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…
negotiations initiated by the Agency with the Govern-
ment of Guatemala heavily involved both the Departments
of State and Defense; and, during the Eisenhower ad-
ministration, the Special Group.
The Nicaraguan story principally concerned the
Agency's efforts to obtain an air base and port facil-
ity for launching the anti-Castro strike force against
Cuba; and the involvement was directly with the Presi-
dent of Nicaragua, Luis Somoza Debayle, and his brother,
Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the Commander of Nicaragua's
Armed Forces. The US embassy in Nicaragua and its
representatives were kept informed and, in general,
supported the Agency as the ball carrier with the
Government of Nicaragua. The story was relatively
straightforward with the Agency being given the green
light to negotiate in many areas affecting US rela-
tions with that country.
A third Central American country, Panama, was
involved marginally in the Agency's anti-Castro effort.
Forts Randolph and Sherman in the Canal Zone were the
sites initially selected for PM and communications
training for the cadres which were to help organize
the dissident elements inside Cuba; and France airfield'
- 111 -

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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.