Bay Of Pigs Pros And Cons

By the time the Bay of Pigs occurred, the Cuban government developed close ties with the Soviet Union and cut its ties with the United States. It became the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere, led by Fidel Castro. Cuba became a threat to the United States because it was close to its proximity and it was supported by its archenemy—the Soviet Union. The Eisenhower administration initiated the operation by providing support to the Cuban exiles, having the CIA provide them secret training to attack the island of Bahía de Cochinos. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was supposed to be a top secret organized plan to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba. This, however, ended up in a fiasco in where the operation failed because the information was

carelessly leaked, even reaching the Cuban government. Due to this, Castro was well prepared and easily countered the attack. It was a “distinctly American embarrassment” as the historian, Theodore Draper, stated. It only worsened the relationship between Cuba and the United States and further fueled Castro’s resentment towards the United States. The absolute failure of this operation eventually contributed to a series of events that ultimately led up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an event fostered by the Soviet Union. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union leader at the time, offered nuclear-capable missiles to Castro, who accepted and later proceeded to its secret installation. President Kennedy was provided with substantial evidence of these nuclear weapons in Cuba and refused to tolerate their presence and took action. This was the closest the two Cold War superpowers came into a full scale nuclear war.
The former commander of Fidel Castro’s air force told the U.S. Senate that the Cuban government was infiltrated by Communists (Rasenberger 26). This was one of the reasons that contributed to the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis that happened one year later. Cuba was a Communist government and the United States feared them because they were allied with the Soviet Union. Considering that the Soviet Union government went toe-to-toe and about as equally as powerful as the United States, Cuba immediately posed as a threat to the peace and security of the entire Western Hemisphere. Especially after the Cuban-exile invasion force was successfully resisted by Castro’s troops, the failed invasion became a way to strengthen the position of Fidel Castro’s administration and later declared that he wanted to adopt socialism and establish a closer relationship with the Soviet Union. Fidel Castro sought for a good relationship with the Soviet Union because of his resentment towards the United States. Rufo López-Fresquet, a finance minister that traveled with Castro to America, wrote: “Nothing the U.S. could have done, not the highest degree of cooperation, understanding, or sympathy, could have caused Castro to remain a friend” (Rasenberger 30). Tension between the United States and Cuba had been rising ever since the successful revolution that Fidel Castro led and the unsuccessful invasion pushed Castro further to cling onto the Soviet Union. Castro was very willing to receive support from the Soviet Union because they have a common enemy. The Bay of Pigs fiasco followed by the summit meeting of June 1961 between Khrushchev and Kennedy at Vienna influenced the Soviet leader to think that Kennedy was weak and could easily be intimidated (Roberts XIV). Khrushchev was swayed to support Cuba and began its installation of nuclear weapons because he miscalculated Kennedy’s behavior and actions and also because they want to achieve the same goal—to overpower and defeat the United States.

Delving deep on the relationship of the United States and Cuba, the United States had a mutually beneficial history with Cuba but it was paternalistic and antagonistic, bringing upon simmering grievances on the part of the Cubans.

The Platt Amendment of 1903 granted the United States certain power and control over Cuba as a condition for the removal of American troops after the Spanish-American War of 1898. It gave the United States the right to interfere in Cuba’s economic, military, and political affairs. The Platt Amendment was revoked in 1934 but only a few Cubans had forgotten about it. One could argue that the amendment was beneficial for Cuba because a school system was organized, finances were set in order, etc. but through the eyes of the Cubans, the United States presence was an assault to their sovereignty. America had long controlled the country’s economy that left an impression of United States hegemony. “Eighty percent of Cuban utilities… were owned by Americans prior to the Castro administration.” Forty percent of the sugar industry was also owned by Americans and they “accounted for the lion’s share of the sugar market”. Cuba lived by what the United States were willing to pay for the sugar. Due to the dominance and the presence of the United States within Cuba, Castro became the speaker of his fellow Cubans’ resentment toward the United States. As much as he can successfully paint the United States as the enemy of Cuba, the easier it is to explain the fact that Cuba’s economy was failing. The Bay of Pigs invasion was the perfect opportunity for Castro’s goals and its outcome exactly did that. It became the catalyst that spurred the destructive series of events. The long history between Cuba and the United States built up bitterness among the Cubans for so long and the failed operation gave them additional reasons to further despise the United States and enough reason for Castro to accept Khrushchev’s

offer.
Castro solicited support from the Soviet Union immediately after the failed invasion. The Soviets recognized the potential advantage that Cuba provided, taking into account that it was geographically close to the United States. In the next year, they started to export weapons and personnel to Cuba at an attempt to also increase their presence in the Western Hemisphere (McConnell 57). Thus, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba was a key position for the Soviet Union in order to establish a firm hold and existence within the Western Hemisphere especially during this point of the Cold War. It was an advantageous and a tactical move by the Soviet Union to threaten and provoke the United States. They also did this to defend any future invasion attempt similar to the Bay of Pigs, so they can retain the Communist presence and continuously increase the pressure in the Western Hemisphere.