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FRUS 1961-63, Vol. X


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FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES

1961-1963

Volume X

Cuba, 1961-1962

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Washington

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Editor

Louis J. SmithGeneral Editor

David S. Patterson

United States Government Printing Office

Washington

1997

DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 10409

OFFICE OF THE HISTORIAN

BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office

Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328

ISBN 0-16-045209-0

Contents

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Cuba, 1961-1962

Documents and Memoranda Series:

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great_seal.jpgThe State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date. This site is not updated so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

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FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES

1961-1963

Volume X

Cuba, 1961-1962

</B>DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Washington

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List of Persons

Amory, Robert, Deputy Director for Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency

Anderson, Admiral George W., Chief of Naval Operations after August 1961

Ball, George W., Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, February-December 1961; thereafter Under Secretary of State

Barnes, C. Tracy, Assistant Deputy Director (Plans) for Covert Action, Central Intelligence Agency

Battle, Lucius D., Special Assistant to the Secretary of State and Executive Secretary until May 1962

Beerli, Colonel Stanley W., Chief of Air Operations, Branch 4, Western Hemisphere Division, Directorate for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency

Berle, Adolph A., Chairman of the Department of State Task Force on Latin America

Bissell, Richard M. Jr., Deputy Director for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency, until February 1962

Bowles, Chester A., Under Secretary of State, January-December 1961; thereafter Special Representative and Adviser on African, Asian, and Latin American Affairs

Brubeck, William H., Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State, August 1961-May 1962; thereafter Special Assistant to the Secretary of State and Executive Secretary

Bundy, McGeorge, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Bundy, William P., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

Burke, Admiral Arleigh A., Chief of Naval Operations until August 1961

Cabell, General Charles P., Deputy Director of Central Intelligence until January 1962

Carter, Lieutenant General Marshall S., Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from April 1962

Castro Ruz, Fidel, Cuban Prime Minister

Castro Ruz, Raul, Cuban Minister of the Armed Forces

Chayes, Abram J., Legal Adviser of the Department of State from February 1961

Clark, Rear Admiral John E., Commander of Special Task Group 81.8

Coerr, Wymberley DeR., Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs

Cleveland, J. Harlan, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from February 1961

Craig, Brigadier General William H., Department of Defense Project Officer for Operation Mongoose until June 1962

Crimmins, John H., Deputy Director of the Office of Caribbean and Mexican Affairs, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State, until February 1962; thereafter Director of the Office

Decker, General George H., Army Chief of Staff

Dennison, Admiral Robert L., Commander in Chief, Atlantic

Dillon, C. Douglas, Secretary of the Treasury

Dobrynin, Anatoliy F., Soviet Ambassador to the United States after March 1962

Donovan, James B., lawyer involved in efforts to secure the release of prisoners captured at the Bay of Pigs

Dulles, Allen W., Director of Central Intelligence until November 1961

Dungan, Ralph A., Special Assistant to the President

Earman, J. S., Executive Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence until April 1962

Eisenhower, Dwight D., President of the United States until January 1961

Elder, Walter, Executive Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence from April 1962

Esterline, J. D., Chief of Branch 4, Western Hemisphere Division, Directorate for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency

Gilpatric, Roswell L., Deputy Secretary of Defense from January 1961

Goodwin, Richard N., Assistant Special Counsel to the President until November 1961; thereafter Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs

Gray, Major General David W., Chief of the Subsidiary Activities Division, Plans and Policy, Joint Staff, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Guevara Serna, Ernesto (Che), President of the Cuban National Bank

Harris, Brigadier General Benjamin T., Department of Defense Project Officer for Operation Mongoose from June 1962

Harvey, William K., Chief of Task Force W, Directorate for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency; Project Officer for Operation Mongoose

Hawkins, Colonel Jack, Chief of Paramilitary Operations, Branch 4, Western Hemisphere Division, Directorate for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency

Helms, Richard M., Chief of Operations, Directorate for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency, until February 1962; thereafter Deputy Director for Plans

Hilsman, Roger, Jr., Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State, from February 1961

Hurwitch, Robert A., Officer in Charge of Cuban Affairs, Office of Caribbean and Mexican Affairs, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State until February 1962; Deputy Director, Office of Caribbean and Mexican Affairs, February-June 1962; thereafter Special Assistant for Cuban Affairs, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs; also Project Officer for Operation Mongoose

Johnson, Lyndon B., Vice President from January 1961

Johnson, U. Alexis, Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from April 1961

Kaysen, Carl, Member, National Security Council Staff, June-December 1961; thereafter Deputy Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Kennedy, John F., President of the United States from January 1961

Kennedy, Robert F., Attorney General from January 1961

Khrushchev, Nikita S., Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union

King, Colonel J. C., Chief, Western Hemisphere Division, Directorate for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency

Komer, Robert W., Member, National Security Council Staff

Lansdale, Brigadier General Edward G., Deputy Assistant for Special Operations to the Secretary of Defense until May 1961; thereafter Assistant for Special Operations; also Chief of Operations for Operation Mongoose after November 1961

Lemnitzer, General Lyman L., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Macmillan, Harold, British Prime Minister

Mann, Thomas C., Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs until April 1961

Martin, Edwin M., Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs until May 1962; thereafter Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs

McCone, John A., Director of Central Intelligence from November 1961

McNamara, Robert S., Secretary of Defense from January 1961

Mikoyan, Anastas I., First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union

Miro Cardona, Jose, President of the Cuban Revolutionary Council

Morales-Carrion, Arturo, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs

Murrow, Edward R., Director of the United States Information Agency

Nitze, Paul H., Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from January 1961

O'Donnell, P. Kenneth, Special Assistant to the President

Parrott, Thomas A., Assistant to the President's Military Representative

Roa Garcia, Raul, Cuban Minister for External Relations

Rostow, Walt W., Deputy Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs until December 1961; thereafter Counselor of the Department of State and Chairman of the Policy Planning Council

Rusk, Dean, Secretary of State from January 1961

San Roman, Jose Perez, Commander of the Cuban Expeditionary Force Brigade

Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr., Special Assistant to the President

Scott, Joseph W., Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs

Shoup, General David M., Commandant of the Marine Corps

Smith, Bromley, Acting Executive Secretary of the National Security Council until August 1961; thereafter Executive Secretary

Somoza Debayle, General Anastasio, President of Nicaragua

Sorensen, Theodore C., Special Counsel to the President

Stevenson, Adlai E., Permanent Representative at the United Nations from January 1961

Taylor, General Maxwell D., Chairman of the Cuba Study Group, April-June 1961; President's Military Representative from July 1961

Thompson, Llewellyn, Ambassador to the Soviet Union

Wheeler, Lieutenant General Earle G., Director of the Joint Staff, Joint Chiefs of Staff

White, General Thomas D., Chief of Staff of the Air Force until June 1961

Woodward, Robert F., Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, July 1961-March 1962

Ydigoras Fuentes, General Miguel, President of Guatemala

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Bill, there's some fascinating documents in there. RFK's last sentence to his brother in this one is remarkably prescient.

157. Memorandum From the Attorney General (Kennedy) to President Kennedy

Washington, April 19, 1961.

Source: Kennedy Library, President's Office Files, Countries Series, Cuba, General, April 1961. No classification marking. A covering note indicates that the Attorney General sent the memorandum to the President through Presidential Special Assistant Kenneth O'Donnell.

The present situation in Cuba was precipitated by the deterioration of events inside that state. The news that 100 Cuban pilots were being trained in Czechoslovakia, the information that MIGs and other jet planes had already been shipped to Cuba and that these shipments were expected to continue, that thousands of tons of military equipment had arrived each month in Havana, were all matters of consternation. Cuba it was realized was swiftly becoming a major military arsenal for all of the activities of the Communist Bloc in the Western Hemisphere. For these arms were sent to Cuba not only to keep Castro in power but to provide the necessary tools for Communist agitators in other South American and Central American countries to overthrow their governments. A hundred jet fighters based in Havana and roaming the skies around Florida and Central America will have major repercussions. The psychological effect, let alone the military result of this show of power could conceivably be catastrophic.

The alternative to the steps that were taken this past week would have been to sit and wait and hope that in the future some fortuitous event would occur to change the situation. This, it was decided, should not be done. The immediate failure of the rebels' activities in Cuba does not permit us, it seems to me, to return to the status quo with our policy toward Cuba being one of waiting and hoping for good luck. The events in the last few days makes this inconceivable.

Therefore, equally important to working out a plan to extricate ourselves gracefully from the situation in Cuba is developing a policy in light of what we expect we will be facing a year or two years from now!/1/ Castro will be even more bombastic, will be more and more closely tied to Communism, will be better armed, and will be operating an even more tightly held state than if these events had not transpired.

/1/The Attorney General underscored the first sentence of this paragraph by hand, and added the exclamation point.

Our long-range foreign policy objectives in Cuba are tied to survival far more than what is happening in Laos or the Congo or any other place in the world. Because of the proximity of that island our objective must be at the very least to prevent that island from becoming Mr. Khru-shchev's arsenal. In our concern over the present situation, we must not lose sight of our objective.

There are three ways that that can be accomplished: Number (1) to send American troops into Cuba; Number (2) to place a strict military blockade around the island of Cuba; Number (3) to call upon the nations of Central and South America to take steps to insure that all arms from outside forces (both American and Russian) are kept out of Cuba.

You have rejected Number (1) for good and sufficient reasons (although this might have to be reconsidered). Number (2) has the same inherent problems as Number (1) although possibly not as acute. On the other hand, it is a drawn-out affair which would lead to a good deal of worldwide bitterness over an extended period of time.

The only way to carry it out successfully would be to be able to demonstrate to the governments of Central and South America that because of the MIG fighters, the tanks and equipment provided by the Communist bloc, that the whole hemisphere is in danger. From my limited knowledge of the situation I suppose it would be most difficult to get them to agree to concerted action.

As for Number 3 and to some extent, Number 2, if it was reported that one or two of Castro's MIGs attacked Guantanamo Bay and the United States made noises like this was an act of war and that we might very well have to take armed action ourselves, would it be possible to get the countries of Central and South America through OAS to take some action to prohibit the shipment of arms or ammunition from any outside force into Cuba? At the same time they could guarantee the territorial integrity of Cuba so that the Cuban government could not say that they would be at the mercy of the United States.

It seems to me that something along these lines is absolutely essential. Maybe this is not the way to carry it out but something forceful and determined must be done. Furthermore, serious attention must be given to this problem immediately and not wait for the situation in Cuba to revert back to a time of relative peace and calm with the U.S. having been beaten off with her tail between her legs.

What has been going on in Cuba in the last few days must also be a tremendous strain on Castro. It seems to me that this is the time to decide what our long-term policies are going to be and what will be the results of those policies.
The time has come for a showdown for in a year or two years the situation will be vastly worse. If we don't want Russia to set up missile bases in Cuba, we had better decide now what we are willing to do to stop it.

http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/policy/docs/frusX/151_165.html

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Bill, there's some fascinating documents in there. RFK's last sentence to his brother in this one is remarkably prescient.

157. Memorandum From the Attorney General (Kennedy) to President Kennedy

Washington, April 19, 1961.....

Hi Mike,

I agree. I have poured over many of the docs and found many gems, but the docs from this batch is supposed to go from 1961-63 but they only go to 1962.

But it does give good insight into the inner workings.

Glad somebody is getting something out of it.

Let me know if anybody else finds something interesting.

BK

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