CIA or the State Department.
"I have never even met Secre
tary of State Dean Rusk," he
said. "The only contact I ever
have with the State Department
is that I contact them before I
go to Cuba I explain what my
mission is and ask them if my
activities would be in any way in
consistent with our national pol
icy. If they ever said no, I
wouldn't nuke the trip, but so
tar they haven't.
Doesn't Know Policy
"1 honestly couldn't tell you
right now what our official na
tional policy is toward Cuba
When I first went down there
Castro would ask me about Wash
ington's intentions toward Cuba
and I always told him I wasn't
there to represent the United
Slates. I was there on a private
humanitarian mission."
What is it that keeps driving
him on missions that involve dan
ger to his health and a financial
sacrifice? He thought about that
for a while and then said:
"Well, you're at the Havana
airport standing beside the steps
as the prisoners get on the plane
There is fear on their faces and
they are white with prison pallor.
"After the plane takes off, they
begin to relax. Sometimes when
thev see the coast of Florida they
smile. Those smiles are reward
enough for me."
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TALKS COSTLY New York attorney James B. Dono
van, who-negotiated the release of Castro-held Bay of
Pigs invasion prisoners, rests his hand on law book dur
ing interview in his New York office recently.
UPI Telephoto
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