JOSE PEREZ "PEPE" SAN RAMON - AUTOGRAPH - HFSID 17672

JOSÉ PERÉZ SAN RAMÓN
Commander of Brigade 2506, the assault force of Cuban exiles who fought at the Bay of Pigs
Signature: "José/S Ramon/Commanding Officer/Bay of Pigs Invasion", 5x3 card. José Peréz San Ramón (1930-1989), called Pépe, was a US-trained Cuban military officer in the 1950s. Arrested for involvement in a plot to assassinate then-President Batista, he was freed when Fidel Castro took power, but soon found himself in trouble with the new regime. Arrested again for aiding the escape of an anti-Castro Cuban general, he himself left for the US in November 1959. In 1960, San Ramón was recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency for training in an anti-Castro armed force. In November 1960, he was made commander of the invasion force, Brigade 2506. The assault on the Cuban beachhead known in the US as the Bay of Pigs (April 1961), was a failure. Recriminations continue as to whether the fault lay with the CIA, which had grossly misjudged Castro's ability to withstand such an invasion, or with President Kennedy, who refused to commit US armed forces directly to the battle. In any case, no blame accrues to the Cuban assault force, many of whose members perished on the beaches or were captured by Castro's troops. San Ramón, like many of his comrades, was captured and imprisoned until December 1962, when Castro released most of the prisoners in exchange for food and farm equipment. San Ramón was on the stage when President Kennedy greeted the returning combatants later that month. José San Ramón remained with the Cuban exile community in Miami, but took his own life in 1989. Fine condition.