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N0KFQ > TODAY 17.04.15 16:45l 56 Lines 2617 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 53163_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 17
Path: IW8PGT<IW7BFZ<I3XTY<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 150417/1444Z 53163@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1961
The Bay of Pigs invasion begins
The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA-financed and -trained
group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the
communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was an utter
failure.
Fidel Castro had been a concern to U.S. policymakers since he
seized power in Cuba with a revolution in January 1959. Castro's
attacks on U.S. companies and interests in Cuba, his inflammatory
anti-American rhetoric, and Cuba's movement toward a closer
relationship with the Soviet Union led U.S. officials to conclude
that the Cuban leader was a threat to U.S. interests in the
Western Hemisphere. In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower
ordered the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an
armed attack on Cuba. John F. Kennedy inherited this program when
he became president in 1961.
Though many of his military advisors indicated that an amphibious
assault on Cuba by a group of lightly armed exiles had little
chance for success, Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the attack. On
April 17, 1961, around 1,200 exiles, armed with American weapons
and using American landing craft, waded ashore at the Bay of Pigs
in Cuba. The hope was that the exile force would serve as a
rallying point for the Cuban citizenry, who would rise up and
overthrow Castro's government. The plan immediately fell
apart-the landing force met with unexpectedly rapid
counterattacks from Castro's military, the tiny Cuban air force
sank most of the exiles' supply ships, the United States
refrained from providing necessary air support, and the expected
uprising never happened. Over 100 of the attackers were killed,
and more than 1,100 were captured.
The failure at the Bay of Pigs cost the United States dearly.
Castro used the attack by the "Yankee imperialists" to solidify
his power in Cuba and he requested additional Soviet military
aid. Eventually that aid included missiles, and the construction
of missile bases in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis of
October 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union nearly
came to blows over the issue. Further, throughout much of Latin
America, the United States was pilloried for its use of armed
force in trying to unseat Castro, a man who was considered a hero
to many for his stance against U.S. interference and imperialism.
Kennedy tried to redeem himself by publicly accepting blame for
the attack and its subsequent failure, but the botched mission
left the young president looking vulnerable and indecisive.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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