Manuel Ray was
born in Cuba in 1924. Ray was a outstanding
student and in 1947 the Cuban Ministry of Public Works granted him
a scholarship to study civil engineering
at the University of Utah. Ray returned to Cuba in
1949 and became project manager for the construction of the Hilton
Hotel in Havana.
Ray
was opposed to the military rule of
Fulgencio
Batista
and in 1957
he established the Civic Resistance Movement. Over the next two years
Ray organized a series of sabotage and acts of terrorism against the
Batista government. Fidel
Castro
recognised the important role Ray played in the overthrow of Batista
and appointed him as his Minister of Public Works (February, 1959).
Ray
clashed with Castro over certain issues. This included Castro's decision
to execute Hubert Matos. In November, 1959, Ray left Castro's government.
In May 1960 Ray formed the Revolutionary Movement of the People (MRP)
and joined the underground resistance to Castro. The MRP was a left
of centre political organization that's policies included regulation
of private investment and the nationalization of all utilities.
The
Central
Intelligence Agency
considered
Ray an important political asset and in November, 1960, arranged for
him to escape to the United States. However, the CIA was not in complete
agreement about Ray. For example, E.
Howard Hunt
saw Ray as too left-wing and described him as a supporter of "Fidelism
without Fidel".
Despite
these fears, John
F. Kennedy insisted that Ray should become part of the Frente
Revolucionario Democratico (FRD). This upset its leader, Jose Miro
Cardona, who considered Ray to be a dangerous radical. William
Pawley, who believed that Ray was a communist, also objected to
him becoming a member of FRD.
Kennedy
also wanted Ray to join the Cuban Revolutionary Council (CRC). Ray
agreed to do this three weeks before the Bay
of Pigs
operation.
Ray
became Chief of Sabotage and Internal Affairs. Other members of this
government in exile included Tony
Varona
(Secretary
of War), Manuel
Artime (Head
of the Army), Antonio Maceo (Secretary of Health) and Justo Carrillo
(Economic Administrator).
Ray
withdrew the MRP from the CRC soon after the failed invasion of Cuba.
He gave a news conference on 28th May, 1961, where he criticised the
Bay of Pigs operation. He claimed that CRC had broken a pledge to
ensure that anyone closely associated with Fulgencio
Batista
would
not be used in the invasion. Ray also argued that Castro should be
overthrown by the Cuban people and was totally opposed to CIA backed
invasions.
John
F. Kennedy
now cut off funds for the MRP. As a result, party members persuaded
Ray to resign as leader of the MRP. Ray now moved to Puerto Rico.
In October 1961 he became a member of the Puerto Rican Planning Board.
In
April 1962, Ray formed a new anti-Castro organization called the Junta
Revolucionario Cubana (JURE). This organization became part of the
CRC. Ray also began providing information to the CIA about the possible
defection of Castro's officials. Ray made a tour of Latin American
countries in an attempt to raise funds in order that JURE could mount
resistance operations inside Cuba.
Silvia
Odio
was one of Ray's supporters. On 25th September, 1963, Odio had a visit
from three men who claimed they were from New
Orleans. Two of the men, Leopoldo and Angelo, said they were members
of the JURE. The third man, Leon, was introduced as an American sympathizer
who was willing to take part in the assassination of Fidel
Castro. After she told them that she was unwilling to get involved
in any criminal activity, the three men left.
Odio
became convinced that after the assassination of John
F. Kennedy that
Leon was Lee Harvey Oswald. Odio gave
evidence to the Warren Commission
and
one of its lawyers commented: "Silvia Odio was checked out thoroughly...
The evidence is unanimously favorable... Odio is the most significant
witness linking Oswald to the anti-Castro Cubans."
On
20th May, 1964, Ray and a crew of seven, including a reporter-photographer
team from Life Magazine, landed at
the Angguilla Cays, 40 miles off the Cuban coast. However, the British
authorities discovered Ray and his group and their cache of weapons
and explosives, arrested them for illegal entry into the Bahamas and
took them to Nassau. After being fined Ray was deported to the United
States.
The
FBI now carried out an investigation into
Ray's activities and discovered that he had illegally purchased $50,000
worth of arms for JURE from a California arms manufacturer. As a result
Ray was told to move all his operations outside of United States territory.
Attempts were also made to stop people in the United States from financing
Ray's activities.
Ray
continued to get involved in anti-Castro activities and in 1972 he
formed the People's Revolutionary Party, but it failed to make an
impact.
In
1978 Ray moved to Puerto Rico when he headed his own engineering consulting
firm in San Juan.
Open
Debate on the Kennedy Assassination
Manuel Ray interviewed on the JFK Forum
(1)
Jake
Esterline was interviewed by
Jack Pfeiffer on 10th November, 1975.
Jack Pfeiffer:
What about Manuel Ray in terms of leaders?
Jake Esterline:
Well, he was so anti-CIA, starting back in the early 50's... he
was anti-US government. So the CIA was lumped in with that - probably
because of the Ambassadorial image we had in Cuba in those early
50's with Ambassador Gardner, who distinguished himself when he
was the American Ambassador there by buying a thousand pounds
of ice from the ice plant every time they gave a cocktail party
so he could have the pool cooled properly. You know, that kind
of thing, Ray has never really been in sympathy with the U.S.
His reasons were probably not all that bad, and in those earlier
years, gave him an affinity with Castro. He wanted an independent
Cuba, and he didn't want the United States to be a continuous
satellite to the United States. So he would have ended up in the
category of a political unreliable. He did have a pretty good
friendship with Jim Noel, whom I mentioned earlier. Jim used to
say, "Gee, can't we bring him in more - and everybody threw
up their hands. Jerry Droller would throw up his hands and say
"you can't do this." He would have been absolutely unacceptable
to any Cuban politician we had to deal with.
(2)
Warren
Hinckle &
William
Turner,
Deadly Secrets: The CIA-Mafia War Against Castro and the Assassination
of JFK (1992)
Three
men appeared unannounced at the Dallas doorstep of Sylvia Odio,
a well-known Cuban exile and a backer of Manuel Ray's JURE, the
social-democrat group that most exiles considered flamingly pink.
The trio's Latin-looking spokesman called himself Leopoldo. He
said it was a "war name". He introduced a dark companion
with a stocky build as "Angelo". The third man, an Angelo
who stood shyly in the background, he introduced "Leon Oswal".
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
