Bay of Pigs

“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.” The Bay of Pigs invasion started when Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista in Cuba, it led to the United States involvement to push Castro from power, and ended with the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion to stop communism. First, let’s discuss the start of the Bay of Pigs invasion. In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power in an armed revolt that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. The United States government distrusted Castro and was wary of his relationship with Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union. Before his inauguration, John F. Kennedy was briefed on a plan by the Central Intelligence Agency, developed during the Eisenhower administration, to train Cuban exiles for an invasion of their homeland. The plan anticipated that the Cuban people and elements of the Cuban military would support the invasion. The ultimate goal was the overthrow of Castro and the establishment of a non-communist government friendly to the United States. President Eisenhower approved the program in March 1960. 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. José Miró Cardona led the anti-Castro Cuban exiles in the United States. Cardona was poised to take over the provisional presidency of Cuba if the invasion succeeded. Castro learned of the guerilla training camps in Guatemala as early as October 1960. Shortly after his inauguration, in February 1961, President Kennedy authorized the invasion plan. But he was determined to disguise United States support. The original invasion plan called for two air strikes against Cuban air bases. A fourteen hundred man invasion force would disembark under cover of darkness and launch a surprise attack. Simultaneously, a smaller force would land on the east coast of Cuba to create confusion. The success of the plan depended on the Cuban population joining the invaders. The first