SWAN ISLAND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R001100040001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 3, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 23, 1971
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2001/03/04 : CIA-RDP80-
130s-TON, lass.
GLOBE
?P
ibEC- 1
-237,967
s - 566,377
7'
Swan Island
.? Swan Island is a good deal more
:than a few small pieces of real es-
. t tate' in the minds of most Latin-
. i Americans. They have viewed it as
an outstanding example of Yankee
f imperialism for our country to have
i seized without a vestige of title these
i' islands which Honduras has always
claimed.
t? . There is no one act the -United
r States could ' undertake in Latin- 1
i' America which would have the im- -
t pact which the return of the islands ,
will have in our favor. The Swan
iIsland affair has been a favorite
c .weapon of the anti-US forces down ?
'...there for Many years. .
It is quite true that theSel.A had .
i .a propaganda station Iricre which '
..: didn't improve our image at all. My
,understanding is that it was also a
t staging area for the invasion of Cuba. '
1 Handing these islands back to Hon-
t'..duras seems to me to be indirectly a
friendly gesture toward Castro.
- ror' an excellent view of US rela-
tions with our neighbors down south,
1. see,. "BetWeen the Eagle and the ,
i Bear" by Pedro Madriega, lately of
i
Oxford University.
WILLIAM S. HANNA '
stelVi.nchester
STATI NTL
Approved For Release 2001/03/04 CIA-RDP80-01601R001100040001-8 .
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Approved For Release 2ogigmq411A-Rono701601
? ? STATINTL
Ii ,z.,., I). ,(,' :,-.., ,. . .." - ? cr-s. v
1 11"?. 77 1 .1
L.--;;P . f-,-. -: s' ? (...-Df- ,-,-'9 ' ',...i' 1 ,..,. / 1.: 3% ii., k:,.,' 3 . (:?...... , , 12 (i..C71 er.1.1 i. ? .,,- ?!....,' `,...i ci.: 1,..... .1 L'' , 1.-? ..5'. . *. ..;.,P. '',.:...) --/ -'2..: si..4 Jill, I:. C.:?;. il....-'71.? .;!. '-?."...';
'/ Pi C.3 !! /".....:1 ..r..".e.'i j'i"r'''',.
, ...., . ? --___. . ._. ' I .
7- r .1 .---;:i'Tct---D---,-.7:-1-a-fa. Glidden, a SKrian,Corarnercial Company, zd
7"7-,--"0,-, C.', ,,,,,,,-? ; ?-? --..
?-- " L t-'::. 1-) '..f ,-,?? C4 1 d -W.:- lie ?.; .3:S!anCiCr , this boils do ii to a4,title to the islands ?fro-in -Ca.2t.1,
'uPstiO11 Or sceurity. CaotainlAionzo Adatris,. who sailed outi
0,f ti:10 Cafibbe,?:.Z2 :1 o50,-n, as 1.13 is Caned bi t.,,,i-or 1,110511e, Ala., in 1803. andi
!islanders, is 70 years old. Ile is came upon .Greater Swan byl
, -1-'Iy ? r.ICAnD SI1;',71.7.,17:t.2' a powerful,?deil-ply tanned man accmtent.
? ? ;...,..:-,?.;ci...i tc,.....11,-; t,a,y,?.?,:.?: Titr,-:., .
'with white hair and eyes that The. Swan Island Commercial
AN ISLANDS, ?Fiondtzras match. the Caribbettn sky he Co:npany le,-tscd ? part, of thel
..........Tbey ,,,,,,ere.disaever0,-.7. by Co_ has lived untio'r ail ins hie.
' Nell, I think ti..s f?-_-,onig
;yr ?4.1, ? . 1
to:;pir,E1...anr\.(c,1 t,ollittl;:(1.11Initcd Fruit Com-1
,Iumbus in 1509, infested . by' planted several
ball all ri"rilt" hi., s-tid in V- ?-?1 ,- "?? ? ? .
piratCo 200 years later, .,?,.-?..,, ?>. -i - --.?? iit-,?,....tousano coconut tfees. It......
.-1,-?,-`:. -oft, &rein, Fr--,lish of the; ,e,t,,,,,?-., ?,,,,, -,10.. pi.Ofit.,bi,
? b, , ?????,, - 1.? .?,,,,.. .1 t. . ;. 1 . ? s' . - '''''
Of L,, ..10 .i,t,,,,s, el.'"kva,ed cf.!. Cayman Islands 1-ici'left 44 yearaliut-''''-0"--,'7...i1:? .-,:',1- '' -
the. United Frt-lit Comoaity, ray- a,o. His trenlandous 11.--tn(l's!!- . It ") ' ic.'a oLl''' .
? r la the, eFrly nineteen-fifties,
:aged. by ht?rricane, alahnad 'V pr!ashecl a needle thro'.;g11 t.nicl'i.:1 3.1., TT ?,-- 7 : 4., ? :. .., ..._
a sea captain and a farmer sailor's canvas. I ,..."1,.. ..,filt.k.c.& of....A.,? via:3
Sumner Smith 8300 a year in
?froin Massachusetts and by o'h-i '''. ? k .' "1 . '' .". '.
--- i Y0,1 now, AC sato, I been! ..,.? -..,.. ,? ., .,,., . ,?, ,
,ers now forgotten, not to men- r.,.....c.t..,....,r ,..,..re, and , 1,..._.,_i it...iti, tot a ,,c,,toet station no
tel at least. three countries. ill.L,`,:a1,-'1 '`ii';';:riyutcirne:',', iicit.air:,,?'IL c,'-h 110.allewal the Governineat to.
' bui For a tme
With eh, that,? the S'.x.,an Ithe clay a British cruisor an-1 ld. i, In alp ot
g
iancis remaitI obscure in a atsailchored off I3obby Cay and it ts.ia'lilul,esla.9,,citto?1"1:1,tc,. fc'irl.,aan'elcPb?ys.t.tba.e"
Of gi'con an:i blue and Pink?dcaptain, a 111111 named Amos' Central Intelliger.eo Agency,
???ii-'eY (-1? ac't a-PPai--r 01 r20::;t! Smith ann
, OtinCOci that he ., ?
maps. i' id 1-?i-, ,,e u?,0,, -,,.(,,, winch broadcast anti-Cominu-
you , s... 1.,, ..: ....;,....,. , ,
.r,-:.1-......hre_, ,is.1,,a.n?ds?,,.. CI, r,..e.a.s.t_ef,' S\.:.7.i,n.: , Captain Don said he le .?..d .toid nif:7..f.. M:"...,S,Sa_g.C.S.t?..,cfli:9,1 Cii:ing
?- f'''.-, Pk" --?,-Sixc, -f ,
1.."ul '-?"-- c''.1, ,,, '''''' C`?11,?.a. trio man "no" and the man "Ii"_z ,, - ..,-.,.?-? s, :0
Bobby Cay, lie ahout 100 miles: went a?vay. Eleve-ci VUff':-; a'"'0, i?-u.", on:I:. -aYr '...-1....,--fill'T'7.1.frc:-1
north of I-Iondorea,:is and a.re les:".i.- lia shoc),..,d .t.jrf scnic-1-40...,ran ceivc.o. a !otter 'rem tne.',,ilitec.,
tIlan . 403 miles from Cuba.' students w-ho had co ?n;?, out States Government. It said ttie
i
iei o l e
r tI.a ar,: is ano"...rr. three from tha n.i-.1111a n a. ii
nd i slall ulli,tc'd Stast"($.a Vi.ciS tal'in
I h
savite tri2lie:s. acquisition is z., boat tii raise the Ilon-luran ?? -.-".'" '
c,.e.,,,;?
,? ? The. United States claim
P?ini, .9! honor fo: :-Ionduras. Captain Don is 1-nal:elect, for acoarently dates- back l6 a
Tne r, 'i v.e....--1;-,icr,- --- , ., .
,,,,,e, c, ,,,.., -,-.7.....- 2 -I- ---1 i---1-?:zi.. tne third time. l' ? :????
I-1' IiiA two visit to? the islands of George
,,..',?..,.- -.?c',--'1',-)'--,? t?c.1-.)Pc`;.-:. at tile ,.'llycs diod. I-Ie has eight chil- v. White in the early eighteen-
.J.? s1n Is!ancis, repcizt-e(11:1 to dren, about :30 grandchildrt-2.1 fii-ties. Ile landed there in the
j'rick up V.'0,1)d, 13,-; Made V.-1C111 .(11, Cf.,:n'trol.nein har e",:actly,
a part ot the Spanish colonill . . _ _ ... ? nr;...n1C., of the United States. For
_,J,.1.) ,,I.,. t...,,Ilk, ...-,..t.,--2,.:Cla,-
1" r, yoa.rs later, an American com-
a part. Honduras claimed the'--
,. ?
!chile,ren. i ma711;?; ci:f; til?zi island_ pany that he had fon-Ili-A ex-
islands, which hi-td 1:e'en ti,-,7i-c,ci ,01.-:'?alii r':?'.a.q.c..(4 `ci n'In" For-ted guano from the islailds,
S .,_.?US n. ,.. , ?.; .,"? ' ' He sa,.??-s he Owes alleginee I:1)r lis'e. `13 -feEtilizer*
uia. or the :loth Conwry. ,net to Britain, the. United Statas The United States has since
... it. to0i:..nearly 50 -ve,,,.5 for 'or .:".--1,-,1-1c.u-,-es, but to sumner then based its claim to: the
rfonduras to - convince ' 0,,, smicr,, - lives 0, a 30D.a0re islands on the Guano Act of
-tates, SC.sekin,, tO ica
... ..
larfa in Lincoln, lilass.. .18i33, vhich 010 01(1 -that
United s'?
Unitect Staces seeking to irr.-- - - :- . ??? .-, ?_. , .,.?.; ......? American-citizens who discov-
*
prove. its irnage in _Latin Amer- That he 0?,,,.(ii crnater s-,,,,,e_nlered the , a...Comm:Tat:1A lni-d
ica, is COnVinCeill. until tbe unit,-.,,d. stntes tool,: it.idroppirlgs on tinclainled islands
.tfov.rever, with the a;:i;reen-ietit ,?., y no,, -,:20. ,?,,i,r,,,,,,t. ?..,,_.,, ,,! could collect the guano.
of Honduras, the Unitti.-1 States than,:-you." Th?e title isi..tel isi Under the same -act, ? the
plans to kce.p five Americans f`1.1. fr0I'l clear" !President was Ci 1O\ to
on thos island. They oper,,tr-., a. I?ilr. Senn says that a co--1-Hli'll" tha island5 as AmariCall'
weather si.atioD that' tacl,-.s: ' J '' ''' "'''' "-- ' ' '
pen,: in ,,,,,I,J.,,,, ,n,?, f,..,,t,nr .1...44,..,, i 1-.,-ci. nerty. Sceretar.y of State'
tropical s',..crras. i an ratordst the Swan Islrind I \....'illiarn Seward did so in" thei
. ?-?.,.i name Cit President Lincoln in
? ? 1,c363. "
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601R001100040001-8
CHICAGO, ILL.
SUWksilaed For Release 2001/03/04 : CIPARAINel--0160
- 536,103
S 709,123
, t;z44
-Ca
By Thomas B. Ross
. Sun-Times Cureau..
WASHINGTON --- After a
decade as a center of U.S.
cloak-and-dagger activities, a
tiny island of bird droppings in
:the Caribbean is about to be
-- returned to Hon(' lras.
:.Reliable diplomatic sources
s-a I'd presidential assistdrit
.?Robert IT. Finch will formally
give up U.S. claim to the is-
'land during his one-day visit to
Honduras- Monday.
:The island, Swan Island,
about 100 miles north of Hon-
' fiuras, is composed entirely of
guano, the accumulated drop-
pings of sea fowl'. It has served
as the sight of a covert Central
. --Jittelligence Agency radio sta-
-_,tion broadcasting to Cuba dur-
ing and after the 1961 Bay of
? Pigs invasion and later to
? Other points in Latin America. ,
The sources indicated that fi-
-? nal disposition, of the station,
and whether it will be used
again by the CIA, -will be sub-
: ject to further negotiations.
Claimed in 1863
The United States has
,claimed the island since 1863
ta under the Guano Act of 1865
which gave the President the
1, 'right to designate an un,
::ciatined,island, as US. territo-
?
'1.)
ii
twc:7.
ry once an American citizen
had discovered guano on it.
The NeW- York Guano Co.
was first licensed to collect
and sell the island's guano, a
valuable fertilizer rich in phos-
phates. Later an Alabama sea
captain and finally the United
Fruit Co. set up operations on
the island.
The commercial interests
were followed by the Weather
Bureau, the Federal. Aviatin
Administration and eventually
the
The CIA station originally
operated as -Radio Swan,
which, in addition to political
broadcasts, put out a variety
of popular programs including
one featuring a Cuban exile
called Havana Rose.
'Hysterical parrots'
During the Bay of Pigs in-
vasion, Radio Swan was on
the air 24 hours a day, trans-
mitting, coded messages and
mysterious orders to nonexis-
tent battalions.
Havana Radio set up a
counterbarrage, denouncing
Radio Swan as "not a radio
station but a cage of hysterical
parrots,"
After the invasion failed, the
CIA station was renamed Ra-
dio Americas and continued
Approved For Release 2001103104-: Cl
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broadcasts to Cuba, Mexico,
Central America and the upper ,
tier of South America.
Shortly after the CIA estab- -
lined itself Ora Swan Island, a.
group of armed Honduran stu-
dents sought to land on the is-
land by force in 1960. They
were repulsed singlehandedly
by the weather bureau's cook
but, after agreeing to lay dowii
their arms, they were permit-
ted to land, sing the Honduran
ational itnthem and temporari-
ly plant. their flag.
. Protest in UN
They were pre-testing the
fact that. a U.S. census had -
been taken on the island that
year, recording a population of
28, down four since 1950. .
A few months later Hon-
duras protested in the United
Nations,- claiming that "Histor-
ically, gporgaphically and ju-
ridically" the island belonged
to it
'After 10 years Of diplomatic
; bickering, the United States
: has now recognized Honduras'
claim and Finch will make it ,
I all official in Tegucigalpa, the
Honduran capital, Monday.
;Finch will be in Honduras
for only a 'few hours, arriving
in the morning from Brazil
- and leaving in the evening for
Mexico. He will return here on
Thanksgiving Day after an 11-
PE1.041801R004
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Approved For Release 200 i103104 C.9Q1-01 6
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iiaincrafteis four-i)ar.d tr .Q.1..2st is of r.loc!cill 1.0ccivers you oli:2,hit usf... for
Ii ,
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? ? %la you c.,-?-?ti'bi?Ing
? ? etien L'..;1)15 iO yC.hY11;05110.
I.3y LEN BUCKWALIER
k!\,,,aptain Kidd, Dutch, Schultz, and
Benedict Arnold are dead, you say?
Sure, but likes or tho,0 old sc,un-
(1,01,3 nie alivc; vild on Out
internalionul
oils are po,.;;(2Trai1 trah:rimitiors
often broadcast on a global _scale:
Their escapades; trouble government
oflicials. But the blackguards can be
the.dolight of shortwave
YOU don't aced a pile of eioctccaic
goa.r?to ILslcot in. You can .(:.11y the
'pastime with a simplo portable that
'captures stronli, iiuts on 11,_;lhing
more than a telescoping, whip stick-
ing out of .the case. The seasoned
1")1)1)315AN5iiiV"' T,i5eNie*.te
ouwoor a 1 01111a a wile o
_feet long) or ger.-..s in for rnolic
s 1
t ? fl ,
" ! " ;
y 55 t! 5i 5`-)
'
si;oliv.r?sc. it comes asserAlcc.1 for aLiout $611.
?
sive reeeiving equipment with. special
accescvie3 for cutting interferenco.
'The ]o.7-co.!.. 1?:;ic1.-. up?
powerful in sari tonal broadcw,..1,ers .
3\foscov,7, and Ja-
pan'.:,., N1-11.; the spiry stations may
call for a morb inrument.
?
But whate'ver your -chalet', onCe.y6u..
1,...;ve your receiver you can join thou-
ands of fellow IHc.n..yts who attempt
to eavesdrop on broadcasters. '
One character 1:3 the "pirate," cdlo
Fails a radio station ju:,t outside the
territorial limit of a country,
Con'tirtucd
4.355
2.450 3.553, 4.355
S Son
thiI..nown
Army
CIA
Vict. Cone
Piraa
S.E. ASia
S.E. Asia
11.507, 9.555
PayKsic!.1 can
Sofia
East
9.555, 11.410
Kiss NI....
Radio Ca,,,hdaci
Midair'. East
8.3-10
P.adio Partn::?!I Libra
Rdio MOSCO.../
North tiimarica
13.250, 13.300..
Radio Cuziiadi
6:1St-vi0 Razion of
Europe, N.
15.0.30, 15.100
Spain
America '
17.750, 6.950, 7.050
Radio fThpana
Radio
Europa
.1 10
1,109, 7.305
ii?Corn.
Control
Amolica
9.3C3, 11.535, 15.050
? :.iiniatra-1 r2i2 Arn,34ica
1.157, 6.000
area Aniaricas ,
CIA
CantraI, South
1.1-nc:iic...1
6.135
Radio Havana -
Cuba
Cr.ntral, South
.10.015
Ai-ilric -a .
10.033,
R34.-Iia of S..!.5.:itilarn,
Vii--.it Cong ?
S.E. Asia
991/03/04 Cl
-FRPT940-14I
ROO11if10.Q40 ctirta.:, Noith. .
Ara.!rica
. ..__.,. .i.... ._.
Cii,:t.7.-a.:Lirili ',...t '1. ?
ApprOvead For Release 2001/03/04.?
111.171:14.17:11" I
APRIL. ?
? 'Y.
?
t
For seven years, our
two invisible governments
have been fighting
" for control of the small,
impoverished Caribbean
nation of Haiti. The outcome
is still in doubt.. ???, ,
BY ANDREW ST. GEORGE
ILLUSTRATED BY DAVID STONE MARTIN '
Approved For Release 2001/03/94 : CIA-RDP86701801R001100040601-8.
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