Psywar on Cuba
The Declassified History of US Anti-Castro Propaganda
Edited by Jon Elliston
Using newly declassified CIA and US Government documents Jon Elliston exposes a 40-year campaign by Washington to use psychological warfare and propaganda to destabilize Cuba and undermine its revolution.
The Cuban people have been the target for one of the largest psychological warfare campaigns ever waged by one country against another. This book details the US "psywar" efforts, overt and covert, which have included rumor campaigns, posters, newspapers, books, comics, newsreels, leaflet drops, and radio and TV broadcasts from airplanes, blimps, boats, submarines, secluded islands and the US mainland.
As a comprehensive record of the political, legal and strategic aspects of this four-decade long, multi-million dollar propaganda barrage, the book will serve as a valuable case study and reference for teachers and students of political science, Cold War history, media studies and international communication.
Hundreds of pages of previously secret documents are included in this unique and stunning contribution to the literature on US foreign policy and anti-Castro covert operations.
Newly classified CIA and US government documents are reproduced here for the first time, exposing a 40-year campaign to use psychological warfare and propaganda to destabilize Cuba and undermine its revolution. A gripping and truly astonishing read.
—Society for Caribbean Studies
In Psywar on Cuba Jon Elliston provides an excellent overview of the whole sad story of US efforts to use radio broadcasting and now TC against the Castro government—efforts which are simply part of a deceitful and utterly counterproductive policy… One cannot read Elliston’s book without groaning and asking, ‘how could we be so stupid?’
—Wayne S. Smith
Whether or not you like Castro’s regime, its survival for 40 years against America’s imperial might is cause for celebration. Against Castro the Americans tried invasion, economic warfare, sabotage, assassination, terrorism and psychological warfare (psywar)… This book presents declassified American documents on operations ranging from Operation Mongoose in the early 1960s to the farcical attempts to broadcast anti-Castro TV at Cuba in the 1990s. The book is nicely produced and Elliston’s explanatory comments are clear. If you didn’t know about these operations or need the documentations, this is for you…
—Red Pepper
Psywar—psychological warfare—is not so widely commented on or reported as other aspects of modern conflicts…. The campaign against Castro and the revolutionary government of Cuba was manifested in a variety of forms, including rumour campaigns, newspapers, books, comics, and radio and TV broadcasts. Elliston points out that he has expanded the usual definition of psywar here to include material that was aimed at US citizens to influence their opinions…. This represents an up-to-date case study that will be of use to those studying US-Cuba relations, political science and Cold War history.
—British Bulletin of Publications
