Informed Sources

The Godfather & THE CIA

CIA-Mafia connections have been alleged for years, but the Rockefeller commission has learned of documents linking the two in plots to assassinate Cuba's Premiere Fidel Castro.

The files are reported to be held by the Justice Department, and contain memos from J. Edgar Hoover relating to two Mafia figures, Sam Giancana, a Chicago rackets' chief and John Roselli, a soldier of fortune with organized crime connections. The two came under investigation during the sixties by the FBI, but their CIA connections forced the Bureau to lay off.

Giancano and Roselli are reported to have participated in plots against the Cuban premiere in 1961. One attempt organized by Roselli, under guidance from the CIA involved the use of poison pellets, another tried to infíltrate sharpshooters into Cuba. Roselli reportedly claimed he helped the CIA in the assassination attempts during testimony before a Los Angeles Federal Court in the early sixties.

The documents are the first concrete evidence of CIA links to organized crime. One theory being theorized is the Mafia link was an elaborate "cover" story, so that if Castro were killed, blame could be placed on the mob. Thus, the CIA would be absolved of responsibility.

(Senator George McGovern, recently returned from Cuba, reports that Castro has also offered to turn documents over to the Rockefeller commission proving CIA plots against his life.)

Connections of the CIA to organized crime have also surfaced in the Kennedy assassination. W.R. Morris, a Dallas Morning News reporter, has submitted a lengthy statement to the Rockefeller commission which alleges Lee Harvey Oswald was a CIA agent.

Morris claims to have met a former CIA agent who told him the CIA was behind the operation. The Agency supposedly employed an organized crime leader to hire riflemen to carry out the killing. According to the Morning News, Morris has supplied the commission with names of two assassins, along with the name of the man he claims "organized" the plot.

In the meantime, a bill to reopen the Kennedy investigation by Congress has now gained support from 27 representatives, including Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm.

...Speaking of investigations, the Senate Committee investigating the CIA has started taking testimony, and is still trying to obtain unedited files from the Intelligence Agency. The House committee now has a lawyer, and should also be underway soon.

Another investigation is going on around the possibility that Richard Nixon's campaign managers knowingly accepted money from international drug operators. New York Senator James Buckley and his staff spent several weeks trying to verify the report which grew out of a three-year investigation"by a former military-intelligence officer. Five other agencies are now looking into the charges.

NEW MARIJUANA LAWS?

Michigan Senator Philip A. Hart is reported drafting legislation to end all federal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana. It would retain current penalties for amounts over 3 1/2% ounces. Hart said the jailing of one of his own children convinced him there ,should be no penalties. His son received a 20 day jail term and $200 fine for a joint less than half an inch long.

The U.S. Justice Department has softened its hard-line stance against easing marijuana laws. Donald Miller of the Drug Enforcement Administration testifïed before Congress, stating the department has now decided to take no stand on the issue, rather than opposing decriminalization.

CONSUMER BILL PASSED BY SENATE

Congress seems likely to give final approval to a bill establishing a new federal agency to look after consumer interests. The bill passed the Senate last week, and should have no problems in the House which passed similar legislation last year.

The agency will be able to intervene before the federal regulatory agencies and in court suits on behalf of the consumer, as well as handle consumer complaints. Consumer advocates like Ralph Nader have been pushing the bilí, and a petition has been circulating in Michigan to get local Congresspeople to back it.

Naturally, business interests and the U.S. Chamber of Commcrce are opposing the agency's creation. Complaints range from the costs, $68 million for a three year period, to possible delays in settling government proceedings. Ford is being pressed to veto the bül by conservative Republicans.

SOUTHEAST ASIA FIGHTING U.S. CONTROLS

The Mayaguez incident dominated headlines, but meanwhile Laos is gradually pushing out its right-wing, and with it, American interference. Resignations by high level officials in the Laotian coalition government left the Communist Pathet Lao with most power. Demonstrations against the American presence throughout the country suggest Laos will soon join its neighbors in liberation.

In South Vietnam the Provisional Revolutionary Government is restoring relations with most European countries, and has invited the U.S. to re-establish diplomatic relations. The U.S. is resisting any efforts to recognize the new regime, and in fact, a general trade embargo has been declared against South Vietnam and Cambodia.

Relations with Thailand, the closest American allied country in Southeast Asia, have been strained by the troop amassing before the Cambodian attack during the Mayaguez situation. The U.S. sent its "regrets" over using U.S. bases in Thailand for the operation, which the Thai government accepted. But Thailand is now attempting to establish tic relations with Communist Asia, and the use by the U.S. of Thai bases is not helping those efforts.

KENT STATE REVISITED

Five years ago this month, the Nixon administration revealed the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, supposedly to cut off supplies to the Vietnamese. The bombings sparked massive demonstrations on college campuses, including Kent State University. The National Guard was called in to quell the Kent State demonstrators, and four students died when the guardsmen fired into a crowd.

About 6,000 people gathered at Kent State earlier this month to commemorate the anniversary and celebrate the end of the Vietnam war.

Currently, jury selection is going on for the lawsuits against the guards and Ohio officials by the families of the dead, and two students who were wounded. Thirteen separate suits have been brought together for trial, seeking approximately $11 million in actual and punitive damages.

"The last hope of getting the full truth about the Kent State killings rests on this civil suit," writes I.F. Stone, urging people to help support the legal efforts. Donations should be sent to Kent State Due Process of Law Fund, c/o Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church, 100 Maryland Ave., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002.

ONE GIANT STEP FOR WOMAN

The first woman has conquered the towering peak of the world's highest mountain, Mt. Everest. Junko Tabel, one of a fifteen member Japanese climbing team, finished the climb with only a Sherpa guide. Tabel joins with the 35 men who have made the climb since Sir Edmund Hillary first reached the top in 1953.