CIA FORCED TO RELEASE LONG SECRET OFFICIAL HISTORY OF BAY OF PIGS INVASION

National Security Archive Update, August 1, 2011

CIA FORCED TO RELEASE LONG SECRET OFFICIAL HISTORY OF BAY OF PIGS INVASION

National Security Archive lawsuit yields never-before-seen volumes of
Massive Study; Agency continues to withhold Volume 5

For more information contact:
Peter Kornbluh – 202/994-7000

http://www.nsarchive.org

Washington, D.C., August 1, 2011 – Pursuant to a FOIA lawsuit filed by the
National Security Archive on the 50th anniversary of the infamous CIA-led
invasion of Cuba, the CIA has released four volumes of its Official History
of the Bay of Pigs Operation. The Archive today posted volume 2,
“Participation in the Conduct of Foreign Policy” which contains detailed
information on the CIA’s negotiations with Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and
Great Britain on support for the invasion.

“These are the last remaining secret records of U.S. aggression against
Cuba,” noted Peter Kornbluh, who directs the Cuba Documentation Project at
the Archive. “The CIA has finally seen the wisdom of letting the public
scrutinize this major debacle in the covert history of U.S. foreign policy.”
Kornbluh noted that the agency was “still refusing to release volume 5 of
its official history.” Volume 5 is a rebuttal to the stinging CIA’s
Inspector General’s report, done in the immediate aftermath of the
paramilitary assault, which held CIA officials accountable for a wide
variety of mistakes, miscalculations and deceptions that characterized the
failed invasion. The National Security Archive obtained the declassification
of the ultra-secret Inspector General’s report in 1998.

Volume 2 provides new details on the negotiations and tensions with other
countries, including Great Britain, which the CIA needed to provide
logistical and infrastructure support for the invasion preparations. The
volume describes Kennedy Administration efforts to sustain the cooperation
of Guatemala, where the main CIA-led exile brigade force was trained, as
well as the deals made with Anastacio Somoza to gain Nicaragua’s support for
the invasion.

Volume 3 of the Official History was previously declassified under the
Kennedy Assassination Record Act. The Archive will post a detailed
assessment of the declassified history, along with two other volumes
tomorrow.

http://www.nsarchive.org