Operation Mongoose
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Operation Mongoose was a covert U.S. program against Cuba authorized by President Kennedy in November 1961. Led by the CIA and the Department of Defense under General Edward Lansdale, it waged sabotage, psychological warfare, and assassination attempts to overthrow the Castro government. The campaign was a key factor in Castro's and Khrushchev's decision to deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, and it was suspended when the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted in October 1962.
In depth
Operation Mongoose was the covert anti-Cuba program developed by the Kennedy administration immediately after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy oversaw the effort; Air Force Brigadier General Edward Lansdale directed military operations, while the CIA's William King Harvey ran the intelligence side. The operation was headquartered at JMWAVE, a disguised CIA station on the University of Miami campus.
The program encompassed political and psychological warfare, sabotage, paramilitary operations, and assassination plots. Lansdale submitted a six-phase schedule in February 1962, culminating in a "Touchdown Play" by October 1962: a staged uprising that would provide a pretext for U.S. military intervention. The CIA even recruited the Mafia to help kill Castro and explored bizarre schemes such as spraying a hallucinogenic chemical in Castro's broadcast booth or lining his shoes with thallium salts to make his beard fall out.
In practice, the operation was crippled by Castro's effective counter-intelligence, which turned or neutralized most CIA assets inside Cuba. The relentless sabotage and invasion threat became a decisive factor in Castro's and Khrushchev's decision to accept Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuban soil. When the Cuban Missile Crisis broke in October 1962, Kennedy suspended Mongoose, and it was never formally resumed. The operation consumed roughly $100 million (approx. $1 billion in current value), and the CIA devised at least eight separate assassination plots against Castro during its span.
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Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) primary factual base: authorization date (November 30, 1961), codename origin (November 4, 1961 White House meeting), leadership (Lansdale/Harvey), JMWAVE base, scope of sabotage/terror/assassination plots, six-phase schedule, Touchdown Play, connection to Cuban Missile Crisis
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian-language confirmation of the operation's codename, authorization date, Lansdale's role, and its character as propaganda/psychological-warfare/sabotage program
- history.state.gov U.S. State Department Office of the Historian: confirms Operation Mongoose succeeded the Bay of Pigs, Lansdale's six-phase plan, the October 1962 timeline, and suspension during the missile crisis
- pbs.org PBS American Experience: RFK's central role, Lansdale's six-phase schedule and 'Touchdown Play,' CIA-Mafia assassination links, JMWAVE Miami base, $100M budget