The CIA's Secret Army (1977)

[Matt Allison]

Holy crap this is freakin amazing.

Bill Moyers documentary about violent Cuban exiles in Miami in 1977.

Incredible insight into the minds of those that wanted JFK dead.

The CIA's Secret Army (1977)

 

[Gerry Down]

Must watch this documentary.

Edited May 13, 2023 by Gerry Down

[Richard Booth]

 

Some interesting quotes in there from Bernard Barker

 

[Paul Cummings]

Thanks Matt for posting. I finally got around to watching it and it was solid reporting by Moyers.

[Greg Doudna]

Excellent riveting program. Two things stand out to me. First, post-Bay of Pigs how the Battalion or "secret army" actually soon became for the most part pro-JFK, not anti-JFK, because JFK (according to all the information in the program) was working with the exiles on continued efforts to overthrow Castro and exiles believed JFK would succeed. JFK had made a promise, after all, upon the return of the BOP prisoners from Cuba, that the flag of a free Cuba would fly in Havana (overthrow of Castro)--and the Battalion members cheered JFK on that and believed it, that JFK was going to deliver, and this after the Bay of Pigs (per the present documentary). 

And yet at the same time there is all the credible information that JFK was privately corresponding with Kruschschev, getting the test ban treaty, giving the American University visionary speech with a vision of an end to the Cold War.

I can see no other big picture conclusion than this: JFK was intent on overthrowing Castro, and if it played out as JFK and maybe Kruschschev intended, Kruschschev was going to let that happen (i.e. loss of Castro as Soviet satellite, throw Castro under the bus), as part of a quid pro quo of an end to the Cold War. 

i.e. JFK was intent on rapprochement with Kruschschev and ending the Cold War with the Soviet Union, but not intent at all on rapprochement with Castro, notwithstanding rumors to the contrary.

RFK Jr. tells of his father's personal friendship with Ruiz Williams and other exiles (who were intent on overthrowing Castro). It seems the vision of JFK/RFK for Cuba was a free and democratic Cuba that was aligned with US interests. Due to US election pressures, an overthrow of Castro before November 1964 would be predicted. All of this supports the basic idea, brought out in Lamar and Waldron but also in the present documentary, that there was an imminent large-scale action planned for Cuba at around the time of the JFK assassination. 

I would be interested in knowing if any key points of this synthesis or interpretation are clearly wrong, from some more informed on these matters. 

[David Boylan]

Greg,

Not everyone thought well of the Kennedy Brothers:

“[Wayne January], I tell you. I was a mercenary pilot, hired by the CIA. I was involved in the Bay of Pigs planning strategy which was operated by the CIA. I was there involved with many of my friends when they died, when Robert Kennedy talked John Kennedy out of sending in the air cover which he agreed to send. He cancelled the air cover which he agreed to send. He cancelled the air cover after the invasion was launched. Many, many died. Far more than was told. I don’t know all that was going on but I do know that there was an indescribable amount of hurt, anger and embarrassment of those involved in the operation. … They are not only going to kill the President; they are going to kill Robert Kennedy and any other Kennedy that gets into that position. …You will see…They want Robert Kennedy real bad.” - Cuban pilot at Redbird Airport.

 

He [Cuban Pilot] became comfortable with January after working with him over several days of working together and spoke further about his experience. He was particularly outspoken in relating that his friends had died during the Bay of Pigs landings because JFK had not delivered the promised air cover for them. During their conversations, talk of the President coming to Dallas apparently agitated the Cuban, and he related to January that JFK would be killed in revenge for his comrades' deaths. He stated that “they” were also going to kill RFK because he had convinced his brother not to send planes to support the landings at the Bay of Pigs, and because the Kennedy’s were now in the way of efforts to overthrow Castro. 

January did note to Smith that there was an absolute need to have the aircraft ready to depart on Friday 11/22, and when work had not been completed Thursday, they had worked into the evening to make sure that would happen.

Gene Wheaton:

"Carl Jenkins was a retired high-level paramilitary specialist for the CIA.....He headed up the largest covert base in Laos during the secret CIA wars over there when the open war was going on in Vietnam.....[Jenkins] invited me to stay in their home.....In 1985 he [Jenkins] became my Washington representative when I took over as Vice President for a cargo airline called National Air.....I was like a brother to Carl.....Carl was the head recruiter and trainer of the Bay of Pigs invasion for the assassins and saboteurs that were going into Cuba for the pre-invasion to lay the groundwork for the Bay of Pigs.....He trained the 17, 18, 19 year old exiles and became their father figure.....Chi Chi Quintero became like a son to Carl.....He [Quintero] and two or three others, Felix Rodriguez, Nestor Pino, all went to Vietnam with him.....Chi Chi was a shooter. He was trained by I.W. Harper.....There was a CIA funded program to assassinate Castro and Carl was in charge of training the Cubans from Miami.....They were the ones that diverted the Castro assassination funds and training for their own agenda to snuff Kennedy.....They had a thing called a triangulation shooting team.....[Describing the Bay of Pigs and JFK backing off the air strike] They were furious and still are to this day.....And there was another clique above them.....they would reminisce about the past and what went wrong and what went right....."

David Morales - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nGyIthGwDY

Ruben Carbajal talking about a conversation he had David Morales - “Why’d he [JFK] go back on his word? The president gave the okay that you’ll have air support and it was up there and the last five minutes prior to the attack he pulls them out and everybody gets caught down there. Now you know why he had no respect for the Kennedys.” “I was in Dallas when we got that motherf*cker.”

[Benjamin Cole]

56 minutes ago, David Boylan said:

Greg,

Not everyone thought well of the Kennedy Brothers:

“[Wayne January], I tell you. I was a mercenary pilot, hired by the CIA. I was involved in the Bay of Pigs planning strategy which was operated by the CIA. I was there involved with many of my friends when they died, when Robert Kennedy talked John Kennedy out of sending in the air cover which he agreed to send. He cancelled the air cover which he agreed to send. He cancelled the air cover after the invasion was launched. Many, many died. Far more than was told. I don’t know all that was going on but I do know that there was an indescribable amount of hurt, anger and embarrassment of those involved in the operation. … They are not only going to kill the President; they are going to kill Robert Kennedy and any other Kennedy that gets into that position. …You will see…They want Robert Kennedy real bad.” - Cuban pilot at Redbird Airport.

 

He [Cuban Pilot] became comfortable with January after working with him over several days of working together and spoke further about his experience. He was particularly outspoken in relating that his friends had died during the Bay of Pigs landings because JFK had not delivered the promised air cover for them. During their conversations, talk of the President coming to Dallas apparently agitated the Cuban, and he related to January that JFK would be killed in revenge for his comrades' deaths. He stated that “they” were also going to kill RFK because he had convinced his brother not to send planes to support the landings at the Bay of Pigs, and because the Kennedy’s were now in the way of efforts to overthrow Castro. 

January did note to Smith that there was an absolute need to have the aircraft ready to depart on Friday 11/22, and when work had not been completed Thursday, they had worked into the evening to make sure that would happen.

Gene Wheaton:

"Carl Jenkins was a retired high-level paramilitary specialist for the CIA.....He headed up the largest covert base in Laos during the secret CIA wars over there when the open war was going on in Vietnam.....[Jenkins] invited me to stay in their home.....In 1985 he [Jenkins] became my Washington representative when I took over as Vice President for a cargo airline called National Air.....I was like a brother to Carl.....Carl was the head recruiter and trainer of the Bay of Pigs invasion for the assassins and saboteurs that were going into Cuba for the pre-invasion to lay the groundwork for the Bay of Pigs.....He trained the 17, 18, 19 year old exiles and became their father figure.....Chi Chi Quintero became like a son to Carl.....He [Quintero] and two or three others, Felix Rodriguez, Nestor Pino, all went to Vietnam with him.....Chi Chi was a shooter. He was trained by I.W. Harper.....There was a CIA funded program to assassinate Castro and Carl was in charge of training the Cubans from Miami.....They were the ones that diverted the Castro assassination funds and training for their own agenda to snuff Kennedy.....They had a thing called a triangulation shooting team.....[Describing the Bay of Pigs and JFK backing off the air strike] They were furious and still are to this day.....And there was another clique above them.....they would reminisce about the past and what went wrong and what went right....."

David Morales - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nGyIthGwDY

Ruben Carbajal talking about a conversation he had David Morales - “Why’d he [JFK] go back on his word? The president gave the okay that you’ll have air support and it was up there and the last five minutes prior to the attack he pulls them out and everybody gets caught down there. Now you know why he had no respect for the Kennedys.” “I was in Dallas when we got that motherf*cker.”

DB--

Verily. Some CIA officers wrote entire books post-Bay of Pigs with solidly negative sentiments towards JFK. 

If memory serves, Richard Bissell created the narrative that JFK had gone back on his word, re BoPs. 

I do think JFK could have been more moderate in his Orange Bowl Miami speech about a Free Havana. 

 

 

[Pat Speer]

I believe I mentioned this documentary recently to counter the oft-stated claim the mainstream media has always covered for the CIA. Not exactly so, eh? FWIW, Moyers wrote a book to accompany this documentary, which I'm fairly certain was heavily promoted on his PBS program, etc. In any event, I have it somewhere. 

[Matt Allison]

2 hours ago, Greg Doudna said:

JFK had made a promise, after all, upon the return of the BOP prisoners from Cuba, that the flag of a free Cuba would fly in Havana (overthrow of Castro)--and the Battalion members cheered JFK on that and believed it

And then only a few months later they asked for the return of the flag.  Make no mistake, by early 1963 the exiles were not happy with JFK.

[Greg Doudna]

David, Matt et al -- well that sounds right too, anti-Castro Cubans livid against JFK over Cuba. I suppose where the Moyers film jarred me was it presented many "mainstream" Brigade members as turning pro-JFK again after the Bay of Pigs, ones that RFK ran and there was an effort to sabotage Cuba's economy. So is it some hated JFK, some were for JFK, and JFK/RFK were going to try to remove Castro as the solution to their Castro problem? From the Moyers' film information, it is hard to buy any idea that JFK/RFK were not intent on deposing Castro, the only issue was how and who would be in power in a post-Castro Cuba. The only thing that could really stop that from happening would be Soviet deterrence threat, but that could be worked out by a deal since JFK and Kruschchev were talking and both interested in ending the Cold War. Kruschchev could trade away Cuba in exchange for something else somewhere else... everybody happy (except Castro).  

Just imagine ... if there was a will to have regime change in Cuba--and the Moyers film is pretty clear there was, quoting RFK on that... how could it be done in a way that would work, given that a majority of the Cuban people, and the world, and half the American people, would oppose an outright invasion. And a domestic insurrection idea just wasn't going to work. 

What if ... (wild speculation) ... the way to change that calculus, with the approval of JFK/RFK, was to false-flag an assassination attempt on JFK blamed on Castro? There's Dallas ... Oswald ... Mexico City ... JFK's willingness to take the trip ... FBI cooperation in removing Oswald from the watch list ... and JFK got double-crossed? Would explain Oswald as witting to the false-flag but shocked at the assassination being actual, as soon as realizes flees for his life... then HE gets blamed instead of the original idea to blame Castro...

All it would take is someone on the inside leaking to Mob types some logistics specifics and JFK was double-crossed. 

Then naturally there would be a coverup. Who is going to say, "we were really only going to falsely blame Castro and risk starting a world war, we weren't really meaning to allow someone to kill Kennedy, that was a goofup" 

Imagine Oswald's pro-Castro as for show, his pro-JFK as for real, Oswald through two or three cutouts/ intermediaries actually working under RFK... Oswald's payoff being a future promise of something ...

Sorry... don't know what I'm talking about here (truly). (Wish I did though.)

[Michael Griffith]

Wow, that's a great documentary. Very interesting and full of information. Great stuff. 

[David Boylan]

Greg,

Here's a pretty good write up by Col Jack Hawkins, former project manager for the BOP, to Krulak and the JCS on the autonomous operations/split the regime operation.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=163#relPageId=4

And if you're really bored and need some additional reading, this is the JCS write up of a plan to invade Cuba.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=149913#relPageId=2

The JCS still talking about a "contrived indident" in 1963. Think Operation Northwoods."

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=149830#relPageId=3&search="contrived_incident"

[Michael Griffith]

Many anti-Castro Cubans were furious when, in October 1962, they read news stories that JFK had assured Khrushchev that he would not invade Cuba in exchange for the removal of Soviet missiles from the island. I suspect this was when some anti-Castro Cubans and some of their CIA handlers became viscerally and violently anti-Kennedy.

And we should keep in mind that some anti-Castro Cubans had Mafia ties.