OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WASHINGTON 25 D C 20 F ebru ary 1962 EYES ONLY EYES ONLY OF ADDRESSEES FROM B rig Gen L a n s d a l e SUBJECT The Cuba P r o je c t Transm itted herew ith is the p rojection o f action s to help Cubans recapture th eir freedo si This total plan is EYES ONLY The liv e s o f many b ra v e people depend on the secu rity of thiB paper entrusted to you in ference that this plan exists could place the P residen t o f the United States in a m ost damaging position This is a sp e cific plan with tim e phases It responds to the request o f the Special Group 5412 fo r such a paper I urge that this paper not be m ade known in this com plete form beyond y ou rself and those nam ed as ad d ressees The A ttorney G eneral Special Group G eneral T aylor State S ecretary Rusk A lexis Johnson R ichard Goodwin D efense S ecretary M cN am ara Deputy S ecretary G ilpatric B rig Gen Craig H fcMrti SQr CIA John M cC on e Richard H elm s William Harvey USIA Ed M u rrow Don W ilson L 4JL a u vU - D'da-fifiedundertheprovisions 01 Li- JFK Assassination Rcccrds Act cf 1S92 FL102-526 f- ff m NARA-thu 8 o m n SF -40P-SGBPeRSsENSiTIVE lo % It - 6i-tUx TOP S ECHRIErF SEN SITIVE 2Q F eb ru r y 19 2 P r o g r a m R eview by B r ig G en L an sdale H THE C U B A P R O JE C T m t T h e G o a l In keepin g with the s p ir it o f the P re s id e n tia l m em orandum o f 30 N o v e m b e r 1961 the U nited States w ill h elp the people o f Cuba o v e r th row the C om m u n ist r e g im e fr o m w ithin Cuba and institute a new g o v e rn m en t w ith w h ich the U nited States ca n liv e in p e a c e T3 T h e Situation We s till know to o little about the rea l situation in side C uba although w e a r e taking e n e r g e tic step s to le a r n m o r e H ow ever so m e sa lie n t fa c ts a r e known It is known that the C om m unist regim e is an a c t iv e S in o -S o v ie t sp earh ea d in o u r 'H e m is p h e r e and that C om m unist c o n t r o ls in s id e Cuba a r e s e v e r e A ls o th ere is ev id en ce that the r e p r e s siv e m e a s u r e s o f the C o m m u n ists to g e th e r with disappointm ents in C a s t r o 's e c o n o m ic d ep en d en cy on the C om m u n ist fo rm u la have resu lted in an a n t i-r e g im e a tm o sp h e re am ong the Cuban p eop le which m akes a r e s is t a n c e p r o g r a m a d istin ct and p re s e n t p o s s ib ility T im e is running against u s The Cuban p e o p le fe e l h e lp le s s and are lo s in g h op e fa s t T h ey need sy m b o ls o f in s id e r e s is ta n c e and o f outside in te r e s t so o n T h ey need som eth in g they ca n jo in with the hope o f starting to w o rk s u r e ly to w a rd s o v e rth ro w in g the r e g im e Since late N ov em b er we have b e e n w ork in g h ard to r e - o r ie n t the o p e ra tio n a l co n ce p ts within the U S g o v e rn m e n t and to d e v e lo p the h ard in te llig e n c e and op era tion a l a ss e ts r e q u ir e d f o r s u c c e s s in our task i The next N ational In tellig en ce E stim a te on Cuba NIE 8 5 -6 2 p r o m is e s to b e a u s e fu l d ocu m en t dealing with o u r p r a c t ic a l needs and with due r e c o g n itio n o f the sp a r sity o f hard fa c ts The n eed s o f the Cuba p r o je c t a s it g o e s into o p e ra tio n plus the in c r e a s in g U S ca p a b ility fo r in tellig en ce c o lle c t io n sh ould p e r m it m o r e freq u en t e s tim a te s fo r ou r guidance T h ese w ill be p r e p a r e d o n a p e r io d ic b a s is P r e m is e o f A ctio n A m e rica n s o n c e ran a s u c c e s s fu l revolu tion It w as run fr o m w ithin and su cce e d e d b e ca u s e th ere was tim e ly and strong p o lit ic a l e c o n o m ic and m ilita r y h elp by nations outside who supported o u r cause U sin g this sam e con cep t o f re v o lu tio n fr o m within we m ust now h e lp the Cuban p eop le to stam p out tyranny and gain th e ir lib e rty On 18 J a n u a ry the C h ief o f O pera tion s a ssig n e d th irty -tw o tasks to D ep a rtm en ts and A g e n c ie s o f the U S govern m en t in o r d e r to provide a r e a lis t ic a s s e s s m e n t and p re p a ra tio n o f U S c a p a b ilitie s The A ttorney G e n e ra l and the S p e cia l G roup w ere a p p r is e d o f this a ction The an sw ers r e c e iv e d on 15 F e b ru a ry p ro v id e d the b a s is fo r planning a r e a lis tic co u rs e o f a ctio n The a n s w e r s a ls o re v e a le d that the c o u r s e o f a ction m ust co n tain con tinu ing co o rd in a tio n and fir m o v e r a ll guidance T he c o u r s e o f a ctio n set forth h e r e in is r e a lis t ic within p resen t o p e ra tion al e s tim a te s and in te llig e n ce A ctu a lly it re p resen ts the m axim um ta rg e t tim in g w hich the op era tion a l p eop le jo in tly co n sid e re d fe a s ib le It a im s f o r a r e v o lt w hich ca n take p la ce in Cuba by O ctober 1962 It is a Excluded from automatic re grading DoD Dir 5200 10 does not annlv SENSITIVE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ TOP SE GiRET Canitixed under the provisions o the jr K Asccrsination Records ColIectifH#Act of 1S92 PL102-526 This document contains_____pgs Copy No of ___copies A ' NA R A H I JPY v i U s been rea c a resu r s u or f t t tnu f a i t freview AVM W as TOP SECRET SENSITIVE s e r ie s of target actions and dates not a rigid tim e-table a re tim ed as follow s Phase I A ction M arch 1962 The target dates Start m oving in Phase II Build-up A p ril-J u ly 1962 Activating the necessary op era - tions inside Cuba for revolution and con cu rren tly applying the vital politica l eco n o m ic and m ilitary-typ e support fro m outside Cuba Phase III Readiness 1 August 1962 check fo r final policy decision Phase IV R esistan ce A u gust-S eptem ber 1962 m ove into guerrilla operation s ii Phase V Revolt fir s t two w eeks o f O ctober 1962 Open revolt and overth row o f the Communist reg im e Phase VI Final during month o f O ctober 1962 gove rnment Establishment o f new Plan o f Action Attached is an operational plan fo r the overthrow o f the Communist regim e in Cuba by Cubans fro m within Cuba with outside help fro m the U S and elsew h ere Since this is an operation to prompt and support a revolt by the people in a Com m unist police state flexibility is a m ust fo r su ccess D ecision s on operational flexibility rest with the C hief o f Operations with consultation in the Special Group when policy m atters are involved Target actions and dates are detailed in the attached operational plans which co v e r A B asic A ction Plan Inside Cuba B P o litica l Support Plan C E conom ic Support Plan D P sych olog ica l Support Plan E M ilitary Support Plan F Sabotage Support Plan G Intelligence Support Plan E arly P o licy D ecision s The operational plan for clandestine U S support o f a Cuban movem ent inside Cuba to overthrow the Communist regim e is within p olicy lim its already set by the President A vital decision still to be m ade is t n the use o f open U S fo r c e to aid the Cuban people in winning their liberty If conditions and a ssets permitting a revolt are achieved in Cuba and if U S help is required to sustain this condition will the U S respond prom ptly with m ilita ry fo r c e to aid the Cuban revolt The contingencies under which such m ilita ry deploym ent would be needed and recom m ended U S respon ses are detailed in a memorandum being prepared by the S ecretaries of State and o f D efense An early decision is required p rio r to deep involvement o f the Cubans in this program SENSITIVE TOP SECRET 2 TOP SECRET SENSITIVE Distribution C op y N o T he P r e s id e n t 2 T he A tto rn e y G en era l 3 G e n e ra l T a y lo r 4 T h e S e c r e t a r y o f State th rou gh Deputy U nder S e c r e t a r y John son 5 T he S e c r e t a r y o f D efen se th rough Deputy S e c r e t a r y G ilp a tr ic 6 T h e D ir e c t o r C en tral In te llig e n ce A g e n cy 7 T h e D ir e c t o r U S In fo rm a tio n A g e n cy th rough Deputy D ir e c t o r W ils o n 8 State M r G oodw in 9 D e fe n se B r ig G en C ra ig 10 11 -12 C IA M r H arvey Chief of O p era tion s B r ig G en L a n sd a le This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu