— Ch. 1 · Origins And Authorization —
Operation Mongoose.
~8 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
On the 30th of November 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed a formal order authorizing the Cuban Project. This document gave the Central Intelligence Agency permission to run an extensive campaign of terrorist attacks and covert operations against Cuba. The name Operation Mongoose was agreed upon during a White House meeting on the 4th of November 1961. Before this official authorization, the CIA had been watching Fidel Castro since 1948. By late 1959, General C. P. Cabell stated that Castro allowed communist parties to grow freely within his government. In December 1959, high-ranking U.S. foreign policy officials began discussing plans to overthrow the regime. An official CIA report from March 1960 confirmed that the United States had decided Fidel Castro must be displaced. President Dwight Eisenhower formally authorized the operation on the 17th of March 1960, by signing a paper titled A Program of Covert Action Against the Castro Regime. That single document remained the only government report issued throughout the entire project. It instructed the agency to create an organization of exiled Cubans to manage opposition programs. The order also directed the creation of a paramilitary force to organize resistance groups inside Cuba. The budget for this initial phase was approximately $4.4 million. To secure funding, the Bender Group formed as a secret avenue for American businessmen to trade with Cuban groups. On the 11th of May 1960, the Bender Group reached an agreement with Frente Revolucionario Democratico. Large amounts of real estate were purchased in Miami and other cities to support these efforts.
Planning And Structure
JMWAVE served as the primary operations center for Task Force W at the University of Miami campus. Edward Lansdale led the military side while William King Harvey managed the CIA effort. The Special Group-Augmented oversaw all activities with Robert F. Kennedy chairing the committee. Members included John McCone, McGeorge Bundy, Alexis Johnson, Roswell Gilpatric, General Lyman Lemnitzer, and General Maxwell Taylor. Dean Rusk and Robert McNamara attended meetings without official membership status. By the 8th of January 1960, Colonel L. K. White had mentioned that Fidel Castro needed to be dealt with during a joint briefing. The White House created Branch 4 as a new task force containing forty personnel. Eighteen staff worked at headquarters while twenty operated from the Havana station. Two members were stationed at Santiago base. The State Department worried that Che Guevara or Raúl Castro might replace Castro if he fell. Richard Bissell asked Sheffield Edwards to establish contact with the U.S. gambling syndicate active in Cuba. The Anti-Castro Revolutionary Council released a press statement on the 22nd of March 1961, outlining their mission to overthrow Communist tyranny. Specific goals required recruits to be pro-Western, anti-Communist, and politically neutral. Seven groups consisting between 180 and over 4,000 defectors were identified for potential recruitment. Five hundred Cuban exiles trained as paramilitary members by June 1960 executed the Bay of Pigs invasion. Some training occurred in Panama. A declassified CIA report revealed that the task force knew the operation could not succeed without open military support. On the 12th of April 1961, the CIA prepared a full report outlining its orientation and concept. Eleven targets were initially scheduled for attack before narrowing down to four specific locations.