CIA ACTIVITIES IN HONDURAS
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Special Activities CenterThe Special Activities Center (SAC) is the center of the United States Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to a 2015 reorganization. Within SAC there are at least two separate groups: SAC/SOG (Special Operations Group) for tactical paramilitary operations and SAC/PAG (Political Action Group) for covert political action. The Special Operations Group is responsible for operations that include clandestine or covert operations with which the US government does not want to be overtly associated. As such, unit members, called Paramilitary Operations Officers and Specialized Skills Officers, do not typically wear uniforms. If they are compromised during a mission, the US government may deny all knowledge. The group generally recruits personnel from special mission units within the U.S. Special Operations community. SOG Paramilitary Operations Officers account for a majority of Distinguished Intelligence Cross and Intelligence Star recipients during conflicts or incidents that elicited CIA involvement. These are the highest two awards for valor within the CIA in recognition of distinguished valor and excellence in the line of duty. SOG operatives also account for the majority of the stars displayed on the Memorial Wall at CIA headquarters, indicating that the officer died while on active duty. The Latin motto of SAC is Tertia Optio, which means "Third Option," as covert action represents an additional option within the realm of national security when diplomacy and military action are not feasible. The Ground Branch of the Special Operations Group has been known to operate alongside the United Kingdom's E Squadron, the UK's equivalent paramilitary unit. The Political Action Group is responsible for covert activities related to political influence, psychological operations, economic warfare, and cyberwarfare. Tactical units within SAC can also carry out covert political action while deployed in hostile and austere environments. A large covert operation typically has components that involve many or all of these categories as well as paramilitary operations. Covert political and influence operations are used to support US foreign policy. As overt support for one element of an insurgency can be counterproductive due to the unfavorable impression of the United States in some countries, in such cases covert assistance allows the US to assist without damaging the reputation of its beneficiaries.
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and conducting covert operations. The agency is headquartered in the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia, and is sometimes metonymously called "Langley". A major member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA has reported to the director of national intelligence since 2004, and is focused on providing intelligence for the president and the Cabinet. The CIA is headed by a director and is divided into various directorates, including a Directorate of Analysis and Directorate of Operations. Unlike the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the CIA has no law enforcement function and focuses on intelligence gathering overseas, with only limited domestic intelligence collection. The CIA is responsible for coordinating all human intelligence (HUMINT) activities in the IC. It has been instrumental in establishing intelligence services in many countries, and has provided support to many foreign organizations. The CIA exerts foreign political influence through its paramilitary operations units, including its Special Activities Center. It has also provided support to several foreign political groups and governments, including planning, coordinating, training and carrying out torture, and technical support. It was involved in many regime changes and carrying out terrorist attacks and planned assassinations of foreign leaders. During World War II, U.S. intelligence and covert operations had been undertaken by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The office was abolished in 1945 by President Harry S. Truman, who created the Central Intelligence Group in 1946. Amid the intensifying Cold War, the National Security Act of 1947 established the CIA, headed by a director of central intelligence (DCI). The Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 exempted the agency from most Congressional oversight, and during the 1950s, it became a major instrument of U.S. foreign policy. The CIA employed psychological operations against communist regimes, and backed coups to advance American interests. Major CIA-backed operations include the 1953 coup in Iran, the 1954 coup in Guatemala, the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, and the 1973 coup in Chile. In 1975, the Church Committee of the U.S. Senate revealed illegal operations such as MKUltra and CHAOS, after which greater oversight was imposed. In the 1980s, the CIA supported the Afghan mujahideen and Nicaraguan Contras, and since the September 11 attacks in 2001 has played a role in the Global War on Terrorism. The agency has been the subject of numerous controversies, including its use of political assassinations, torture, domestic wiretapping, propaganda, mind control techniques, and drug trafficking, among others.
CIA activities in GuatemalaThe U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has a history of interference in the government of Guatemala over the course of several decades. Guatemala is bordered by the North Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Honduras (also known as the Caribbean Sea). The four bordering countries are Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. Due to the proximity of Guatemala to the United States, the fear of the Soviet Union creating a beachhead in Guatemala created panic in the United States government during the Cold War. In an interview, Howard Hunt, CIA Chief, Mexico, stated that "We were faced here with the obvious intervention of a foreign power, because these home grown parties, are not really home grown, they are being funded...or advised by a foreign power, i.e. the Soviet Union." The CIA undertook Operation PBSuccess to overthrow the democratically elected Jacobo Árbenz in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état. Carlos Castillo Armas replaced him as a military dictator. Guatemala was subsequently ruled by a series of military dictatorships for decades. Between 1962 and 1996, Left-wing guerrillas fought the U.S. backed military governments during the Guatemalan Civil War. According to the George Washington University's "The National Security Archive," there are still over 100,000 pages of documents on CIA activities in Guatemala that have not been released. The multitude of documents showed a consistent line of communication between Guatemala station and CIA headquarters building to a possible coup attempt against Arbenz.
CIA activities in HondurasCIA activities in Honduras have been ongoing since the 1980s. More has become known to the public with the release of declassified documents.
CIA activities in NicaraguaCIA activities in Nicaragua were frequent in the late 20th century. The increasing influence gained by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, a left-wing and anti-imperialist political party in Nicaragua, led to a sharp decrease in Nicaragua–United States relations, particularly after the Nicaraguan Revolution. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to support the Contras, a right-wing Nicaraguan political group to combat the influence held by the Sandinistas in the Nicaraguan government. Various anti-government rebels in Nicaragua were organized into the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the first Contra group, at the behest of the CIA. The CIA also supplied the Contras with training and equipment, including materials related to torture and assassination. There have also been allegations that the CIA engaged in drug trafficking in Nicaragua.
CIA activities in JapanThe activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Japan date back to the Allied occupation of Japan. Douglas MacArthur's Chief of Intelligence, Charles Willoughby, authorized the creation of a number of Japanese subordinate intelligence-gathering organizations known as kikan. Many of these kikan contained individuals purged because of their classification as war criminals. In addition, the CIA organized and financed a Japanese intelligence gathering program, Operation "Takematsu", utilizing the kikan as part of an intel gathering operation against North Korea, the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin. One of the kikan created, the "Hattori group", led by Takushiro Hattori, allegedly plotted to stage a coup d'etat and assassinate Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida on account of his opposition to Japanese nationalism. Under the direction of the American Far East Command, Willoughby amassed an on-paper force of over 2,500 intelligence personnel. The CIA and military intelligence established numerous extrajudicial agencies including the "Canon Organ" which allegedly engaged in illegal abductions and torture of left-wing political activists, including novelist Kaji Wataru. The CIA was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the formation of the present Japanese political system. The agency was financially involved in the creation of the Liberal Party by abetting the requisitioning of assets seized from China. The agency also participated in an influence campaign in order to sway the Liberals' successor, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), towards accepting Nobusuke Kishi as prime minister. The CIA was active in advising the LDP on policy in regards to military installations in Japan and security interests. This process of aiding the Liberal Democratic Party also involved the agency establishing what has come to be described as an "iron triangle" dealing in the trade of tungsten, for the purpose of covertly financing the LDP. In addition to supporting the LDP financially, multiple authors have alleged that the CIA actively subverted and interfered with the Japan Socialist Party and anti-American protests in Okinawa. Prior to the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, CIA operatives arrived in Japan as part of Project BLUEBIRD to test "behavioral techniques" on suspected double agents. US intelligence helped allegedly establish and administer several clandestine funds collectively known as the M-fund. The M-fund was allegedly used to enrich CIA contact Yoshio Kodama, who ostensibly used the fund to bankroll Yakuza protection for US President Dwight Eisenhower during his cancelled 1960 visit to Japan.
CIA activities by countryThe Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States that has carried out numerous confirmed and alleged activities across the world since its founding in 1947.
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