Press Release 06/04/98

4 June 1998

The CIA has transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) an initial group of historical records -- consisting of approximately 3,200 pages of declassified CIA documents -- concerning the Bay of Pigs operation.

"This material is historically relevant to the Bay of Pigs operation and its aftermath," said Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet. "It is part of our ongoing effort and commitment to review for declassification records pertaining to historical events."

As a result of CIA's declassification efforts over the past five years, a significant amount of material of historical importance has been declassified. Over 227,000 pages of records pertaining to the assassination of President Kennedy have been released to NARA, over 500 National Intelligence Estimates and more than 11,000 pages of finished intelligence on the former Soviet Union have been released, about 1,800 pages have been released on the Guatemala covert action, over 4,000 pages from our intelligence journal, Studies in Intelligence, have been released, and 14,000 pages were reviewed for the State Department's Foreign Relations of the United States series.

This release includes the following documents: CIA Inspector General's assessment of the Bay of Pigs operation and the Directorate of Plans' response (Both of these documents were previously released in February 1998 to the National Security Archives in response to a FOIA request. They are being re-released in this group of documents so that they are available to the public at large in a single collection at the National Archives.); CIA History Staff's Studies in Intelligence article entitled "The CIA's Internal Probe of the Bay of Pigs Affair," by Michael Warner; Record of the Paramilitary Action Against the Castro Government of Cuba 17 March 1960-May 1961, CIA Clandestine Services History Monograph based on the after-action report by Colonel Jack Hawkins; Finished intelligence on developments in Cuba: NIEs, Special Estimates, and relevant current intelligence publications; Briefing notes for the DCI prepared by CIA staff prior to National Security Council meetings; Training records of the 2506th Brigade (in Spanish); and graphics (560 photographs and 6 diagrams related to the training activities of the 2506th Brigade.)

The documents will be available to individual requesters in hard copy and CD-ROM from the College Park facility of the NARA as of Wednesday, 10 June. The documents will also be available on the Agency's FOIA Internet website at http://www.foia.ucia.gov as of Friday, 5 June.