SI63
Wr or
(Specify Sea Pouch)
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEWELEASE AS SANITIZE!
VIA NO. !Tav
4
FROM
SUBJECT fOENERAL {SI
DATE
Chiefaf Station. OuataaaU C " J
ClinMQua lonoAA tt%T
H ailinral faa- Mlopy of an infenanU preptraa by Paul B. fnajjifaoocct *Uit te OeateaavU
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f.ha typo nt ttfnrnattoc Ukrt la oawrlred aftt aaaUy froa Ouataairti. fca latea row teaiMil an of tap local aaaaj, often thona
awfttera nay apcaaar obvious ft* snsu baft aa capoad apoa yon for such reports, ntdaal aagnaftj allm*iflfotnntton. *
officials, atdfW la propaganda en^erta, neat eUnot ruaoro on ofhaaa iQCCOrftn nnon not bo long, aad an infernal aftyls in pwrfcrtly scooptable.
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ll ipft Walxlhctiow
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CLASSIFICATION
Report byIen"evln rf tbe ' ade to tho Factory,
(coverine the periodTueeday,archrch) The initial pers^rephe ofort willthe ohaerv-ftloneK nature, aeby someone who wen visiting the country Tor th* flret tine.
Flret cf all, aand very large Mlitarv bane hae been eetabliehed elmoat directly acroaayavilM fron" the fortress lll bain-end only th* buildinc* vhlchr to bo barracke hpvo been completely teroineted. Other lareer bulldlnae which eecr to be gyimieslume, or suritoriurce of ao-ne kind, hev netter ainrted. It has been reported thet the large rub bar cf troops which ere jow stPtioned in tt establishc-nt neer the airport will eoon move te thisbiee. Tnere^ans however, only tw< roeda connecting thieith the city proper, both of which no down through the ravine, end they would be rather difficult to travcree very repldly. Prom eppeerences, especially froa the air. It looks ae 1'. with normal work procedure, thiebaae will not be finished for sane six months, althoughave eeid, it could bp used any time becauao of the barreeko buildinsa which havo been finished. There lo one larpe and very new highway which ie bain? constructed fron over the mountain* ona peat this baee. but it slope at the edge of tbis large ravine, and no work hsa ae yet beer, begun cn the large bridge whichouat connect this rosd with the city itself. Thle roed la obviouslyorincipal artery, but will be ineffective until the bridge ia eonetucted.
The largest ailltery concentrations of different types to bs found in the city ere arcu-the perimeter and close to the Canpo de Martea, the large parade ground whichtend at one- ravine drepe abruptly behind thet reviewing otand$ and eataWone eerlee of low buildlnee at the other and. Thia large 4aV parade area ie very flut, and although there are roads which cross it, they ere flush with the eroud so that
the area la one large flat eurface. Cn one aide of the Cempo de Kertee can be found the re towers which are eeid to be thoee of one of the large stations, but which certainly havemilitary appearance. Jfaxt to thia radio transmit tor eight is the building of the Cavalry, but it eee-.ed thst Boat of the horoee were being used for pleasure end ere not usedl tery aenee except in paredee. Aloo, on the other aide of the field. Is to be found tho ailltery school and the Quortel General, both or which nm purrounded by high walls end whi are very well guarded. Also, in thle immediate area, can belock of housing where officers and their families live. Incidentally, lt la ssld that these officera mustather high rent for thesemuch higher, for instance, than in neighboring cou tries. Within two blocks of thle immediate erea can else be found the residence end office of the Chief of Staff of the country's aray. Thsre are three wide avenuee from whicho from tho Cempo de Hertee into the center of the city. One of these croseeaand-bridge,which ie vary firm, ao the three oould be ueed at all tlmee. ieited the Cempo de Martee for three successive daye and on all three daye flaw there three tenke. Two of these tanks were in operation. They eseaed to be ueed for training purposes, ae there wore many soldiers around them. There waarsctor there, preeumsbly to pull the tanks in ease they broke down. There waa also one armored car. These tenke did not mount machine gune; they did, however,hirty-seven mlllmcter. It is preeumod that theae vehicles must kept in the Cuertel Oenerel which ie Just on the edge of the field.
ome dietance from the field and up the roed to Salvador, Just at the base of the hlllt there are three very tall and very new radio towers, the first and third of which are eqv.ii with ssucer-likc apperatus, which seemed to be soar sort of dlreetionel-beaalnr equipment.
U. In tho residential area which lies between tho Cempo de Kartee, roughly, and thooticed on three successive daye troop manoeuvcra. Theae usually consisted inpproxinately twenty-five men with one of flc era. marchn single file to thisy guide during this trip was ESPF.RANCE, who liven In thiB imraedlete ores, and he said this if
place in the last few weeks. In thie area, vary elope to the Plaza Reforma, there are nan new smell bunrslows going up, which elso are golnr to ba used to house the families of the officers.
At the air port itaelf, one waa able toery large number of small privatetwenty-five on one aide of ths field, and another twenty-five or thirty dire ly oppoaile. Theae private planes aeaai to be In very good shape,oticed that meny
-a-
ofcmup w t any eort.heefc it nil, l
jr . PrssvnmMv n th.-n* ef
eny sort -if eetlen, due to th'ife tekr off#nv
tin*. An incidental nMehoilot, haa been approached bv indlvl" uelsuerried on th? possibility of his flyii" thee out of the country in epse of oe-tion. Aroundperimeter of the airfield proper, th- largest number of men io the grou that le found In the airprraex* et the field. Thar*eries of pillboxsa,ther old end not being ooed, rlonz this Stretch of road, end ther*entry et npnrpxiery two hundred yards. Altogether in tail area ther* seemed to b* sans ijer. who *r* on 4uty. Incidentally, it in reported* these barrack* ware jawsbilfa by studente who etood in the woods ecroat thercrrr.5kfi end put rifle ehota through the wlndove of tha berrpeka and iia^abtjliznd all the occupants for some hours. Thero are oevarsl troupe of bulldinga with radio antenr.se around the flold, one of which belongs to the Air Mission, another to the Keppinrthers which belon* to tr verlous cosaerclel airlines and to tha government. On the opposite aide of the field, a* the aain entrance, there iasuerd houee with six BSD on duty, and apparently another a)mail barracks in this pusrd houte weitine to no or duty. Apparently there ar* twe} man thoro all tha time. There iaentry box at the two corners of the field whlov are nearest tha town, 'uat elon^ the old Boueduet. There ie ens aentry poated et each o! theae tentry houaee. thia altuetion is duplicatedhe other end of tho field, although therearge ravinepOBBibly not. lso saw two tonka on the road to Antigua. These tanka had four or five men on to? end were followedse: which conteinod an officer end seven men. All of these men carried rlflaa, but there wei no mnchine-guns, grenades, or other buch weapons vialble, excopt for the thirty-seven mi* meter gun in tho tanka theaaelvee.
ne of tho few roede which coaee into the town, theron Srlvsdcr, we*t tho time of ay visit, duoondellde which oecuradd, preeumebly beceuseain. In order to reach tho highway, then, it waa necessary to teke the old Salvador roi and go eround tho lp-rge hill bnd join the highway on tha other side.
7. The largest concentration of on-duty sentries in the city seemed to be in the gm
room of the National Palace. Perhaps it would be better to eiy, ?uat behind tha Kationn Palace, et the aide of tho President'a hone. There were some thirty men hereee: at eight-thirty in the evening. They seemed to be alert, and there were at leaet three machine-guns preeent. he headquarters of the Federal Police, although physically fo:ery effective eort of fortreaa and atill bearin? the fears in the way ofnge of prevloua revolts, is not unusually heavily guarded. Therearge number of lico at the on trance to the Federal Penitentiary, but it la difficult to oboerve tho dif; ence between tho police and what are obviously trueteeB. It la rumorod in the city thet tho police force and the amy ere in dire need of ammunition of elltypee, end aeny peopl there eay that they hope that the recent trip to Switzerland nf one of their fellows vi* mean that this ammunitionwill Boon be taken care of.
n considering the poaalble movement of any large body of men in action acrossho old weter aqueduct near tho airport should be taken into account, aa itery definite well.
A
9- One canural-type poster which ia put out byver intent. The top threo-qusrtere of thie poster consist of photographs of happy workers, etc. Bnd bottom quarter, across thb length of the poster, in very larco lettera, pute acroaa the lowin? ices, "At this moment theith our enemies, with the resistance the laDerielistle governmentoverthrow ue. They will even go so fer as toa futile attempt against ua with horrible exploelvea.* It her been aeid that type of po at loaot with thie particular oentiment, hea onlyly. Another very email ter which io obvious, eopeclblly in tho center of the town, is the ono rbout ten inches and eirht inches wide whichammer and Pickle tond eroeeboneo tif, printed entirely In block, Bnd addreeaed eaoacielly to the country'a workere. Aboupercent of theae were defaced. There ere, however, many posters,arody of thie one, aloo in color, in which tho face of Unci* Waa has been replaced with fece of KpJenkov. The lorr-esi number of thee* posters ia to bo foi-n* in the crowded arc roup.hly between the National Priece, thehe brewery. Standing neer newob.
n trie winning sice. Paul D. Laneevin
pn able to observepposition and independent Proaa cutoelle theapers anywhere from eiijht to ten, to one. It seemed to mey large number were sold, especially of Iirirscto tnd El Sgpcctador. Durinp the time of myyclist ex-hibition wao being held in the niein plaza of ths town, directly, in front of the Nstionsl Congress. There wnsa crowd prosent watching toounc Colombian go around tV plaza for three dr.yo without stopping. paoto many people in different otrato of life end received varied impressions. Cnei new things were better ths they were, the worker crn priteet bed treatment, long hour"incuf"icicnt At the other extreme aeVMC gentlemen who aaid exactly the opposite, rut! seic thft they would be villin* to }ump in the fiddle of envthini" thet etorted. However, the ovr-all iT-preesi?r. taken from about thirty one-minute interviews wee thet ndpns, either at one extreme.h' ?ther. or in the reiddlc, expected that enything would happen. Not onceact anyone who definitely thought thet any thought of physical revolt egeinst the pr-*nent regime vaa forthcoming. All seemed to be concerned about tho fact that so muchbeir.i- written ebout their country in the international prese. esult of these interviews, thiefeels thet the nflticnil character, in contrast to oany Let Irs characters, ia one of placidity. For example, during thend very loud fir< crackers were shot in the streets, but no one bothered with"llj end no one looked out of apartment windows. It scemo thpt this placidity of the citizens would even exjendime of crioifl, end thus it should be considered that the number-one objective at ony such time would be erecting the impression that one oido or the other had actually token over, or had the situation well in hand. At thia tir presumably, people might go out into tha streets. Join groups, but according toas able to deduct here, they are not the sort of people who will, on their cwn, run cu'. to take part inather, they would be more inclined to sit tight wx!ny move until theyhey wore going toeove on tVide.
Original document.
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