Office of the Historian

343. Notes on an Operations Group Meeting0

Washington, June 7, 1962.
1.
Lansdale accepted procedure of holding similar meetings for purpose of discussing plans and projects before submission Special Group.
2.
Lansdale and to greater extent General Craig harbor notion that we can order other nations do our bidding. When we point out reluctance certain governments follow our lead, they urge a major psychological and political campaign within the country among labor, student and political groups to “force” the government to change its mind.
3.
General Craig, particularly, remains convinced that Department is emphasizing “long range goals in the hemisphere” as compared to “priority for Cuba.” (Craig has just been promoted to Major General and will probably be transferred next month.)
4.
Task 191—guerilla training of intelligence teams—requires careful consideration, with the Secretary, before reaching a decision.
5.
Task 5—U.S. relations with the CRC—remains a State responsibility, reversing Lansdaleʼs original proposal.
6.
Unconfirmed rumors brought by four recently-arrived Cuban refugees tell of a mid-June uprising in Cuba. To safe-guard against a premature uprising on the off-chance that there may be some truth in the stories, Dr. Miro plans to make a declaration2 characterizing the reports as rumors, urging the Cuban populace to be patient and await the day of liberation resulting from unified action.DOD is reviewing its contingency planning and reaction time in the event an uprising occurred. We have informed Lansdale that on the basis of information to date there appeared little likelihood of an uprising of proportions that might make U.S. military intervention politically feasible; i.e. a nation-wide revolt that seriously threatened the regime, where the opposition held areas and called for assistance.
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/6-762. Secret. Prepared by Hurwitch.↩
  2. For the tasks cited in the notes, see Document 338.↩
  3. A handwritten addition by Hurwitch at this point reads: “from Costa Rica”.↩