The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed 1961 [[Central Intelligence Agency]] operation to overthrow [[Fidel Castro]] in [[Cuba]] whose veterans became key operatives in Contra operations and drug trafficking networks during the 1980s. When the CIA needed a secret base to prepare for the invasion, Nicaraguan dictator [[Anastasio Somoza]] provided it. "The U.S. called me, and I agreed to have the bombers leave here and knock the hell out of the installations in Cuba, like a Pearl Harbor deal," Somoza said.[^1] ### Veterans in the Contra War Bay of Pigs veterans formed the backbone of the CIA's Contra operations. [[Felix Rodriguez]], a Bay of Pigs veteran who had participated in the capture and execution of [[Che Guevara]], was sent to [[San Salvador]] to manage the Contra resupply operation at [[Ilopango Airbase]] using the alias "Max Gomez." DEA agent [[Celerino Castillo|Celerino Castillo III]] encountered a Cuban named Socrates Sofi-Perez, who proudly informed him that he was a Bay of Pigs veteran and a Contra supporter while describing the drug trafficking scheme at the base. [[Troilo Sanchez|Troilo Sánchez]] was a Bay of Pigs veteran who became a Contra drug trafficker. [[Moises Nunez|Moisés Nuñez]], another Bay of Pigs veteran, was connected to the Contra cocaine network.[^2] ### DIACSA and Cuban Networks [[DIACSA]], a [[Miami]] aircraft company run by Cuban Bay of Pigs veteran Alfredo Caballero, served as a cover company used by the Costa Rican Contras to secretly buy aircraft. The CIA deliberately recruited Bay of Pigs veterans for Contra work, replacing less controllable Contra leaders with drug dealers and Cuban veterans working with the Chamorro faction of [[UDN-FARN]]. The anti-Castro Cuban community in Miami, organized around Bay of Pigs networks, provided financial support and volunteers for the Contra cause and maintained their intelligence connections for decades. The overlap between Bay of Pigs networks, the drug trade, and Contra operations was a recurring feature of the 1980s covert war.[^3] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 5. [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 15, Ch. 6. [^3]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Ch. 6, Ch. 14.