Electronic Warfare . Excerpts from the research report, "Havana-Berlin Connection": By Jorge L. García Vázquez

                   Electronic Warfare

Excerpts from the research report, "Havana-Berlin Connection"

By Jorge L. García Vázquez

"Dear Comrade Prieto,

Allow me to inform you that, thanks to the support of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Cuba, the assembly and commissioning of a 10-meter parabolic antenna was successfully completed at the Special Radio Services of the Ministry of State Security of the GDR".

(Letter from General Manfred Männchen, head of the Stasi's Special Radio Services, to Colonel Abelardo Prieto Rodríguez, head of Directorate XI of the Ministry of the Interior, October 30, 1985).

The Radio Intelligence (RI) and Radio Counter-Intelligence (RCI) departments of the Ministry of the Interior and their East German counterparts in the Stasi engaged in intense and costly collaboration.

The development of "electronic warfare" in Cuba has a name: Ramiro Valdés. The Minister of the Interior of Cuba at the time dedicated special attention to this sector. During a meeting with high-ranking Stasi officers, Valdés proposed turning Cuba into an "Electronic Warfare laboratory" for the benefit of the socialist bloc.

An important collaboration agreement was signed on June 30, 1983, between the Special Radio Services of the Ministry of State Security (MfS) and the Cuban Directorate of Counterintelligence.

In 1975, a Stasi delegation visited Cuba. A report on the visit stated:

"The Ministry of the Interior (MININT) has requested the support of the MfS. Cuban counterintelligence has existed since 1961. Its main department is located in Santiago de las Vegas, 25 kilometers south of Havana and near the Rancho Boyeros Airport. Other centers are located in Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Four radio direction-finding stations are located in other parts of the country".

What did this collaboration entail, and what were its technical and operational objectives?

(a) Intercept and decrypt enemy Special Services' and agents' transmissions.

(b) Monitor radio communications in East Germany and Cuba and in the diplomatic missions accredited in both countries.

Stasi report on the transport of black money (10 million dollars) with the support of Cuban State Security

Stasi report on the transport of black money (10 million dollars) with the support of Cuban State Security

January 12, 2023

 

by Jorge L. García Vázquez 

Berlin, May 16, 1988 / May 5, 1988 / Contact Person "Alpha" Reception, Mayor Hartung. Transcript of Recording 900151 Meeting: Time 5 pm to 9 pm 000154 AB BKK No. 465/138 / REPORT on the transfer of 10 million US dollars from Mexico via Cuba, GDR, Austria, and Switzerland. Immediately after the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1988, the company representative visited IHZ* and presented a proposal to company P, making several offers to import meat, coffee, and other products from Paraguay. He inquired about the possibility of transporting "black money"—US dollars from Mexico—as described in the title. The origin of the money in Mexico is supposedly unknown... Delta company was to receive a 15% commission. During the week of March 28, we consulted with Raúl O., First Secretary of the embassy in Cuba, in the presence of translator G. I asked him what the possibility was of carrying out this transport via Cuba. Raúl O. confirmed that he had done it several times in the past and listed details of how it could be organized: a group of Cubans would travel to Mexico with the corresponding diplomatic passports, purchase a car and several suitcases to avoid leaving a trace, transport the money to the Cuban embassy in Mexico, and subsequently fly it to Havana as diplomatic baggage. Raúl O. said he would have to travel to Havana to clarify this matter. I informed Haase* about the possibilities of this transport and about the matter in general. 

Source: Stasi Document Archive

STASI-UNTERLAGEN- ARCHIV

BA MfS AG BKK Nr. 465, page 154

*IHZ: International Trade Centre, East Berlin 

* More information about the Stasi-MININT business relationship :  https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/11013.html

File reviewed by Jorge L García Vázquez, independent researcher and author of the Havana-Berlin Connection Blog 

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Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA) de Estados Unidos. Foto Afp /Archivo

 
 
 
 

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