Bay of Pigs

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Bay of Pigs
Reference http//images.wbur.org/content/2006/03/
13/ungerer220.jpg
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How did it all start?

• Cuban relations with the United States first
  began to deteriorate after the Cuban Revolution
  of 1959
• The Eisenhower administration and later the
  Kennedy administration, both felt that Cuban
  policies such as the expropriation of all US
  assets on the island and the efforts of the Cuban
  government to form close ties with the Soviet
  Union intolerable
• On March 17, 1960 the Eisenhower administration
  decided to implement the CIAs recommendation of
  training Cuban exiles to overthrow Castros
  government and so the planning began

Reference http//www.cubavsbloqueo.cu/Default.asp
x?tabid271 http//www.historyofcuba.com/history/b
aypigs/pigs2.htm
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The Trinidad Plan

• The CIA was confident that the plan would succeed
  because it had previously assisted other foreign
  countries in overthrowing their current
  governments such as Iran and Guatemala
• Initially, Brigade 2506 consisting of
  approximately 1, 453 Cuban exiles were to capture
  the town of Trinidad
• Three Brigade air raids were to destroy Castros
  air force on the ground and thousands of
  organized dissidents were to stage on uprising
  coinciding with the landing
• After seventy-two hours the Cuban Revolutionary
  Council which was in exile was to be flown in so
  that a provisional government could be declared
  and if necessary, ask for U.S. armed intervention
  and assistance

Reference http//www.historyofcuba.com/history/ba
ypigs/pigs2.htm http//www.historynet.com/wars_con
flicts/20_21_century/3028421.html?page6cy
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• Trinidad was believed to be an ideal location for
  the execution of the plan because the citizens
  living in the town were generally opposed to
  Fidel Castros power and because it was situated
  near mountains which the invasion forces would be
  able to use if they needed to retreat

Reference http//www.historyofcuba.com/history/ba
ypigs/pigs3.htm
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Changes in the Plan

• When President Kennedy was briefed about the
  CIAs Trinidad plan soon after he was elected as
  President, he rejected it because he believed
  that it was too spectacular and that it would
  expose the role of the United States too openly
• American sponsorship of the Cuban invasion was to
  be concealed in order to avoid an anti-American
  reaction at the United Nations and Latin America
• Eventually, the location of the intervention was
  changed from Trinidad to the Bay of Pigs
• The changed location was favored because it was
  able to accommodate airplanes and had few access
  roads which would make it difficult for Castros
  forces to rush in

Reference Bay of Pigs The Untold Story by Peter
Wyden, pages 100-101
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• In order to maintain the discreetness of the
  invasion, the revised plan also called for a
  nighttime invasion rather than sticking with the
  daytime invasion that the Trinidad plan dictated
• It was difficult to maintain secrecy and to deny
  all US involvements due to the press coverage
  concerning the training of the Cuban exiles
• Five days prior to the invasion, President
  Kennedy was questioned at a Press Conference on
  how far the United States was willing to help
  organize an uprising against Castro
• Kennedy replied that there will not be, under
  any conditions, an intervention in Cuba by the
  United States Armed Forces (154-155)

Reference Bay of Pigs The Untold Story by Peter
Wyden, pages 154-155 http//www.historyofcuba.com/
history/baypigs/pigs3.htm
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The Invasion

• On April 14, 1960 the counterrevolutionary forces
  left their training camp in Guatemala and sailed
  to Cuba
• The attack began the next day when teams of US
  airplanes bombed the four Cuban airfields
• Unfortunately, Castro had previously dispersed
  the airplanes used by his air force and left the
  unusable planes outside in order to fool the
  attackers
• As part of the CIAs cover story, the attacking
  US planes were disguised to look like they were
  Cuban planes flown by defecting Cuban pilots
• The landing began before midnight of April 16

Reference http//www.historyofcuba.com/history/ba
ypigs/pigs3.htm
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• By 3 a.m., Castro was notified of the landing and
  so the Cuban government responded almost
  immediately by sending an air force to sink the
  command vessel and the supply boat
• As the invasion was well under way, the US
  government again rejected the possibility of a US
  attack in both press conferences and at the UN
• As the Soviet Union began to suggest that she was
  willing to support Cuba in the United Nations and
  the possibility of the international outrage
  against the US grew, Kennedy did not authorize
  air support for the Brigade that day
• A limited air strike was approved by Kennedy to
  help the Cuban exiles on April 19, but the
  assistance was too late
• Due to the lack of supplies and air cover, the
  invading forces fell

Reference http//www.historyofcuba.com/history/ba
ypigs/pigs4.htm
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Faults of the Invasion

• To prepare for the invasion, the US government
  trained the Cuban exiles in secret camps located
  in Guatemala but previous to the landing the
  information was widely known to Cuban citizens
  living in Florida and possibly the Cuban spies
  who were living there as well
• The operation was originally designed to be
  covert but as it evolved it became difficult to
  conceal
• The exiles who arrived in Cuba earlier were not
  notified of when the invasion was to take place
  and also did not receive instructions to sabotage

References http//www.history.com/minisite.do?con
tent_typeMinisite_Genericcontent_type_id1270di
splay_order2mini_id1278 Bay of Pigs the
Untold Story by Peter Wyden, 154-155
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Aftermath
or to mobilize their ranks so that they could
contribute to the mission Reference
http//www.brigada2506.com/history.htm

• Fidel Castro publicly announced that he was fully
  aware of the attempted invasion, criticized the
  involvement of the US saying that it had no
  right to meddle in our domestic affairs in the
  United Nations
• 1, 189 men were captured and were all sentenced
  to 30 years in prison
• After twenty months of negotiations, the majority
  of the Cuban exiles were released in exchange for
  53 million worth of food and medicine

Reference http//www.historyofcuba.com/history/ba
ypigs/pigs5.htm http//www.historyofcuba.com/histo
ry/baypigs/pigs6.htm
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• Although Kennedy claimed that the failed invasion
  was his fault, he secretly blamed the CIA and
  fired its long time director Allan W. Dulles and
  his deputy directors
• Kennedys obsession with eliminating Fidel Castro
  grew and even organized Operation Mongoose which
  was an attempt to eliminate Castro by any means
  necessary
• The failed invasion was a huge embarrassment for
  the US because it was the first major defeat of a
  US foreign policy during the Cold War
• The incident firmly established Soviet-Cuban
  relations and the settlement of Soviet military
  bases in Cuba and this would eventually lead to
  the Cuban missile crisis
• The information regarding the operation remained
  classified until February of 1998

Reference http//www.historyofcuba.com/history/ba
ypigs/pigs6.htm