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. 21 Alejos's position from the Cubans -- his role would be as a private Guatemalan citizen, cooperating…
  • p. 23 …Cover, Security and Latin Pride A high degree of cooperation between the President of Guatemala and…
  • p. 39 …Agency training programs were developed with the full and complete cooperation of the President of Guatemala…
  • p. 48 …This witness recalled Headquarter's instructions to cooperate with Alejos and also the authorization for Seigrist…
  • p. 84 …was marked by a spirit of close cooperation between the Government of Guatemala and the Agency…
  • p. 85 …it was reported that there was close cooperation be- tween~and Roberto Alejos with regard to…
  • p. 91 …Once again Ydigoras lectured the Cuban political leaders about the need for unity and cooperation with…
  • p. 115 …office with the rest of State, the cooperation of which we need. It is incumbent upon…
  • p. 116 …American country, receiving his full support and cooperation. Somoza volunteered to foot the cost of the…
  • p. 149 …ever, is that Somoza gave his full cooperation to the Agency effort to mount the operation…
  • p. 153 …Somoza himself was characterized as continuing to be quite cooperative with the Agency representatives but fearful…
for meetings with DPD and was visiting I I,
Eglin Air Force Base en route back to ~lliDD at the
outbreak of the revolt.* At one point it was planned
that Campbell and another B-26 pilot would make an
emergency flight to MADD with the bomb bays of the
8-26's loaded with ammunition and arms. By mid after-
noon on 13 November, I I, Lt. Col. Frank
Egan, who would soon (9/10 December 1960) take charge
of the TRAV base, and Lt. Col. Quentin V. Earl, who
in the absence of Billy Campbell was proceeding to
the MADD base as commanding officer, went forward to
Headquarters with a GOG request to use JMATE's B-26's
and US pilots if they would volunteer to fight for
the Ydigoras government.** MADD also indicated that
,!--------r---------
r--L- ~\.
** In an Oral History inte~view with the author on
15 June 76, Lt. Col. Billy B. Campbell (USAF, Ret.)
offered a somewhat different version of the GOG
approach to JMADD. Campbell stated that:
Alejos had been at the base just prior
to my getting back down and had Guat
. troops and had threatened to take over
the base -- JMADD -- and take over the
aircraft and use his own pilots to quell
the invasion which was coming up through
Puerto Barrios and Honduras. 39c/
(footnote continued on following page)

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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.