1/16/1961

“JAN 16, 1961: URA [Union Revolucionaria Anticomunista, Anti-Communist Revolutionary Union] representative Marcos Valdes Castilla sends a message to the MRR [Movimiento de Recuperacion Revolucionaria– Revolutionary Recovery Movement] stating that a message has been received from Cuba stating that [Fidel] Castro’s forces will start an offensive against the resistance forces in the Escambray. ‘Help is urgently needed; if it is possible, the attackers should be bombed.’ Urgent assistance is requested in order to ‘unleash an offensive of terror and sabotage in the capital.’ The source of the intelligence on Castro’s offensive apparently comes from an agent working in the government palace.”

“The Bay of Pigs Invasion/Playa Giron: A Chronology of Events,” The National Security Archive, NSArchive2.gwu.edu