The CIA: The Bay Of Pigs Invasion

The Bay of Pigs Did you know the CIA had a very embarrassing operation in 1961? Have you ever heard of the Bay of Pigs? There are many reasons this operation has been dubbed the “Perfect Failure.” The first thing that will be looked over today is the plan. Then, I will touch on the details of the invasion. Finally, we will go over the outcome of the operation. Let’s start this adventure by talking about the plan. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a plan by the CIA to overthrow the communist rule of Fidel Castro and to establish a non-communist form of government (JFK Library). The plan involved many things that had to go right in order for the invasion to go properly. The biggest part of the plan which could be the deciding factor on the whole invasion, was that the Cuban population needed to join the group of invaders. Around 1,400 Cubans planned and carried out the attack.The the plan was doomed to fail. “Many of the men of Brigade 2506 believed they were the first wave of fighters to liberate Cuba from Castro” (History News Network). The original plan was to have 16 B-26 gunships provide air support during the invasion, but JFK responded saying he wanted to keep the number of planes minimal, so the number of planes was brought down to eight. The trip from the airstrip in Nicaragua to the island of Cuba was a 1,000-mile journey so there would only be enough fuel for 40 minutes of air cover. Any more time and there was a risk of running out of fuel somewhere over the Caribbean (Encyclopedia.com). In July of 1960,
Somehow the Cubans and Castro found out about the American backing of the invasion and many people believe it was because of one defective Cuban. “In New York, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, was furious: the previous day he had been duped into assuring the General Assembly that the United States had nothing to do with the rogue Cuban pilot who had landed in Florida” (Bay of Pigs