Image Credentials: Image Title: JFK Files Reveal U.S. Plotted Biological Sabotage Against Cuba Disguised as Natural Disaster Source: (sora.chatgpt) Date: June 2025 Attribution: Created by AI-generated imagery (sora.chatgpt), it does not depict a real-world scene.
By Staff Writer
June 5, 2025 — Washington, D.C. — A newly declassified Cold War-era U.S. government document reveals chilling details of how top American officials considered launching a covert biological warfare campaign against Cuba, camouflaged as a natural disaster.
The document, titled “MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE SPECIAL GROUP ON MONGOOSE 6 SEP 62“, was among thousands of pages released as part of the JFK assassination files. It details a high-level 1962 meeting involving the CIA, Joint Chiefs of Staff, State Department officials, and President John F. Kennedy’s National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, discussing sabotage tactics under Operation Mongoose—a secret program aimed at destabilizing and ultimately toppling Fidel Castro’s government.
According to the minutes, U.S. Army General Marshall Carter proposed strategies to induce crop failure using biological agents while making it appear as a naturally occurring event. Bundy reportedly supported covert sabotage, urging that any operation be plausibly deniable and not traceable to U.S. involvement. He advised against overt chemical releases unless they could be completely covered up.
The file, heavily redacted and partially incomplete, contains overlapping versions—one featuring handwritten annotations and the other stamped with CIA objections to its release as recently as 2016. Despite those objections, the document was marked “Top Secret” until this year.
Significantly, the meeting also included then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, whose presence underscores the top-level awareness of the operations. Although the minutes do not record his direct stance on biological sabotage, a note indicates neither he nor Bundy supported reprisals against Cuban exiles carrying out freelance operations.
The revelations further expose the extent and audacity of Operation Mongoose, a wide-ranging CIA-led initiative launched after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Coordinated by Air Force General Edward Lansdale, the operation included propaganda, psychological warfare, sabotage, and even assassination plots targeting Castro.
While many operational details remain classified, this document confirms that the U.S. had both the capability and intent to conduct biological warfare in Cuba. Notably, the Special Group debated how to mask these attacks as agricultural or environmental misfortunes.
These findings align with previous investigative reporting. The Dallas Express had earlier uncovered how the Army allegedly manipulated Mexican media to report false outbreaks of hoof-and-mouth disease and smallpox in Cuba, deterring international attendees from traveling to Havana. The epidemic may never have existed, serving instead as a disinformation campaign.
Further corroborating the covert use of biological tactics, science journalist Kris Newby recounted in a 2024 interview with Corporate Crime Reporter how a former CIA operative claimed to have “dropped infected ticks on Cuban sugar cane workers” during this period. The aim, the man allegedly told Newby, was to devastate Cuba’s sugar industry—its economic backbone.
Though President Nixon officially renounced the use of biological weapons in 1969, ordering a halt to offensive biological research, these documents reveal that such tactics were not only contemplated but discussed at the highest levels of government during the Kennedy administration.
Taken together, these revelations paint a stark portrait of Cold War-era U.S. foreign policy, one where plausible deniability, covert warfare, and psychological manipulation were on the table, even if it meant endangering civilians through engineered disease.
Staff Writers at Open Chronicle produce in-depth, field-informed reporting on defense, diplomacy, cultural transformation, and global affairs. Known for clarity, accuracy, and analytical depth, they connect breaking developments to broader historical and strategic contexts. In addition to frontline journalism, Staff Writers also contribute to the Open Chronicle Encyclopedia, crafting authoritative entries that preserve critical knowledge and enrich public understanding.