AND ONCE AGAIN--WHY CUBAN INVASION FAILED

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP70-00058R000300040107-6
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
November 11, 2016
Document Release Date: 
December 9, 1998
Sequence Number: 
107
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
February 5, 1964
Content Type: 
NSPR
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PDF icon CIA-RDP70-00058R000300040107-6.pdf89.22 KB
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FOIAb3b. Sanitized - Approved For Release : C MIAMI HERALD ~i !'1 'j (i~1i rf ~ 77 A security silence imposed by the late President Kennc- dy and continued by his suc- cessor created a regrettable shortcoming for NBC's White Paper re-examination Tues- day night of the Bay of Pigs 'fiasco. It was an impressive mar- shaling of facts, figures and testimony -- at least from the. Cuban exile lenders -- hut it. ser- iously needed some explana- tions from ---! U.S. officials who were involved. This wasn't NBC's fault of course. N:irrat.or Chet Hunt- ley and N BM; State Dcipart- ment correspondent, Eli n Abel, explained that these 'officials simply were not available for interview, Alien Dulles, former (;IA chief was heard franc, but it was not clear whether ho' tallced for the NBC special or his statements were excerpt- er) from news films shot at t.he'tinto of the 1961 crisis. In any event, ho has left the government. The program vans Part I of a two -part series. The second will be aired Feb. 9 and will deal with the later Cuban missile crisis. The networl; originally had FEB 5 1964 1P f' T- ~ L ~, , ? t t, tL'r- '.ii t~ V v Li 'ii J -77 c1 CPYRG-IT faulty communications. Washington insisted on a yr' J~nv.~. ....? ~..... ANDERSON l'{ rcid Radio cad 'IV Editor PYRGHT l~tu coalition of Cuban leadership then so little trusted it that it kept the leaders under armed guard in an Opa-locka house while the invasion was in progress. Lam.' I I nor permitted to take a hand - scheduled the first part for the Sunday following Presi- dent Kennedy's funeral but because of that tragedy, it was postponed several times. The Tuesday night segment was titled The Story of a Disaster." As the program wended its way through the official and unofficial, cloak- and-dagger b u s i n e s s that surrounded the hapless inva- sion, that title seemed to border on' the understate- ment. With nary a peep permit- ted from t ho participants in Washington, we got only It second-baaid version of Amer- icati policy from thaso Cuban exile chiefs - among them, Antonio do Varona, Itaul Chibas, Manuel Rey, Manuel Artiste -- who were in Con- tact with Washington. Gathering from what they had to say for NBC's cam- eras, the whole invasion proj- ect was riddled with mis- understandings, mistrust and 1 is a t w e e n u>tervyews, the numuiatar.- 11L Ulu J11LALI'lly. 1JI". CIA ran the show. Some- where along the line both lha C`uhnn 7naAnrc and tha CPYRGHT invasion brigade got the im- pression the invasion would have full-scale American sr_a. program fleshed out 'a hl-tor-'- .and air support. As a matter , lend narrative with films of fact, a naval task force many of them shot inside was in the area. But Wash- Cuba during the fighting by ington officialdom strenuous- j German and other neutralist ly denied it had assured su- photographers --'of the key port. events and figures. The film In addition, there was nn. footage was intelligently , selected and edited. uprising in Cuba to pace the Invasion. The implication = Huntley explained that this from one Cuban leader who Part I of Its two programs was with, the underground was the story of "the failure then was that an uprising of U.S. power." Its secondl, depended on how successful part, on the missile crisis, the Invasion was going. In will be the story of "the suo-o any event, the uprising never cess of American power." got the signal to go. Tuesday right's' prograrti The invasion was the worst with the informational s6nr:.4 kept secret in history.'News es available - or not anaila- of its planning leaked all over ble to it - didn't, ac';d any. the place. significant facts to ?;nforma It was a painful' catalogue ,ion already on rece;rd, of blunders to listen to and Rather, it was ran effective- NBC ticked them off. with ly documented *-ecollection of CPYRGHT Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP70-00;058R000300040107-6