COMMUNISTS: The Roundup

One day last week Ramón Mirabal Carrión, secretary-general of the Communist Party in Puerto Rico, stepped onto the Mexican approach of the international bridge connecting Reynosa, Mexico and Hidalgo, Texas. The moment he walked across the U.S. boundary, Mirabal was arrested for violation of the Smith Act. He had been hiding in Mexico since June, and yet, somehow, the FBI evidently knew exactly when to expect him.

Mirabal's arrest was preceded by a general roundup of nine Communist leaders in Puerto Rico and one Puerto Rican Red in New York. Among those arrested was New York-educated Mrs. Jane Speed de Andreu, formerly of Birmingham, Ala. Mrs. de Andreu, a descendant of George Washington's personal physician, Dr. James Craik, is a well-seasoned veteran of the Communist cause. Once jailed in Birmingham for almost inciting a race riot, she is chiefly remembered for tossing an inkpot at the Italian vice consul in 1935 (on the grounds that he was a Fascist). Her husband, Cesar Andreu Iglesias, was also arrested.

The new roundup brought the number of Communist leaders seized under the Smith Act since 1948 to 132.