Editing E. Howard Hunt (section)

==CIA Career==
(1949–1970) Hunt joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1949, recruited by [[Frank Wisner]] for the Office of Policy Coordination, the agency’s covert action arm. His 21-year CIA tenure involved high-profile operations, often controversial, cementing his reputation as a skilled but reckless operative.

[[Operation PBSuccess]] (1954): Hunt served as chief of political action for the CIA’s coup against Guatemala’s President [[Jacobo Arbenz]] authorized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Working under [[Tracy Barnes]] and alongside [[David Atlee Phillips]], Hunt orchestrated propaganda, including radio broadcasts and leaflets, to destabilize Árbenz’s government. The operation, driven by United Fruit Company interests and Cold War anti-communism, succeeded in installing Carlos Castillo Armas, but sparked Guatemala’s civil war (1960–1996). Hunt’s memoirs, Undercover (1974) and American Spy (2007), detail his role, confirmed by declassified CIA documents (1997).

Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): Hunt was a key planner for the CIA’s failed invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro, under [[Richard M. Bissell Jr.]] As political officer, he liaised with the Cuban Revolutionary Council, a Miami-based exile group, and drafted a provisional government plan. Hunt’s disdain for President John F. Kennedy’s was supposedly based on JFK's refusal to provide air support; however that is untrue. JFK provided air support initially but the operation was compromised by the CIA using the wrong model of aircraft and was highlighted by the media. JFK refused to authorize the second wave of attacks because of the media's exposing the ruse. The operation’s collapse damaged Hunt’s CIA standing, leading to his reassignment which was the real reason for his disdain; he should have foresaw the discrepancy and did not.

Mexico City and Anti-Castro Operations: In the early 1960s, Hunt served in Mexico City, monitoring Soviet and Cuban activities and cultivating anti-Castro exiles. He later claimed involvement in plots to assassinate Castro, though declassified records (e.g., 1978 House Select Committee on Assassinations) offer no direct evidence. His Mexico City tenure overlapped with Lee Harvey Oswald’s 1963 visit, fueling conspiracy theories about Hunt’s role in Kennedy’s assassination, which he denied.

Other Operations: Hunt worked on covert actions in Japan, Uruguay, and Spain (where [[Otto Skorzeny]] operated under the CIA's and NATO's guidance as a trainer for [[Operation Gladio]] as well as one of their operators), often under diplomatic cover. In 1950, he was station chief in Vienna, managing anti-Soviet operations. He us said to have played a role in the 1953 Operation Ajax (Iran coup) as well. Hunt’s flamboyant style—nicknamed “Eduardo” by colleagues—clashed with CIA’s bureaucratic culture, limiting his promotions.