The Importance Of The Bay Of Pigs Invasion

The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a botched coup in Cuba instigated by the American Government in 1961. Meant to overthrow Fidel Castro and replace him with a more Pro American leader,the attack was planned by 2 presidents, but failed due to lack of coordination between the various invasion forces.However, even though this offensive was unsuccessful, the purpose of this raid as well as the future invasions gave it much importance and significance. Planning for this incursion began in 1960, when president Eisenhower allocated 19 million dollars to the CIA for an attack on Cuba. In 1958/59 the Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista was kicked off the throne and replaced by the more communistic leader Castro.

Mexican forces and even handfuls of Cuban exiles

took an active role as well,serving as intelligence. The CIA set up training camps in Guatemala, and by November the operation had trained a small army for an assault landing and guerilla warfare. The American army was unable to keep this Invasion a secret and through guerrilla intelligence, Castro was able to learn of the attack and even publicized the event on news. As President Kennedy took power, determined to keep the raid regardless, the size ,a landing point at the Bay of Pigs was a remote swampy area on the southern coast of Cuba, where a night landing might bring little resistance and help to hide any U.S.
involvement. Unfortunately, the landing site also left the invading force more than 80 miles from refuge. On April 15th,1961, the offensive began with two air strikes. Unfortunately some B-26 bombers that were painted to look like Cuban planes missed their bombing targets and the second air strike had to be cancelled. While the Cuban Exile forces were making a landing at the Bay, they came under heavy fire, and there were severe losses of ships on the American side. Bad weather further hampered the attack and meanwhile, Castro ordered 20,000 troops to advance near the landing beach, and the

Cuban air force had already taken control of the skies. Kennedy then ordered an air umbrella of B-26 planes, but the planes not only arrived an hour late, but were then shot down by Cuban planes. Although some exiles escaped, the rest were detained for 20 months. Castro only relented after an offer of 53 million dollars worth of baby food and medicine, because Cuban products were unsafe and unreliable, and there were many babies. The effects included a downfall for Kennedy’s presidency; however the government also was given much praise from citizens as well as the European government. Due to this invasion, the US was able to abolish all trade with
Cuba, and the CIA analysis of this event actually aided many other successful invasion during the Vietnam war and invasion of Cuba in Operation Ortsac. This event relates to the F in freedom because it intended to return freedom and justice to Cuba that had been taken away by Castro, who wanted totalitarianism in guise of communism. This invasion is also relating to discovery, because due to the failure, America was able to learn and discover flaws in raid plans and establish more secure and foolproof ammunition/supplies, as well as upgrade communication tools and hire foreign speakers. This failure lead to so many other victories because CIA plans were reviewed in more detail and the incursion became more realistic and executable due to not only better planning, but also a much more efficient
military that had discovered new, more successful strategies for an attack.In conclusion, the Bay of Pigs attack was a failure due to lack of preparation. This could have been a key invasion but wasn’t, yet it is still significant due to the changes to the military that it helped bring upon. Cuba may still exist, but so does America. Leading to freedom and discovery, this invasion will always be remembered for failing

a newspaper article

the landing beach

prisoners

the attack plan

BECAUSE OF TIME, EVEN THE LAST ATTACK FAILED

THE CIA AUTHORIZATION