CUBA REBEL'S DIARY: THE INVADERS LAND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600230018-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 26, 1999
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: May 5, 1961
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YORK MAY 5 1961
Sanitized - Wroved For Release : CIA-RD
CPYRGHT
CPYRGHT
Bright Hopes, Then Gloom ground was to destroy tie
bridges and, declare a general
strike throughout the island.
? We were told we would have an
C
b
a Rebels Diary it umbrella ader us at`all times
u
? o as to guaraaee that the skv
'
'
ir,I 17-We are entrenched
Arp
'The Invade r c T n n. E
/ han -ii urAR -,, ......
e o owing story by asur-
vivor of the abortive Cuban in-
vasion tells of his embarkation
from Nicaragua and the bat-
tle on a Cuban beachhead.
By Manuel Penabaz
Written 7'or ns 1"ess
International
MIAMI, May 4.-April 11,1961,
Puerto Cabezas. Nicarua-
ship, the Atiantico of the Garcia
Lines, a Cuban company. It is
a floating scrap heap, a resur-
rected Liberty ship that looks
like it may be making Its last
voyage. Suddenly the lifeless
decks of the ship have been cav-
ered by sleeping bags, with men
clutching Garands and machine
guns and mortars, and echoing
to obscenities and curses.
Went to Nicaragua
The scenes of the past few
hours flicker through my mind
like a moving picture. When we
left Retalhuleu (Guatemala) in
seven transport planes this
morning, none suspected that
our destination was Nicarogua.
Our group was made up of the
Third Battalion, heavy mortars
and chiefs of staff. All of us were
bound for this ship, the Atlan-
tico.
Five other ships in our flotilla
can be seen scattered around
the bay. It gives me a sensation
of security to see these ships,
knowing that there are hun-
dreds of other men, ready as
we are, to attack; knowing that
never before in Latin America
has an invasion force' such as
this been assembled. They say
that aboard some of the ships
are five modern tanks, aviatidh
Lay, At Qur.men now are on
gasoline, bombs, gum-and 'the uban soil; With all their equip-
best trained ?force In ;,Latin rent,. Part of our provisigns,
America.. I feel stare gf;_,pur ' unctions and arms In less
victory. Be514,es, God is with han twenty-four hours, we
us. We will win.
ing. Twice we have left port and
sailed to the open sea, only to
return at night to load more
munitions and material.
ilomet@rs (twenty-six' miles)
nland. In the first clashes the
nemy suffered heavy casualties
nd retreated without resist-
nce.
Toward Destiny On Red Beach
April 14-The flotilla is The first to engage the enemy
steaming toward .our date with ere the 180 men of Battalion 2
destiny. Our ships are in sin- nder command of Eneido
gle file. -Two destroyers-I liva the most all-around offi-
think they are North America_Y i ki $l i - Qrce. Reinforced by
night and smoking has been
forbidden since we left Puerto
Cabezas two days ago, and since
we are a floating powder keg.
not even the ship's kitchens are
operating and our meals are all
cold. i
Today, Jose San Roman called
us to the officers' mess and
briefed the staff on our plan of
attack. All of us were surprised
that the Bay of Pigs had been
selected for the landing-it was
the first any of us had heard
about-it. I. personally thought
we were going to land at Pinar
del Rio, None-the-less, after lis-
tening to the details of:the plan,
I thought it was perfect. San
Roman also told us that we
were going to destroy the air-
por.ts at. Rancho Boyeros; San
Antonio de los Banos; Campo
Libertad, Managua; San Julian,
Camaguey, Santiago de Cuba,
Santa Clara, Cienfuegos and
Batabano-the last two the day
We actually hid the beaches.
We were told that the under-
d six tanks-IMuding Stalin
nks-a few hcu't alter land-
1 g on Red Beach '(tfie rebel
signation for ilb eetor of
iron Beach).
Though the 'ei+ie$py force
nsisted of sev?rhl thousand
en, they were- e , DletoIy
r uted -and we captured intact
t o tanks without any resist
a ce-the militiamen ' appar-
e t1y were simply 'frightened
b our onslaught.
When, we found we did not
k ow how to drive the tanks,
had to burn them oh the
s ot. Reports are streaming in
t our command post on Blue
ach and all the reports are
e couraging-the enemy is dis-
o ganized and putting up a
ri iculous resistance, Spirits
a high in the command post.
Cuban Planes Busy
pril 18---Early today Battal-
to 2 pulled back to Blue Beach
t consolidate our forces, al-
FOIAb3b
U. Associated Press wirephoto
Trenton yesterday.
!11
m
a~S
ul
Negro
(Continued from page one)
Brandis jr., dean of the h
school.
our men in the conunand post
and injured anather, named
Morin.
Stalin Tanks Used
News reaches us of a battle in
a town called San Bias, ggighteen
kilometers (eleven miles) in-
land. The front was defended
by airborne troops and the ar-
mored battalion. Four of the
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000600230018-5