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. 89 …strictly enforce the Pan American instruments governing terri- torial asylum. Whenever these have been overlooked or…
the opponents of Ydigoras to discredit his administra-
tion. 75d/ Initially, however, Col. King must have
ignored Esterline's warning; but the DCI failed to
support King's Plan. 75~/
The hassle with the media would continue through-
out the course of the Bay of Pigs operation, but in
no instance did the Government of Guatemala back off
from providing cover for the training activity being
sponsored by the Agency at Guatemalan sites. If any-
thing, the GOG went to extremes to protect the cover
story. In late March 1961, for example, following an
article in the Washington Post which stated "an army
estimated at several thousands is presently training
at a clandestine camp in Guatemala," Carlos Urrutia-
Aparaicio, Guatemala's Ambassador to the OAS, wrote a
letter to the editor .ofthe Post stating:
On behalf of my government I categori-
cally deny this to ,be a fact. Not one
Cuban exile is receiving training in Guate-
mala. There are several hundred of them
in my country, but we strictly enforce the
Pan American instruments governing terri-
torial asylum. Whenever these have been
overlooked or disregarded, my government
- has immediately requested the Cuban refugees
concerned to leave the country.
It is our own army which is getting
military training, but for defensive

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.