I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Havana.  June 17, 2010

 

Israeli government offered weapons
and military aid to Batista in 1958

Reinaldo Taladrid Herrero

IN 1958, to suit its image and in search of an interfering and pro-imperial outcome that would frustrate the real Revolution, the U.S. government announced an arms "embargo" on the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba.

And then, up stepped the Israeli government to offer weapons and military aid to the dictator.

This is not a personal affirmation on my part; in fact, I am citing an individual who is beyond all doubt in the context of the life and work of Batista. And this fact appears clearly on Pages 247 and 248 of the book Palabras Esperadas. Memorias de Francisco H. Tabernilla Palmero. (Long-awaited Words. The Memoirs of Francisco H. Tabernilla Palmero)

Francisco H. "Silito" Tabernilla Palmero was Fulgencio Batista’s personal secretary and assistant, as well as chief of the Alejandro Rodríguez Infantry Division and the 10 de Marzo Tank Division.

The book, in which Silito answers questions, was written by Gabriel E. Taborda and published by Ediciones Universal Miami in 2009.

On the aforementioned pages and in response to a question from Roberto A. Weill as to why, when faced with the "U.S. embargo", Batista didn’t buy weapons from other countries, Francisco Silito Tabernilla answered:

"I remember one time (in 1958), President Batista received a hand-delivered letter from the Israeli defense minister that is still preserved in the archives in my office in the Presidential Residence of the Military City (Columbia), offering him both weapons and technical military aid to fight the guerrilla movement. I don’t know why he never replied to the letter or offered his thanks.

I didn’t write to the minister, whose name I can’t remember now, it was outside of my area of responsibility, but Batista never mentioned this offer."

In 1958, the defense minister who signed this letter was none other than David Ben-Gurion.

At that time, Ben-Gurion was – for the second time since the creation of the Israeli state – prime minister and defense minister of that government, a position that he held the second time around from February 21, 1955 until June 26, 1963.

And as I always say, draw your own conclusions.
 

 

 

 

 

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/international-i/17junio-24israel-b.html