Castro's Growing Arms

Cuban anti-Communists dedicated to the overthrow of Fidel Castro face a task that, militarily, grows tougher by the day. Last week a newly escaped Cuban army officer put it bluntly: "There must be a modern force of at least 6,000 men, well-trained in combined operations on land, sea and air, or else it will be thrown back into the sea." Starting in Castro's first week in power, 21 months of frantic arms buying has funneled enough military hardware into Cuba to equip no fewer than nine light divisions of 7,500 men each, give Cuba more firepower than has ever been seen in the Caribbean.

False Manifests. Castro's first guns came from the Belgians, whose enterprising arms salesman showed him the strong, light FN (Fabrique Nationale) 7.62-mm. rifle used by NATO. So anxious was Castro to get the rifles that he ordered 25,000 at double the usual $75 price, plus 52 million cartridges, 2,000 new 9-mm. pistols, hundreds of machine guns and more than 100,000 artillery and mortar shells. At least twelve ships delivered 75% of the order before "friendly warnings" to Belgium by the U.S. forced a halt.

Castro agents got another 10,000 British Enfield rifles labeled as "hunting rifles," which were shipped from Antwerp. In Italy, they bought some $2,500,000 worth of armaments, including four of Italy's excellent new 105-mm. howitzers with a range of 6.2 miles. A later deal for three LST-type landing ships was blocked by U.S. pressure. But clandestine shipments continue through Naples of arms from other nations--labeled "motors" and "used parts." As late as three weeks ago, a Greek Line freighter left Naples with Cuban-bought arms falsely manifested to Haiti.

Red Guns & Men. The Naples shipments are only a trickle compared to what Castro gets from Czechoslovakia, the Soviet bloc's export arsenal. By the end of August 1960, Czech-made R-2 .30-cal. rifles and other arms began leaving Stettin and Gdynia on Poland's Baltic coast in such quantity that Castro's Red-made arsenal doubled in two months, is now valued at more than $300 million. With the equipment came the experts; some estimates put the number at 3,000 from Czechoslovakia and Russia, including 17 jet pilots. In return, scores of Cuban cadets and officers arrived in Prague for instruction. Best estimates of Castro's arms:

P:100 tanks, 60 of them Russian and Czech vehicles in the 30- and 35-ton class, plus four new 43-ton T-54 Soviet tanks that have night-fighting, infra-red sights and mount a 100-mm. gun, can outperform anything except the newest 63-ton U.S. M-103.

P:Twelve used MIG-15 jets, the same fighters clobbered by U.S. F-86s in Korea, along with another eight or ten newer MIG-17s. Total air force strength: 150 to 200 planes.

P:An unknown quantity of Czech truck-mounted tactical rockets for field troops.

P:200 antitank 3.5-in. bazookas, more than 100 new 75-mm. and 105-mm. recoilless rifles; about 100 self-propelled howitzers and cannons, plus another 100 Communist 120-mm. heavy mortars.

P:More than 500 Skoda 30-mm. and 40-mm. antiaircraft guns.

The significant switch in the last few weeks has been the downgrading of the 30,000-man null regular army in favor of the 250,000-man militia. Last week Havana's militia went on a regular footing with military rank and new FN rifles. Castro called for militiamen to train on bazookas, mortars, antiaircraft guns. He also announced that the army-commanded militia would henceforth get its own commanders, starting with a cadre of 500 newly graduated officers.

Castro distrusts the old barbudos who fought against Batista and retain a personal stake in Cuba's liberty. Much easier to handle are the militiamen, who stood aside during the revolution and are no,; anxious to prove their zeal. Today the militia is held responsible for more and more army and police functions, patrolling Havana, guarding official buildings, commanding automobile check points. Tomorrow it might become Cuba's new Communist-minded, Communist-equipped "army and, possibly, the strongest force in all Latin America.

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