Documents / FOIA release

Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation- Volume 2- Part 1

Central Intelligence Agency · 179 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is Volume II, Part 1 of the CIA History Staff's Official History of the Bay of Pigs Operation, a Top Secret history dated October 1979 and approved for release in July 2011. It looks at how the Agency took part in shaping US foreign policy toward Guatemala and Nicaragua during the anti-Castro program. It covers dealings with President Ydigoras Fuentes and Roberto Alejos, training sites such as Retalhuleu, cover stories, and negotiations with the Somoza brothers for an air base and port. It contains no UFO material.

  • p. 16 …According to Esterline's report of the meeting "it was never said in so many words…
  • p. 31 …DPD planned to have the SALA representa- tive, who had never been cleared by the Agency…
  • p. 34 …The communications officer whom Alejos had declared to be "under arrest" was never technically arrested and…
  • p. 53 …We never were informed of KIA or wounded counts. We did hear that a couple of…
  • p. 55 …round Guatemala for years and we have never seen Guatemalan pilots fly or shoot with the…
  • p. 64 …emphatically * Delivery of the ~ight B-26's was never made to the Government of Guatemala.
  • p. 75 …Ydigoras said, "that piece of paper will never be exposed," and it hasn't to my…
  • p. 76 …young man I said, "Well, we're never going to get this thing going unless somebody…
  • p. 106 …Venezuela, have made many friendly noises but never once have made a firm offer of real…
  • p. 138 …the project "until Castro's defeat" was never officially made to either President Somoza or President…
  • p. 147 …they were on the ships they would never return to Nicaragua. With reference to the air…
  • p. 153 …68/* * The Agency's relations with Nicaragua also became \ somewhat strained because Miro Cardona was never…
TOP 7RET
awareness of the political implications of the position
that he was assuming:
1. Am I cleared to speak frankly with
local President and local Chief of
Army as to US Government participa-
tion?
2. General but not spec~fic operational
concepts (example: we plan supplies
and infiltrations until we can stir up
something, and then we will support it
with plenty of firepower).
3. Announcement of the number and type
(resupply, bombing, strafing, etc.)
air missions daily on the day it is
to run?
4. When the local President asks for
politics and identity of indigenous
movement or movements we are support-
ing, do we tell him? (Where can I get
a good briefing on this point?)
5. Have arrangements been made for reim-
bursement to local President abroad
for expenditures he may assume for
us? What do I tell him re this subject,
at first meeting?* 21/
Also, as Robertson was about to depart, there
was considerable concern about the problem in Nicaragua
* Robertson also asked for guidance on the most prag-
matic questions of contracting authority, cover, and
base-security -- particularly whether DPD would be
subject to WH security practices even at the expense
of air ops.

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About this file

FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 179 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.