◆ SpookStack

'fOP §EC~ET and refreshments, and departed shortly thereafter. The good judgment and dis- cretion of Mr. C .3 .:lare felt to be "directly responsible ~ avoidance of what could have been a serious incident involving loss of lives, or injury to Agency and other island personnel.* lSI The question of the exact nature of the broad- casts from Swan was the subject of much discussion, both prior to the opening of the station and subse- quent to its first broadcast. The Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, for example, called Jake .. ~ Esterline, Chief, Project JMATE to report on conver~ sation that he (General Cabell) had with "a person of considerable importance who was very familiar with Cuba," concerning the nature of the propaganda which should be aimed at the Cuban pop~lation. Cabell stated that according to this important person, if tapes of Castro's radio broadcasts could be acquired and then patched together for rebroadcasting to the Cuban population for hours on end, the effect would be "to bore the people horribly with Castro, but would * The island was manned by 24 people, all but nine of whom were CIA personnel. The nine were unwitting technicians of the Philco Corporation. - 217 -