Difference between revisions of "Operation 40"

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{{Group
 
{{Group
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|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_40
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|spartacus=http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKoperation40.htm
 
|start=March 1960
 
|start=March 1960
|constitutes=Assassination squad
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|historycommons=http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=_operation_40__1
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|subgroups=Interpen
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|end=1968
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|constitutes=Hit squad, third rail topic
 
|founders=Dwight D. Eisenhower
 
|founders=Dwight D. Eisenhower
|members=Frank Sturgis, Donald Gregg, Felix Rodriguez Mendigutia, Antonio Veciana, Luis Posada Carriles, Orlando Bosch, Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero, Virgilio Paz Romero, Roland Masferrer, Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz, Bernard Barker, Porter Goss, Barry Seal
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|members=José Sanjenís Perdomo, Arsenio Carlos Alberto De Diego Aday, Felipe De Diego Aday, Alberto J. Farinas Alzugaray (Alzagaray), Bernard Barker, Jose Manuel ('Manolo') Reboso (Reposo) Bello, William Bishop, Alberto Blanco, Enrique Jose Casares Blanco, Orlando Bosch, Federico M. Flaquer (Flagler) Carballar, Luis Posada Carriles, Tom Clines, Miguel Cossio (Cosio Rosales), Rafael D. Arce Godinez, Pedro Salvador Puig Gomez, Porter Goss, Donald Gregg, William Harvey, Guillermo Hernández-Cartaya, Héctor A. de Lamar Maza, Mario Luis de Lamar Maza,  Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz,  Vicente Leon Leon, Mario Fuentes Macias, Eugenio Martínez, Rolando Masferrer, Felix Rodriguez Mendigutia, Fernando J. Milanes Morales, Rogelio ZAYAS Bazan Loret de Mola, Ramon Eduardo Pages Morales, David Sánchez Morales, Ricardo Morales Navarrete, Carlos Pascual Noriega, Eddy Perez, Tosh Plumlee, Ramon Perez Veitia (Veytia), Ramon Pla Perez, Rafael Quintero, Jose Manuel Alvarez Pascual, Jorgo Robreno, Felipe Rodriguez, Virgilio Paz Romero, Barry Seal, Ted Shackley, William Seymour, Frank Sturgis, Antonio Veciana, Rafael Villaverde, Edwin Wilson,
|description=A CIA-run assassination squad that had its fingers in a lot of pies, quite possibly including the JFK Assassination.
+
<!--Frank Sturgis, Donald Gregg, Felix Rodriguez Mendigutia, Antonio Veciana, Luis Posada Carriles, Orlando Bosch, Rafael Quintero, Virgilio Paz Romero, Rolando Masferrer, Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz, Bernard Barker, Porter Goss, Barry Seal, Ted Shackley, Tom Clines, Vicente Leon Leon, William Harvey, Edwin Wilson, William Seymour-->
|type=criminal
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|description=A CIA-run assassination squad begun with Fidel Castro in mind, but that had its fingers in a lot of pies, probably including the JFK Assassination.
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|type=hit squad
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|image=Porter_Goss,_Barry_Seal,_Felix_Rodriguez,_et_al.jpg
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|image_width=380px
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''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 [[US President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in March 1960, after the January 1959 [[Cuban Revolution]], and was presided over by [[Vice President of the United States|Vice-president]] [[Richard Nixon]]. The group included Donald Gregg<ref>http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=_operation_40__1</ref>, [[Frank Sturgis]] (later a [[Watergate]] burglar); [[Félix Rodríguez]] ([[CIA]], later was involved in killing [[Che Guevara]]), [[Luis Posada Carriles]] (held in the US in 2010 on charges of illegal immigration, wanted 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]], CORU), that organized the 1976 murder of [[Chile]]an former minister [[Orlando Letelier]]); [[Rafael Quintero|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 prime minister [[Fidel Castro]].
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'''Operation 40''' was a [[CIA]]-sponsored [[hit squad]] of the [[1960s]], composed mostly of Cuban exiles. It was active in the [[United States]] and the [[Caribbean]] (including [[Cuba]]), [[Central America]], and [[Mexico]]. Many researchers, including [[Daniel Hopsicker]] and [[Mark Gorton]], have pointed to Operation 40 involvement in the [[JFK Assassination]].<ref name="50years">[[Document:Fifty_Years_of_the_Deep_State]], by [[Mark Gorton]]</ref><ref>http://www.madcowprod.com/2013/11/20/barry-seal-the-cias-secret-camp-in-lacombe-the-jfk-assassination/#more-5212</ref> Members of operation 40 have played key roles in [[deep events]] decades later, from [[CIA Drug trafficking]] to the [[Watergate Coup]] to [[assassinations]] such as those of [[John Lennon/Assassination|John Lennon]] and [[1980 Camarate air crash|Adelino Amaro da Costa]], and even in the [[9/11 Cover up]].
  
Operation 40 had 86 employees in [[1961]], of which 37 were trained as case officers.{{cn}} [[Daniel Hopsicker]] has suggested that Operation 40 may have a connection to the [[JFK Assassination]].<ref>http://www.madcowprod.com/2013/11/20/barry-seal-the-cias-secret-camp-in-lacombe-the-jfk-assassination/#more-5212</ref>
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==Official narrative==
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The group was officially non-existant for decades.{{cn}} In 2014 however the [[CIA]] admitted that Operation 40 existed; a [[FOIA request]] by [[MuckRock]] to the CIA returned 2 documents with a total of just 6 pages.<ref>http://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/operation-40</ref>
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{{YouTubeVideo
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|code=1l2zekg2ntY
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|align=left
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|caption=Researcher [[Ole Dammegård]] on Operation 40 and related topics
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}}
  
 
==Origins==
 
==Origins==
On 11 December 1959, following the [[Cuban Revolution]] 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."
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On 11 December 1959, following the [[Cuban Revolution]] 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. It was created by [[US President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in March 1960. [[US Deep state]] control was exercised through  his [[Vice President of the United States|vice-president]], [[Richard Nixon]].
  
As a result of this memorandum, Dulles established a [[ZR/RIFLE]] unit named Operation 40, from the "Group of 40" of the [[United States National Security Council|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 T. Merchant|Livingston Merchant]] of the [[State Department]], National Security Adviser [[Gordon Gray (politician)|Gordon Gray]], as well as Dulles himself.
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[[Fabian Escalante]] writes in  ''[[The Secret War: CIA Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959-62]]'' that [[Jack Alston Crichton]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] were active in raising funds for Operation 40.<ref>http://spartacus-educational.com/MDcrichton.htm</ref>
  
[[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 Esterline|Jacob 'Jake' Esterline]], [[E. Howard Hunt]], and Frank Bender (an alias of [[Gerry Droller]]), all of the CIA.<ref name=Escalante>Escalante (1995)</ref><ref>Furiati (1995), pp.14-15</ref><ref>Fonzi (1993), p.415</ref> 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]].
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[[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 Esterline|Jacob 'Jake' Esterline]], [[E. Howard Hunt]], and 'Frank Bender' (an alias of [[Gerry Droller]]), all of the CIA.<ref name=Escalante>Escalante (1995)</ref><ref>Furiati (1995), pp.14-15</ref><ref>Fonzi (1993), p.415</ref> Barnes, Phillips, Esterline, Hunt, [[David Sánchez 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]].
 
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 [[Fulgencio Batista|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.<ref>Mahoney p 174-175; HSCA staff reports</ref>
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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 [[assassin]]s.<ref>Mahoney p 174-175; HSCA staff reports</ref>
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==Members==
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The group had 86 employees in [[1961]], of which 37 were trained as case officers. Members included Admiral [[Arleigh Burke]], [[Livingston Merchant]] of the [[State Department]], [[National Security Adviser]] [[Gordon Gray]], [[Allen Dulles]], [[Donald Gregg]]<ref>http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=_operation_40__1</ref>, [[Frank Sturgis]] (later a [[Watergate]] burglar); [[Félix Rodríguez]] ([[CIA]], later was involved in killing [[Che Guevara]]), [[Luis Posada Carriles]] (held in the US in 2010 on charges of illegal immigration, wanted by [[Venezuela]] for his key role in the execution of the 1976 [[Cubana de Aviación Flight 455]] bombing), [[Orlando Bosch]] (founder of the counterrevolutionary group CORU that organized the 1976 murder of Chilean former minister [[Orlando Letelier]]); [[Rafael Quintero|Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero]]; [[Virgilio Paz Romero]]; [[Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz]]; [[Bernard Barker]], [[Porter Goss]] and [[Barry Seal]].
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Operation 40 worked closely with several anti-Castro Cuban organizations including [[Alpha 66]], a Cuban US-supported 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 "Tosh" Plumlee]] and [[William Bishop]] also joined the project. Later, [[Ted Shackley]] played a role, as chief of the [[JM/Wave]] station in Miami after the [[Bay of Pigs invasion]].
  
[[Image:Porter Goss, Barry Seal, Felix Rodriguez, et al.jpg|"This photograph was taken in a nightclub in Mexico City on 22nd January, 1963. It is believed that the men in the photograph are all members of Operation 40. Closest to the camera on the left is [[Felix Rodriguez (Central Intelligence Agency)|Felix Rodriguez]]. Next to him is [[Porter Goss]] and [[Barry Seal]]. [[William Robert Plumlee|Tosh Plumlee]] is attempting to hide his face with his coat. Others in the picture are [[Alberto 'Loco' Blanco|Alberto Blanco]] (3rd right) and [[Jorgo Robreno]] (4th right)."- text from [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKseal.htm Spartacus Educational site] by John Simkin<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKseal.htm |title=Barry Seal|author = John Simkin | date = unknown | accessdate = 2014 1 29}}</ref>]]
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The individuals who comprised Operation 40 had been selected in [[Miami, Florida]] by [[Jose Sanjenis Perdomo]], former Chief of Police during Cuban President [[Carlos Prio]]'s regime. The 37 case officers in 1961 included: [[Frank Sturgis]], [[Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)|Felix Rodriguez]], [[Antonio Veciana]], [[Luis Posada Carriles]], [[Orlando Bosch]], [[Rafael Quintero|Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero]], [[Rolando 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]], [[Juan Manuel Salvat]], (Cuban-American) [[Bernard Barker]], and [[Paulino Sierra]]. [[Barry Seal]] may have flown for Operation 40.
  
==Members==
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[[Image:Porter Goss, Barry Seal, Felix Rodriguez, et al.jpg]]<br/>
Over the next few years Operation 40 worked closely with several anti-Castro Cuban organizations including [[Alpha 66]], a Cuban US-supported 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.)
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''This photograph was taken in a nightclub in Mexico City on 22nd January, 1963. It is believed that the men in the photograph are all members of Operation 40. Closest to the camera on the left is [[Felix Rodriguez]]. Next to him are [[Porter Goss]] and [[Barry Seal]]. [[Tosh Plumlee]] is attempting to hide his face with his coat, and [[William Seymour]] is in front of him. Others in the picture are [[Alberto Blanco]] (3rd right) and [[Jorgo Robreno]] (4th right)."- text from [http://www.spartacus-educational.com/JFKseal.htm Spartacus Educational site] by John Simkin<ref>http://www.spartacus-educational.com/JFKseal.htm</ref><ref>http://www.madcowprod.com/2013/11/20/barry-seal-the-cias-secret-camp-in-lacombe-the-jfk-assassination/</ref>
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A [[letter]] dated 8 February 1961 signed by [[Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)|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.)<ref>Cuban Information Archives Document 0034 Explanation of the BOP Name List http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0034.html</ref> 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.<ref>Cuban Information Archives Document 0035 List of Participants of the Bay of Pigs Invasion http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0035.html</ref>
  
The individuals who comprised 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]], [[Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)|Felix Rodriguez]], [[Antonio Veciana]], [[Luis Posada Carriles]], [[Orlando Bosch]], [[Rafael Quintero|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.
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==Activities==
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The took a major part in the April 1961 [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] directed against the government of Cuban prime minister [[Fidel Castro]]. It is also implicated in  the [[JFK Assassination]] and many other [[cabal]] operations in the [[1970s]], [[1980s]] and beyond. See the individual members' pages for more details.
  
A letter dated 8 February 1961 signed by [[Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)|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.)<ref>Cuban Information Archives Document 0034 Explanation of the BOP Name List http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0034.html</ref> 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.<ref>Cuban Information Archives Document 0035 List of Participants of the Bay of Pigs Invasion http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0035.html</ref>
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===Bay of Pigs===
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{{FA|Bay of Pigs}}
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On 4 March 1960, ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Coubre_explosion La Coubre'',] 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 [[Cuban Revolution|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 [[Jack Alston Crichton]]. The explosions killed 75 people and over 200 were injured. [[Fabian Escalante]], an officer of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direcci%C3%B3n_de_Inteligencia Cuban Department of State Security (G2),] 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 [[Cuba]]n exiles who fought in the April 1961 [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]].
  
==Operations==
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"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 [http://momentummiami.org/veterans-2/jose-raul-de-varona/ 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 4 March 1960, ''[[La Coubre explosion|La Coubre]]'', 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 [[Cuban Revolution|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.<ref name=Escalante/> [[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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}  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".
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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.<ref>Rodriguez (1999), p.153</ref><ref>Fernandez (1999), p.100</ref> Other members are reported on the freighter ''Lake Charles'' that retreated without landing any attackers.<ref>Cuban Information Archives Document 0042 Chronology of Military Operations http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0042.html</ref>
  
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.<ref>Rodriguez (1999), p.153</ref><ref>Fernandez (1999), p.100</ref> Other members are reported on the freighter ''Lake Charles'' that retreated without landing any attackers.<ref>Cuban Information Archives Document 0042 Chronology of Military Operations http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0042.html</ref>
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In a 9 June 1961 memorandum<ref>Cuban Information Archives Document 0355 http://cuban-exile.com/doc_351-375/doc0355.html</ref> 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 (magazine)|Time]]'', not the ''[[New York Times]]''.
  
In a 9 June 1961 memorandum<ref>Cuban Information Archives Document 0355 http://cuban-exile.com/doc_351-375/doc0355.html</ref> 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 (magazine)|Time]]'', not the NY Times.
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==Closure==
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Citing a 1975 article, [[Peter Dale Scott]] wrote in [[1977]] that "Seven years after the event, to its credit, the ''[[New York Times]]'' finally revealed a little of the story about the wind-up of the CIA's Operation 40 because of its narcotics activities."<ref>[[Document:Transnationalised_Repression_Parafascism_and_the_US#ref_25]]</ref>
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
*[[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] (1961)
 
*[[E. Howard Hunt]] (1918–2007)
 
*[[David Atlee Phillips]] (1922–1988)
 
*[[Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)|Felix Rodriguez]] (b.1941–)
 
 
*[[Richard M. Bissell, Jr.]] (1909–1994)
 
*[[Richard M. Bissell, Jr.]] (1909–1994)
*[[Frank Sturgis]] (1924–1993)
 
*[[Guillermo Hernández-Cartaya]] (b.1932–)
 
*[[Porter Goss]] (b.1938–)
 
*[[Barry Seal]] (1939–1986)
 
 
*[[Zapata Corporation]]
 
*[[Zapata Corporation]]
 
*[[Cuban Project]] (Operation Mongoose 1961–)
 
*[[Cuban Project]] (Operation Mongoose 1961–)
 
*[[Echo 31]] (Operation Hawkeye 1965-)
 
*[[Echo 31]] (Operation Hawkeye 1965-)
*[[Watergate coup]] (1972)
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Latest revision as of 09:59, 8 August 2023

Group.png Operation 40  
(Hit squad, Third rail topicSpartacusRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png 4
Porter Goss, Barry Seal, Felix Rodriguez, et al.jpg
FormationMarch 1960
Founders• Dwight D. Eisenhower, official photo portrait, May 29, 1959.jpg Dwight D. Eisenhower
Extinction1968
Parent organizationCIA, CIA/Directorate of Operations
Type hit squad
SubgroupsInterpen.jpg Interpen
Interest ofOle Dammegård, William E. Kelly
Membership• Jose Perdomo 1980 per msnbc.jpg José Sanjenís Perdomo
•  Arsenio Carlos Alberto De Diego Aday
•  Felipe De Diego Aday
•  Alberto J. Farinas Alzugaray (Alzagaray)
• Bernard Barker.jpg Bernard Barker
•  Jose Manuel ('Manolo') Reboso (Reposo) Bello
• William C. Bishop.jpg William Bishop
•  Alberto Blanco
•  Enrique Jose Casares Blanco
• Orlando Bosch.jpg Orlando Bosch
•  Federico M. Flaquer (Flagler) Carballar
• Luis Posada Carriles.jpg Luis Posada Carriles
• Thomas Clines.jpg Tom Clines
•  Miguel Cossio (Cosio Rosales)
•  Rafael D. Arce Godinez
•  Pedro Salvador Puig Gomez
• Porter Goss.jpg Porter Goss
• Donald Gregg.jpg Donald Gregg
• William Harvey.jpg William Harvey
• Cartaya-cropped.png Guillermo Hernández-Cartaya
•  Héctor A. de Lamar Maza
•  Mario Luis de Lamar Maza
• Pedro Luis Díaz Lanz.jpg Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz
• Vicente Leon.jpg Vicente Leon Leon
•  Mario Fuentes Macias
•  Eugenio Martínez
• Roland Masferrer.jpg Rolando Masferrer
• Felix-rodriguez.gif Felix Rodriguez Mendigutia
•  Fernando J. Milanes Morales
•  Rogelio ZAYAS Bazan Loret de Mola
•  Ramon Eduardo Pages Morales
• David Sánchez Morales.jpg David Sánchez Morales
• Ricardo Morales Navarrete.png Ricardo Morales Navarrete
•  Carlos Pascual Noriega
•  Eddy Perez
• Tosh Plumlee in the 1980s.jpg Tosh Plumlee
•  Ramon Perez Veitia (Veytia)
•  Ramon Pla Perez
• Rafael Quintero.jpg Rafael Quintero
•  Jose Manuel Alvarez Pascual
•  Jorgo Robreno
•  Felipe Rodriguez
• Virgilio Paz Romero.jpg Virgilio Paz Romero
• Goss-seal.gif Barry Seal
• TedShackley.jpg Ted Shackley
• William Seymour.gif William Seymour
• Frank Sturgis.jpg Frank Sturgis
•  Antonio Veciana
• Rafael Villaverde.png Rafael Villaverde
• Edwin P Wilson.jpg Edwin Wilson
A CIA-run assassination squad begun with Fidel Castro in mind, but that had its fingers in a lot of pies, probably including the JFK Assassination.

Operation 40 was a CIA-sponsored hit squad of the 1960s, composed mostly of Cuban exiles. It was active in the United States and the Caribbean (including Cuba), Central America, and Mexico. Many researchers, including Daniel Hopsicker and Mark Gorton, have pointed to Operation 40 involvement in the JFK Assassination.[1][2] Members of operation 40 have played key roles in deep events decades later, from CIA Drug trafficking to the Watergate Coup to assassinations such as those of John Lennon and Adelino Amaro da Costa, and even in the 9/11 Cover up.

Official narrative

The group was officially non-existant for decades.[citation needed] In 2014 however the CIA admitted that Operation 40 existed; a FOIA request by MuckRock to the CIA returned 2 documents with a total of just 6 pages.[3]

Researcher Ole Dammegård on Operation 40 and related topics

Origins

On 11 December 1959, following the Cuban Revolution 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. It was created by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower in March 1960. US Deep state control was exercised through his vice-president, Richard Nixon.

Fabian Escalante writes in The Secret War: CIA Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959-62 that Jack Alston Crichton and George H. W. Bush were active in raising funds for Operation 40.[4]

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.[5][6][7] Barnes, Phillips, Esterline, Hunt, David Sánchez 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.[8]

Members

The group had 86 employees in 1961, of which 37 were trained as case officers. Members included Admiral Arleigh Burke, Livingston Merchant of the State Department, National Security Adviser Gordon Gray, Allen Dulles, Donald Gregg[9], Frank Sturgis (later a Watergate burglar); Félix Rodríguez (CIA, later was involved in killing Che Guevara), Luis Posada Carriles (held in the US in 2010 on charges of illegal immigration, wanted by Venezuela for his key role in the execution of the 1976 Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 bombing), Orlando Bosch (founder of the counterrevolutionary group CORU that organized the 1976 murder of Chilean former minister Orlando Letelier); Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero; Virgilio Paz Romero; Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz; Bernard Barker, Porter Goss and Barry Seal.

Operation 40 worked closely with several anti-Castro Cuban organizations including Alpha 66, a Cuban US-supported 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 "Tosh" Plumlee and William Bishop also joined the project. Later, Ted Shackley played a role, as chief of the JM/Wave station in Miami after the Bay of Pigs invasion.

The individuals who comprised Operation 40 had been selected in Miami, Florida by Jose Sanjenis Perdomo, former Chief of Police during Cuban President Carlos Prio's regime. The 37 case officers in 1961 included: Frank Sturgis, Felix Rodriguez, Antonio Veciana, Luis Posada Carriles, Orlando Bosch, Rafael 'Chi Chi' Quintero, Rolando 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, Juan Manuel Salvat, (Cuban-American) Bernard Barker, and Paulino Sierra. Barry Seal may have flown for Operation 40.

Porter Goss, Barry Seal, Felix Rodriguez, et al.jpg
This photograph was taken in a nightclub in Mexico City on 22nd January, 1963. It is believed that the men in the photograph are all members of Operation 40. Closest to the camera on the left is Felix Rodriguez. Next to him are Porter Goss and Barry Seal. Tosh Plumlee is attempting to hide his face with his coat, and William Seymour is in front of him. Others in the picture are Alberto Blanco (3rd right) and Jorgo Robreno (4th right)."- text from Spartacus Educational site by John Simkin[10][11]

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.)[12] 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.[13]

Activities

The took a major part in the April 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion directed against the government of Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro. It is also implicated in the JFK Assassination and many other cabal operations in the 1970s, 1980s and beyond. See the individual members' pages for more details.

Bay of Pigs

Full article: Bay of Pigs

On 4 March 1960, La Coubre, 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 Jack Alston Crichton. The explosions killed 75 people and over 200 were injured. Fabian Escalante, an officer of the Cuban Department of State Security (G2), 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 exiles who fought in the April 1961 Bay of Pigs 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.[14][15] Other members are reported on the freighter Lake Charles that retreated without landing any attackers.[16]

In a 9 June 1961 memorandum[17] 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 New York Times.

Closure

Citing a 1975 article, Peter Dale Scott wrote in 1977 that "Seven years after the event, to its credit, the New York Times finally revealed a little of the story about the wind-up of the CIA's Operation 40 because of its narcotics activities."[18]

See also

References

Bibliography

  • Bohning, Don. 2005. The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959-1965. p. 303 ISBN 1574886762
  • Dankbaar, Wim. 2005. Files on JFK: Interviews with Confessed Assassin James E. Files, and More New Evidence of the Conspiracy That Killed JFK. ISBN 0979406315
  • Escalante, Fabian. 1995. The Secret War: CIA Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959–62. ISBN 1875284869
  • Fernandez, Jose Ramon. 1999,2001. Playa Giron/Bay of Pigs: Washington's First Military Defeat in the Americas. Pathfinder ISBN 087348925X ISBN 9780873489256
  • Fonzi, Gaeton. 1993. The Last Investigation. ISBN 1560250526
  • Furiati, Claudia. ZR Rifle: Plot to Kill Kennedy and Castro. Ocean Press. ISBN 1875284850
  • Gyeorgos Ceres Hatonn. Tangled Webs Vol.I p. 73
  • Rodriguez, Juan Carlos. 1999. Bay of Pigs and the CIA. Ocean Press Melbourne. ISBN 1875284982
  • Russell, Dick. 2003. The Man Who Knew Too Much: Hired to Kill Oswald and Prevent the Assassination of JFK
  • Scott, PD and Marshall, J. 1998. Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America
  • U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary. 1974. Statement of Information: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives. "specially trained to capture documents of the Castro government"

External sources