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. 14 …an anti-Castro program before Chief JMATE, Jacob D. Esterline, and I Robert K. Davis, met…
  • p. 54 …Batres. !±i/ Jacob D. Esterline, Chief of J~ARC project had some subsequent conversation with the…
  • p. 160 …Memo for Record from Jacob D. Esterline, 20 Jun 60, sub: Negotiations with President Miguel Ydigoras…
  • p. 163 …20 Oct 60. 36. Oral History Interview: Jacob O. Esterline by Jack B. Pfeiffer, 10-11…
  • p. 166 …to the Sec Def, OSO from Jacob D. Esterline, 16 Nov 60, sub: Emergency Evacua~ tion…
  • p. 168 …Memo for Asst~ Sec Def OSO from Jacob D. Esterline, 5 Jan 61, sub: Requirement for…
  • p. 170 …MR from Jacob D. Esterline, 5 Apr 61, sub: Meet- ing with Adolph sic A. Berle…
  • p. 171 …MR from Jacob D. Esterline,S Apr 61, sub: Meeting with Adolph sic A. Berle. 14…
  • p. 173 …Memo for Record from Jacob D. Esterline, 24 Oct 60, sub: Meeting withDCI and Assistant Secretary…
  • p. 174 …Memo for DDP/EMB from Jacob D. Esterline, 6 Dec 60, sub: Four JMARC Problems for…
apparently -- that last minute changes in flight sched-
ules were unacceptable to Alejos and that if he could
not be given 24 hour notice of planned flights, then
schedules should be revised in order to accommodate
Alejos's demand. 24/ Some preliminary discussions
between the Agency's representatives in Guatemala and
the Thompson Cornwall Company (the construction company
responsible for the improvements of the Retalhuleu
airfield) over the question of providing cover for
the Agency's PBY came to naught when Alejos pointed
out the numerous difficulties which would attend the
attempts to cover the aircraft commercially. Alejos
noted that it would be much simpler to bring the PBY
in black, or chartered in his name, rather than to
attempt to use it under commercial cover. 25/
The problem of airc~aft maintenance posed a
more serious question in terms of both cover and dip-
lomatic relations with Guatemala. In the early summer
of 1960 negotiations had been undertaken with a Costa
Rican aircraft maintenance-organization known as SALA.
The Development Projects Division, (DPD) which was
in charge of air operations for JMATE had initiated
the contacts with SALA through I
-------------
- 18 -

Not linked to a story yet.

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.