CIA Hmom' STAFF 2015 04 10 C01262720 Approved for Release - 1 LI 05 alr- l a I l- As C01262720 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 MEI-4E Into the Cuban Crucible I CoverrAcrion against Castm U invaluable assets which might well be committed for such an effort McCone asked Lans- dale if CIA's operational people were aware of this I told him that we had discussed this that they agreed the sub- ject was worth vigor- ous development and that we were in agreement that the matter was so delicate and sensitive that it shouldn't be surfaced to the Special Group until we were ready to U What Robert Kennedy meant by the Opportunities offered by the 'shrine to Hemingway and what McCone made oftliat comment are not known for sure and there are no further references to the matter in McCone s papers or Other available documents about Cuban operations The attorney general may have been referring to the possibility of luring Casrro into an ambush at Hemingway's farm outside Havana The Cuhan leader had told Mary Hemingway that he was fond of her husband's work and he visited the farm with minimal security protection in July 1961 while she was there soon after Hemingway's suicide The shrine was a three-story tower built for the writer as a study that especially impressed Castro Edward R Murrow who as head of USIA was involved in some Special Group aetiviries spoke to her about Castro's visit according to a Murrow letter he passed her remarks an to one or two interested parties down here presiimably NSC or SGA members When shown Lansdale s memorandum Theodore Shackley said ccrtainl has the earmarks of an assassi- nation plor and ltemarked that the docu- Members of La Brigade in training U ment was as close as we re likely to get to proof of White House knowledge of efforts to kill Castro U Lastly no available information indi- cates that McCone ever knew about the plot by Rolando Cubela Secadcs AMLASH to kill Castro The tes tified to the Church Committee that he had not heard about that operation in 1963 and he told the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1979 that he first learned about it in 1975 On the weekend after Presia dent Kennedy was killed in November 1963 Desmond FitzGerald told Walter Elder that he and an agent had been meeting with Cubela but did not mention offering the Cuban official a poison pen or promising him a specially equipped ri e Elder may have told McCone about the con- tacts with Cubela but as he did nor know about the assassi- nation seheme himself he could not have told the DCI about it 1 Freeing La Brigada Phase One U Concurrent with its assorted endeavors to ousr or kill Casrro the Kennedy administration negotiated with cl maxima to win the release of more than 1 200 members of the Bay of Figs brigade captured in April 1961 l Robert Kennedy said in 1964 that we wanted to do whatever Was necessary whatever we could to get them out I felt strongly about it The President felt strongly about it 52 The politi- cal limits on the White House s humanitarian insrincts soon i McCone Church Committee testimony 58-59 McCone deposition to House Select Committee on Assassinations 17 Au ust 193'8 Los ngelcs CA 12 HS Files Job 03 01724R box 4 folder H Scott D Brcekinridge De ury IG letter to William Miller Staff Director orch Committee with attachment Operation I0 jiily I976 CIA JFK Assassination Reeo box folder 9 Thomas The Very Barr Men 307 Church Committee Investigation of in Assassination JPmida-tr Kennedy 69-78 U Sources for this paragraph and the nest are Thomas G Smith Ne oriating with Fidel Castro The Bay of Pigs Prisoners and a Lost 0 portunity DH no 1 Winter 1995 59-36 Schlesinger Robert 468-69 Ha ohnson Tb Bay af x-r 229-45 282-93 303-5 N storT tbonell And the Russians Stayed 185 89 James B DonovatiJ Chronology The Bay 0 Pigs undated but c September 1962 Ha ethgs 40 liters A er tab 8 doc 5 McCone Discus- sion with Robert Anderson 23 July 1962 and transcript of telephone conversation between McCone andyjamu B Donovan 26 July 1962 MeCone Pa ers b0 4 folder 9 Victor Andres Triay Bay ofl fgr Ari Ont History ofBri'g-tdr 2506 133 35 Cuba Invaders Given 30 Years Castro Sets $62 Million Ransom Kine first rm 9 April 1962 l and Cuban Trial Holds 79 for Ransom Winnings Past 9 April 1962 Al Bay of Pigs clipping file HIC Cuba Prisoner Deal Rumored Washington Evening Star 20 August i962 A-l Waters Hemisphere Cuba clipping file has 1 U 99 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 C01262720 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 sec-nary Gumtree 4 became clear however Castro's initial proposal to swap the prisoners for 500 tractors or an equal value in dollars foun- dered in a srorm of opposition from American politicians citizens and newspapers who regarded the trade as a sur- render to blackmail An ostensibly private committee formed to negoriate an agreement its members were edu- cator Milton Eisenhower former Firsr Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and labor leader Walter Reuther disbanded in frustration U In early I962 as the prisoners' trial approached the administration quietly began invesrigating other ways to free them That task was made harder because Congress had cnioined the executive branch from supporting any prisoner exchange financially and the president had publicly abhorred the idea that men were put on the block After the prison- ers were sentenced to 30 years of hard labor Castro proposed releasing them for a ransom of $62 million The Cuban Families Committee for Liberation of Prisoners of War the organization representing the prisonersI interesrs in the United States countered with an offer of$26 million in agri- cultural products Castro stuck to the higher gure but released 60 sick and wounded prisoners for a promised pay- ment of almost $3 million 53 Robert Kennedy then recom- mended to the committee that it form a fundraising group with james B Donovan as its spokesman Donovan was the well-connected New York lawyer who had recently arranged the trade of Soviet spy Rudolph Abel for U-2 pilor Francis Gary Powers Donovan was assured that he would not be accused of violating the Logan Act which forbade US citi zens from engaging in unauthorized private diplomacy and agreed to work pro bone The committee proceeded to solicit Sponsors and on 26 June announced that it had secured sup- port from several dozen prominent personages in business labor education religion and the arts U At this point McCone's responsibilities as DCI and his business and political connections converged to esrablish him as a liaison between the administration the Fundraisers CIA's congressional oversecrs and corporate executives Over the next several months McCone held many discus- sions with them in several cities on the politics and terms of the release agreement Unlike most conservative Republi- cans he supported negotiating with Castro over the prison- ers He based his view on humanitarianism a feeling of American obligation to La Brigade the pragmatic need to maintain good relations with the Cuban exile community the hope of creating an opening for gaining the freedom of nearly two dozen Americans including three Agency of c- ers in Cuban jails and concern that Casrro would use prisoners as pawns in disputes with the United States McCone wanted to drive a hard bargain as he did not want the ransom to help the Cuban regime stabilize itself or leave the administration vulnerable to charges that it sold out to Castro He thought that ifa fundraising effort by private citizens gained momentum the US government might nd a way to make up the difference possibly in kind with food and medicine After hearing that an anxious Donovan would not accept Castro s invitation to talk unless he had some assurance ofsupport from the administration the DCI persuaded the NSC principals to encourage Dono- van to negotiate firmly with the expectation that Congress could be prevailed upon to lili the ban on using CIA funds for ransom Donovan then accepted Castro's offer to visit Havana by the end ofAugust 1962 Before he left on his honeymoon to France McCone established an Agency task force codenamed MOSES to provide covert support for I Donovan's discussions designated the assistant general Dominik case tccr and ordered that he be kept fully informed about the mission while he was awayss McCone had scarcely settled in on the Riviera when Acre ing DCI Carter cabled him that Donovan is back from Havana with new price list from Fidel $3 million in cash and $25 million in food and medicine with all details to be settled within 10 days McCone offered to return to Wash- ington early to help lobby congressional leaders to allow the 1 White House aide Richard Goodwin recalled President Kennedy saying They the Cuban Brigade trusted me and they're in prison new because I fucked up I have to get them out Goodwin Remembering Amm revl Voice From the 186 U Since the prisoners' capture CIA had paid support mon to their dependents in the United States mid-l 962 the payments exceeded Dependents ofthe several dozen prisoners released in Apri 1962 continued to receive the benefits unti the men's medical treatments were In rm res were then placed under the jurisdiction ofthc Department of Health Education and Welfare as olitical refugees the president Payments to Dependents of Cuban Brigade Members 20 July I962 HS Files Hg vol 2 244 McCone memorandum to rHc-szs job 8413003899 box 1 folder 25 1% Kennedy declared his refusal to negotiate at aghast conference on ll April see I ubr'r'r Pa a the Pruide oftbe United Staten aha Kennedy 1962 321 The roster ofsponsors that the Cuban Families eess Lee Radtiwill sister of the First Lady Gen Lucius D Clay ommitree developed included Richard Cardi orrner military governor ofGerrnany Cur ing archbishop of Boston and a Kennedy family friend Prin- ames Farley a Democratic Par luminary ormcr senator and New York governor Herbert Lehman Dame Margo Fonteyn the ballerina television celebrity Ed Sullivan'I and David McDotta d president ofthe Unitot Steel Workers of America Robert Kennedy opposed using covert CIA money as contributions to the committee's fund McCone did not disagree with him McCone Memorandum ofDisenssion wit 100 W- the Attorney 3 1963 FRUS 361-1963 X Calm 196 4962 842 Approved for Release 2015 0411 0 001262720 C01262720 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 use of Agency funds if necessary but Carter replied that the White House had not yet committed itself to the latest terms Once back in the United States in late September the DCI urged the president and the attorney general to pursue the deal President Kennedy wondered whether the situation could be put off until after the elections but McCone said time was running out and that at least exploratory tallu should continue Kennedy then told McCone to brief former President Eisenhower If he reacted Favorably then McCone was to raise the issue with the Republican leader- ship and members of the CIA oversight committees while the White House did the same with congressional Demo- crats Kennedy directed the DCI to portray the negotiations to Eisenhower as a CIA matter the president should not be put in the foreground The general listened to McCone and agreed to support the initiative Around this time McCone received BNE's judgment that Castro was serious about negotiating and that he would benefit politically from accepting a ransom for the prisonersdq The DCI and Donovan then worked out the terms of a pharmaceuticals-for-prisoners swap $62 million worth of medicine at Cuban retail prices or about $25 million whole- sale in the United States to be purchased by special arrange- ment from several American drug companies at cost or about $20 million Medicine was regarded as preferable to food because it was cheaper and easier to ship and Castro needed it more Donovan Agency officers bankers and corporate lawyers held a urry of meetings the upshot of which was that by early October CIA transferred ECIA never WEE Into the Cuban Crucible I Covert Action against Como U intended to release the money it was to serve only as indem- ni cation for the drug rms' bills of Iading that Donovan would present to Castro as evidence of performance Dono- van left for Havana on 3 Ocrobet with the I unoliicial US offer By this time McCone doubted whether the Cuban leader would accept the all-drugs propoml t McCone and the administration confronted a potentially damaging political complication at this phase of the negotia- tions In mid-September Donovan had accepted the Demo- cratic nomination to seek Republican incumbent Jacob Javits's Senate seat from New York Republicans charged that Donovan was using the risoner release for political gain Donovan's case officer ecalled the high-level concern John Mc one was est tmself about this The attorney general was beside himself How can we be working with this guy he s running for of ce he's on this very secret kind of thing we don't want US government involvement in this thing how can we control him McCone kept close watch on Donovan's campaign to see if any hint of official involvement in the prisoner discussions came out According to I was in Philadelphia one morning with Jim Donovan and I got a call about 7 00 in the morning from John McCone saying Okay what did he say Did he say anything What is he going to do today John was very concerned about this whole thing He could ifthe press decided to make a story of this it would implicate the electoral process the Gov- ernment involvement trying to manipulate was a mess Harvey memorandum to McCone 'Ameriean Prisoners in Cuba 10 April 1962 McCone Papers box 5 folder McCone Memorandum of Discussion with Attorney General July 3 1962 Memorandum of Discussion July 18 1962 with Mr Robert Kennedy untitled memorandum to Robert Kennedy 21 August 1962 and memorandum for the file Discussion in Secretary Rusk's Office 2 August 1962 FRUS Cube 961 1962 842-43 946 transcripts of McCone telephone conversations with Robert Anderson former secretary of the treasu 3 on 2 July 1962 Donovan on 26 Jdnl962 and Alexis Johnson on 22 August 1962 McCone memorandum about discussion with Anderson on 24 July 19 2 Ray Cline DDIJ memorandum to mate of the Effect of Any Decision by the US Government to Pay the 562 000 000 Ransom of Cuban Prisoners 23 July 1962 for the with James B Donovan 31 August 1962 E Henry Knoche untitled Action Memoran Papers box 4 folder 9 transcript of McCone telephone conversation with Donovan 21 Au cCone Esti- 'Memorandutn um No - 1962 McCone ust I962 ibid folder ll MeCone Memorandum for the File Dis- cussion with Attorney Gene tember 1962l Subject nd box 2 folder 3 Johnson Bay 0 Figs 307-8 Elder McCone as 1973 353 Besides the other members of Operation were its head General Counsel Lawrence ouston George McManus of the Cuban Task Force antq I Elder McCone as 1973 353 rnemorandum to enter bub UEJL 62 202 and em orandu m 'Subjecr Donovan 28 Au 1962 no apers box 4 foldermew Roberiti mfl n tr a Catholic retreat had attended a few years before Thomas tam Kennedy 236 Nothing in the documentary reoo Indicates that MeCone knew about Kennedy's earlier attempt to use criminal elements with an undercover CIA officer as a go-berween to make a deal with Castro for the prisoners lbid sr anatomy a ova-J tern ter 2 ibid boat 2 folder 3 ENE memoranda to McCune Cuban Prisoner Ransom Deal 27 September 1962 HS Files Job 8430044351 box 5 folder 5% McCone Inemzranda of discussions with Donovan on 27 and 25' September 196-2 and Eisenhower on 3 October 1962 and transcri ochCone telephone con- versation with Donovan 2 3 September 1962 HS Files FISH-10738 Job 8430044312 box 5 folder 5 Eldon MCCanc 5 DCI 197g 359 w 101 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 C01262720 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 me CHAPTER 4 To help keep l'lC negotiations with Castro confidential McCone told Javits about Donovan's role as representative of a private effort but he did not divulge the US government's interest to the Senator When Donovan's talks with Castro reached a highly sensitive Stage and with CIA so heavily involved McCone told Robert Kennedy that he would take all or his full share of responsibility if the set tlement failed and a political controversy ensuedfa f Castro made a stiff counterproposal the quantity of medicine was to be determined by much lower Cuban wholesale prices hat change would signi cantly increase the amount ofdrugs needed to make up the proposed value raising the potential cost significantly and forcing the administration to infortn congressional leaders McCone along with Legislative Counsel john Warner and General Counsel Lawrence Houston quickly briefed and lob- bied the chairmen of the CIA subcommittees the Senate majority and minority leaders and other senior legislators Their reaetion ranged from full support to outright opposi- tion but mosr of them approved of the administration s approach with qualifications On White House instruc tions McCone flew to Miami on 7 October to meet Dono van at a safehouse For security reasons he and his four CIA colleagues were the only passengers on a specially char- tered commercial ight He listened to a rambling dis- course from an ill and fatigued Donovan and left more convinced than before that the deal would not come olf A whirl of meetings and followed After a Stopover in Washington to brief the president McCone ew to New in Washington McCone heard ice President Johnson say he would support the agreement only if his patron in the Senate Richard Russell Despite some congressional dissent and the likelihood of political backlash from critics of appeasement President Kennedy on ID Ocroher directed the negotiations to pro- ceed Serious snags had developed by then however The New York Hamid Yiibrme apparently drawing on leaks from Cuban exiles and the pharmaceutical indusrry embarrassed the administration with a story describing the deal Probably to take advantage ofthe bad publicity Castro became less cooperative and decided that the price he would pay for the medicine should be reduced by over one third On hearing that Donovan walked out of their meeting wrote a message asking the Cuban leader to indicate when he was ready to bargain again and left for Miami Finally the discovery ofSoviet offensive missiles in Cuba several days later forced the administration to put the nego- tiations 9n hold McCone was surprised to learn from a official that Donovan his walkout and instructions from Washington notwithsranding had told lithat an agreement was imminent Ifdeftn- ittve news 0 secret talks with Casrro came our then the DCI told Robert Kennedy the public reaction could be severe and make resolving the missile situation harder He advised that all discussions about the prisoners be sus- pended York to see the attorney generall War McCone Memorandum of Telephone Conversation with Mr The president approved McCone's recommendations The fate of the Bay of Pigs prisoners and perhaps even of the Castro regime would have to await the outcome of the missile pternbet 29 1962 memorandum of discussion with Eisenhower 5 October Mamie 2 folder 3 Johnna Bay 314 1962 lemon-Indium on Donovan Project II October 1962 view by 12january and 23 February 1998 hereafter Pill - uc oral history inter- McCone Memorandum for the Record with Senator an r Halleclt Memorandurn for the File Discusslon with Senators Mans- eld and and Summer Memorandum of Discussions with Congressional Leaders on the Donovan Ptoioct 8 October I962 MeCone Papers boat 2 folder 3 McCone memorandum 0 meeting with the president the attorney general and others on 9 October 1962 ibid box 6 folder 2 Elder McCone as 1973 354 63 Memorandum of Agreement between the Government ofCuba and the Cuban Families Committee undated but c early October 1962 Bay efi tgr d0 liars zl rr tab 8 doc 3 McCone Memorandum on Donavon Project 11 October 1962 McCone Papers box 6 folder 2 Johnson it 317 18 Elder McCone as 1973 359-60 Donovaml undated but c December I962 Bay 40 iron A er tab 8 doc 5 part 2 Besides the New limi- Hrmid Tn- tieorr other maior Amer can newspapers were on the story The Wirrbt n on Part ventured in one headline that Part of Ransom Cash for Castro is Expected to Come from October lilGZ Westem l'ienusphete Cuba clipping li e box I HICJQ Mtcuuc as on 0 1 Approved for Release 2015r04 10 C01262720 C01262720 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 Posrlude to Crisis Freedom Fighters and Silent Warfare U tiring the year aFter the missile crisis John McCone participated in formulating US policy and CIA operations in two maior areas oFAmeri- can-Cuban relations securing the release of the Cuban Bri- gade and developing a covert action and espionage program to replace MONGOOSE Other areas of international con- icr and bureaucratic controversy notably Vietnam and overhead reconnaissance drew his attention away from Cuba somewhat The Kennedy administration remained as committed as ever to removing Fidel Castro From power however Our ultimate objective with respect to Cuba I McGeorge Bundy wrote in a policy memorandum in early December 1962 remains the overthrow of the Castro regime and its replacement by one sharing the aims of the Free As a member of the NSC committee oversee ing covert actions against Cuba McCone necessarily had a large and in uential part in devising the clandestine means to accomplish that goal Although the US government had not Formally pledged not to invade Cuba overt military action was politically unfeasible after the missile crisis ended The administration would have to rely even more on covert action than before the crisis Meanwhile to satisFy its moral obligations to the imprisoned ghters oF the Bay oF Pigs operation and to retain the support oFCubao expatri- ates in the United States a vital part oF its covert plans against Castro the administration also continued efforts to win the release of the members oFLa Brigade Drawing on his congressional and business contacts McCone helped overcome political and financial obstacles that arose during those sensitive negotiations U Freeing La Brigade Phase Two U As the US-Soviet talks over the missiles proceeded move- ment toward winning Freedom for the Cuban Brigade CHAPTER 6 prisoners resumed They had been potential victims oF the crisis bur the administration secured their release largely because having just stood up to the Soviet Union it now did not have to Fear charges of appeasement if it struck a deal with Castro Moreover informal lines oF communica- tion about the prisoners remained open between Washing- ton and Havana during the Thirteen Days Afterward james Donovan and the Cuban Families Committee were ready to pick up where they had left OFF Donovan thought the missile episode had given the United States the upper hand in renewed bargaining For the prisoners He reportedly told Castro If you want to get rid of them iFyou're going to sell them you've got to sell them to me There s no world market for prisoners Robert Kennedy remarked that the situation now was much more relaxed with Congress our of session and it is probable that if more money is needed it could be obtained 2m The White House did not let McCone know that the drugs-for-prisoners deal was back on track He learned sec- ondhand that a representative Cuban Families Com mittec had recently talked with the attorney general and that Donovan had resumed contacr with American pharma- ceutical executives After meeting with one oF them McCone expressed grave concern over the situation to Robert Kennedyl the warned that emanating trom l Wt er Donovan or the drug industry would implicate the administration and the Agency in an ostensibly private humanitarian venture Given current bad relations with Castro the American public and a great many others would be confused and disenchanted to learn that the US government condoned back-channel dealings to ransom the Future l ulicy toward Cuba 6 December I962 FRUS 1961-1963 XL Cohen Mint Crisis andA rrmnoh 537 U I 77 Bu 9 Ptgs 3l9 Schlesinger Riter nned 535 Walter Elder untitled memorandum to McCone 8 November 962 McConc Papers box 1 folder 1 On 20 Gem 1962 l'ive days after the discovery of the Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba and two days before President Kennedy's quarantine speech Castro sent a list of medicine and sup lies that he wanted in exchange for the prisoners MeCone reporting to the NSC EsComm on the 25th noted that baby food comprised over one fourth of the torn amount and that the volume of blood plasma called for was three tunes Cuba's annual consumption The list from which the nal deal was struck included some 10 000 items and was 225 pages long The Department of Commerce had to screen it for emba goods and substitutes for rgoe unobtainable items had to be located ExComm meeting on 25 October 1962 Residential Recording- fix IN 236 Officials Had Key Role in Talks Nrto Hit-air Hamid Tribune European Edition 25 December 1962 Western Hemisphere Cuba clip ing li Castro whether before or after the missile crisis is unclear some officers in the BOP dev' box 2 HIC At some point in Donovan s negotiations with a plan to have Donovan be the unwitting purveyor of divin suit and bmathinizppamtm respectively contaminated with Madura foot fungus and tuberculosis bacteria as a if For Castro a scuba diving enthusiast The re eme was dropped Fidel Castro 3-76 48 cause Donovan had already presented a diving suit as a personal gift to the Cuban leader inspector General IIReport on Flats to Assassinate Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 Approved for Release 2015 0411 0 C01262720 CHAPTER 6 prisoners McCone pleaded his case effectively Robert Kennedy McGeorge Bundy and the president agreed that the United States should temporarily disengage from the ncgotiationsd if By late November 1962 however the Cuban Families Committee had heard about the miserable conditions the prisoners were being held under and persuaded the attorney general to take up negotiations again Kennedy declared that We put them there and we're going to get them out by Christmas The ileal s planners Fthc attorney general's office the Department ofthe Treasury the Internal Revenue Service and CIA developed a proposal whereby money The 'executives were not enthusiastic about the terms of the deal either com- plained that many of the items Castro wante a a high cost-to-marltet ratio and that the companies could not meet his demands merely by dumping surplus inventory McCone suggested that the firms contribute their pro t on the agreement to charity and increase their tax break Administration of cials assured the executives that they could work together without fear of prosecution for violat- ing antitrust laws and that they would not have to disclose proprietary cos and markup data to obtain their tax deduc- tions Thus mollified the companies agreed to the plan TranSportation companies would donate the supplies Castro demanded and deduct their actual costs from the products value and claim the difference as a business expense Vith a tax rebate of 52 percent on that amount the firms would come out ahead Although McCone opposed the overall idea of treating with Castro for the prisoners in the wake of the missile crisis this scheme had the virtue ofassuring that no CIA money would have to be used directly The esti- mated final cost of the exchan e based on the retail cost of the producrs in Havana 1 15 le To counter congressional opposition as the negotiations progressed McCone and Legislative Counsel John Warner briefed senior lawmakers McCone was especially careful to clear up questions about the agreement's possible need for CM funds He told the le islators that the Agency might have to payf TJliromised to Castro for releasing 60 woii rlcci'an 'src prisoners in April 1962 but that he would advise Congress before drawing on CIA I McCoue ofCIoiiversation with the Attorney General Concernin itrms could not receive any tax break for participating in the deal biit around 70 airlines railroads and trucking and shipping companies donated their services anywayu Other logistical and nancial problems and last-minute reservations were overcome as Christmas neared On 21 December l Tormally issued the financial insrrument a letter of credit that underwrote the batter and the government ofCuba and the Cuban Families Committee signed the release agreement the next day The remaining 1 113 prisoners much better treated in recent days were released on the 23rd and half were flown to Miami Castro then said no ore would be let out of the country unless he received th previoust prom- ised At Robert Kennedy's request at Cardinal Cush- ing of Boston a longtime family intimate and a sponsor of the Cuban Families Committee raised $1 million in a few hours Gen Lucius Clay another committee Sponsor provided the rest secured on his personal note which sev- the Negotiations for the Release of the Cuban Prisoners 14 November 1962 McCone Papers boat 2 folder 3 Lawrence Houston General Counsel memorandum to Chief Task Force W Cuban Prisoner Exchange 15 November 1962 ER Files job BDBDIIWGR box l9 l'oltler 2 x Schlesinger Robert Kmart-obi 535 36 Johnson Boy ofPigr 321 23 Thomas R McCone Papers box 1 folder I Besides McCone's involvemenl intelligence communications security and logistical support i mgotiations Ward et untitled memorandum to McCone 1 December 962 i number ofCl i officers spent considerable time providing ails ofihe exchange a pared in the press later the Depart- ments ofjiisticc Tieasury State and Commerce were mentioned but not CIA Houston memoranda to McCone bath ti ed Cuban Prisoner Release Negotia- tions boil 9Janiiary I963 000 Files Job 78 02958R boat I folder 16 Officials Had Key Role in Talks New lil l Herod Fiona Eiiropmn Ernie 25 December 962 1 Western clipping le boat 2 Hick James Donovan l Chronology undated but December 962 Bit off rlgr' 40 YranA rn tab 8 doc 5 part 2 Special Addendum Journal Office of islative Counsel 1 December 962 Journal Ollie of Legislative Counsel 15 6 December 1962 and lo 5 Warner memorandum Meeting with Repte sentative Carl Vinson 7 963 OCA Files job 65-00384 box 2 Carl Vinson folder Elder untitled memorandum 7 December I962 McCone Papers boat i folder 1 5chlesiuger Room Nomi-d 5 6 Of cials Had Key Role in Talks New Hire Hamid Tribune European Hiri'on 25 December 1962 Western Hemisphere Cuba clipping le boat 2 l'llC Castro's representatives Olijccl l to the expansive de nition of pharmaceuticals which included patent medicine mouthwash laxatives antacids and menstrual supplies but they were persuaded that the Cuban people needed those items as well The deal also included surgical equipment and baby food When Lans- daic heard that toilet paper was one of the now harmaceutical items in the package he proposed to DDCI Carter what he termed an earthy idea for props nda exploitation printing Castro's picture on the insi i sheets ofthc rolls ofpapcr The earthy appeal ofthis is in tune with the Cuban sense ofhumor and they'd re to laughing at Fidel A doiibtingJCaitet passed the scheme on to McCone with this observation As each day 23565 in factory I shudder at the dep plumbed by some of our more si tle idvisors nienclicanis etc Mongooses are nororiously diarrhetic Thomas berr Kenm- 237 Lawrence learner me Mr 1963 673 lDonovartJ Chronology in Soy ofPigr 40 Yam A er tab 8 doc 5 part 2 lansdale memorandum to Carter Batter item for Cuban Pris- oners 20 December 1902 with attached touting slip bearing Carter's comment dated 26 December 1962 ER Files Job 80001676R boat 19 folder 138 answ Approved for Release 2015 04 10 C01262720 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001202720 Portlude r0 Crests Freedam Fighters and Silent Wight-e U etal major US corporations in turn covered MeCone wrongly suspected that the presi- dent's Father jOSCph P Kennedy put up the last-minute money All but a few of the remaining prisoners arrived in Miami on Christmas vef ing the second phase of negatiations leading - to the prisoners' release the White House and CIA had been preparing to embark on a war a secret one mto win back the Cuban people's liberty U McCone participated in one other pris oner release involving Castro The follow- ing spring with the DCI again playing a liaison role Donovan negotiated the repa- triation of 23 Americanrgjailedip Cuba Th President Kennedy's meeting with the leaders of La Brigade at his Palm Beach villa on 27 December and his speech to all the Freed prisoners and 40 000 of their Friends relatives and supporters at the Orange I Bowl two days later lent the full moral authority of the US government to the Cuban cxiles' crusade against Castro In a dramatic and emotional scene the president - accepted the brigade's yellow-and-blue flag lroni its leader and pledged that its colors Americans were traded For four prorCastro will be returned to this brigade in a free Mumm cr U Cubans in US jails one ofthem was serving Havana The crowd roared and then Phom Wide world a 20 years-to-life sentence For killing a child chanted Guerra Guerra and Libertad l resi- bystander in a brawl with Cuban expatriates at a New York dent Kennedy exhorted them to keep hope alive although restaurant when Castro visited the United Nations in Sep- Castro and his Fellow dictators may rule nations they do not tember 1960 McCone discussed with the president the sec- rule may descroy the exercise of liberty but retary of state and the governor of New York Nelson they cannot eliminate the determination to be free The Rockefeller the legal and political rami cations ol'commut- president was one ofthe few present who knew that all dur- ing the Cuban's sentence Around the time Rockefeller '1 had come up earlier in Ill C negotia tions for the Bay of Figs prisoners The Members ofbr Brigade arrive in juhnson Bit 0 Pigs 324 332 41 Schlesin er Robert Kennett 537 Thomas Robert Kennettjt 257 Triay 136 32 Dean Rusk Circular Telegram to All Latin American ms 22 December 1962 FR 11961-1963 XlilCulmn Crr'rr'r and 635 36 Donovaml in Boy oo 4'0 Yam A rr tab 8 doc 5 part 2 Memorandum ol'Agreemenr 22 December 1962 ibid due 4 First Cuban Reach US in Exchan for Dru 'pping le has 2 HIC 1 Lastm Iielil'baek a tew prisoners lot crimes they allegedly committed in Cuba before the Bay of Figs invasion One ofthem died in prison and Others were released from time to time but the last two were nor let go until 1936 Samuel Halpern Revisiting the Cuban Missile Crisis 241 A er the rst drug shipments arrived in the sprin 01 1963 the Cuban government complained that the medicines were not entirely satisfactory McCone re rding the complaints as legitimate asked Robert Klinnedy to contact pharmaceutical industry representatives to make sure that the drugs still to be delivered con-i ied with the terms of the agreement After all the drugs had been shipped Castro said through a private intermediary that he believed the United States had 'swindled him because the medicines were out of date The extended incarceratinns ofsome Brigade members maybe related to Castro's dis leasure Carter untitled memorandum to Robert Kennedy 2 April 1963 with attached transcript of McCone Catter conversation on 1 A ril 1963 ER Files Job 30110167611 box 13 Folder i Memorandurn for the Record l ottcr Call to Donovan 7 Ocrober 1963 ibid box 2 Folder 5 3 1 Johnson Bey ofPr'gr 34 2-45 Carbonell 190-91 Triay Bay a P r 137 Public Papers the lrg'thr United Starts-joint Kennedy 1962 911-13 The brigade s flag was not returned to the Bay of Figs veterans unti 19 76 after negotiations ctwcen the JP Library where it was in nor e the General Services Administration which legally owned it and the veterans' attorney Wyden 303n The US government paid the ex attiates 5100 upon eit return In February 1963 it decided to halt bene t aytnents to them and their families which then totaled over $4 tn I too Survivors of deceased brigade members received a lump sum a ment of $3 000 ubgg oll iliamlies Got 20 Month U5 Aid Washington Post I January 1563 Western Hemis here Cuba clippin file has 2 HIC memorandum for PDCI executive assistant Payments to the Brigade 20 February 1963 HS iles 341130038911 ho 8 U Sources for this paragraph and the next are Elder 'McCone as DCI 1987 3611 Carter memorandum to MrCotie otiations for Release of Cuban Prison ers 4 December 1962 ER F cs Job 80150167611 box 13 folder memorandum about McCone meeting With Donovatt 7jgnuary 1963 FRUS 1961-1963 Mirna 'rhe Supplement doc 591i McCone memorandum Discussion with Mr Rusk 30 january 1963 McCone Papers box 2 folder 4 McCone Memoran- dum 01h 'cting With the President 20 February 1963 ibid- box 6 folder 3 McCone memorandum to the president Donovan Negotiations with Castro 10 April 1963 FRUS 19614963 XI Motif Crisis 755-56 Gordon Chase NSC memorandum Cuba Ametioan Prisoners 21 january 1963 and Chase memorandum to Bondy American Prisoner Deal 21 February 1963 Nanonal Security Files Countries Boat 56 Cuba Subjects Prisoner Exchange 1163-53'63 JFK Library Carter and Elder memoranda Possible Public Announcement of CIA interest in Cuban Prisoners Designed For built 23 April 1963 ER Files ob 30301676R box 13 folder 8 Nathan Nielsen Our Men in Havana Studies 32 no 1 Spring 1938 13 ital history interview 29 June 1999 Wise and Ross The tremble Government 256 -58 ames B Donovan Challenger Re - rgr 92 3 ofr nnericaiis reeWC a Were CIA Men Winnings Part 25 April 1963 A16 and 10 ugce Bargain with Cuba Ends ere Hiri- Timer 4 July 2963 C2 Western Hemuphete Cuha clipping le but 2 HICN 139 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 C01262720 CHAPTER 6 Approved for Release 2015 04 10 001262720 released the prisoner Robert Kennedy announced that fed- and missing since 21 Ocrober might have been captured cral charges would be dropped against three other Cubans Ten days later Havana publicly announced their arresr 9 81' arrested for conspiracy to sabotags _tle_fense facilities around New York ' - 1 After learning more about how the failed mission had l - i i been miscoordinated between MONGOOSE project direc- I tor Edward Lansdale and Task Force chiefWilliam Har- vey McCone wrote that and CIA should always avoid any assignment under which CIA would be obliged to accept a subordinate or supporting position to Lansdale The four Cubans were flown to Havana at the same time management Despite its forldness for the White that Donovan rammed to the United States with the House realizod that interdepartmental implementation of 23 Americans when the nal goods-for-rcfu COVCIE action at least as attempted'undcr gees swap occurred more than 9 700 people had left Cuba W35 U workablc- W115 300le conceived and as a result of the two prisoner negotiations They included executed-ii Arthur Schlesinger 1135 Written- It the survivors ofthe Bay of Pigs invasion except for the few Brady 0 FEEL It W35 RObcn Kennedy's 105 50 withheld as mentioned above some 5 000 members of LanSdEllC later 1de that W85 their families all Americans jailed in Cuba and their fami- counteerducuw- Insccad 0f mung 1 901mm movement I I lies a large number ofAmerIcans to return to the 3331 the 't maimed the Cme Peoples 0 I I 0 I 0 United States and many Cuban political prisonersm support Castro There Is well nigh universal agreement that MONGOOSE is at a dead end Bondy reported to the president in early January 1963 10M A Renewed Secret Offensive Against Castro U Organizational Changes U The SGA called off Operation MONGOOSE on 30 The administration was not about to forswear its goal of Ocrober two days after Khrushchev agreed to halt construc- removing Castro from power however and the president's tion on the offensive nuclear missile sites and to dismantle Orange Bowl speech to La Brigada had committed him to a the weapons and return them to the Soviet Union President diplomatic economic and clandestine offensive against the Kennedy told McCone that CIA was to do everything pos- Cuban regime A hosr of overt initiatives in conjuncrion sible to insure no refugee or emigre provocative actions with the OAS regional governments and NATO would be against Cuba are undertaken with or without our knowledge combined with extensive clandestine operations led by CIA during the next several days while American and Soviet At first the former took precedence The covert aspects of negotiators fashioned the details of the withdrawal agree- our Cuban enterprise are not the most important ones at ment By that time MONGOOSE had been largely con- present Bundy wrore to the president in early January vetted into an intelligence collection project responsive to Overall US policy toward Cuba was formulated by the requirements from the JCS- MONGOOSE's covert action Plans and Operations Committee also known as the phase came to aidismal end in early Novemb bI i Standing Group That entity had existed since January 1962 Zhe but was now revitalized Its members were Chairman U two exiles sent to sabotage copper mine-E'Matahambre Alexis Johnson the deputy under secretary of state for polit- McCone untitled memorandum to Carter marked 30 October 962 McCone l'apers box I folder 14 Carter untitled memorandum 30 October 1962 ER Files Job BOBOIG7GR but 13 folder 4 McCone untitled memorandum to the attotn general et al 30 October I962 FRUS 1961-1963 Mtrro rbr Supplement doc 462 Harvey memorandum to McCone Chronolo ofthc Mataham re Sabotage Operation 2 November 1962 with attachments ER Flies Job 9150074111 but 1 folder 5 Harvey memorandum to McConc Havana Re orts About the Arrest ofTwo CIA Agents 4 November 1962 ibid Job BOBDIG7GR box folder 2 Com 89-90 Plot Smashed Castro Regime Says reintegrate Part 14 November I962 A12 and Cuba Arr ts CIA Sahetcur Havana CMQTelevtsinn Network 14 November 1962 FBIS translation Western Hemisphere Cuba clipping file box 2 HIC McCone handwritten note on cover sheet to Harvey memorandum to McCone Chronology ofthe Matahambre Sabota ctation I 2 November I962 with attachments ER Files fol 9150074lR box I folder 5 Bondy memorandum to the president further organization oft Gliivetnment for dealin vtth Cuba 4 January 963 FRUS I96 963 XL Cuban Merrie Cntt't and A mt 648 Carter wrore on the cover sheet of Harvey's memorandum LanscFale obviously running for cover has come at cm per l for one could not accept him as Chief of Operations for anything involving Agency participation from here on out Some scholars have erroneously stated that the Marshambte team violated its orders by going ahead with the attempt to attack the mine The saboteuts had not been in touch with their CIA handlers since the operation had been approved three weeks earlier so they did not know that their mission had been so titled early In the missile crisis James A Nathan The Heyday of the New Strate The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Con rmation of Coercive Diplomacy in I athan Tin- Cttbart Merrie rim Reunited IH 36 II l27 Schlesinger Robert Krone 534 140 imam Approved for Release 001262720