WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Newly discovered unclassified CIA documents show the agency predicted the 1961 U.S. invasion of Cuba to topple Fidel Castro would fail.
The 300-page document from Nov. 15, 1960, said the Bay of Pigs assault would not have the backing of "internal unrest earlier believed possible," and the concept of securing a beach with an airstrip "is also now seen to be unachievable."
The Miami Herald said it is unclear whether CIA Director Allen Dulles passed the assessment along three days later, at President John F. Kennedy's post-election national security briefing in Palm Beach, Fla., or whether changes were made as a result of the finding.
On April 17, 1961, Castro's forces defeated the CIA-trained and backed brigade in less than 72 hours. About 114 men were killed, and more than 1,100 forces were captured and held until the United States traded $53 million in food and medicine for their freedom.
The report was discovered in June in a box marked "Miscellaneous" at the National Archives, the newspaper said.
