Join historian Mike Swanson and author C.A.A. Savastano to discuss the operations, membership, and origins of the Cuban DGI intelligence group. Documents and discussion reveal the undertakings of this assumed minor group revealed in declassified documents to be more prominent that some expect.
Read MoreOffered for your review is a recent addition of the Primary Evidence Collections that features new research, evidence, and extensive information about the Cuban General Directorate of Intelligence. It presents the historical structure, leadership, relevant documents, and useful resources to support additional public research.
Read MoreDuring the Cold War the United States government spent tens perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars seeking the death of their greatest perceived communist nemesis in the Western hemisphere, Fidel Castro. He was everything business interests and corporations feared, a formerly rich person who embraced violent populism, nationalization of industry, and overturning the established order of Cuban society for communal doctrine. Years passed and the foretold implosion of the Castro regime failed to materialize due in part to widespread internal popularity and the brutal repression of dissident voices. This left a stark enemy camped just less than one hundred miles from the United States and Cuba began to dominate the imagination of several anti-Communist leaders. Yet what if Fidel Castro was not the true communist influence but instead just the dominant ego of the regime, what if all those failed plots were not just a costly series of failures but failed targeting the right Castro…
Read MoreIt will come as no surprise to those with any familiarity with the internal actions undertaken by the Central Intelligence Agency that deception and protecting vital secrets are undeniable necessities for national security. However, some activities venture far beyond what is necessary and despite contrary official statements, other actions have repeatedly occurred not from necessity but agenda. Deciphering what is merely operational requirement and what is possibly nefarious intention can prove difficult at times. There is significant evidence while officials frequently employ benign deception at times questionable and dishonest agendas too are in play...
Read MoreA selection of over twenty notable documents largely from the new JFK Records releases that present additional details regarding Operation MONGOOSE and related officials. Among the files are documents regarding Phase I (Course A), Phase II (Course B), Special Group Augmented meetings, and one related official's view of Mongoose Chief Edward Landsdale being a "kook...wildman" and "just plain crazy". #JFK #CIA #MONGOOSE
Three new decoded cryptonyms from the newly released 2017 JFK Records, CIA penetration agent UNSNAFU-9, and AMLASH-2 and 3 associates of AMLASH-1 (Rolando Cubela) who conspired with CIA to assassinate Fidel Castro. #JFK2017 #evidencematters
Discussions about Lee Harvey Oswald often venture to speculation when seeking to provide a feasible motive for Oswald's purported actions. With scant time to prepare, without verifiable practice, some deem his alleged associations can explain what officials failed to repeatedly. Often the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC), an organization in the United States that promoted the interests Fidel Castro and by extension his Communist regime is attributed some blame. Others assert Oswald was a loyal and active member serving the Communist or Socialist factions within the group. This claim is followed by allegations that Oswald was a lone gunman or a creature of Cuban or Soviet intelligence. However, the FPCC was a loosely organized group that never directed Oswald to do anything...
Read MoreTwo new CIA Resource documents for your inspection, the first is a Finder's Aid that provides a volume-by-volume summary of some files in Lee Harvey Oswald's 201 File. The second is a collection of reference photographs contained in CIA's Cuban Mug Book Volume 4. #JFK #Evidence
Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, formerly loyal anti-Batista forces were soon opposing Fidel Castro the new dictator of Cuba. With Raul Castro's prominent endorsement of Communist alliances and the failure of Eisenhower administration officials to capitalize on diplomatic solutions for dealing with the regime, the eventual leaders of later dissident groups would then seek Fidel Castro's government to be overthrown. Thousands of disenfranchised people throughout countries in the Western hemisphere would seek individually and using exile groups to wrest control of Cuba from its Communist government. Foreign officials, political groups, mercenaries, private donors, criminals, and agencies of the United States government supported them. Based on internal communications multiple groups were not just loosely organized passionate advocacy organizations but highly trained paramilitary groups who became legitimate domestic security concerns. The leader of one such group was Manuel Artime...
Read MoreThe United States government, its military, and intelligence agencies considered Fidel Castro's Cuban regime a preeminent threat. The Communist stronghold was located at the front lines of the Cold War and positioned far too close for the taste of American officials. Seeking to overthrow Castro led some American leaders to ignore potential blowback and engage unreliable and criminal groups to see their desires fulfilled. Hundreds of Cuban exiles of interest to the United States seemed committed to the goal of deposing Castro; among them were the Diaz Lanz brothers, Pedro and Marcos...
Read MoreIn the Central Intelligence Agency files regarding Cuba under the Batista regime, Fidel Castro "manages to get himself involved in many things that do not concern him." "Beginning in 1948, the activities of Fidel Castro came to be of increasing concern to the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States Government (USG)." Despite the allegations of some officials, no direct link to Communism was established in Castro's history until after hostilities with the United States. "In fact, Agency support for the peaceful transfer of power from Batista to a democratically elected successor and amnesty for Castro and his followers...was proposed in a memorandum from the Inspector General in November 1957...
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Three new documents, the first is an internal paper on the dangers and benefits of counterintelligence by CIA officer Woodbury Carter. The second is a policy document regarding Covert Security Approvals, such as those used in Agency Project QKENCHANT. The third is the Cuban Mug Book and Key Book Volume One, it contains hundreds of pictures and identities of Cuban nationals observed by the Agency for possible operational and security reasons. Each is offered for your inspection.
Allusions related to Luisa Calderon in the Kennedy case are still offered by a few as relevant. The incident and accompanying decades of speculation have fueled a feasible myth to develop. Some attached undue importance to unproven allegations that endure of a Communist plot without substantial evidence. The episode, despite its supporters, is what one prominent researcher refers to as a "mountain built out of a molehill"...
Read MoreThe Mafia's involvement regarding John F. Kennedy's death some declare improbable. A much larger plot is often favored with many officials involved. Yet consider that most high officials were feasibly constrained by fear or wisdom not to risk their entire fate, fortune, and legacy on a plot that easily could go awry. Corporations that comprised the Military Industrial Complex would benefit from Vietnam in my view regardless of whoever was President. President Kennedy was reducing the amount of troops in Vietnam, yet a total withdrawal of all forces would have feasibly taken years. The corporations would still profit from Vietnam beyond the first Kennedy term...
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