The testimony of Orest Pena was taken on July 21, 1964, at the Old
Civil Courts Building, Royal and Conti Streets, New Orleans, La., by
Mr. Wesley J. Liebeler, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Orest Pena, having first been duly sworn, was examined and testified as
follows:
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you state your full name for the record.
Mr. PENA. Orest Pena.
Mr. LIEBELER. That's O-r-e-s-t P-e-n-a; is that correct?
Mr. PENA. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. What is your address?
Mr. PENA. 117 Decatur.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is that your place of business or is that your residence?
Mr. PENA. No; that's my place of business. On the ground floor is my
place of business. On the second floor, in the rear of the second floor
I live.
Mr. LIEBELER. I am an attorney for the President's Commission. I
understand that the Secret Service served a subpena on you last week
and you are here under that subpena at this time. The rules of the
Commission entitle you to have your lawyer present if you wish.
Mr. PENA. I don't think I need him.
Mr. LIEBELER. You have the right under our rules not to answer
any question that you don't want to answer in the first instance,
specifying the reasons if you do refuse to answer any questions.
I am here under the authority granted to the Commission by Executive
Order No. 11130, dated November 29, 1963, and joint resolution of
Congress No. 137. I understand that attached to the subpena are copies
of the Executive order that I have referred to and rules of the
Commission; is that correct?
(The witness handed document to counsel.)
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes; they are attached.
Where were you born, Mr. Pena?
Mr. PENA. In Colon, Cuba.
Mr. LIEBELER. When?
Mr. PENA. August 15, 1923.
Mr. LIEBELER. Are you a citizen of the United States?
Mr. PENA. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you become a citizen?
Mr. PENA. I became a citizen May 5, 1956.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you became a citizen through naturalization; is that
correct?
Mr. PENA. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. The place of business that you have at 117 Decatur Street
is a bar and lounge?
Mr. PENA. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. What is the name of it?
Mr. PENA. Habana Bar and Lounge.
Mr. LIEBELER. Am I correct in understanding that you have a brother by
the name of Ruperto Pena?
Mr. PENA. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Does he work with you in the bar and lounge?
Mr. PENA. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Am I also correct in understanding that one of the
bartenders is named Evaristo Rodriguez?
Mr. PENA. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know Carlos Bringuier?
Mr. PENA. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is Mr. Bringuier connected with a clothing store located
close to your bar and lounge?
Mr. PENA. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you first meet Mr. Bringuier?
Mr. PENA. When he came to the--if I am not wrong, I believe I met him
when he started the store.
Mr. LIEBELER. Approximately how long ago was it that you met Mr.
Bringuier?
Mr. PENA. I don't know exactly. Might be a year and a half or 2 years.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Bringuier is active in anti-Castro Cuban affairs; is
that correct?
Mr. PENA. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever had any connection with Cuban politics?
Mr. PENA. Not with him, but with something else here in New Orleans, an
organization, about 4 years ago, more or less.
Mr. LIEBELER. What organization was that?
Mr. PENA. I don't know. The FBI know very well because a person from
the FBI was there all the time. I don't remember exactly the name of
the organization right now, but the organization was in the Balter
Building, I think, in the second floor.
Mr. LIEBELER. Whatever the organization's name was, was it an
anti-Castro Cuban organization?
Mr. PENA. It was in the Balter Building, the only one there.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is that the organization sometimes known as Jure, J-u-r-e?
Mr. PENA. I don't know.
Mr. LIEBELER. _Junta Revolucionaria_ Cubana?
Mr. PENA. The chief or the boss of that organization, who was in Miami,
Barrona. He was the boss of that organization.
Mr. LIEBELER. Barrona?
Mr. PENA. Yes. He was the boss of that organization.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you leave Cuba?
Mr. PENA. I left Cuba in September 1946.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you been back to Cuba since that time?
Mr. PENA. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you tell us when?
Mr. PENA. Oh, many times I went to Cuba. My last time I went to Cuba
was about 8 months, I believe, after Castro took over, but before, I
used to go very often because all my family is in Cuba, my mother, my
father--before my father died, I used to go to Cuba many times. I was a
seaman, too. I used to ship out with the United Fruit Co. and the Lykes
Brothers Co. That's before Castro took over.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you stop working as a seaman?
Mr. PENA. Just before I went in business, in--I went in business 1958.
I stop in 1957.
Mr. LIEBELER. You stopped working as a seaman in 1957?
Mr. PENA. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Were you in Cuba in April or May of 1959?
Mr. PENA. I think that's the last time I was in Cuba.
Mr. LIEBELER. What was the purpose of your trip to Cuba at that time?
Mr. PENA. I went to Cuba--I don't know. I went to have an operation.
Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. While you were in Cuba, did you have any contact with any
officials in the Castro government?
Mr. PENA. No; not any.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever expressed a favorable attitude toward the
Castro regime?
Mr. PENA. No; I never was for--I was against Batista, but I never was
even--I didn't even know Castro.
Mr. LIEBELER. You had nothing to do with Castro?
Mr. PENA. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now after you came back to the United States from Cuba in
1959----
Mr. PENA. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you go directly back to the United States?
Mr. PENA. Yes, sir.