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Revision as of 09:16, 9 May 2003 by Olivier (talk | contribs)(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.
The invasion started on April 15 when B-26 planes with Cuban markings bombed 4 airfields in Cuba. The media wires began to report that a military uprising had begun in Cuba, and that defecting pilots were bombing Cuban military installations and fleeing to Miami.
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 4 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 1,189 captured exiles were tried and sentanced to 30 years in prison. After 20 months of negotiation with the United States, Cuba released the exiles in exchange for $53 million in food and medicine.
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 links
- http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/tapebay.htm - Excerpts from CIA report
- http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/baypigs/pigs.htm - A Cuban sided view of the invasion.
- http://www.megastories.com/cuba/glossary/goria.htm