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CATAL

10 May 1963 ! MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD SUBJECT: Clemard Joseph CHARLES

G 1. On 29 April 1963 Dorothe Matlack, Domestic Exploitation Section, ACS, telephoned to the affect that a banker named Clemard Joseph Charles had left Haiti six days earlier and had just arrived in New York. A friend of Charles, named Joseph Dryer, 109 Lakewood Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida, had written to General Delmar, former CG Antilles Command, recommending Charles as a man of great interest to the US Government in view of the events in Haiti. Charles was described as President of the Banque Commerciale, Port au Prince, Haiti, who is in President Duvalier's favor. Mrs. Matlack mentioned that she had alerted Col. Farn Kail in Weed to contact Dryer in order to obtain more background information and assessment on Charles.

1. On 1 May 63 Mrs. Matlack advised that Charles was staying at the Park Sheraton Hotel, New York, and that he had telephoned her since her name had been supplied to him by Dryer. Charles considered her to be his point of contact in Washington. According to Mrs. Matlack, Charles had appointments to see Vice President Johnson, Senator Keating, and Congressman Rogers (Florida). However, Charles was willing to talk to representatives of Mrs. Matlack's office. Mrs. Matlack stated that the Haitian Desk men in AID were ready to go to New York to talk to Charles and invited CIA to accompany him. Charles speaks very little English and a fluency in French was therefore required for the inter- view. Mrs. Matlack stated that she might be able to obtain a French linguist from First Army, Governor's Island, but he would not be an intelligence officer. It was decided that James Balog, New York Office, who has a knowledge of the French language would accompany the ACSI representatives under Army cover. It was also arranged that Balog would meet the ACSI representative (Captain Rogers) at the Park Sheraton Hotel where Charles was staying.

2. On 2 May 63 Mrs. Matlack reported that Col. Kail had interviewed Mr. Dryer in West Palm Beach. Dryer had appointed Charles as Director of his bank in Haiti. Charles, according to Dryer, formerly had no political ambitions but in view of the current political situation in Haiti, Charles now thinks that he may some day be President. Dryer described Charles as well-connected, politically and financially, on both sides of the fence in Haiti. He is also a good friend of President Duvalier. Dryer had given Charles letters of introduction to Senator Keating and to other officials in Washington. Charles wanted to see President Kennedy and indeed had gone to the White House to arrange for an appointment. He was well received by the President's appoint- ment secretary and invited to dinner that evening with the appointment

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secretary. Through a misunderstanding, however, Charles did not attend the dinner but went to New York instead.

1. Charles is travelling, according to Dryer, with a Texas geologist named de Behrenschmidt. de Behrenschmidt is associated with Charles in a business venture in Haiti and is trying to arrange a meeting for Charles with Vice President Johnson.

2. On 3 May 63 Jim Balog telephoned to advise that he had had a five-hour session the previous day with Charles and that he had obtained both personality data and views by Charles on what the United States should do in the current Haitian situation. Balog advised that he was transcribing this information to Washington. Upon arrival, copies of the teletypes were transmitted to ACSI (Mrs. Matlack), WI Division, and the Latin American Branch.

3. On 6 May 63 Mayo Stuntz, Support Branch, advised that WI Division wished to speak to Charles and Balog was being tasked to arrange an appointment. Mrs. Matlack telephoned at approximately 1725 to advise that she had just received a telephone call from Mrs. de Mohrenschildt calling for assistance in obtaining hotel reservations in Washington. Upon being told that we had no special means of obtain- ing reservations, Mrs. Matlack stated that she would check with the State Department Protocol Office to determine which hotels would admit negro guests. Mrs. Matlock finally made reservations at the Algonquin Hotel. A check with Jim Balog revealed that he had arranged for Charles to meet the WI representative in the lobby of the Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C., at 12:00 noon on 7 May. Attempts to reach Mrs. Matlock that afternoon were unsuccessful. At 0850, 7 May, a call was made to Mrs. Matlack to confirm that Charles would be in Washington on that day and that arrangements had been made for a meeting with an Agency representative for 12:00 noon. Mrs. Matlock reported that both Mrs. de Mohrenschildt and Charles had called her that previous evening to confirm a 12:00 luncheon appointment with her. Mrs. Matlack was concerned that CIA and Army would not be working at cross purposes. She had received authorization from ACSI to meet Charles at lunch and felt that it would not be politic for her to withdraw from her appointment since Army considered her the point of contact with Charles. Mayo Stuntz informed WI Division of the conflict and pressed on the suggestion that the WI Division representative might meet Charles during Mrs. Matlack's lunch and that Mrs. Matlack offered to withdraw shortly thereafter. The WI repre- sentative declined the offer and requested that a meeting later in the afternoon be arranged. Mrs. Matlock believed that due to con- flicting instructions, she had been placed in the middle in the situation from which she could not gracefully withdraw and requested that someone accompany her.

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SUBJECT: Clemard Joseph CHARLES

1. I met Mrs. Matlack in the lobby of the Hotel Willard shortly before noon, and a few minutes later, Mr. Charles arrived, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. de Mohrenschildt. We lunched in the restaurant in the hotel. Mr. de Mohrenschildt mentioned that he had been born in Baku, Russia, but during the Bolshevik Revolution had been taken to Poland as a small child. He had spent approximately 30 years in Poland prior to World War II and had served in the Polish Army. He also mentioned that he had been a member of an ICA Team to Yugo- slavia in 1957 and while in Belgrade had met Gavalla who was visiting Belgrade at the time. He had spoken to Gavalla and was invited to visit Poland, which invitation he had accepted. He lives in in Dallas, Texas. He has a PhD. in geology and has had some teaching experience. Mrs. de Mohrenschildt was born in Paris, France. Her father was Russian and her mother French, and she is now or has been a fashion designer. Mr. de Mohrenschildt mentioned that he has known Charles for sometime and that he is a partner with him in a sisal business in Haiti.

2. Both Charles and de Mohrenschildt were anxious to arrange meetings with government officials in Washington. I mentioned to Charles that a meeting had been arranged for him at 1415 and that a Mr. Green would meet him in the lobby. At 1410 Mrs. Matlack, Mr. and Mrs. de Mohrenschildt and I departed and Charles remained in the lobby waiting for contact.

3. In the course of the luncheon conversation, Charles had mentioned to Mrs. Matlack that he desired to see a Mr. Weiss, AID, to discuss US aid to Haiti. Later that afternoon Mrs. Matlack called to state that she had called the State Department to pass along Charles' request. Mr. Zegarald (State) had called her back to pass on the Haitian Desk man's extreme displeasure that anyone in the United States Government should be in official contact with Charles. The desk man considered Charles to be close to the Duvalier Government, to have been involved in several shady financial dealings, and in general, to be an undesirable character. Mrs. Matlack asked whether the Agency had any interest in Charles which would dictate further contact with Charles.

4. Mayo Stuntz checked with WI Division and determined that as a result of the meeting with Charles, the ID/P Haitian Desk had no further plans to contact him. I told Mrs. Matlack that our interest seemed to have been satisfied and that I believed we should disengage ourselves as gracefully as possible.

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1. Wayne Nelson, DD/P Coordinator, called on 7 May to inquire concerning our involvement in the Charles case. He stated that ACSI had called him earlier that day to assure him that ACSI had no direct interest in Charles and that it was acting as an intermediary at the request of General Delmar who had passed the lead to General Pitch. ACSI was concerned that due to the mix up in appointments to see Charles, charges might later be made that ACSI had interferred or had obstructed CLA contact with Charles. I explained to Nelson what had happened and he later called back to state that ACSI was completely satisfied in the way the matter had been handled.

2. On 8 May Mrs. Matlack telephoned to advise that the Operational Branch of ACBI was discussing the Charles case with DD/P to determine future course of action. She was still somewhat concerned over her own position in the case since Charles considered her to be the focal point in Washington. I reiterated to her that the matter was one for either the State Department or the operational elements to handle and that we preferred to disengage ourselves. Mrs. Matlock mentioned that a dispatch had been received to the effect that a cousin of Charles was prominently mentioned as a successor to Duvalier should the latter be overthrown. She was of the opinion that the US government should continue to "play ball" with Charles as a future asset in Haitian affairs.

A. F. CZAJKOWSKI

Distribution: Orig - C/WEF 1 - New York Office 1 - Support (Stuntz) 1 - LA Branch 1 - Index (Control) 1 - Dep/Coll chrono

AFCzajkowski: acr