CUBAN INVASION FAILED BECAUSE THOSE MOST INVOLVED WAITED FOR SUCCESS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67-00318R000100790025-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2013
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: May 15, 1961
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Etc Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/29: CIA-RDP67-00318R000100790025-5
Pane F MIA T
AMARILLO, TEXAS
NEWS
MORNING 41,097
SUNDAY 70,862
MAY. 15 MI,
kdan Invasion Failed ?Because Tho
Most Involved Waited for Success
"^-7-
The reasou?why.;the,rebel inva-
Q0J,C,Ziba failed have been
hashed and rehashed of late, with
, the Central Intelligence Agency of
?the United States taking most of the
? blame. Reasons offered have been
faulty co-ordination, and poor
! timing.
1 But the main reason the recent
invasion of Cuba failed is nothing so
I logistically complicated.
1T1,43./asio,n,..fallc,d,sitrip, (be-
; caus-e?ffie Cuban ipeople 1010 to
Support it.^
? TIVeglikaibin people, a , passionate
and happy-go-lucky people, are pret-
ty sophisticated about revolutions.
!After all, most adult" Xubans of
fighting age have been engaged in
some form of revolutionary activity
I all of their lives. Absolute- and par-
tial dictators have existed 'violently
in Cuba since the Spanish-American
War. One strong man has replaced
another, each making the same
promises ? and each failing to bet-
er the lot of the average Cubah:',"
Familiarity, in this instance, has
red caution. During the recent in-
asion attempt, the Cuban people
apparently chose to wait and see if
the new rebels were going to be as
successful as the old ones.
It took only a few hours to find
out: the .new rebels failed miserably.
eports from Cuba make it apparent
hat the Cuban people on the home-
and were pretty unimpressed. What
art of them were not in Castro's
ilitia simply seemed to yawn and
sigh, and say, "Wait until the next
ime."
Another element enters into the
Cuban people's attitude of indiffer-
nce. After all, the rebels training
in Florida furnished no glamorous
;figurehead, such as Fidel Castro
was in his day as aLrebcl_xevolu-
tionary. The rebels instead were a
weak coalition of turncoats, ex-Ba-
tista supporters, and p ot ential
strongmen.
This time the invoion was not led
by a bearded warrior?Of almoSt le-
gentrAirstafure to the Cuban peas-
ant. It was led instead by junta
of expatriate .Cubans, led in turn
by the1_CIA..
Wh6N-Fr*Pialiiied ? the recent Cu-
ban invasion apparently 'counted
heavily on the popular support of
the Cuban people. This was a near-
fatal mistake. It was a mistake which
may piWe:10.;;be irreparable.
The failiTZ'of; the invasion will
likely me -tany further inva-
sion from .o ?ite the borders of
COba will f 11 a so.
The liberatioirbf Cuba will come'
when the passionate, happy-go-lucky
Cuban rises up from within his own
homeland and overthrows the beard-
ed legend.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/29: CIA-RDP67-00318R000100790025-5