CUBAN EXILES BITTER ABOUT U.S. HANDLING OF INVASION
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 18, 1961, George Sherman of The Evening Star reports that the Cuban exiles involved in last month's failed Bay of Pigs invasion "are admittedly bitter over handling of the invasion and its dismal failure."
Sherman says that the exiles are convinced the Central Intelligence Agency, "and, therefore, the United States government," wanted to help them overthrow Fidel Castro.
The American agents, in the view of the Cubans, while trained specialists in undercover activities, had little to no knowledge of the politics and geography of Cuba.
JFK+50 NOTE
Publicly JFK had taken full responsibility for the failed invasion ("Victory has a hundred fathers, defeat is an orphan"). Privately, however, he blamed the CIA & threatened to "splinter (it) into a thousand pieces & scatter it to the winds."
SOURCE
"Cubans Complain U.S. 'Took Control'", by George Sherman, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 18, 1961, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
