GENERAL- K-PROGRAM - SPECIFIC- PROGRESS REPORT - (DELETED)

Created: 5/18/1954

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: Chief of Station, Ovate subject:prcgra'-

Contents of the written brief forwardod to vour headquarters es7 were cosauintcatcd by ESQUXtiB tcthe coursehort and hurried meeting in thc evening ol' i4 "ay. ubsequent ooetlng hasbeon scheduled fory in order to go over the various topics set forth innceollate report will be submit tod after tho rosults ofIS May mor.tlng are in.

It appears unlikely st this at ago thatbe induced tc assist in the prlrdng of garrison staff personnel in the provinces He feel- that in view of thc delicacy of bis statusis the government this might be taking unnecessary risks with scant ascu: anco of success, opined that sost of the officers in theuhoi we have targeted for recrultnwnt could racre eevar.tage-ously be approachec through some close friend anong the civilian residents of their garrison town. Ke is prepared, or. the other hand, to provide us with l *of the officer personnel in whom we are interested, not all of whom are, however, known tc him personally.

SSa'-'IRS, on the basis of his last talk with appears quite sanguine Inradual looaonlng up the first result of which wouldisclosure of the identity of some

of the ranking officers In Guatemala City In whom

unqualified trust. We shall continue to press for this informs.tic but do not wish to hold out hope for imnedlate results. As regard SKIIAX, It now appears that his initial reaction when It wasto him tot lvc of the consejo was rather

!,: quoted him as saying: "But

that Is treason."is naturally loath to press StflLAX for

further convultnenta as long as he maintains this "neutralist" Pftfl-S's view, that tangible evidencearamilitoryin the staking will ultimately sway him, renains unchanged.

wsa to be anticipated,,grownsensitiverenote;igilance or doubtshis loyalty. Ke now definitely feels thaty boalthough there has not aa yet been any indication of

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government surveillance. As an example,econt talk withe discerned for the firstistinct ccolnees, auggaatinr that he is nc longer accepted as privy to cortein' military information.

with alacrity, took to our suggestion that he commit

to paper some of hia ideas regarding propagandists handlingofficers' problem. He was told that his views, ifby the eonsejo, would be incorporated in anow under preparation.adamantly nointaius

that nothir^ will be gained by singling; out individualvituperation. In this context, he mentioned that he wasauare of the fact that3 could not afford" totlCO.OGO house from his salary.now that he must havemoney by crooked means and he knows this as well.now. But what 6arthly good would it do If I In sun,does not see much merit in antagonizing

officers who, linehave afterersonal following

among the officers or tne Guatemalan Army. ESQUIREhis talkhat the consejo was unlikely towith

uns is convinced thatfully grasped tho nature

of the intelligence which he will be expected to purvey. up the naturetrip to Puerto 3Arrlos, which

iivo aays.nave been sent to inspoct the Puerto Barriosuoss based cn the governments known anxiety to procure planes. He also stated that he had been able to gather some concrete evidence regarding coirriunist penetration of the Guatemalan Army which he would produce at theay meeting.

In the course of theay meeting,thet he did

not necessarily consider prevalentey toof the officers' problem, because there are too manyanti-communist officers who are ignorant of national andothers which aro primarily interested ln money andand again others who foel bound by their oath of loyaltygovernment. Although thisto be ln flatsome of the statements made byin tho presence of PAGE,

- he now maintains that many of the officers of the Guatemalanbe bought and that tho government has ample funds nt itafor this very purpose. "Wasn't it true thator the Incriminatingpresumably into the Whiteoved that anyshould stress tho aspects of Patriotism, Unityot necessarily in that order.

ESQ'v'IRB is under instruction to continue pressi ng for

personality information and for an engagement to approach certain carefully aolected personalities in tho military Mernrchy of

RY5AT

had criminally been scheduled loa

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uity. Xt is appreciated that pressure can bevceginnlryt an

r thanay ul ti -

cers into

has been cautSonca assault. Our.c-sitJon to

ate

attempt to curtail his frosoon or decision is bojug pace and

ie fold,rchin, ee.

disavowed all knowledgo ofans designed to

cope with an Internal uprising. He is convinced that, whatplans there exist are premised on the anticipation of aninvade Gu: temala from contiguous countries,strongly

implied thnt ho would know at loast about the existenceount:-insurrection plan.

accordance with Instructions, ESauiSE solicitedregsrdlng the likelihood ofavingcontact. Embassyertain J3 immediate reaction was to depreciun*ove ons partromise togathered from his remarks and the manner in which theythatalose personal associate of

Field uomment: In view of prior indications that

STAKDfcL-io's discretion leaves something to be desired, we would not rule out that common sense once more abandoned him. More like' however, is the probability that C s being used by thoGovernmenteception cnannel. This matter is undorinvestigation and do doubt effective steps will be taken by way of blocking this channel effectively, should it turn out thats being victimized.

a cursory check of the list of garrisons in which weestablish further logeroents of control,ofs anti-communist yet down the line aeV id not appear to be fully posted on the variousof Oarrison commands, nor are we (which makes aimpression). Field Comment: Ho improvement In the currentof garrison controly can be expectedSECANT operation ia placedrofessional basis,Guatemala Station to kee- Itself fully posted on histo obtain an up-to-date Inventory of those garrison assetsfully developed. PAGE fully shares NUTTIHG'a andin that respect. He further-shares BANNISTER1 aany further compromise of SECANT may well set in motioneffect regarding the assets under SEMANTIC'a control.

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Graham. L, Page

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Distribution- inc *

2-Wa8h llea

Original document.

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