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| The '''Bay of Pigs Invasion''' was a US planned and funded landing by armed Cuban exiles on southern Cuba. | |||
| Under the orders of President Kennedy, the CIA trained a small number of Cuban exiles to invade Cuba to overthrow Castro. The exiles were promised American air support when they arrived, but it was assumed that once they got to Cuba, they would have the support of the Cuban people. | |||
| The ] began training the exiles under the administration of President ], even before he broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. Eisenhower's successor, ], approved the actual invasion. | |||
| They landed at the Bay of Pigs, where Castro's army was waiting for them. They fought, but the American air support they were promised never arrived. Also, when they got their, they realised that Castro was popular amongst his people, and the exiles were not supported by them. | |||
| On ] ] about 1500 exiles armed with US weapons landed on the southern coast of Cuba at the ]. They hoped to find support from the local population, intending to cross the island to Havana, but it became quickly evident in the first hours of fighting that the exiles were not going to receive such support and were likely to lose. President Kennedy decided against giving the faltering invasion US air support as it was obvious that nothing short of US ground troops would save the operation and this Kennedy was unwilling to commit, and so by the time fighting ended on ] 90 exiles were dead and the rest were captured. The captured exiles were later ransomed by private groups within the US. | |||
| The Bay of Pigs invasion was an embarrasment for the Americans, especially for President Kennedy, who was new and eager to prove himself to be a strong leader, in spite of the fact that he was the youngest US president ever. | |||
| The failed Bay of Pigs invasion severely embarrassed the Kennedy administration, and made Castro wary of future US incursions into Cuba. | |||
| See also: ] | |||
| The CIA wrote a detailed internal report which lays blame for the failure squarely on internal incompetence. | |||
| ===External link=== | |||
| http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/tapebay.htm - Excerpts from CIA report | |||
Revision as of 10:40, 18 February 2003
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a US planned and funded landing by armed Cuban exiles on southern Cuba.
The CIA began training the exiles under the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, even before he broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy, approved the actual invasion.
On April 17 1961 about 1500 exiles armed with US weapons landed on the southern coast of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. They hoped to find support from the local population, intending to cross the island to Havana, but it became quickly evident in the first hours of fighting that the exiles were not going to receive such support and were likely to lose. President Kennedy decided against giving the faltering invasion US air support as it was obvious that nothing short of US ground troops would save the operation and this Kennedy was unwilling to commit, and so by the time fighting ended on April 19 90 exiles were dead and the rest were captured. The captured exiles were later ransomed by private groups within the US.
The failed Bay of Pigs invasion severely embarrassed the Kennedy administration, and made Castro wary of future US incursions into Cuba.
The CIA wrote a detailed internal report which lays blame for the failure squarely on internal incompetence.
External link
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/tapebay.htm - Excerpts from CIA report