◆ SpookStack

-'fOP SECRET On 10 January 1961, President Eisenhower got involved in a meeting concerning the planned opera- tions against Castro. On that day the New York Times broke a story about the training of the Cuban troops in Guatemala. As the ex-President himself wrote: On the morning of January 10 [1961], the New York Times carried an article, with a map, describing the training of anti-Castro forces in Guatemala •.. It told most of the story. I decided that we should say nothing at all about this article. Believing that my successor might want some day to assist the refugee forces to move into CUba, I considered that we were limited in what we could say about them. 36/ Whether a meeting had been planned prior to the appearance of the New York Times article is not known, but the Senate Foreign Relations Committee did call on the administration to send a representative up to the Hill on 12 January 1961, in order to provide fur- ther explanation of the Times article. Of the two candid~tes being considered to appear before the Senate, Thomas Mann, Assistant Secretary of State for American Republic Affairs, or DCI Dulles, it was decided to send Mr. Dulles to appear before the Senate Committee. However, President Eisenhower raised certain questions as to the right of a Committee to ask questions on foreign - 196 - 'l'O'P SEC~ [:: 1