Author: Carter McLellan – Date:

CONTENTS

1. History Timeline (1961-1981)
   1. The Founding 1961-1962
   2. 1963: The Oswald Interview
   3. INCA post-JFK assassination (1964-1966)
   4. The Garrison Trial (1966-1969)
   5. INCA in the latter years (1970-1982)
2. The INCA Network
3. Appendix: Membership Lists
4. Notes

History Timeline (1961-1981)

The Founding 1961-1962

The early part of 1961 was marked with the inauguration of the Democratic President John F. Kennedy on January 20, succeeding Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Kennedy administration inherited the Cuba Project of the prior administration, which came to a climax just a couple of months into the nascent government. What became known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion took place from April 17 to 20th, with the objective of overthrowing the regime of Fidel Castro, who took power in Cuba in 1959, just over two years prior.

The invasion was led by an anti-Castro paramilitary group, which encountered a stiff resistance. Kennedy refused to escalate the situation by refusing to provide air support, which ultimately led to the failure of the operation. As the year of 1961 unfolded, the reverberation of the debacle would lead to a major reshuffle in CIA leadership, but also the development of a covert operation to assassinate Castro or overthrow his government. The nerve center of the Cuba Project became known as the JM/WAVE station in Miami, Florida.

With these important Cold War developments underpinning that year, one location that was prominently affected was the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. This city was situated along the Mississippi River with a major port, which lead out to what is today known as the Gulf of America. The city had prominently led the concept of world trade after WWII, with major imports and exports to Latin America, including pre-Castro Cuba under Batista. As Castro had nationalized American business interests in Cuba and aligned himself with the Soviet Union, he was met with stiff reactionary opposition in the US.

The Formation of INCA

Such was the case that in New Orleans, a major anti-communist propaganda outfit was founded on May 15, 1961, called the Information Council of the Americas (INCA).¹ Located at 403 Delta Building, the organization was founded by Edward Scannell Butler III, with important support secured from the prominent Dr. Alton Ochsner, Sr.²

In a public statement, Butler explained that INCA was a privately-financed non-profit corporation that will “fight the broad spectrum of efforts of communism in Latin America.” Its immediate priority was the creation of “Truth Tapes”, which were recordings in Spanish to be furnished free to radio stations in Latin America for public service broadcasts. The organization also planned to set up councils in Latin America.³

Butler stated that the US government could not do the whole job of fighting communism alone, and that INCA would play a part in the response to the challenge of communism. “There must be an appropriate free organization,” Butler explained, “to combat communism.”⁴

So who was Butler? Born in New Orleans to an affluent family on March 11, 1934, Butler’s family was prominent in the cotton industry.⁵ Both of his grandparents were members of the old elite Boston Club.⁶ Around the age of 23, in 1957, Butler married Elizabeth Gay Bringier Rivet.⁷ That same year, Butler joined the Army Management School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He participated in a course here for about two years until 1959.

The AMS, originally known as the Army Command Management School until 1958, was founded in 1954 and part of The Army School System.⁸ Fort Belvoir itself dates back to 1917.⁹ The AMS’ primary responsibility was “developing doctrine, organization, procedures, and techniques relating to the performance of managerial functions of Army installations and activities.”¹⁰ The focus of the school broadened after its initial years from base management to include instruction on ‘human problems’ and ‘behavioral change.’ “In this way,” one report explains, “the AMS mirrored a trend in academia and industry called the human relations movement. The human relations movement of the 1950s had its background in the industrial and organizational psychology community at Harvard Business School, as well as professionalization of personnel management in the first half of the twentieth century. The AMS was eventually folded into the Army Logistics Management Center by 1971, likely as a result of backlash against management expertise.¹¹

Butler’s two years at AMS appears to have influenced him immensely. According to Arthur Carpenter, it affected the rest of his life. Butler wrote himself that at the time of his service he became interested in “psycho-politics and particularly Soviet applications.”¹² Furthermore, Butler had reportedly worked with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) while at AMS.¹³

In the year 1960, Butler returned to New Orleans and started working as an account executive for Brown-Friedman Advertising. In June 1960, Butler notably published an article in the Public Relations Journal, which has been described as a sort of public manifesto. On author explains, “he wrote about the Communist threat to America and how a spirit of crisis had to be created to resist it; how America had to use propaganda to counter the Soviets’ skill in that field; how public relations experts like himself had to be recruited in this endeavor; and finally how private funds had to be enlisted to finance this war and his efforts. He also proposed that this effort would serve as a complement to the State Department, USIA, CIA, free institutions abroad, and the various legislative committees dealing with trade information, foreign aid and the like. In short, a private adjunct to America’s foreign policy apparatus. The article turned out to be his vocational outline.“¹⁴

As a follow up to this public announcement, Butler founded the Free Voice of Latin America, in 1960. The FVLA garnered support from Clay Shaw and Lloyd Cobb of the International Trade Mart (ITM), where it was located. One report, however, describes how Butler had “latched” onto this anti-Castro group but was eventually ousted for being too reactionary.¹⁵

Then between 1960 to 1961, Butler founded the American Institute for Free Project (AIFP), which was again supported by Shaw and Cobb of the ITM and reportedly employed Guy Banister. While little seems to be known about what exactly this group was up to, it has generally been accepted as the predecessor to INCA, which was founded in May 1961.¹⁶

Early Activities

The initial months of INCA were occupied with selecting officers and securing funds. Alton Ochsner was elected President in July 1961,¹⁷ and in August the Fund for Freedom was launched.¹⁸ In Ochsner’s own words, he described INCA as a multi-national non-profit conflict corporation.¹⁹ Hale Boggs reportedly help secure tax exempt status for INCA.²⁰ Through Ochsner, early critical funds were secured from Texas oilman Clint Murchison, Sr.²¹

In September 1961, INCA outlined plans for waging “brainwar” against Communist infiltration in the Western Hemisphere. It had secured nearly 50 stations to broadcast Truth Tapes in in Nicaragua, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Argentina, and Peru, with plans to supply these tapes to upwards of 1,500 Latin American radio stations. Ochsner explained in a statement that INCA could effectively fight hemispheric communism because it was “multi-national, non-governmental, privately run, broadly funded, consistent, unified and pioneering.”²²

While INCA was never reportedly funded by the CIA, its activities are highly reminiscent of the CIA’s Crusade for Freedom campaign of the 1950’s. It also naturally operated in the CIA’s Western Hemisphere environment during the Cold War. Butler was said to have bragged about being in contact with the CIA DDO Charles P. Cabell and was said to have also been in contact with Ed Lansdale and E. Howard Hunt. In any case, the CIA reportedly helped Butler gain access to Cuban refugees and aided in distributing their Truth Tape. ²³

By September 1961, Butler was in contact with Sergio Arcacha Smith, who according to an FBI report was working on plans tom overthrow Castro. Other contacts reportedly made by Butler were David Ferrie, Gordon Novel, Carlos Bringuier of the CIA-backed DRE and Bill Stuckey of the New Orleans radio station WDSU.²⁴

INCA activities through 1962 to 1963 may be added here in the future.

1963: The Oswald Interview

Lee Harvey Oswald came back to New Orleans in April 1963, shortly after he had attempted to assassinate General Edwin Walker in Dallas. He was employed at the Reily Coffee Company from May to July 1963. Curiously, the Reily family were financiers of INCA by 1966 at the latest.²⁵ In the following month of August, Oswald’s activities were heavily focused around his pro-Castro activism.

On August 5, 1963, Oswald visited the Casa Roca building where he encountered Carlos Bringuier, a delegate for the anti-Castro DRE, which was also supported by the CIA. Oswald attempted to portray himself as an anti-Castro militant. A few days later, Oswald began handing out pro-Castro FPCC literature on the streets of New Orleans. Some of that literature had the notorious 544 Camp Street address linked to Guy Banister on them. On August 5, he got into a scuffle with Bringuier and two of his associates.

On August 12, 1963, Oswald, Bringuier and the other two showed up for a court date and WDSU’s Bill Stuckey of the Latin American Post was reporting on the case. On August 16, 1963, Oswald was back out on the street handing out FPCC literature in front of the International Trade Mart (ITM).

On August 17, 1963, Oswald was interviewed by Bill Stuckey for WDSU, with the intention of additional interviews later. A few days later, Carlos Bringuier and an associate went to Ed Butler’s office to discuss their interactions with Oswald. Butler then attempted to gain more information about Oswald through contacts in Washington, D.C. On August 21, 1963, the WDSU radio debate took place called Conversation Carte Blanche, with William Slatter and William Stuckey of WDSU, Ed Butler of INCA, Carlos Bringuier of DRE, and Oswald representing the FPCC. FBI SA Kaack wrote a report outlining Oswald and this radio debate on October 31, 1963.

INCA post-JFK assassination (1964-1966)

Information regarding INCA’s activities from 1964 to 1965 may be added in the future.

It is known, however, that Ed Butler testified before a Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. Butler also published through INCA two LP records titled Oswald: Self-Portrait in Red and Oswald Speaks. After the JFK assassination, Butler argued that Communist propaganda had incited Oswald to violence. INCA also notoriously came out with the anti-Castro propaganda piece, Hitler in Havana, which blamed Castro for the assassination of JFK. Butler also claimed that if there had been an INCA chapter in Dallas that Oswald may have been stopped from carrying out the assassination.

In January 1965, Juanita Castro spoke at an INCA dinner and received a trophy from Ochsner.

On August 15, 1965, Butler made contact with the CIA’s Domestic Contact Service Collections with his Hitler in Havana film.

In 1965, INCA came into partnership with California contributors such as National Airline chairman Dudley Swim and more importantly Schick Razor executive Patrick Frawley, Jr. In the fall of 1966, Frawley underwrote the cost for television showings of Hitler in Havana in several large cities. The reaction proved rewarding for Butler in New Orleans as several hundred Cuban exiles rallied at New Orleans city hall and saluted INCA’s film. By this time Butler had relocated his home base from New Orleans to practice his public relations craft in Los Angeles, the communications center of America.

INCA had also turned its attention toward college campuses. In St. Louis, Missouri it set up a booth at the conservative Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) national conference. In Chicago at another conference, INCA members picketed the Student for a Democratic Society’s national headquarters. INCA member Dick Warren of New Orleans was congratulated by hawkish South Carolina Congressman Mendel Rivers for his organization’s work.

In 1966, INCA was still very much active. In February 1966, Butler attended a debate organized by liberals at Tulane.²⁶

The Garrison Trial (1966-1969)

In 1967, INCA was mentioned in a CIA’s WOFACT regarding its relations with the Miami JM/WAVE Station. On April 8, 1968, INCA’s “programs and plans,” a warning enveloped in hysteria was issued. Calling for mobilization of anti-communists from the left, right and center, INCA touched on several issues in this very turbulent year.²⁷ Through the late 1960’s, INCA continued in New Orleans, California, and Washington, D.C.²⁸

INCA in the late 1960s took on the image as an all-American organization which believed in wholesome positive values. This attitude nurtured in part by  negative New Left rhetoric became incorporated into Ed Butler’s organization with vigor. Another project was Up With People (UWP). UWP developed as a singing group in 1966 and expressed its desire to work with others, promote non-violent programs, and  avoid rebellion toward the older generation. INCA also got involved in drug education with a program entitled “Drugs and Teenagers.” The purpose of the proposed TV documentary was to focus on why teenagers used drugs. It proved to be another effort by INCA which indicated a yearning for the turbulence of the 1960s to end, not unlike the so-called “decency rallies” which took place in some localities during this time. …  Ed Butler’s Westwood village SQUARE [funded by Frawley] started in California as an auxiliary to the INCA organization. It too was funded by California business executive Patrick J. Frawley. Among the persons he debated were 1960s radical figures such as Chicago Seven trial defendants Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and William Kunstler. … Butler also organized the INCA Information Service to counteract the counterculture and New Left oriented Liberation News Service. The object was to give timely reports of happenings at universities around the country. INCA’s media proved as slanted as the New Left media was. At one particular gathering reported by SQUARE magazine, Butler sat on a panel with SDS founder Tom Hayden, and other 1960s radical figures such as Stu Alpert and Steve Shapiro. The radicals chastised Butler and when he rose to speak his mike cord was pulled. The radicals got up to leave and Butler’s magazine reported it with the caption, “the revolutionaries beat an ignominous retreat.” … Hitler in Havana was roundly criticized in a New York Times review unflatteringly, “as the crudest form of  propaganda.” Dr. Ochsner complained to his friend Turner Catledge the executive editor of the Times, but reported to Butler, “that we have a real problem when we have to fight the leftist press.”  But INCA had friends on the right such as Patrick Frawley, Congressman Edward Hebert (a Congressional Medal of Honor Winner), and eventually included in its list of advisors General William Westmoreland, Cuban military figure Admiral George Anderson, and some intelligence experts such as Herbert Philbrick (former FBI agent and subject in the television series I Led Three Lives), and Malaysian psychological warfare expert C.C. Too. The inclusion of the Asian intelligence expert is revealing since INCA in addition to fighting Communism in the Western Hemisphere became increasingly involved in countering campus unrest and urging support of the US war effort in Vietnam. Butler continuously described the leftists as “tyrannists.”²⁹ In 1969, INCA sponsored a six-day conference, the National Student Conference on Revolution, at the University of Chicago.³⁰

The more pressing issue in New Orleans through the late 1960’s was the development of the Garrison investigation in 1967. Butler and Ochsner spent time opposing DA Garrison and Attorney Mark Lane. In 1967, Ochsner told a friend that he feared Garrison would order his arrest and the seizure of INCA’s corporate records. Ed Butler took these records to California where Patrick J. Frawley arranged for them to be hidden. Ronald Reagan, the governor of California at the time refused all of Garrison’s extradition requests.

In 1967, Butler infiltrated a meeting of Mark Lane’s Citizens Committee of Inquiry and capsized their proceedings. Later that summer he hooked up with two other ultra-rightists, Anthony Hilder and John Steinbacher, to try to sell the idea that Sirhan had been under the influence of the Madam Blavatsky meditation cult, and that she had been a disciple of Stalin. Hilder and Steinbacher even produced an “instant book” on the subject: Robert Francis Kennedy THE MAN, THE MYSTICISM, THE MURDER. (As some commentators have pointed out, there are indications this book was actually put together before the RFK assassination.) Butler was at the press conference to promote the book.³¹

Around 1968, Felix Edward Hebert later sent Alton Ochsner a report on Mark Lane reportedly extracted from confidential government files. This included “the files of the New York City Police, the FBI, and other security agencies.” These files claimed that Lane was “a sadist and masochist, charged on numerous occasions with sodomy”. Hebert also supplied Ochsner with a photograph that was supposed to be Lane engaged in a sadomasochistic act with a prostitute.

During 1968, Butler produced a weekly television show, “The Square World of Ed Butler,” and in starred in documentaries as “Spirit ’76” and “Spirit U.S.” He also published a West Coast magazine, “Westwood Village Square.”³² He also published ‘Revolution is My Profession.’

In his Square magazine, which was pro-hippie and financed by Patrick Frawley, he tried to link all three assassinations — both of the Kennedys and King’s — to the Communists. The centerpiece of the article was his testimony before the Dodd committee.

In 1969, INCA sponsored a six-day conference, the National Student Conference on Revolution, at the University of Chicago.

INCA in the latter years (1970-1982)

This section will likely be updated as further information is discovered about INCA’s activities in this time period.

In March 1970, Carlos Bringuier published an article in INCA’s information service newsletter.

In 1972, Patrick Frawley incurred financial difficulties and his financial support for INCA was lost. Butler closed the California operations and apparently moved back to New Orleans. However, being met with financial difficulties there too. INCA continued to lose ground in the early 1970s. Butler and Ochsner tried to blame he Communists for the Watergate scandal.

In a 1973 New Orleans newspaper article, Ed Butler took credit for breaking the defunct SDS and claimed victory of tyranny.

In September 1980, Butler interviewed Ronald Reagan.

In 1981, Alton Ochsner passed away and INCA appears to have ended very shortly after.

In 1982, Alton Ochsner, Jr., helped to start another organization similar to INCA, the Caribbean Commission. While INCA was focused on Cuba, the CC concentrated on Nicaragua.

The INCA Network

Appendix: Membership Lists

INCA document, August 13, 1963: Alton Ochsner (President) | Dean A. E. Papale (Vice President) | Richard T. Newman (Secretary) | Wallace M. Davis (Treasurer) | Ed Butler (Staff Director) | Manuel Gil (Production Manager) | Dr. G. Herbert True (Creativity Consultant) |
Directors: Gonzalo Abaunza, Jr. | Dr. James H. Allen | Rt. Rev. Msgr. Henry C. Bezou | Edgar A. G. Bright | Gibbons Burke | Gilbert H. Charbonnet | Dr. Joseph Craven | Richard G. Drown, Jr. | Joseph Epstein | B. Frank Eshleman | Maurice W. Grundy | Hebert A. Kenny | Dr. Wiliam Locke | Dr. Herbert E. Longenecker | Dr. Robert J. Meade | Mr. R. Kirk Moyer | Robert R. Rainold | Willard E. Robertson | George D. Tessier | Ivor Trapolin | Morris Wolf |
Endorsements: Thomas C. Mann | Thomas C. Sorenson | Adm. Arleigh Burke | de Lesseps S. Morrison | Thomas J. Dodd | Eugene Lyons

International advisory council from a 1966 brochure: Edward Butler (director; established Lee Harvey Oswald’s credentials as communist during a live debate on radio three months before the assassination) | Alton Ochsner (chair) | Alberto Fowler (IAMO; Cuban exile; said he was stalking and annoying JFK the weekend before his death) | George Albertini (member Otto von Habsburg’s Cercle group) | Patrick Frawley (ASC financier) | C. C. Too. Undated document: Wallace M. Davis (vice president for financial affairs). Additionally named as directors in a 1968 New Orleans States Item article: Captain J. W. Clark | Eberhard Deutsch (Jim Garrison’s mentor and law partner) | J. D. Grey | Darwin Fenner (accused of child abuse with many unmentioned friends) | H. Eustis Reily (employed Oswald) | William E. Robertson | Cecil Shilstone | C. C. Walther (IH) | C. C. Clifton, Jr. | Dr. John Ochsner (son of). Other reported members/financiers: Joseph Montgomery | Murchison family | Nelson Rockefeller (speech, according to William Gaudet) | Dr. Mary Sherman (minor financier).
Source: https://www.isgp-studies.com/ngos#jfk-related (1966 brochure, Information Council of the Americas (INCA), ‘What Lies Ahead?’; June 16, 1953, Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation, Board of Trustees, Theodore Brent (1874-1953), In Memoriam)
More: Harvey Koch | Edgar and Edith Stern (WDSU) |

1966 brochure, Information Council of the Americas (INCA), ‘What Lies Ahead?’: international advisory committee: Alton Ochsner, M.D., chairman; Edward Scannell Butler [ASC], director; George Albertini, publisher, Est & Quest Magazine (Paris) [member Le Cercle]; … Juanita Castro, chairman, Marta Abru Foundation, anti-communist sister of Fidel Castro; … Patrick J. Frawley, Jr. [ASC]; … C. C. Too, director, Psychological Warfare Section, Malaysia.” 

Additional: Seymour Weiss | Philip Hannan | Walker Percy | Herbert Philbrick | William B. Reilly (financier) | Eustis Reilly (donor) | George S. Dinwiddie | New Orleans Public Service (NOPSI) (donor) | Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes | Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza | Juan Peron | Lee Edwards | Paul Bethel | Carlos Bringiuer |

Notes

1. https://cuban-exile.com/doc_076-100/doc0078.html ↩︎
2. *) May 22, 1961, page 4 – New Orleans Daily Journal of Commerce at Newspapers.com™ – Newspapers.com™
   *) Jun 01, 1961, page 83 – The Times-Picayune at Newspapers.com™ – Newspapers.com™ ↩︎
3. Ibid. ↩︎
4. Ibid. ↩︎
5. Edward Scannell Butler III (1934-2005) – Find a Grave Memorial ↩︎
6. ISGP, American Security Council: Historical Membership List ↩︎
7. Edward Scannell Butler (born March 11, 1934), American organization executive | World Biographical Encyclopedia ↩︎
8. Sep 07, 1961, page 5 – Willow Springs News ↩︎
9. Fort Belvoir – Wikipedia ↩︎
10. Dec 26, 1965, page 53 – Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph ↩︎
11. Making Managers in the U.S. Military: The Case of the Army Management School, 1945-1970 ↩︎
12. 2004, Jim DiEugenio, ‘Ed Butler: Expert in Propaganda and Psychological Warfare‘ ↩︎
13. October 7, 2005, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), ‘Edward S. Butler III, radio host, activist’ ↩︎
14. 2004, Jim DiEugenio, ‘Ed Butler: Expert in Propaganda and Psychological Warfare‘ ↩︎
15. August 30, 1970, Washington Post, ‘The Right Wing’s Biggest Spender’: “Butler began his career before the Bay of Pigs by latching onto a reputable New Orleans anti-Castro group called the Free Voice of Latin America, but he was eventually ousted. A former officer of the group explained why: “This young man’s ultra-right wing views were not only an embarresment but in my opinion dangerous. He could think of nothing but the danger of some globe-encircling Communist conspiracy…” ↩︎
16. ISGP, American Security Council: Historical Membership List  ↩︎
17. Jul 13, 1961, page 78 – The Times-Picayune at Newspapers.com™ – Newspapers.com™ ↩︎
18. Aug 27, 1961, page 9 – Catholic Action of the South at Newspapers.com™ – Newspapers.com™ ↩︎
19. Ibid. ↩︎
20. ISGP, American Security Council: Historical Membership List ↩︎
21. Spartacus Schoolnet, Alton Ochsner biography ↩︎
22. Sep 14, 1961, page 2 – The Town Talk at Newspapers.com™ – Newspapers.com™ ↩︎
23. ISGP, American Security Council: Historical Membership List ↩︎
24. Ibid. ↩︎
25. ISGP ↩︎
26. Information Council of the Americas – Wikipedia ↩︎
27. Information Council of the Americas INCA ↩︎
28. Ibid. ↩︎
29. Ibid. ↩︎
30. Information Council of the Americas – Wikipedia ↩︎
31. December 24, 1967, New York Times, ‘Garrison’s Charges on Assassination a Thorn to New Orleans’: “Edward S. Butler, executive director of the Information Council of the Americas, rose in the audience and angrily challenged Mr. Lane to a debate on the spot. Mr. Butler’s request was refused, and he started questioning Mr. Lane directly, but the exchange was drowned out by shouts and arguments in every part of the room. … Many working people look frightened when asked about Mr. Garrison. After several questions, a saleswoman in a downtown department store mumbled, “I suppose he’s got something, but I don’t want to talk about it.” When asked what he thought of Mr. Garrison, a Negro cab driver said: “You’ve got to watch who you talk to about that guy. The Governor hasn’t said anything and I’m not going to say anything either. I don’t want any trouble.” ↩︎
32. June 27, 1969, New York Times, Page 42, Column 1 (students and student life): “40 students calling themselves ‘squares’ and ‘revolutionaries’ picket SDS hq, Chicago, shouting ‘SDS are Fascist pigs’; youths, led by Edward S Butler 3d, are attending Natl Student Conf on Revolution sponsored by Information Council of Amers; have spent most of their time working on tactics to fight campus radicals with radical action; hold SDS is their arch villain.” ↩︎