Cause 5 - Failed Bay of Pigs Invasion

What and when was the Bay of Pigs invasion?

• An attempted invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs on 17th April 1961.

• CIA trained 1400 Cuban exiles called ‘La Brigada 2506’ for an invasion

• US planes bombed part of the Cuban air force 2 days, on the 15th of April, before but did not destroy it

• The CIA expected a popular uprising to help the invaders remove Castro

• The exiles (Cubans) and La Brigada underestimated the strength of the Cuban air force.

Why did the Bay of Pigs invasion fail?

US had underestimated the popularity of Fidel Castro

What was the result of the failed invasion?

• John F Kennedy’s government tried to distance themselves from the invasion and claimed “not directly involved”

• JFK suffered humiliation and a loss of prestige both at home and abroad, including the USSR

• It set back his attempts to identify with anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism

• Castro took advantage of the situation to exploit the American view of the Latin American revolution and fears of US imperialism increased in Latin American countries

• 100 killed and 1214 of 1400 remaining invaders were captured

• Later, American voluntary groups had to pay $53 million in food and medicine to get the exiles back to the USA

How did historian Richard Walton describe JFK’s response to the failed invasion?

“Kennedy did not apologise about the Bay of Pigs, rather he issued threats. And he repeated his amendment to the Monroe Doctrine; that Latin American nations were free to choose their own governments, but only as long as they were not communist.”

How does the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis?

• USSR and Cuban ties strengthened 

• Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist 

• Defensive alliance between USSR and Cuba

• Flow of Soviet advisers and weapons to Cuba 

What actions did the USA take after Bay of Pigs?

• Operation Mongoose 

  • Continued attempts by the CIA to reverse the revolution 

  • Covert operations such as sabotage of economic targets (sugar plantations and petroleum installations)

  • Assassination attempts at Castro (including injecting poison into Castro’s favourite brand of cigars, putting poison pill in Castro’s drink and getting im to drink it, creating explosive shell and place at the bottom of the sea for Castro to retrieve)

How is the Bay of Pigs invasion a significant cause of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

just over a year later the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred. The Bay of Pigs failed invasion strengthened the ties between the USSR and Cuba, it showed that the Americans could not be trusted and pushed Castro to form an alliance with a power that could match that of the Americans.