The 40th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion was marked by an extraordinary conference in Havana involving former officials of the Kennedy Administration, the CIA, members of Brigade 2506, and Cuban government and military officials. The anniversary has also saw the release of numerous documents related to the ill-fated expedition. This offering consists of two volumes: the first contains the...

Next month is the 40th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and this was marked last week by an extraordinary conference last week in Havana which involved former officials of the Kennedy Administration, the CIA, members of Brigade 2506, and Cuban government and military officials. The anniversary has also seen the release of numerous documents related to the ill-fated expedition. Although it...

Many people continue to speculate what will happen in Cuba after the presidency of Fidel Castro ends, and this rather interesting report from the RAND Corporation offers some insight into a number of potential scenarios. Authored by researchers Edward Gonzalez and Kevin McCarthy, the 154-page study identified five potential problem areas in particular, including an aging population, a growing...

Foreign Policy has distinguished itself for decades by offering up thoughtful and critical analyses of a broad range of pressing policy issues, including international affairs, intergovernmental relations, and public policy on a global scale. This website presents a 50th anniversary review of the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962. On the site, visitors can experience the events of the crisis...

The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School (described in the April 4, 1997 Scout Report), a major online repository of primary sources, has made recent additions of interest to students and teachers of American History. Where the first collection deals with the establishment of the New World, the second describes its near destruction in one of the hottest incidents in the Cold War, the Cuban...

This intriguing collection from the University of Miami Libraries brings together videos, outlines, and selected transcripts of oral history interviews conducted with first-generation Cubans exiled since the Cuban Revolution. The project began in 2008 and its stated goal is "to document the Cuban experience on the island and in the diaspora." Currently, the project contains over 40 interviews with...

After spending 36 years locked in a safe in the CIA director's office, this highly critical report of the CIA's handling of the Bay of Pigs Invasion was made public on February 22, 1998, after a two year Freedom of Information Act effort by The National Security Archive at George Washington University (discussed in the September 20, 1996 Scout Report). The top secret report, officially known as ...

On Wednesday, the National Security Archive released newly declassified portions of the Taylor Commission Report, the report from the commission charged by President Kennedy with investigating the Bay of Pigs incident. The eight documents in this new release add crucial details to the picture that emerged from prior, more heavily censored releases of Taylor Commission materials in 1977 and 1986....

Freedom in Cuba during the 20th century had many faces, some of which are revealed through this amazing collection of documents. Offered by the Wilson Center, this collection was compiled by Dr. Piero Gleijeses, who spent a significant time looking through the Cuban archives for work on several books. He gathered 3,500 pages of Cuban documents, some of which are available in this electronic...