Gerry Droller
Gerry Droller | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gerald Droller 1905? CIA |
| Codename | Frank Bender |
| Codename | Gerry Drecher[1][2] |
| Codename | Mister B |
| Codename | Don Federico |
Gerard "Gerry" Droller (1905? - 1992)[CIA officer involved in the covert 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état and the recruitment of Cuban exiles in the preparation of the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961.
Biography
Gerard Droller was born in Germany. He worked with Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the Maquis in France during World War II.
On 21 April 1959, Droller had a three-hour meeting with Fidel Castro in a hotel room in New York City after the latter's visit to Washington.[2][3][4]
In June 1960, Droller was sent to Miami, as Chief Political Action (C/WH/4/PA) under
Miguel Ydigoras. He helped recruit Cuban exiles into a paramilitary force subsequently named Brigade 2506 that, with considerable finance from the CIA, carried out the abortive invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs on 17 April 1961. He did not speak Spanish, and he was not universally liked by the Cuban exiles.[5][6][7]
See also
- CIA activities in Guatemala
- Cuban Project
Notes
- ^ Szulc (1986)[page needed] (possible transcription error of Castro narrative?)
- ^ a b Anderson (1997), p.417 (1959)(quote)On April 21, after giving a talk at Princeton, Fidel agreed to a meeting with a CIA official who had asked Lopez Fresquet to act as go-between. They spoke in private for over three hours. The CIA man, Garry Drecher, a German-American emigre who used the alias of "Frank Bender," told Lopez Fresquet afterward that he was convinced Castro was an "anti-Communist" and that they had agreed to exchange information about Communist activities in Cuba.(endquote)
- ^ Thomas (1971), p.431
- ^ Szulc (1986)
- ^ Kornbluh (1998), pp.20,212
- ^ Rodriguez (1999), p.16
- ^ Wyden (1979), p.32
References
- Anderson, Jon L. 1997. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. ISBN 0802135587
- Kornbluh, Peter. 1998. Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIA Report on the Invasion of Cuba. The New Press. New York. ISBN 978-1565844940
- Rodriguez, Juan Carlos. 1999. Bay of Pigs and the CIA. Ocean Press Melbourne. ISBN 1-875284-98-2
- Szulc, Tad. 1986. Fidel - A Critical Portrait. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-172602-6
- Thomas, Hugh. 1971, 1986. The Cuban Revolution. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. (Shortened version of Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom, includes all history 1952-1970) ISBN 0-297-78954-6
- ISBN 978-0-671-24006-6
External links
- The Trujillo Conspiracy http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/trujillo-conspiracy.htm