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…
setting forth his views and recommendations on policy
vis-a-vis Cuba, particularly suggesting that it was
time to get the Cuban Brigade off the dime and into
action. The letter was to be hand carried to JFK by
Roberto Alejos, and ---- 1 was to accompany
Alejos to Washington.
During a private luncheon with Ydigoras and
Alejos, 1 1 heard the discussion of the
proposed letter that was being readied for President
Kennedy. Among other things, the letter would point
out that Ydigoras, more than any other Latin American
leader, was taking direct action to oppose the spread
of Castro communism and cited the 13 November 1960
revolt as a part of that plot though as has been
noted, there was no evidence of Cuban involvement.
Ydigoras pointed out that it was his firm conviction
that the Brigade -- both air force and infantry --
was quite ready; and remarking on the Cuban tempera-
ment suggested that if they weren't engaged soon they
were very likely to lose their spirit and be unwill-
ing to continue. Moreover, the Guatemalan President
emphasized that the longer the Brigade delayed its
-::1TOP LRET

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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.