Operation 40
Encyclopedia
Operation 40 was a Central Intelligence Agency
-sponsored undercover operation in the early 1960s, which was active in the United States
and the Caribbean
(including Cuba
), Central America
, and Mexico
. It was created by President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
in March 1960, after the January 1959 Cuban Revolution
, and was presided over by Vice-president
Richard Nixon
. The group included Frank Sturgis
(who would later become one of the Watergate burglars); Felix Rodriguez
(a CIA officer who later was involved in the capture and summary execution
of Che Guevara
); Luis Posada Carriles
(held in the US in 2010 on charges of illegal immigration, he is demanded by Venezuela
for his key role in the execution of the 1976 Cubana Flight 455
bombing); Orlando Bosch
(founder of the counterrevolutionary
Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations
, that organized the 1976 murder of Chile
an former minister Orlando Letelier
); Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero
; Virgilio Paz Romero
; Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz
; Bernard Barker
; Porter Goss; and Barry Seal
. Members took part in the April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
directed against the government of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
.
Operation 40 had 86 employees in 1961, of which 37 were trained as case officers.
of January 1959, Colonel J.C. King
, chief of the CIA's Western Hemisphere Division, sent a confidential memorandum to CIA director Allen W. Dulles. King argued that in Cuba
there existed a "far-left dictatorship, which if allowed to remain will encourage similar actions against U.S. holdings in other Latin American countries."
As a result of this memorandum, Dulles established a ZR/RIFLE unit named Operation 40, from the "Group of 40" of the National Security Council
group that followed Cuba. The group was presided over by then-Vice President Richard M. Nixon and included Admiral Arleigh Burke
, Livingston Merchant
of the State Department, National Security Adviser Gordon Gray, as well as Dulles himself.
Tracy Barnes
functioned as operating office of the Cuban Task Force. He called a meeting on 18 January 1960, in his temporary office near the Lincoln Memorial
. Those attending included David Atlee Phillips
, Jacob 'Jake' Esterline
, E. Howard Hunt
, and Frank Bender (an alias of Gerry Droller
), all of the CIA. Barnes, Phillips, Esterline, Hunt, David Sanchez Morales
and others had previously worked together in the 1954 overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala
, organized by the CIA under the code-name Operation PBSUCCESS
.
On 17 March 1960, President Eisenhower signed a National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program authorizing the CIA to organize, train, and equip Cuban refugees as a guerrilla force to overthrow the government of Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro
.
The group recruited former Batista
-regime intelligence officers and mob henchmen such as Eladio del Valle and Rolando Masferrer
, soldiers of fortune such as Frank Sturgis
, and CIA case officers such as Col. William Bishop
and David Sanchez Morales, who managed teams of assassins.
, a US-supported Cuban paramilitary group that trained in the Everglades
. CIA officials and agents such as William King Harvey
, Thomas G. Clines
, Porter Goss, Gerry Patrick Hemming
, David Sanchez Morales
, Carl Elmer Jenkins
, Bernard Barker
, William Robert Plumlee
("Tosh" Plumlee), and William C. Bishop also joined the project. (Later, Ted Shackley played a role, as CIA station-chief in Miami after the Bay of Pigs invasion.)
The individuals who composed Operation 40 had been selected in Miami, Florida
by Jose Sanjenis Perdomo, former Chief of Police during Cuban President Carlos Prio's regime. Operation 40 had 86 employees in 1961, of which 37 were trained as case officers. These included: Frank Sturgis
, Felix Rodriguez
, Antonio Veciana, Luis Posada Carriles
, Orlando Bosch
, Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero
, Roland Masferrer, Eladio del Valle, Guillermo Novo, Carlos Bringuier, Eugenio Martinez
('Musculito'), Antonio Cuesta, Hermino Diaz Garcia, Juan Manuel Salvat, Ricardo Morales Navarrete, Isidro Borjas, Virgilio Paz Romero
, Jose Dionisio Suarez, Felipe Rivero, Gaspar 'Gasparito' Jimenez Escobedo, Nazario Sargent, Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz
, Jose Basulto, Alvin Ross, Ricardo Morales Navarrete, Juan Manuel Salvat, (Cuban-American) Bernard Barker
, and Paulino Sierra. Barry Seal
may have flown for Operation 40.
A letter dated 8 February 1961 signed by Felipe Rodriguez
of the CIA, lists the leaders and men of "la COMPANIA DE INTELIGENCIA Y RECONOCIMIENTO (Operacion-40)". This letter also has names and information as to member status of death, prison, of various Bay of Pigs Invasion participants. (Letter obtained from Brigade 2506 Headquarters.) Among the names listed are: Jose Manuel Alvarez Pascual, Rafael D. Arce Godinez, Enrique Jose Casares Blanco, Miguel Cossio (Cosio Rosales), Arsenio Felipe De Diego Aday, Carlos Alberto De Diego Aday, Alberto J. Farinas Alzugaray (Alzagaray), Jorge Luis Fernandez Lopez Callejas, Federico M. Flaquer (Flagler) Carballar, Mario Fuentes Macias, Héctor A. de Lamar Maza, Mario Luis de Lamar Maza, Vicente Leon Leon, Fernando J. Milanes Morales, Ramon Eduardo Pages Morales, Carlos Pascual Noriega, Eddy Perez, Ramon Perez Veitia (Veytia), Ramon Pla Perez, Pedro Salvador Puig Gomez, Jose Manuel ('Manolo') Reboso (Reposo) Bello, Felipe Rodriguez, and Rogelio ZAYAS Bazan Loret de Mola.
, a ship flying a Belgian flag, exploded in Havana
Bay. It was loaded with arms and ammunition that had been sent to the armed forces of the post-revolution
government of Cuba. A second bomb was set nearby and timed to go off later - to kill the volunteers attempting to rescue the (primarily civilian) victims of the first explosion. The explosions killed 75 people and over 200 were injured. Fabian Escalante, an officer of the Cuban Department of State Security (G-2), later claimed that this was the first successful act carried out by Operation 40. Operation 40 was not only involved in sabotage operations. One member, Frank Sturgis
, allegedly told author Mike Canfield: "this assassination group (Operation 40) would upon orders, naturally, assassinate either members of the military or the political parties of the foreign country that you were going to infiltrate, and if necessary some of your own members who were suspected of being foreign agents...We were concentrating strictly in Cuba at that particular time." The group sought to incite civil war in Cuba against the government of prime minister Fidel Castro. "In October 1960, they realize that this project has failed, and that is when Brigade 2506
" was created, a CIA-sponsored group made up of 1,511 Cuban exile
s who fought in the April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
.
The group played a major role in the invasion. "The first news that we have of Operation 40 is a statement made by a mercenary of the Bay of Pigs who was the chief of military intelligence of the invading brigade and whose name was Jose Raúl de Varona Gonzalez," writes Escalante. "In his statement this man said the following: in the month of March, 1961, around the seventh, Mr. Vicente Leon arrived at the base in Guatemala
at the head of some 53 men saying that he had been sent by the office of Mr. Joaquin Sanjenis, Chief of Civilian Intelligence, with a mission he said was called Operation 40. It was a special group that didn't have anything to do with the brigade and which would go in the rearguard occupying towns and cities. His prime mission was to take over the files of intelligence agencies, public buildings, banks, industries, and capture the heads and leaders in all of the cities and interrogate them. Interrogate them in his own way".
On 17 April 1961, Vicente Leon Leon, with other members of Operation 40, landed at the Bay of Pigs via the CIA-chartered freighter Atlantico. He was killed in action. Other members are reported on the freighter Lake Charles that retreated without landing any attackers.
In a 9 June 1961 memorandum to Richard Goodwin
, historian and Kennedy advisor Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
wrote: "Sam Halper, who has been the New York Times correspondent in Havana and more recently in Miami, came to see me last week. He has excellent contracts among the Cuban exiles.... Halper says that CIA set up something called Operation 40 under the direction of a man named (as he recalled) Captain Luis Sanjenis, who was also chief of intelligence.... But the CIA agent in charge, a man known as Felix, trained the members of the group in methods of third degree interrogation, torture and general terrorism. The liberal Cuban exiles believe that the real purpose of Operation 40 was to 'kill Communists' and, after eliminating hard-core Fidelistas, to go on to eliminate first the followers of Ray, then the followers of Varona and finally to set up a right wing dictatorship, presumably under Manuel Artime
.... The exiles believe that all these things had CIA approval.... Nice fellows." Halper actually worked for Time
, not the NY Times.
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
-sponsored undercover operation in the early 1960s, which was active in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
(including Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
), Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It was created by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
in March 1960, after the January 1959 Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
, and was presided over by Vice-president
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. The group included Frank Sturgis
Frank Sturgis
Frank Anthony Sturgis , born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars.-Early Life and Military Service:...
(who would later become one of the Watergate burglars); Felix Rodriguez
Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)
Félix Ismael Rodríguez Mendigutia is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer infamous for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, in the interrogation and execution of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara and his ties to George H. W. Bush during the Iran-Contra Affair...
(a CIA officer who later was involved in the capture and summary execution
Summary execution
A summary execution is a variety of execution in which a person is killed on the spot without trial or after a show trial. Summary executions have been practiced by the police, military, and paramilitary organizations and are associated with guerrilla warfare, counter-insurgency, terrorism, and...
of Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
); Luis Posada Carriles
Luis Posada Carriles
Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles is a Cuban-born Venezuelan anti-communist and former Central Intelligence Agency agent....
(held in the US in 2010 on charges of illegal immigration, he is demanded by Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
for his key role in the execution of the 1976 Cubana Flight 455
Cubana Flight 455
Cubana Flight 455 was a Cuban flight from Barbados to Jamaica that was brought down by a terrorist attack on October 6, 1976. All 78 people on board the Douglas DC-8 aircraft were killed in what was then the deadliest terrorist airline attack in the Western hemisphere...
bombing); Orlando Bosch
Orlando Bosch
Orlando Bosch Ávila was a Cuban exile militant, former Central Intelligence Agency-backed operative, and head of Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations, which the FBI has described as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization". Former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh called...
(founder of the counterrevolutionary
Counterrevolutionary
A counter-revolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part...
Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations
Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations
Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations is an anti-Castro group founded by Cuban exiles Orlando Bosch, Luis Posada Carriles, Guillermo Novo Sampoll and Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo....
, that organized the 1976 murder of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an former minister Orlando Letelier
Orlando Letelier
Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean economist, Socialist politician and diplomat during the presidency of Socialist President Salvador Allende...
); Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero
Rafael Quintero
Rafael "Chi Chi" Quintero Ibaria was a CIA operative, who was born in Camagüey Province of Cuba and died in Baltimore, Maryland....
; Virgilio Paz Romero
Virgilio Paz Romero
Virgilio Paz Romero is an anti-Castro Cuban exile, involved in various anti-communist acts. He has been accused of taking part in Operation Condor, carrying out Chilean former minister Orlando Letelier's murder in Washington, D.C...
; Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz
Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz
Pedro Luis Díaz Lanz was Chief of the Revolutionary Air Force of Cuba under Fidel Castro, before and after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.-Life in Cuba:...
; Bernard Barker
Bernard Barker
Bernard Leon Barker , known as "Macho" or by his mother's maiden name, "Terry", was a Watergate burglar, and burglar of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office....
; Porter Goss; and Barry Seal
Barry Seal
Adler Berriman Seal , better known as Barry Seal, was a United States drug smuggler and aircraft pilot who flew covert flights for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Medellín Cartel.-Early life:...
. Members took part in the April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
directed against the government of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
.
Operation 40 had 86 employees in 1961, of which 37 were trained as case officers.
Origins
On 11 December 1959, following the Cuban RevolutionCuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
of January 1959, Colonel J.C. King
J.C. King
J. C. King Joseph Caldwell King was the Chief of the Western Hemisphere Division of the CIA in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also known by his CIA code name of Oliver G. Galbond and as Colonel J.C. King.-Career:...
, chief of the CIA's Western Hemisphere Division, sent a confidential memorandum to CIA director Allen W. Dulles. King argued that in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
there existed a "far-left dictatorship, which if allowed to remain will encourage similar actions against U.S. holdings in other Latin American countries."
As a result of this memorandum, Dulles established a ZR/RIFLE unit named Operation 40, from the "Group of 40" of the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
group that followed Cuba. The group was presided over by then-Vice President Richard M. Nixon and included Admiral Arleigh Burke
Arleigh Burke
Admiral Arleigh Albert '31-knot' Burke was an admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.-Early life and naval career:Burke was born in Boulder,...
, Livingston Merchant
Livingston T. Merchant
Livingston Tallmadge Merchant was a United States official and diplomat. He twice served as United States ambassador to Canada and was Under Secretary for Political Affairs from 1959 to 1961....
of the State Department, National Security Adviser Gordon Gray, as well as Dulles himself.
Tracy Barnes
Tracy Barnes
Charles Tracy Barnes was a senior staff member at the United States' Central Intelligence Agency , serving as principal manager of CIA operations in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état and the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion....
functioned as operating office of the Cuban Task Force. He called a meeting on 18 January 1960, in his temporary office near the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
. Those attending included David Atlee Phillips
David Atlee Phillips
David Atlee Phillips was a Central Intelligence Agency officer for 25 years, one of a handful of people to receive the Career Intelligence Medal. He rose to become the CIA's chief of all operations in the Western hemisphere...
, Jacob 'Jake' Esterline
Jacob Esterline
Jacob Donald 'Jake' Esterline was a CIA specialist in guerrilla warfare.-Early life:...
, E. Howard Hunt
E. Howard Hunt
Everette Howard Hunt, Jr. was an American intelligence officer and writer. Hunt served for many years as a CIA officer. Hunt, with G...
, and Frank Bender (an alias of Gerry Droller
Gerry Droller
Gerard "Gerry" Droller was a CIA officer involved in the covert 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état and the recruitment of Cuban exiles in the preparation of the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961....
), all of the CIA. Barnes, Phillips, Esterline, Hunt, David Sanchez Morales
David Sánchez Morales
David Sánchez Morales was a Central Intelligence Agency operative who worked in Cuba.-Biographical highlights:...
and others had previously worked together in the 1954 overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, organized by the CIA under the code-name Operation PBSUCCESS
Operation PBSUCCESS
The 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état was a covert operation organized by the United States Central Intelligence Agency to overthrow Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán, the democratically-elected President of Guatemala....
.
On 17 March 1960, President Eisenhower signed a National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program authorizing the CIA to organize, train, and equip Cuban refugees as a guerrilla force to overthrow the government of Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
.
The group recruited former Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
-regime intelligence officers and mob henchmen such as Eladio del Valle and Rolando Masferrer
Rolando Masferrer
Rolando Masferrer Rojas , born in Holguín, July 12, 1918, in Oriente province, better known simply as Rolando Masferrer, was a Cuban guerrilla leader, lawyer, congressman, newspaper publisher, member of the Cuban Communist Party and political activist...
, soldiers of fortune such as Frank Sturgis
Frank Sturgis
Frank Anthony Sturgis , born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars.-Early Life and Military Service:...
, and CIA case officers such as Col. William Bishop
William Bishop
William Bishop was the first Roman Catholic bishop after the English Reformation. Officially, he was the titular bishop of Chalcedon, his territory included all of England, Wales and Scotland....
and David Sanchez Morales, who managed teams of assassins.
Members
Over the next few years Operation 40 worked closely with several anti-Castro Cuban organizations including Alpha 66Alpha 66
Alpha 66 are an anti-communist terrorist organization, formed by Cuban exiles in Puerto Rico in 1961, in opposition to Fidel Castro. The founder and first leader, Nazario Sargen, was a former member of the 26th of July Movement organization led by Fidel Castro, suggesting that their politics may...
, a US-supported Cuban paramilitary group that trained in the Everglades
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
. CIA officials and agents such as William King Harvey
William King Harvey
William King "Bill" Harvey was a Central Intelligence Agency officer, best known for his role in Operation Mongoose. He was known as "America's James Bond."...
, Thomas G. Clines
Thomas G. Clines
Thomas G. Clines was a Central Intelligence Agency covert operations agent who was a prominent figure in the Iran-Contra Affair.-CIA career:As a CIA agent, between 1961–1962, Clines was involved in covert operations in Cuba....
, Porter Goss, Gerry Patrick Hemming
Gerry Patrick Hemming
Gerald Patrick "Gerry" Hemming, Jr. was a former U.S. Marine, mercenary and Central Intelligence Agency operative associated with attacks against on Cuba in the 1960s.-Early background:One of eleven children, Hemming born in Los Angeles, California on March 1, 1937...
, David Sanchez Morales
David Sánchez Morales
David Sánchez Morales was a Central Intelligence Agency operative who worked in Cuba.-Biographical highlights:...
, Carl Elmer Jenkins
Carl Elmer Jenkins
Carl Elmer Jenkins is a retired Central Intelligence Agency officer.- Early background :Jenkins was born in Louisiana and joined the United States Marine Corps during World War II, becoming a commissioned officer in 1948....
, Bernard Barker
Bernard Barker
Bernard Leon Barker , known as "Macho" or by his mother's maiden name, "Terry", was a Watergate burglar, and burglar of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office....
, William Robert Plumlee
William Robert Plumlee
William Robert Plumlee in Panama City, Florida is an American pilot who worked for the CIA. He was known as "Tosh" and also as William H. "Buck" Pearson.-Military service:...
("Tosh" Plumlee), and William C. Bishop also joined the project. (Later, Ted Shackley played a role, as CIA station-chief in Miami after the Bay of Pigs invasion.)
The individuals who composed Operation 40 had been selected in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
by Jose Sanjenis Perdomo, former Chief of Police during Cuban President Carlos Prio's regime. Operation 40 had 86 employees in 1961, of which 37 were trained as case officers. These included: Frank Sturgis
Frank Sturgis
Frank Anthony Sturgis , born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars.-Early Life and Military Service:...
, Felix Rodriguez
Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)
Félix Ismael Rodríguez Mendigutia is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer infamous for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, in the interrogation and execution of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara and his ties to George H. W. Bush during the Iran-Contra Affair...
, Antonio Veciana, Luis Posada Carriles
Luis Posada Carriles
Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles is a Cuban-born Venezuelan anti-communist and former Central Intelligence Agency agent....
, Orlando Bosch
Orlando Bosch
Orlando Bosch Ávila was a Cuban exile militant, former Central Intelligence Agency-backed operative, and head of Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations, which the FBI has described as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization". Former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh called...
, Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero
Rafael Quintero
Rafael "Chi Chi" Quintero Ibaria was a CIA operative, who was born in Camagüey Province of Cuba and died in Baltimore, Maryland....
, Roland Masferrer, Eladio del Valle, Guillermo Novo, Carlos Bringuier, Eugenio Martinez
Eugenio Martínez
Eugenio Rolando Martinez was a member of the anti-Castro movement in the early 1960s, and later was one of the five men recruited by G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt in 1972 for the Memorial Day weekend Watergate first break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C...
('Musculito'), Antonio Cuesta, Hermino Diaz Garcia, Juan Manuel Salvat, Ricardo Morales Navarrete, Isidro Borjas, Virgilio Paz Romero
Virgilio Paz Romero
Virgilio Paz Romero is an anti-Castro Cuban exile, involved in various anti-communist acts. He has been accused of taking part in Operation Condor, carrying out Chilean former minister Orlando Letelier's murder in Washington, D.C...
, Jose Dionisio Suarez, Felipe Rivero, Gaspar 'Gasparito' Jimenez Escobedo, Nazario Sargent, Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz
Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz
Pedro Luis Díaz Lanz was Chief of the Revolutionary Air Force of Cuba under Fidel Castro, before and after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.-Life in Cuba:...
, Jose Basulto, Alvin Ross, Ricardo Morales Navarrete, Juan Manuel Salvat, (Cuban-American) Bernard Barker
Bernard Barker
Bernard Leon Barker , known as "Macho" or by his mother's maiden name, "Terry", was a Watergate burglar, and burglar of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office....
, and Paulino Sierra. Barry Seal
Barry Seal
Adler Berriman Seal , better known as Barry Seal, was a United States drug smuggler and aircraft pilot who flew covert flights for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Medellín Cartel.-Early life:...
may have flown for Operation 40.
A letter dated 8 February 1961 signed by Felipe Rodriguez
Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)
Félix Ismael Rodríguez Mendigutia is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer infamous for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, in the interrogation and execution of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara and his ties to George H. W. Bush during the Iran-Contra Affair...
of the CIA, lists the leaders and men of "la COMPANIA DE INTELIGENCIA Y RECONOCIMIENTO (Operacion-40)". This letter also has names and information as to member status of death, prison, of various Bay of Pigs Invasion participants. (Letter obtained from Brigade 2506 Headquarters.) Among the names listed are: Jose Manuel Alvarez Pascual, Rafael D. Arce Godinez, Enrique Jose Casares Blanco, Miguel Cossio (Cosio Rosales), Arsenio Felipe De Diego Aday, Carlos Alberto De Diego Aday, Alberto J. Farinas Alzugaray (Alzagaray), Jorge Luis Fernandez Lopez Callejas, Federico M. Flaquer (Flagler) Carballar, Mario Fuentes Macias, Héctor A. de Lamar Maza, Mario Luis de Lamar Maza, Vicente Leon Leon, Fernando J. Milanes Morales, Ramon Eduardo Pages Morales, Carlos Pascual Noriega, Eddy Perez, Ramon Perez Veitia (Veytia), Ramon Pla Perez, Pedro Salvador Puig Gomez, Jose Manuel ('Manolo') Reboso (Reposo) Bello, Felipe Rodriguez, and Rogelio ZAYAS Bazan Loret de Mola.
Operations
On 4 March 1960, La CoubreLa Coubre explosion
The freighter La Coubre exploded at 3:10 p.m. on 4 March 1960, while it was being unloaded in Havana harbor, Cuba. This 4,310-ton French vessel was carrying 76 tons of Belgian munitions from the port of Antwerp. Unloading explosive ordnance directly onto the dock was against port regulations...
, a ship flying a Belgian flag, exploded in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
Bay. It was loaded with arms and ammunition that had been sent to the armed forces of the post-revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
government of Cuba. A second bomb was set nearby and timed to go off later - to kill the volunteers attempting to rescue the (primarily civilian) victims of the first explosion. The explosions killed 75 people and over 200 were injured. Fabian Escalante, an officer of the Cuban Department of State Security (G-2), later claimed that this was the first successful act carried out by Operation 40. Operation 40 was not only involved in sabotage operations. One member, Frank Sturgis
Frank Sturgis
Frank Anthony Sturgis , born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars.-Early Life and Military Service:...
, allegedly told author Mike Canfield: "this assassination group (Operation 40) would upon orders, naturally, assassinate either members of the military or the political parties of the foreign country that you were going to infiltrate, and if necessary some of your own members who were suspected of being foreign agents...We were concentrating strictly in Cuba at that particular time." The group sought to incite civil war in Cuba against the government of prime minister Fidel Castro. "In October 1960, they realize that this project has failed, and that is when Brigade 2506
Brigade 2506
Brigade 2506 was the name given to a CIA-sponsored group of Cuban exiles formed in 1960 to attempt the military overthrow of the Cuban government headed by Fidel Castro...
" was created, a CIA-sponsored group made up of 1,511 Cuban exile
Cuban exile
The term "Cuban exile" refers to the many Cubans who have sought alternative political or economic conditions outside the island, dating back to the Ten Years' War and the struggle for Cuban independence during the 19th century...
s who fought in the April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
.
The group played a major role in the invasion. "The first news that we have of Operation 40 is a statement made by a mercenary of the Bay of Pigs who was the chief of military intelligence of the invading brigade and whose name was Jose Raúl de Varona Gonzalez," writes Escalante. "In his statement this man said the following: in the month of March, 1961, around the seventh, Mr. Vicente Leon arrived at the base in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
at the head of some 53 men saying that he had been sent by the office of Mr. Joaquin Sanjenis, Chief of Civilian Intelligence, with a mission he said was called Operation 40. It was a special group that didn't have anything to do with the brigade and which would go in the rearguard occupying towns and cities. His prime mission was to take over the files of intelligence agencies, public buildings, banks, industries, and capture the heads and leaders in all of the cities and interrogate them. Interrogate them in his own way".
On 17 April 1961, Vicente Leon Leon, with other members of Operation 40, landed at the Bay of Pigs via the CIA-chartered freighter Atlantico. He was killed in action. Other members are reported on the freighter Lake Charles that retreated without landing any attackers.
In a 9 June 1961 memorandum to Richard Goodwin
Richard Goodwin
Richard Goodwin may refer to:*Richard N. Goodwin , American writer and advisor to US Presidents Kennedy and Johnson*Richard M. Goodwin , American mathematician and economist*Richard Elton Goodwin , British Army General...
, historian and Kennedy advisor Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr. was an American historian and social critic whose work explored the American liberalism of political leaders including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy. A Pulitzer Prize winner, Schlesinger served as special assistant and "court historian"...
wrote: "Sam Halper, who has been the New York Times correspondent in Havana and more recently in Miami, came to see me last week. He has excellent contracts among the Cuban exiles.... Halper says that CIA set up something called Operation 40 under the direction of a man named (as he recalled) Captain Luis Sanjenis, who was also chief of intelligence.... But the CIA agent in charge, a man known as Felix, trained the members of the group in methods of third degree interrogation, torture and general terrorism. The liberal Cuban exiles believe that the real purpose of Operation 40 was to 'kill Communists' and, after eliminating hard-core Fidelistas, to go on to eliminate first the followers of Ray, then the followers of Varona and finally to set up a right wing dictatorship, presumably under Manuel Artime
Manuel Artime
Manuel Francisco Artime Buesa, M.D. was a Cuban-American who former took part to the rebel army of Fidel Castro, later was the political leader of Brigade 2506 land forces in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in April 1961.-Biography:Manuel Artime was the nephew of popular Cuban poet José...
.... The exiles believe that all these things had CIA approval.... Nice fellows." Halper actually worked for Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, not the NY Times.
See also
- Bay of Pigs InvasionBay of Pigs InvasionThe Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
(1961) - E. Howard HuntE. Howard HuntEverette Howard Hunt, Jr. was an American intelligence officer and writer. Hunt served for many years as a CIA officer. Hunt, with G...
(1918–2007) - David Atlee PhillipsDavid Atlee PhillipsDavid Atlee Phillips was a Central Intelligence Agency officer for 25 years, one of a handful of people to receive the Career Intelligence Medal. He rose to become the CIA's chief of all operations in the Western hemisphere...
(1922–1988) - Felix RodriguezFélix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)Félix Ismael Rodríguez Mendigutia is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer infamous for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, in the interrogation and execution of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara and his ties to George H. W. Bush during the Iran-Contra Affair...
(b.1941–) - Richard M. Bissell, Jr.Richard M. Bissell, Jr.Richard Mervin Bissell, Jr. was an American Central Intelligence Agency officer responsible for major projects such as the U-2 spy plane and the Bay of Pigs Invasion.-Early years:...
(1909–1994) - Frank SturgisFrank SturgisFrank Anthony Sturgis , born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars.-Early Life and Military Service:...
(1924–1993) - Guillermo Hernández-CartayaGuillermo Hernández-CartayaGuillermo Hernández-Cartaya was a Cuban banker born sometime in 1932 ; he spent 20 years as a banker in Cuba, until he emigrated to the United States, where he became infamous as a dirty banker and the leader of the corrupt World Finance Corporation.-Bay of Pigs fiasco:He first became notable when...
(b.1932–) - CIA Kennedy assassination conspiracy theoryCIA Kennedy assassination conspiracy theoryThe CIA Kennedy assassination theory is a leading John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory. It was frequently mentioned during the 1960s and 1970s when the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency was involved in plots to assassinate foreign leaders...
- Porter Goss (b.1938–)
- Barry SealBarry SealAdler Berriman Seal , better known as Barry Seal, was a United States drug smuggler and aircraft pilot who flew covert flights for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Medellín Cartel.-Early life:...
(1939–1986) - Zapata CorporationZapata CorporationZapata Corporation is a holding company based in Rochester, New York, and originating from an oil company started by a group including the former United States president George H. W. Bush. Various writers have alleged links between the company and the United States Central Intelligence Agency...
- Cuban ProjectCuban ProjectThe Cuban Project was a program of Central Intelligence Agency covert operations developed during the early years of the administration of President of the United States John F. Kennedy...
(Operation Mongoose 1961–) - Echo 31 (Operation Hawkeye 1965-)
- Watergate scandalWatergate scandalThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
(1972) - Cuban PowerCuban PowerCuban Power, also known as El Poder Cubano or United Cuban Power was an Anti-Castro terrorist group that conducted bombings against Cuban targets and states and entities they felt to be sympathetic to the Castro regime through early and mid-1968....
External sources
- Bay of Pigs, 40 Years After: Chronology. The National Security Archive. The George Washington University http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/bayofpigs/chron.html