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. 71 …formalized (16 November 1960), then J. C. King, Chief, Western Hemisphere Division, prepared a memorandum for…
  • p. 76 …C. King, "J. C., this kind of ... " "No, no," he said. "I don't think I…
  • p. 88 …however, was prepared by Colonel J. C. King, Chief, WH Division, not by Thomas A. Parrott…
  • p. 89 …King must have ignored Esterline's warning; but the DCI failed to support King's Plan…
  • p. 117 …of State of the trip and Col. King had informed Thomas Mann. 9/*. In a meeting…
  • p. 120 …to Chief, WH Division (Col. J. C. King) that Robertson be brought into the JMARC program…
  • p. 138 …discuss Project JMATE with President Somoza. Col. King, in speaking of Whelan r~marked as follows…
  • p. 160 …2. Memo for DCI from J. C. King, 29 Feb 60, sub: What We Are Doing…
  • p. 163 …35. Memo for DCI from J. C. King, 21 Oct 60, sub: Observations on Briefing of…
  • p. 167 …TRAV. Memo for DDP from J. C. King, 28 Oct 60, sub: Employment of U.S…
  • p. 169 …10 Jan 61. MR from J. C. King, 11 Jan 61, sub: Meeting to Discuss Proposed…
  • p. 173 …Irving G. CADICK (P) from J. C. King, 2 Dec 60, sub: Letter of Instruction. Ibid…
  • p. 175 …IN 1797). 42. Memo from J. C. King for DCI, 19 Jan 61, sub: Visit of…
to respond to a Cuban charge that Guat6mla was being
used as a staging base for a planned invasion of Cuba
and that an OAS inspection was in order. Alejos's
response was that if Cuba would agree to a similar
inspection, Guatemala could be freely visted by the
OAS team. In what would be a continuing irritant
through the course of Project JMATE, Roberto Alejos
also expressed his displeasure with the failures of
the governments of Honduras and EI Salvador to break
relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba. 5/
Whether Esterline actually met with Ambassador
Carlos Alejos at this time is not known, but it appears
possible that such a meeting may have taken place.*
In any event a cable sent from Guatemala City to the
Guatemalan Embassy in Washington, D. C. for Roberto
Alejos dated 7 June 1960, addressed itself in part
to Raul Roa's (Cuba's Foreign Minister) request for
* One of Roberto Alejos's cards with the following
note (translated from Spanish) was found in Chief,
WH/4 records:
Carolio:
The bearer is a good friend, I pray
that you will assist him and make use of
his contacts in the US.

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About this file

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