1. Bay of Pigs Invasion
By: Dhruv Garg
6th Hour

2. What was the Bay of Pigs Invasion?
Invasion planned by CIA in an attempt to overthrow new Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro
1,400 trained Cuban exiles, Brigade 2506, were trained by the CIA in Guatemala
Bombers were also supposed to support by taking out 2 Cuban air force bases prior to main attack
This attack was a failure. Brigade 2506 was forced to surrender within 24 hours.
Failure because…
Cuban citizens could not join attack because Bay of Pigs was far for most civilians
Bombers failed to succesfully destroy Cuban Air Force bases. Thus, Cuban Air Force was able to quickly take out Brigade 2506
Around 1,200 exiles were forced to surrender to the Cubans and taken as prisoners
The prisoners would be released nearly 2 years later in exchange for $53 million of baby food and medicine

3. Thesis
Question: What was the purpose of the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba? Was the US successful?
Lead In: Much like the tensions between North Korea and the US today, their was a strong palpable tension between the US and the Soviets due to the Cold War. So, JFK’s decision to unsuccessfully invade Cuba only worsened the tensions between the US and the Soviets in the Cold War. This unsuccessful invasion only gave more confidence to the Soviets in winning the war and made some Americans even more skeptical on the Cold War.
HTS: Cause and effect
Thesis: New Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, was attempting to make the Cuban economy more autonomous. 80% of sugar produced in Cuba was exported to the US, so Castro wanted the economy to be more independent. Naturally, this made the US unhappy. Cuba later then formed relations with the US’ opponent in the Cold War and communist country, the Soviet Union. Then current POTUS, JFK, also decided that invading Cuba would show the world his seriousness in wanting to win the Cold War. Therefore, due to Castro making the Cuban economy less reliant on the US, Cuba forming relations with the Soviet Union, and JFK wanting to show the world how much he wanted to win the Cold War, the US unsuccessfully launched an invasion on Cuba.

4. Why did the US invade Cuba?
Former Cuban Dictator Fulgencio Batista was friendly with the US
He became important to the US because he cooperated with them
Under Batista, US companies owned many sugar plantations in Cuba and were responsible for a majority of the sugar produced in Cuba
When Castro overthrew Batista, he immediately wanted to change Cuba’s reliance on America. He started to domesticate Cuba’s sugar industry, negatively affecting American companies
Fidel Castro also ignited diplomatic relations with Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, in May of This only fueled America’s desire to invade Cuba.
The US did not like this relationship because communist Cuba was making relations with the US’ opponent in the Cold War, the Soviet Union
This was also indicating the spread of communism, something the US was against
In response to Cuba’s new relations with SU, America placed a ban on Cuban imported sugar
This had an immediate effect on the Cuban economy as they still relied on American imports
The Soviets had to buy the Cuban sugar to stop the Cuban economy from collapsing

5. JFK also saw this as an opportunity to show the world how serious the US was about the Cold War
Successfully invading Cuba would also be an indirect win against the Soviets
Finally, in January of 1961 the US took the invasion seriously
Cuban exiles living in Miami were being trained in camps by the CIA in Guatemala
This was because of a program approved by former President Eisenhower in 1960
José Miró Cardona was the leader of Brigade 2506, the group of exiles invading Cuba
JFK authorized the invasion under the condition that he did not want to show US involvement in the invasion
Hence the use of Cuban exiles and not official US soldiers
Also this is why the Brigade started the attack from the secluded Bay of Pigs
He did not want to show US involvement because he was worried that the Soviets might respond by starting WWIII
The US invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs on April 17th, 1961
Less than 24 hours later all the exiles either escaped or became prisoners
There were about 1,200 captured as prisoners

6. Purpose of Invading Cuba
The goal was to overthrow new dictator, Fidel Castro
Communist dictator, Castro had just also overthrown non-communist dictator, Fulgencio Batista on July 26th, 1959
The plan was to set up a temporary government that was not communist and friendly to the US (in terms of sugar)
José Miró Cardona, the leader of Brigade 2506, used to be involved in the Cuban government
Hence, Cardona was supposed to run the interim government if the invasion was successful
Establishing a non-communist government in Cuba would mean a win for the US
Since Cuba had the Soviet’s support, overthrowing the communist Cuban government would be a win against the Soviets as well
It would also mean stopping the spread of communism, which was the US’ objective in the Cold War
Show America’s strength in the Cold War by completely taking over a country
Stop the Soviet Union from essentially establishing a base on the Western Hemisphere in close proximity to the US

7. Was the US Successful No, the US was not successful at all
They had to surrender in less than 24 hours
Bombers had failed to take out the Cuban Air Force
Weather was not cooperating in the already bad swamp conditions
The Brigade was heavily out numbered by the Cubans
The Cubans were prepared and were able to surprise the US
Robert Kennedy also had to negotiate the release of all exiles taken as prisoners of war
They were released in exchange for $53 million in supplies (baby food and medicine)
They could not set up their desired government, this meant a “loss” for the US
This was also a low point for the Kennedy Administration
This led to the approval of Operation Mongoose in November 1961
Purpose of this Operation was to disrupt Cuban government/economy
Purpose was also to makeup for the failed invasion
The plan included the chance of killing Fidel Castro

8. DBQ Prep
The Cuban cigar exploding in President JFK’s face symbolizes the utter failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion. It shows the invasion “blew up in the face” of the US.
If this was a document on a DBQ..
It would most likely be in reference to the Cold War
Or it would be regarding JFK’s acts as POTUS
It could even be used as an example of (failed) imperialism via the United States
The main point of this document is to show JFK’s failure in invading Cuba
Primary Source

9. Review Questions
Why was the US was unsuccessful in their invasion? Answer: Brigade 2506 wasn’t able to get the support of anti-Castro Cubans during their attack. Also, bombers failing to take down Cuban Air Force allowed Cuban planes to shoot at the Brigade. Additionally, Brigade was outnumbered by around 20,000 Cuban soldiers
Why did the US want to invade Cuba? Answer: The US was not happy that the Cuban economy was becoming more independent. This meant that American companies would lose vital trading with the Cuban sugar industry.
What was one result of the Bay of Pigs Invasion? Answer: Much of Brigade 2506 had been taken captive and had to have their release negotiated. Nearly 2 years later they were released by the Cubans in exchange for supplies