Henry Raymont, an American journalist known for being the first to report on the U.S.-supported invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, passed away on Tuesday in Tepoztlán, Mexico, where he had resided for many years. He was 98 years old.
His daughter, Sarah Raymont, stated that he died peacefully in his sleep at an assisted living facility.
Mr. Raymont was working as a United Press International reporter in Havana when Cuban exiles landed at BahÃa de Cochinos, the Bay of Pigs, in April 1961. This covert military operation aimed to overthrow Fidel Castro's government, which had been in power for just over two years. The mission ultimately failed and became synonymous with poorly planned ventures.
Years later, Mr. Raymont reflected, “I gave the first news of the Bay of Pigs.” Shortly after he informed his editors in New York, armed militiamen invaded his apartment and took him to military intelligence headquarters, accusing him of being an enemy agent and threatening him with execution. Many others were also detained, some of whom Mr. Raymont reported were executed.
After six days, diplomatic efforts resulted in Mr. Raymont's release. He later met with Castro, who acknowledged the mistake of his detention and offered to make amends, allowing Mr. Raymont to interview him eight times over the years.
In a 2016 interview following Castro's death, Mr. Raymont expressed a complex view of the leader, recognizing both the injustices and the significant change he brought to Cuba, stating, “A nothing country became an epicenter of power politics.”
Mr. Raymont, born Heinz Rabinowitz on April 21, 1927, in Königsberg, Germany, emigrated with his family to Argentina in 1936 to escape the Nazis. He later changed his name while working for United Press to avoid sharing a byline with a colleague.
He attended British boarding schools in Argentina and pursued higher education in the United States, graduating from Indiana University in 1951. He became a U.S. citizen in 1953 and studied at Harvard University under a Nieman fellowship in 1961.
In 1966, he married Wendy Marcus, a lawyer who worked in the White House. The couple spent their later years in Tepoztlán, where Wendy Raymont passed away in 2019. Mr. Raymont is survived by his daughter, two sons, and several grandchildren.
Throughout his career, Mr. Raymont focused on Latin American affairs, authoring the book "Troubled Neighbors" in 2005, which explored U.S. relations with Latin America from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush.
His experiences in Cuba were formative, and he recounted his imprisonment with a diverse group of fellow detainees. Reflecting on the atmosphere in the cell, he noted that many were resigned to their fate, with some even singing in the face of imminent execution.