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.

Open the PDF at page 126 Original source ↗

“Nevers”12 pages

  • 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…
that was being raised with the Special Group, particu-
larly the concerns of Assistant Secretary of State for
American Republic Affairs, Thomas Mann. In an apparent
response to a question raised by Mann, Chief, WH Division,
sent a note to Mann on 1 December 1960, in which it was
stated:
As one of the actions to be taken in
response to the Presidential and Special
Group Meetings, we would proceed to survey,
construct, and man a staging and refueling
facility at Puerto Cabezas. This ~ction
is in accord with preliminary conversa-
tions with President Somoza. There would
at no time be a substantial force at the
installation~ and no US personnel would
be in the capital of the nation except
one agency contract employee with ion:
local experience, who would I I
I Iby dealing with the Presl ent
on thlS operation.
The initial survey team of 5-men would
fly into Puerto Cabezas on or about 7 Decem-
ber. Subject to their findings it is ex-
pected that such minimum airstrip repairs
and construction of temporary buildings
would be completed by 15 January [1961]. 22/
The Agency presumption that it had been acting
in response to the directive of the President and the
wishes of the Special Group, apparently met with oppo-
sition from Mann; for in a handwritten note on a copy
of the memorandum cited above, Dick Drain (Chief, WH/4/P&P)
recorded:

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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.