Book Review The Invisible Government Chapter 4

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1:11 It says we're live, so I'm going to go with that. We are using a new streaming platform, which is an executive suite on Rumble and not ever used it before. So we'll see how that goes. It is not letting me see myself. There we go. Okay.

1:42 just a few glitches um which we'll figure out and i really appreciate y'all's patience in helping me figure out all of these technical issues because i am not a technical person so um i believe that we do have the live chat open so um please as you come into

2:15 the space. Just kind of check in, give the thumbs up, and I'm going to get started. I'll try to keep my eye on the chat. Normally, I have a few people in the chat doing that for me. Not sure whether they're here tonight or today because I have not checked in with them this morning. So we're going to start on chapter four.

2:46 And the book that we're reading is The Invisible Government. The startling and disturbing book is the first full authentic account of America's intelligence and espionage. Oh, good morning, Lance. Good morning, guys. Thanks for checking in. An invisible government with the CIA at its center and conducts the clandestine policies of what I refer to as the International Syndicate.

3:16 So this chapter is titled Invasion. And this starts off with a guy by the name of Lem Jones, who is in Manhattan on April 16th. And Jones answers the phone and it's midnight. So he's like discombobulated. It was the CIA calling him.

3:51 And it says, this is it. Jones agency had contacted him. The invasion had begun. The CIA man dictated the first communique to be issued to the world by Jones in the name of the Cuban Revolutionary Council. Jones took it down in long hand on a pad. Now, just to restate this, Lim is getting a phone call from the CIA telling.

4:21 him what to say in supposedly a completely disconnected communique that is going to be released as if it's from the island of Cuba representing the people there seeking freedom. That tie doesn't exist. This is all made up. Hello from Florida, from Florida, Schultzman. So as he begins dictating, before dawn,

4:52 Cuban patriots in the cities and in the hills began a battle to liberate their homeland from the despotic rule of Fidel Castro and rid Cuba of international communism, cruel oppression. That's a quote. It had been an otherwise peaceful weekend and he Jones had received no inkling that midnight would be the D-Day.

5:19 He knew the council had met during the early afternoon in a hotel. And by mid-afternoon, Jones had called the hotel where these people had met and basically trying to reach Miro Cardona, M-I-R-O Cardona. And basically he didn't get an answer. Well, there was a good reason why Jones was unable to reach.

5:52 his client, because at 3.30 p.m., CIA agents avoiding the main exit had taken Cardona and Hevaia, H-E-V-I-A, and other members of the council out of the hotel. The Cubans were told only that they were being taken to Miami for something very important. They were driven by the CIA to Philadelphia, where they were flown directly into Apalaca.

6:22 which is where the terrorist training camp is for the CIA training inside the United States. And they were there basically for three days like they were hostages. They were not allowed to leave. It was like a barracks. But they could not afford what happened before, which is one of these guys releasing an unapproved statement that kind of threw their entire story out the window.

6:49 The last time, which if you recall, is the reason why the second air wave got canceled because people were doing unapproved things and blew the cover of the CIA. But Jones knew nothing about this. The call from Washington came in. He took the communique to the Hotel Statler and showed it to Antonio Silio, S-I-L-I-O.

7:19 who was the treasurer of the council and Cardona's right-hand man. He was registered in the hotel under an assumed name. Jones typed the communique himself. He grabbed a taxi outside of his apartment and took it to Statler. They began distributing it to the wire service. And it was issued as Bulletin No. 1 from the Cuban Revolutionary Council. And basically...

7:52 um just as i had read it at puerto cabanas nicaragua at 1 15 a.m on monday april 17th six b-26 bombers were lined up on the runway ready to take off their targets were of course cuba um there was also a u-2 um that was going to be taking pictures

8:24 The planes were set to take off from Happy Valley at 140, and they would strike just before dawn, finishing the destruction of Castro's Air Force that had begun two days before. The men in the B-26s had not yet learned of Richard Bissell's message from Washington canceling the airstrikes on orders from the president. But when 140 AM came and went and no clearance to take off, they realized something was wrong.

8:53 At 1.55, the Cuban pilots were told their mission had been canceled on orders from Washington. They were not to proceed with the strikes against the bases. Instead, they were to fly to the beaches to try to provide air cover for the landing. They started using the, so now we're back to the Navy. And they are basically pulling up along the shore.

9:23 and they're going to start offloading their cargo hundreds of miles away on the tiny Swan Island that we've talked about and posted about off the coast of Honduras. It's actually about halfway between the western tip of Cuba and Honduras. The CIA's Swan Radio had begun broadcasting mysterious messages to the underground several hours before.

9:55 Just as an example, quote, alert, alert, look well at the rainbow. The fish will rise very soon. The sky is blue. The fish is red. Look well at the rainbow. Sounds like Dr. Seuss. At Happy Valley, the disappointed B-26 pilots climbed down from their cockpit, got new briefings, new plans, and it took the B-26s two hours and 50 minutes to get to the Bay of Pigs.

10:28 The bombers had enough fuel to stay over the beaches for two hours and get back to Happy Valley. They were going to fly over the beaches in pairs every half hour. A total of 11 B-26s was sent over the beaches in relay. The first of them took off before daylight. The Exile Brigade 2056 was moving ashore. This is the Felix Rodriguez, guys.

11:01 Castro received word of the invasion. He ordered his T-33 jets and sea furies to take off before dawn. At 4 a.m., General Cabal, C-A-B-E-L-L, was pleading with Secretary Rust in Washington that, here's a quote.

11:27 At 4 a.m., we met the first company of these guys, the Castro militia. They were attacking, shouting dirty words and shooting. We lay down and wait for them. We started shouting at each other across the marshes. We gave them the word surrender. They said they were going to fight us. They shouted, patria de morte, and then we started shooting. The CIA SWAN radio transmitter went live again at 5.15.

11:57 Quote, forces loyal to the Revolutionary Council have carried out a general uprising on a large scale on the island of Cuba. The militia in which Castro placed his confidence appears to be possessed in a state of panic. An army of liberation is in the island of Cuba to fight with you against the communist tyranny of an unbalanced Fidel Castro.

12:26 wherever he may be found, basically the forces, listen to instructions on the radio, comply with them and communicate your actions by radio to victory Cubans, unquote. So this switches back to the boats as they're offloading. It talks about all of the different teams and then it goes back to talk about.

12:57 the pilots taken off from Happy Valley. And you had a guy by the name of Sergio Garcia had taken off at 116 with a C-46 transport full of paratroopers. Their target was an island off the coast of Cuba. His co-pilot.

13:28 was Fausto Gomez. Garcia began to drop the men and equipment. When all the cargo and all but one paratrooper had been dropped, the cable running the length of the plane snapped. It broke the leg of the last paratrooper, jammed the tail controls of the plane, and left one young paratrooper dangling helplessly from the plane at the end of the cable. Gomez went back to try to help. He and another man

13:55 managed to pull the paratrooper in and discovered that it was a young boy. A few minutes later, he was crying and came to the cockpit. Please turn back and drop me. It's the invasion. Garcia said, I can't. Your main chute is broken. I can't drop you on a reserve chute. It's against orders. An hour later, they were on their way back to Happy Valley. Gomez cut open the boy's boot and saw that his leg had been cut and that he was bleeding a lot.

14:27 About this time, the New York CIA go-between releases bulletin number two. This is a quote. The Cuban Revolutionary Council announces a successful landing because Cuban Revolutionary Council members are now totally occupied with the dramatic events unfolding in Cuba. Their views will remain known.

14:53 to the press solely through the cuban revolutionary council spokesperson dr anthony uh celio now keep in mind the cia has the actual leaders of the revolutionary council hostage in miami the council may have been totally occupied but it wasn't free they were in a barracks being held hostage and the cia is telling everybody in america

15:23 That's the legitimate group that is in charge of this invasion, and they're being held hostage. So they get down to Cuba, and you have now people that are actually on the ground there, thanks to the airdrop. And let's see.

15:55 By dawn, Castro's Air Force was taking a heavy toll of the invasion fleet. Around 9 a.m., following a direct hit from the air, the Houston began to sink. The captain managed to edge the transport onto a reef to keep it from sinking altogether. Along with most of the 120 men on board, they began to swim to the beach. At 9.15 in San Juan, Puerto Rico,

16:24 CIA Alan Dulles mounted the speaker's podium for his, you have to go, speech that was addressing a thing called the Young Presidents Organization. Doesn't that sound critical? The topic, the communist businessman abroad. Hakeem Varela was a 28-year-old former Cuban Air Force pilot.

16:54 led the relay of B-26s over the beaches. With Castro's Air Force still in action and bombers were flying straight into disaster. Eight of the pilots died that day. Jose Crespo and Lorenzo Perez, two of the flyers who had landed in Key West the Saturday before and who were supposedly had gone into asylum, flew over the Bay of Pigs.

17:25 on April 17th under the code name Puma One. They were just leaving the beach after firing all their rockets when their bomber was hit in engine number one by a Castro fighter. He feathered the engine, radioed Happy Valley, and began limping home. Sharino Pedra, a 25-year-old pilot, was so well-liked by his comrades.

17:51 was also turning from the beach when his B-26 was hit in the tail. The plane exploded, killing both him and Jose Fernandez instantly. And it goes through the rest of these pilots. You had Eddie Gonzalez and a guy by the name of Matias Fares. They were killed that day.

18:21 Crispin Garcia fought over the beaches but ran short of fuel. And let's see. It says he and his co-pilot were and Juan Gonzalez was his co-pilot. They're on their way back, but they never made it.

18:50 And they found the B-26 wreckage about 80 miles northwest of Happy Valley. They crashed. Antonio Soto, another Cuban military pilot, was hit in one engine. He became the second exile pilot to land at Grand Cayman Island. He and his co-pilot, Benito Gonzalez, were flown back to...

19:18 happy valley but their plane remained behind in british territory um and um there's another wave that didn't make it because they had gasoline in their cockpit the smell of it and their plane crashed um so another one was shot up by machine gun fire

19:54 And let's see, another one, um, was basically, um, shot up and the copilot jumped out. Um, but the pilot never did. And that was the last time, um, they saw him. So, um, didn't turn out too good. 11 B-26s had flown out of Happy Valley.

20:36 They were never told why their mission had changed at the last minute from the airstrikes against Castro. They obeyed their orders. Eight men died. Six planes were lost. Five planes returned to Happy Valley. Their efforts was at a high cost. The Monday air cover, as one CIA official later conceded, was murderous. And I want to just remind everybody so that we have the accurate.

21:06 information. The reason why the second wave of air prep was canceled is because the CIA's lame story of these guys being Cuban escapees and having stolen their aircraft from the previous flight, April 15th, fell apart. They had the wrong aircraft.

21:35 They were clearly not Cuban aircraft. They didn't have the right nose cone, the right munition setups as known bombers in Castro's fleet. So nothing about the story checked out. So if they go with the same story with the same aircraft a second time, everybody is going to know unequivocally, while there may have been some questions on the first one of it not being organic and CIA led.

22:05 there would have been no questions had they tried the same scheme again the only one apparently that recognized that was jfk and said guys we can't do the same damn thing they already caught us the first time doing it the second time is stupid and it would have been but the cia is stupid and they wanted to do it a second time and that is the 100 reason why idiots like felix rodriguez

22:32 gets on national television and says Kennedy canceled the second airway for basically no reason at all, which is unequivocally not true. And the part that gets left out every time that we shared last time was the part that kept changing was the Navy's part. First, the Navy was going to be right up to the border of the island. Then the Navy was going to be whatever it was, X miles out. Then the Navy was going to be this far out and not involved at all.

23:02 So as late as two days before, the Navy is changing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, not just the Navy, the entire plan. But we're going to blame it all on the one element that JFK had something to do with, because JFK had nothing to do with the operational plans changing with regard to the Navy.

23:29 and the actual landing, which had to do with the Army. So all of that changed. Remember, they were going to go ashore at a completely different place. Then at the last minute was changed to Bay of Pigs. All of those changes were made. But the one thing that they gripe about is that one thing that JFK did, and they try to plan blame.

23:55 the entire failure of the bay of pigs on jfk and that's a bold base lie all right so what's interesting about um this is the houston with the um supplies that people are coming ashore in a place called sapata swamps now sabata is going to ring a bell because it's basically like a bay

24:28 And Zapata is the name of the oil company that George Bush Sr. forms. And a little known fact is that geologists had done a study that Cuba had one of the richest oil supplies in Zapata Harbor. And that was rumored to be the real reason why the CIA kept trying to get Cuba back.

24:58 was for the oil, not necessarily, I mean, they used it as a drug hub and all that other stuff, but that within 12 months of the geology study saying that Zapata Bay had oil under it, George Bush Sr., who was in the CIA at the time, formed Zapata Oil Company. Just a little tidbit. In the UN in New York,

25:27 Raul Roa was furious. He accused the United States of financing and backing the invasion. Grim-faced, he charged that the CIA had poured half a million dollars a month into the invasion preparation. He said a principal base was Apalaca Airport. He definitely has good intel. And he said the chief CIA agent in Miami was...

25:56 called Bender, B-E-N-D-E-R. On Monday afternoon, for the second time in 48 hours, Adelaide Stevens rose and denied the Cuban allegations. Stevenson had not left New York over the weekend. He had not seen Kennedy. However, the president had dispatched McGeorge Bundy to New York to coordinate the story with Stevenson. Following the development,

26:25 of AP news breaks. He then accompanied Stevenson over to the UN, Bundy did, and did the appropriate denials and then flew back to Washington, D.C. In Washington, Joseph Reap, a State Department spokesman, quote, the State Department is unaware of any invasion, unquote. The Pentagon said it knew nothing about anything.

27:01 even though the Navy's down there watching the entire thing. And that's why I want you guys to know these things, because of how much your government lies to you. It's just remarkable once you find out all of the real stories. The White House also said, all we know about Cuba is what we're reading on the wire service.

27:29 That's still their line today. Remember Barack Obama saying that, George Bush Jr. saying that. We're just finding out like you. There is not and will not be any intervention there by U.S. forces. The president has made it clear this is what the secretary of state is saying. We do not have full information on what is happening on that island.

28:00 even though they're in charge of what's happening on that island. All right, moving on. The American people are entitled to know whether or not we're intervening in Cuba, even though they don't believe that at all. On the other side of the globe, Khrushchev is talking with his foreign minister and drafted a note threatening to come to Castro's aid if Kennedy

28:32 did not halt the invasion because Khrushchev knew that it was the CIA as well. And what's amazing about this to me is as we go through this story, you find out that Castro had excellent, and I do mean excellent, intel. Let's see. In the Roman era, persecuted Christians would draw a fish to indicate a clandestine meeting was to be held.

29:04 The CIA had selected this as a symbol for the invasion. Hence the business about fish rising, which was broadcast by the Swan Radio. In New York, late on Monday, the CIA dictated Bulletin No. 3 to Lem Jones. And I'm going to read that. This is a quote. The principal battle for Cuba revolt against Castro will be fought in the next few hours.

29:35 Action today was largely supply and support. Our partisans in every town and village in Cuba will receive, in a manner known only to them, the message which sparks a tremendous wave of internal conflict against the tyrant. Before dawn, the island of Cuba will rise up in mass and a coordinated wave of sabotage and rebellion will sweep across the country. Our clandestine radio has been giving instructions to the insurgents throughout the island.

30:04 In a coded message on this radio yesterday, a statement was made that the fish will soon stand. As is well known, the fish is the Christian symbol to the resistance. When the fish is placed in a vertical position, it is the sign of internal revolt. It is in full swing. The fish will stand tonight. So there you go. By this hour on Monday night, Dulles was hurrying home from Puerto Rico.

30:36 He wants to make sure he gets there before the fish stands up. It was realized that the invasion was not looking good. The loss of the original force of B-26s with 10 of the pilots killed severely cramped what they had planned.

31:08 Washington permitted a second airstrike against Castro's bases during this phase of it. So exactly three B-52s took off the second time at night, 8 p.m. on April 17th, and their target was a base called San Antonio Airfield. The strike was led by Hakeem.

31:44 Varela, despite the fact that he and his co-pilot had flown earlier that morning. Varela was unable to find San Antonio in the dark. Under orders to hit only military targets, he dropped no bombs and returned. The second plane piloted by Rojas and Carras developed engine trouble and turned back before reaching the target. So did a third plane.

32:15 The two hours later, which is 10 p.m., two more B-52s took off. Their crews had flown earlier that day as well. They had no more success than the first three planes. So five had gone out, no damage. The start of Tuesday, April 18th, found the brigade strung out along the beachhead with no air support.

32:48 And basically, there's a lot of information about the actual goings on of the interaction that they have there at the Bay of Pigs. I mean, we already know the outcome of that. But there is more radio broadcast about.

33:12 turning your lights on, turn all your electrical appliance on, break the electrical system. Basically, you know, just propaganda. And now Castro's actual air force is flying overhead of the people that are on the beach. So there's a thunderstorm.

33:42 that happens at happy valley on tuesday afternoon and despite the storm six b-26s took off at 2 p.m their target was a large armored column moving towards the beachhead mario zuniga flew in one of the bombers now that's the guy that did the um you know hey i want exile press conference

34:11 That was supposed to be in exile and in the U S he's back down there flying. Um, and then it talks about, uh, despite the presidential pledge that no Americans would participate in the fighting. The other two bombers were flown by American CIA pilots. One was the instructor who used the name Sieg S E I G Simpson.

34:42 and who had told the Cubans he was a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War. His co-pilot was Gustavo Huldado, a Cuban. Alberto Perez Sordo, a 22-year-old exile, flew as co-pilot with the other American. It took the six bombers only 25 minutes to destroy the Castro convoy on the road to the beach. All six bombers and crews returned safely.

35:11 The same day, April 18th, the Exile Air Force received four P-51 Mustangs from the Nicaraguan government. The trouble was that the Cuban pilots didn't know how to fly them. The Mustangs went unused. At 1.20 p.m. on Tuesday, another one of their cables goes out and it says, quote, the Cuban freedom fighters.

35:43 in Matanza area are being attacked by heavy Soviet tanks and MiG aircraft, which have destroyed sizable amounts of the medical supplies and equipment. More lies. Khrushchev again drafts another transmission and basically charges, and he sends it to Washington, to the president, that the U.S. has armed and trained exiles

36:14 to attack Castro and that he threatened to give Castro all necessary assistance to stop the invasion. Soviet ambassador to the U.S. was handed a note by Rusk at the State Department. In it, warned President Kennedy to stay out of the fight. Kennedy declared the U.S. would immediately honor its treaty obligations to the hemisphere. I just, I can't get over it.

36:47 um the soviet ambassador mocked stevenson at the un with with his denials of them being involved because everybody at the un knew it was a joke um the uh carlos alios alberto's brother rose at the un and said that he had just returned from a trip to guatemala

37:20 and wished to state in answer to Cuba's charges that the forces which had landed in Cuba had not been trained in Guatemala and had not come from Guatemala territory. Guatemala, he said, had never allowed nor would they allow their territory to be used as aggression against people in the Western Hemisphere, which was a bold-faced lie.

37:53 Andy knew it. So we are up to Tuesday night and the president has a reception for members of Congress and their wives. And at exactly 1015, the president and Jackie Kennedy comes down the main stairs and about an hour and a half, they noticed that he slips away.

38:24 The president met at midnight with his highest military and civilian advisors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA. At the meeting, Richard Bissell maintained that the operation could still be saved if the president would authorize Navy jets, which is the whole reason they were pre-positioned there. They were trying to back the president into a corner to use them.

38:53 Kennedy insisted that he had said no armed forces would be used in Cuba, and he was not going to change his mind. Bissell, who had been so deeply engaged in the setup of this whole thing, argued desperately in favor of U.S. air. So did Admiral Burke, because, you know, that's how they justify their budget, by doing things like this.

39:18 Burke also suggested several alternatives, that a company of Marines be landed, that a destroyer be allowed, you know, because we can let them be killed. It's not a big deal. The Navy jets be allowed to fly just outside the three mile limit. And my arch nemesis, General Lemitsker, is in this meeting as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And of course, he supports getting U.S. forces.

39:44 as did General White, who was the chief of staff of the Air Force. Again, the president said no. Then Burke suggested that the Navy planes be allowed to fly cover over the beaches, but that they use planes with no markings. Like we wouldn't know there are planes? Oh, just hurry, spray paint out the numbers. On April 19th,

40:17 Wednesday, early morning, as this meeting has continued, there was a compromise. The president authorized unmarked Navy jets on the Essex to fly over the Bay of Pigs for one hour just after dawn. Their mission was to be restricted. They were to support air-to-ground strikes that morning by the B-26s that were going to fly in from Happy Valley.

40:49 The Navy jets were to fly what's called dead cover, which meant they were to interpose themselves between bombers and enemy aircraft to make sure they were not able to shoot down the B-26s. Navy jets would not strafe or initiate any firing. You know, just be a guinea pig. If the Castro planes fired, the Navy jets would not be able to make.

41:20 a fine distinction of whether the attackers were firing at the bombers or at them by interposing themselves between the B-26s and Castro planes. In other words, they would draw the fire and be able to fire back. Burke wrote out the order on a pad. It was telephoned into the Joint Communication Center at the Pentagon. It went immediately to Norfolk, Virginia and was relayed there to the commander. The markings on

41:50 the Navy jets were to be painted over. It was 1 a.m. Wednesday morning when the meeting broke up. At Happy Valley at 1 a.m., there was also a meeting. In the building, it served as Air Ops Center. You had General Doster, D-O-S-T-E-R, Riley Schamburger, Jr., a CIA pilot, and a close friend of Doster's, who was on leave as a major.

42:19 in the Alabama Air National Guard, and Louis Cosme, C-O-S-M-E, a Cuban operations deputy, all realized that the situation was grim. The Cuban pilots were exhausted. Ten were dead. The American advisors agreed to fly night missions starting that night to relieve the weary Cubans. The Americans were not ordered to do so. They volunteered. They're still not allowed.

42:47 Although it was understood when they signed up at the CIA that it was not allowed for them to fly. Now the pledge that no U.S. Armed Forces and no Americans would be involved was violated. Since the American CIA pilots were flying in the invasion, in and Navy jets were going to be giving them air cover. Double lies.

43:18 B-26s took off that night. Schamburger and a fellow American, Wade Gray, flew in one of them. Two more Americans, Thomas Ray and Leo Baker, flew in another. Three other Americans flew. One was a pilot known only as Joe, whose co-pilot was also American. The other pilot was Sig Simpson. The fifth

43:44 B-26 was piloted by Gonzalo Herrera, a Cuban. Three more Cubans, including Zuniga, were scheduled to fly, but operations were halted before they took off. Bissell left the White House meeting with the understanding that Navy jets would appear over the beaches simultaneously with the B-26s. What happened next is, there's several different versions of what happens next.

44:13 Bissell, of course, did not have the opportunity of ordering the Navy jets into the air, but he did have the task of notifying the Exile Air Force at Happy Valley. From his secret office, he relayed the news to the United States air cover would be available for one hour at dawn to support the air-to-ground strikes of the B-26s. Bissell did not write the order out himself. He repeated it verbally to a colonel on duty at the CIA office.

44:42 which was in turn supposed to transmit it to Happy Valley. Bissell's message reached Happy Valley shortly before Schamburger, Gray, Ray, and Baker took off. These four Americans, therefore, took off for the Veya Pigs with the understanding they would have air cover. Somewhere along the lines, there was a fatal mix-up between the CIA and the Navy.

45:07 At first, the CIA thought that the president's order had reached the carrier so conservatively worded that the jets had been unable to take hostile action against Castro's plane because the jets had not been fired upon. Later, the CIA realized the error was one of timing. In a secret post-mortem over the Bay of Pigs, it was officially concluded that the bombers had arrived after the jets had already come and gone. After the clock had ran out,

45:37 on their one hour support how this happened may never be entirely unscrambled because there's no public records but the evidence pointed directly to the incredible conclusion that the mix-up had occurred because of confusion over time zones the bay of pigs and washington were in eastern standard time nicaragua was on central they showed up at different

46:09 times. The CIA and the Navy did not coordinate their prospective orders. Burke simply sent his order to the fleet. Bissell sent it to Happy Valley. The confusion over time zones may have been compounded by the fact that the Navy always transmits messages in Greenwich Mean Time, but the CIA does not. The Navy pilots reported that they never made contact with any of the bombers.

46:37 They said that they saw no bombers and no Castro airplanes. On the morning of April 19th, four Americans lost their lives. All of them were Alabama Air National Guard pilots. At Happy Valley, the chief CIA air advisor, a guy that went by the name of Gar, G-A-R,

47:07 Asked the Cubans for volunteers to go in again over the beaches. The pilots were called together. The Cuban operate in a meeting and they were willing, but since another trip over the beaches meant almost certain death, they understandably demanded to know why they were being sent out. The CIA chief responded, we must hold 24 hours more. Don't play the bells loud, but something is going to happen.

47:42 That was kind of a vague promise at this point. I think we've had enough losses, one of the pilots said. I believe this operation is a failure and I don't want to see any more flights. Either they appoint another ops officers or no planes are going to be taken off. The air operations at Happy Valley were over. In four days of combat, the Exile Air Force had flown more than 36 missions against overwhelming odds.

48:13 It had suffered 50% losses, 12 of its 24 B-26s were gone, 14 pilots were dead, 10 Cubans and four Americans. On the final day of the invasion, the ground forces were being pushed back. And basically, by the end of that day, it was recognized that the invasion was over, that Castro forces had engaged in a mop-up at...

48:45 the Bay of Pigs, and at the same hour, there were members at the Cuban Revolutionary Council that had been held hostage being told what was going on. Adolph Burrell had been flown to Miami during the night to placate the Cuban leaders that were being held hostage. They were flown up to Washington, D.C. for a meeting.

49:16 in new york lem jones put out um two more bulletins this is a quote from the last one the recent landings in cuba had been constantly though inaccurately described as an invasion it was in fact a landing mainly of supplies and support for our patriots who've been fighting the cubans for months regrettably we admit tragic losses in today's action among a small landing force

49:47 which courageously fought Soviet tanks and artillery while being attacked by Russian MiG aircraft. None of that is true. A gallantry which allowed the major portion of our landing party to reach the mountains. Not true. They did not expect to topple Castro's immediately. Not true. And it is certainly true that we did not expect to face.

50:13 unscathed Soviet armaments directed by communist advisors, we did and survived. Not true. The struggle for freedom of 6 million Cubans continues. So Mario Abril, together with hundreds of his fellow fellows, was captured the next day. He spent the next year and a half in prison in Havana.

50:43 He returned to the United States with the rest of the brigade in a prisoner exchange on Christmas 1962. Manuel Salvador of Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, sorry, lived for 10 days on land eating crabs in money water after he had swam ashore from the Houston, which was the one that was bombed.

51:12 Giant fleas bit his legs, which became infected and swollen. He still bears marks and black scars the size and shape of an inch. He and a companion had just found a tin of Russian canned meat on the beach and were trying to open it when a malicious speedboat rounded the bin with a machine gun trained on them. They surrendered. A few managed to escape in small boats and were later picked up.

51:39 by the american navy or merchant ships a very few managed to escape through the cuban underground most were captured the exiled air force fought no more the task was over and yet not quite sergio garcia the pilot who had refused to drop the wounded young paratrooper over cuba was assigned to a final mission

52:05 The morning of April 20th, he flew out to sea from Happy Valley carrying thousands of leaflets that had been printed by the CIA. They were packed in special boxes designed to open when leaving the airplane. The leaflets had been meant to drop over Cuba for the victorious invaders. They bore the slogan, Cubans, you will be free. Hundreds of miles off the Nicaraguan coast, out of sight of land, Garcia banked and began to drop

52:34 the leaflets that were meant for the bay of pigs the boxes tumbled from the plains opened as they were caught by the wind garcia watched them flutter to the sea that's the end of chapter four we will chop start chapter number five which is really really depressing but we got to do it um it's the fallout of more lies as it relates to

53:07 the four grieving widows in Birmingham, Alabama, that are going to find out that their husbands had been basically working for the CIA and are now dead. And the problem, obviously, is that the CIA doesn't want to acknowledge any of what is about to happen. So they need to be done away with. Anyway, thanks for being here.

53:40 We will do more in the next, probably Thursday. What's today? When's tomorrow? Yeah. See you then.

Entities here

Claims made here

The Invisible Government cited_as_source CIA book_quoted ▶ 2:46

“And the book that we're reading is The Invisible Government. The startling and disturbing book is the first full authentic account of America's intelligence and espionage. Oh, good morning, Lance. Goo…”

CIA recruited Lem Jones book_quoted ▶ 3:51

“And it says, this is it. Jones agency had contacted him. The invasion had begun. The CIA man dictated the first communique to be issued to the world by Jones in the name of the Cuban Revolutionary Cou…”

CIA ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro book_quoted ▶ 3:51

Miro Codona member_of Cuban Revolutionary Council book_quoted ▶ 5:19

“He knew the council had met during the early afternoon in a hotel. And by mid-afternoon, Jones had called the hotel where these people had met and basically trying to reach Miro Cardona, M-I-R-O Cardo…”

CIA recruited Hevia book_quoted ▶ 5:52

“his client, because at 3.30 p.m., CIA agents avoiding the main exit had taken Cardona and Hevaia, H-E-V-I-A, and other members of the council out of the hotel. The Cubans were told only that they were…”

CIA recruited Miro Codona book_quoted ▶ 5:52

Hevia member_of Cuban Revolutionary Council book_quoted ▶ 5:52

CIA operated_in Apalachee Air Force Base book_quoted ▶ 5:52

Antonio Silio member_of Cuban Revolutionary Council book_quoted ▶ 6:49

“The last time, which if you recall, is the reason why the second air wave got canceled because people were doing unapproved things and blew the cover of the CIA. But Jones knew nothing about this. The…”

Antonio Silio relationship_with Miro Codona book_quoted ▶ 7:19

“who was the treasurer of the council and Cardona's right-hand man. He was registered in the hotel under an assumed name. Jones typed the communique himself. He grabbed a taxi outside of his apartment …”

John F. Kennedy ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro book_quoted ▶ 8:24

“The planes were set to take off from Happy Valley at 140, and they would strike just before dawn, finishing the destruction of Castro's Air Force that had begun two days before. The men in the B-26s h…”

CIA operated_in Swan Island book_quoted ▶ 9:23

“and they're going to start offloading their cargo hundreds of miles away on the tiny Swan Island that we've talked about and posted about off the coast of Honduras. It's actually about halfway between…”

Felix Rodriguez member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 10:28

“The bombers had enough fuel to stay over the beaches for two hours and get back to Happy Valley. They were going to fly over the beaches in pairs every half hour. A total of 11 B-26s was sent over the…”

Fidel Castro ordered_assassination_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 11:01

“Castro received word of the invasion. He ordered his T-33 jets and sea furies to take off before dawn. At 4 a.m., General Cabal, C-A-B-E-L-L, was pleading with Secretary Rust in Washington that, here'…”

Charles Cabell relationship_with Dean Rusk book_quoted ▶ 11:01

Sergio Garcia member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 12:57

“the pilots taken off from Happy Valley. And you had a guy by the name of Sergio Garcia had taken off at 116 with a C-46 transport full of paratroopers. Their target was an island off the coast of Cuba…”

Fausto Gomez member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 13:28

“was Fausto Gomez. Garcia began to drop the men and equipment. When all the cargo and all but one paratrooper had been dropped, the cable running the length of the plane snapped. It broke the leg of th…”

CIA recruited Hakeem Varela book_quoted ▶ 16:24

“CIA Alan Dulles mounted the speaker's podium for his, you have to go, speech that was addressing a thing called the Young Presidents Organization. Doesn't that sound critical? The topic, the communist…”

Jose Crespo member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 16:54

“led the relay of B-26s over the beaches. With Castro's Air Force still in action and bombers were flying straight into disaster. Eight of the pilots died that day. Jose Crespo and Lorenzo Perez, two o…”

Lorenzo Perez member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 16:54

Sharino Pedra member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 17:25

“on April 17th under the code name Puma One. They were just leaving the beach after firing all their rockets when their bomber was hit in engine number one by a Castro fighter. He feathered the engine,…”

José Fernández member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 17:51

“was also turning from the beach when his B-26 was hit in the tail. The plane exploded, killing both him and Jose Fernandez instantly. And it goes through the rest of these pilots. You had Eddie Gonzal…”

Matias Fares member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 17:51

Eddie Gonzalez member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 17:51

Juan Gonzalez member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 18:21

“Crispin Garcia fought over the beaches but ran short of fuel. And let's see. It says he and his co-pilot were and Juan Gonzalez was his co-pilot. They're on their way back, but they never made it.…”

Crispin Garcia member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 18:21

Antonio Soto member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 18:50

“And they found the B-26 wreckage about 80 miles northwest of Happy Valley. They crashed. Antonio Soto, another Cuban military pilot, was hit in one engine. He became the second exile pilot to land at …”

Benito Gonzalez member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 18:50

George H.W. Bush member_of CIA host_asserted ▶ 24:58

“was for the oil, not necessarily, I mean, they used it as a drug hub and all that other stuff, but that within 12 months of the geology study saying that Zapata Bay had oil under it, George Bush Sr., …”

George H.W. Bush founded Zapata Petroleum host_asserted ▶ 24:58

Raúl Roa exposed CIA book_quoted ▶ 25:27

“Raul Roa was furious. He accused the United States of financing and backing the invasion. Grim-faced, he charged that the CIA had poured half a million dollars a month into the invasion preparation. H…”

CIA financed_via Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 25:27

McGeorge Bundy relationship_with Adlai Stevenson II book_quoted ▶ 25:56

“called Bender, B-E-N-D-E-R. On Monday afternoon, for the second time in 48 hours, Adelaide Stevens rose and denied the Cuban allegations. Stevenson had not left New York over the weekend. He had not s…”

Adlai Stevenson II covered_up CIA book_quoted ▶ 25:56

Joseph Reap member_of U.S. State Department book_quoted ▶ 26:25

“of AP news breaks. He then accompanied Stevenson over to the UN, Bundy did, and did the appropriate denials and then flew back to Washington, D.C. In Washington, Joseph Reap, a State Department spokes…”

Nikita Khrushchev targeted_for_regime_change Fidel Castro book_quoted ▶ 28:00

“even though they're in charge of what's happening on that island. All right, moving on. The American people are entitled to know whether or not we're intervening in Cuba, even though they don't believ…”

Mario Zuniga member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 33:42

“that happens at happy valley on tuesday afternoon and despite the storm six b-26s took off at 2 p.m their target was a large armored column moving towards the beachhead mario zuniga flew in one of the…”

Sieg Simpson member_of CIA book_quoted ▶ 34:11

“That was supposed to be in exile and in the U S he's back down there flying. Um, and then it talks about, uh, despite the presidential pledge that no Americans would participate in the fighting. The o…”

Gustavo Huldado member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 34:42

“and who had told the Cubans he was a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War. His co-pilot was Gustavo Huldado, a Cuban. Alberto Perez Sordo, a 22-year-old exile, flew as co-pilot with the other Amer…”

Alberto Perez Sordo member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 34:42

Nicaragua supplied_arms_to Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 35:11

“The same day, April 18th, the Exile Air Force received four P-51 Mustangs from the Nicaraguan government. The trouble was that the Cuban pilots didn't know how to fly them. The Mustangs went unused. A…”

Carlos Alios relationship_with Alberto Perez Sordo book_quoted ▶ 36:47

“um the soviet ambassador mocked stevenson at the un with with his denials of them being involved because everybody at the un knew it was a joke um the uh carlos alios alberto's brother rose at the un …”

Carlos Alios covered_up CIA book_quoted ▶ 37:20

“and wished to state in answer to Cuba's charges that the forces which had landed in Cuba had not been trained in Guatemala and had not come from Guatemala territory. Guatemala, he said, had never allo…”

Richard M. Bissell Jr. member_of CIA book_quoted ▶ 38:24

“The president met at midnight with his highest military and civilian advisors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA. At the meeting, Richard Bissell maintained that the operation could still be saved…”

Arleigh Burke member_of U.S. Navy host_asserted ▶ 38:53

“Kennedy insisted that he had said no armed forces would be used in Cuba, and he was not going to change his mind. Bissell, who had been so deeply engaged in the setup of this whole thing, argued despe…”

John F. Kennedy ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro host_asserted ▶ 38:53

Richard M. Bissell Jr. member_of CIA host_asserted ▶ 38:53

Lyman Lemnitzer headed Joint Chiefs of Staff host_asserted ▶ 39:18

“Burke also suggested several alternatives, that a company of Marines be landed, that a destroyer be allowed, you know, because we can let them be killed. It's not a big deal. The Navy jets be allowed …”

John F. Kennedy ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro host_asserted ▶ 40:17

“Wednesday, early morning, as this meeting has continued, there was a compromise. The president authorized unmarked Navy jets on the Essex to fly over the Bay of Pigs for one hour just after dawn. Thei…”

Riley W. Schamburger Jr. member_of CIA host_asserted ▶ 41:50

“the Navy jets were to be painted over. It was 1 a.m. Wednesday morning when the meeting broke up. At Happy Valley at 1 a.m., there was also a meeting. In the building, it served as Air Ops Center. You…”

Riley W. Schamburger Jr. member_of Alabama National Guard host_asserted ▶ 42:19

“in the Alabama Air National Guard, and Louis Cosme, C-O-S-M-E, a Cuban operations deputy, all realized that the situation was grim. The Cuban pilots were exhausted. Ten were dead. The American advisor…”

Louis Cosme member_of CIA host_asserted ▶ 42:19

Richard M. Bissell Jr. operated_in Happy Valley host_asserted ▶ 44:13

“Bissell, of course, did not have the opportunity of ordering the Navy jets into the air, but he did have the task of notifying the Exile Air Force at Happy Valley. From his secret office, he relayed t…”

Leo Francis Baker member_of Alabama National Guard host_asserted ▶ 46:37

“They said that they saw no bombers and no Castro airplanes. On the morning of April 19th, four Americans lost their lives. All of them were Alabama Air National Guard pilots. At Happy Valley, the chie…”

Wade Carroll Gray member_of Alabama National Guard host_asserted ▶ 46:37

Thomas Willard Ray member_of Alabama National Guard host_asserted ▶ 46:37

CIA covered_up Bay of Pigs host_asserted ▶ 49:16

“in new york lem jones put out um two more bulletins this is a quote from the last one the recent landings in cuba had been constantly though inaccurately described as an invasion it was in fact a land…”

Mario Abril died_in Havana host_asserted ▶ 50:13

“unscathed Soviet armaments directed by communist advisors, we did and survived. Not true. The struggle for freedom of 6 million Cubans continues. So Mario Abril, together with hundreds of his fellow f…”

Salvador Samuel operated_in Cuba host_asserted ▶ 50:43

“He returned to the United States with the rest of the brigade in a prisoner exchange on Christmas 1962. Manuel Salvador of Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, sorry, lived for 10 days on land eating crabs in…”

Sergio Garcia operated_in Nicaragua host_asserted ▶ 52:05

“The morning of April 20th, he flew out to sea from Happy Valley carrying thousands of leaflets that had been printed by the CIA. They were packed in special boxes designed to open when leaving the air…”