THE HEMISPHERE Artime 201

CUBA
"Something is Moving"
"There is a leader for Cuba, the one who can unite the forces of the revolution and the people. He is a man of action, not words." Said leader, according to the underground newspaper Bohemia Libre, is Manuel Ray, the engineer who resigned as Minister of Public Works in Fidel Castro's revolutionary government last year to form the Movimiento Revolucionario del Pueblo (MRP).

In Cuba as elsewhere, communism has its own dialectic. The communists proclaim: "Marx or Castro." Something is moving in Cuba for sure, and fast, excluding Fidel. Since the Cuban leader's two-hour May Day speech last week (see below), the U.S. had its new cause celebre. The biggest raid in numbers and shock effect in months was made on Havana's revolutionary headquarters of the Movimiento Revolucionario del Pueblo by Raul Artime, heading the underground army of young intellectuals, the Movimiento de Recuperacion Revolucionaria (MRR).

At 10:30 p.m., Miami Airline WHB, operating from Florida, issued its first "danger alert" (Peligro) and gave the coordinates of Cuba's southern coast. Linking up with a second force of guerrillas from the nearby Sierra Maestra, the raiders stormed the MRP headquarters, killing 15 and capturing 40. The MRP's leader, Manuel Ray, was not there. He was in hiding in the Sierra Maestra, where he had been since his resignation from Fidel's government. The raid was the first major blow to the MRP, which had been gaining strength since its formation in 1959, and the first significant anti-Castro action since the Sierra Maestra was the guerrillas' stronghold during the revolution.

Within hours, Radio Havana was on the air railing about the attack. Castro declared that the crisis had been "a warning that the revolution was in a critical phase." From the U.S., he made a series of charges against the CIA. In a statement from his hideout in the Sierra Maestra, Ray accused Castro of "provoking the raid to discredit the MRP." Nevertheless, he admitted that the raid was a setback and that the MRP had virtually collapsed in the Sierra Maestra. Said he: "We need time."

Naturally, the raid had been carefully planned by the underground. Castro's immediate response was to send his personal bodyguard, the elite "Los Barbudos," to reinforce the MRP headquarters and other key underground bases. Manuel Ray somewhere in the Sierra Maestra, and his men had to retreat, but not before they had made their point. In Miami radio broadcasts to MRP members in Washington, the State Department blandly advised "further restraint."

The MRP's setback was not the underground's alone. Perhaps not, but it was clear that Cuba's war was now being waged against Castro's own revolution. Once old Cubanism was gone, the new had to be born.

Said the old shipbuilder now retired: "Since the days of my apprenticeship, our physical and spiritual strength has been sapped by the tyranny of Castro and the Vatican. We are ready to fight again." Said Ray: "The MRP is not dead. We will continue to fight."

At 2:45 a.m., Radio Havana went off the air. The underground had won its first victory in months. It was to be hoped that the MRP would be able to consolidate its position in the coming months. The Sierra Maestra is still the stronghold of the underground, but it is also the stronghold of the revolution. It is a long, slow war, with no immediate solution in sight. Meanwhile, the underground is fighting on three fronts: against the regime, against the communists, and against the revolution.

Partially, the MRP is being backed by Nicaragua's Somoza and other anti-Castro Central American dictators. The MRP is also receiving support from Costa Rica and other anti-Castro countries in Latin America. In the U.S., it is receiving support from Cuban exiles in Miami and New York. In Washington, the State Department is watching the situation closely. Said one official: "We are not supporting the MRP, but we are not opposing it either."

The MRP's leader, Manuel Ray, is a former member of Fidel Castro's revolutionary government. He resigned as Minister of Public Works in 1959, and has since been in hiding in the Sierra Maestra. Ray is a civil engineer by profession, and is considered one of the most capable leaders of the underground. He is married and has two children. He is 40 years old.

Ray's resignation from Fidel's government marked the beginning of the underground's war against the revolution. Said Ray: "I resigned my job as a government official because I could not support the revolution. I could not support the communists. I could not support Fidel Castro."

Ray is now in hiding in the Sierra Maestra, where he is leading the underground's fight against the revolution. He is considered one of the most capable leaders of the underground, and is respected by both his followers and his enemies. Said one of his followers: "Ray is a man of action, not words. He is a man who can unite the forces of the revolution and the people. He is a man who can lead Cuba to freedom."

TIME, MAY 27, 1960.