Bay of Pigs Invasion

Emily Steadman

June 7, 2005

History

Bay of Pigs Invasion

In Cube on April 17, 1961, the United States was supposed to be apart of a missile attack. Many people were killed during this time and the whole thing became a complete failure. A week before the actual bombing was to occur, Kennedy had withdrawn his order to land aerial cover (Morrissey). This loss of nerve at a critical moment in time had caused the failure at the Bay of Pigs (Fernandez-Zayes). Kennedy's decision to cancel air strikes was the result of the loss at the Bay of Pigs.

In 1959, Fidel Castro had become the powerful leader of Cuba. Castro was a communist and became hostile to the Unite States two years after he became Cuba's leader (Encarta). People associated with Castro had taken ownership over United States companies and Eisenhower was forced to put in place a trade embargo. Cubans during this time had gone to the United States to escape the communist leadership that Castro was imposing on people. When Eisenhower had told the CIA to train Cuban exiles, they were planning on an invasion when Kennedy became president (Encarta).

In April 1961, 1500 Cuban exiles made a landing at the Bay of Pigs (Encarta). The plan they had was to join with people who were against Castro to start a revolt. But things didn't follow through because Kennedy didn't send in the air support that was promised. Castro's followers had killed most of the exiles and kept the others as prisoners. Castro wanted money for their release but Kennedy had refused to negotiate with him (Encarta). On December 25, 1962, 1113 prisoners were released in exchange for food and medical supplies that was worth a total of $53 million (J.A. Sierra). This never would have happened if Kennedy didn't withdraw the aerial cover.

The other strategy that the United States had was to "go guerilla." The troops there were not trained and not suitable for them. Things were against them because there was no place to hide, no way to communicate, no food, and no inhabitants to support them (Morrissey). The Zapata Peninsula was chosen by the CIA for the invasion and convinced them of the plan. The people thought it would be hard to get there because of the length of the mountains there. There were no motorized vehicles too get around.