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Revision as of 20:51, 17 April 2003 by Punkche (talk | contribs) (added a few facts)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Bay of Pigs Invasion (also known in Cuba as La Playa Gíron) was a US planned and funded landing by armed Cuban exiles on southern Cuba in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban socialist government.
The CIA began training the exiles in Costa Rica and other Central American countries 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 1,500 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 (though several US pilots were allegedly killed or captured in Cuba during the invasion) as it was obvious that nothing short of US ground troops would save the operation and Kennedy was unwilling to commit to this. By the time fighting ended on April 19, ninety 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