Operation Mongoose

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Operation Mongoose , also known as "The Cuban Project" ( amer .: The Cuban Project ), was the code name for a secret operation by the CIA and other parts of the US government between 1961 and 1965 that led to the overthrow of the Cuban, who came to power in 1959 Revolutionary government had as its goal.

history

precursor

As early as March 1960, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower instructed the CIA to eliminate Fidel Castro's revolutionary regime . A budget of 13 million US dollars was made available to the plans to support or initiate paramilitary forces and actions in the form of a guerrilla . Richard Bissell and Richard Helms were responsible for strategic planning .

In September 1960, CIA Director Allen Dulles contacted two leading bullies of the American Cosa Nostra ( John Roselli and Sam Giancana ) to poison Fidel Castro and other leading Cuban politicians.

Birth of "Mongoose"

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Edward Lansdale , chief of Operation Mongoose

After the failure of the Bay of Pigs Landing on April 17, 1961, President John F. Kennedy set up a committee chaired by Robert F. Kennedy , including Dulles for the CIA, who was later replaced by John McCone .

Other members were Alexis Johnson ( State Department ), McGeorge Bundy (National Security Advisor), Roswell Gilpatric (Defense Department), General Lyman Lemnitzer ( Joint Chiefs of Staff ) and General Maxwell D. Taylor . Even Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara were present at times at meetings, even if they were not officially members of the committee.

At a meeting of this committee in the White House on November 4, 1961, it was decided to name the secret program of sabotage and infiltration of Cuba "Operation Mongoose". Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy transferred the management of the company to General Edward Lansdale , who had already gained experience in the field of guerrilla warfare in Vietnam . One of the first of Landsdale's decisions was to appoint William King Harvey to head Task Force W. Harvey's mandate was to develop numerous activities to undermine Castro's government.

Plans and Cuban Crisis

On March 12, 1961, William Harvey organized a meeting with Sam Giancana, Santo Trafficante , John Roselli and Robert Maheu at the Fontainebleau Hotel , which was also attended by Jim O'Connell of the CIA. At the meeting, O'Connell presented some poison pills and $ 10,000 to be used against Fidel Castro. Robert Kennedy also campaigned personally for the murder and overthrow of Fidel Castro.

Over 30 plans were developed, at least in part, usually carried out by Cuban exiles from bases outside the United States. Planned operations consisted of military action , sabotage and propaganda . Plans included the use of the Green Berets , the destruction of Cuban sugar stocks and the mining of Cuban ports. The planned uprising should be preceded by targeted attacks on leading Cuban politicians. As propaganda, the scurrilous rumor should be disseminated, Jesus Christ would be the overthrow of the Communist Party of Cuba recur .

Fidel Castro's murder ranged from the poison in cigars or food to chemicals that cause hair loss or LSD to firearms and bombs. For this purpose, his temporary lover Marita Lorenz was appointed by the CIA, who worked as an agent with a number of Cuban exiles such as Orlando Bosch in CIA operations. Fabián Escalante , former Cuban intelligence chief who was responsible for Castro's security for a long time, said he had counted a total of 638 attacks on Fidel Castro. The CIA has so far admitted to eight attempts of its own.

Reports of arms shipments from the Soviet Union to Cuba gave the plan additional impetus. The Soviet Union had started " Operation Anadyr " in April 1962 to deploy medium-range missiles in Cuba. The plan was caught because existing deployments were discovered, which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis . Immediately after President Kennedy's pledge not to attack Cuba militarily as an important condition for the Soviet missile withdrawal at the end of October 1962, Operation Mongoose, which included well-advanced plans for an invasion by US forces, was restricted to CIA-led covert operations .

The cost of man and material for "Mongoose" operated by the CIA was considerable. In the CIA headquarters itself, a task force of a total of 400 people was put together, which was directly subordinate to the special staff in charge of Operation "Mongoose". The CIA station in Miami , closer to Cuba, under the code designation JMWAVE, served as the forward logistical base of operations . Jmwave was at its most active period from 1962 to 1964 on an estimated annual budget of 50 million US dollars have.

End and consequences

In April 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson abandoned the goal of eliminating Fidel Castro. In March 1965, financial support for the armed group led by Manuel Artime ended, and by June the last secret operations sponsored by the US government and with it Operation Mongoose came to an end.

An economic embargo against Cuba has been relaxed since 2009 and relations between the two countries were frozen until November 2014. At the end of June 2015, the two states agreed to resume official diplomatic relations (→ relations between Cuba and the United States ). Facts from "Operation Mongoose" still serve as the background for some conspiracy theories about the assassination attempt on John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

literature

  • Don Bohning: The Castro obsession: US cover operations against Cuba, 1959-1965. Potomac Books, Dulles 2005, ISBN 1-57488-675-4 .
  • Warren Hinckle, William W. Turner: The Fish is Red: The Story of the Secret War Against Castro. Harper & Row, New York 1981, ISBN 0-06-038003-9 .
  • Howard Jones: The Bay of Pigs. Oxford University Press, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-517383-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Kaiser : The Road to Dallas. The Assassination of John. F. Kennedy. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 2008, pp. 55-67.
  2. ↑ a b c Don Bohning: A secret war. ( Memento of July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: Miami Herald. accessed on October 15, 2012.
  3. ↑ US Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities - Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders, November 20, 1975, pp. 71–180, (also called "Church Committee Reports")
  4. ^ New York Times. November 22, 1964, p. 26.
  5. ^ ME Monroe: Common Courage. 1995, Appendix III, p. 453.
  6. ↑ 638 ways to kill Castro. In: The Guardian. August 3, 2006.
  7. ↑ Christoph Gunkel: Assassinations and political murders: Poison in the umbrella . In: Spiegel Online . July 28, 2008 ( spiegel.de [accessed July 29, 2008]).
  8. ^ White House / Press Office: Fact Sheet: Reaching out to the Cuban People. dated April 13, 2009.