Operation Mongoose

Operation Mongoose, also known as the Cuban Project, was an extensive campaign of terrorist attacks against civilians, and covert operations, carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Cuba. It was officially authorized on November 30, 1961, by U.S. president John F. Kennedy. The name "Operation Mongoose" was agreed to at a White House meeting on November 4, 1961. The operation was run out of JMWAVE, a major secret United States covert operations and intelligence gathering station on the campus of the University of Miami. The operation was led by United States Air Force general Edward Lansdale on the military side and William King Harvey at the CIA and went into effect after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. Operation Mongoose was a secret program against Cuba that aimed to remove the Cuban government from power, and to force the Cuban government to introduce intrusive civil measures and divert precious resources to protect its citizens from the attacks. The removal of the Castro government was a prime focus of the Kennedy administration. The terrorist activities carried out by agents armed, organized and funded by the CIA were a further source of tension between the U.S. and Cuban governments. They were a major factor contributing to the Soviet decision to place missiles in Cuba, and in the Cuban decision to accept, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis.