1. The Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Road to the Cuban Missile Crisis

2. Remember the US has been involved in Cuban affairs since the Spanish American War

3. Castro’s Takeover
1956 to 1959 – Castro led a guerrilla coup of Cuba Dictator Fulgencio Batista
US suspicious, but Batista had been unpopular and corrupt
Ultimately, Castro declared Communism; welcomed aid from USSR

4. Castro vs. the US
Castro nationalized 3 oil refineries owned by Americans and British firms
Took commercial farms and made them communes (US companies controlled 75% of crop land)
Castro relied more on USSR aid and political repression

5. Cuban Refugees
Many Cubans felt betrayed – one dictator replaced by another
10% of Cuban population went into exile
Most to the U.S., many settled in Miami – began a counter-revolutionary movement

6. CIA’s Secret Operation
Eisenhower gave CIA permission to secretly train hundreds of Cuban exiles
Plan is developed to invade Cuba
JFK found out about plan 9 days later
Skeptical, but continued with plan

7. The Invasion
April 17, 1961 – 1,400 Cubans invaded island’s s. cost at Bahia de Cochinos (or Bay of Pigs)

8. The Invasion Nothing went as planned
Air strike 2 days prior failed to knock out Cuban air force (CIA reported it had)
Small advanced group sent to distract Cuban forces never got there
Other unit landed only to face 20,000 Cuban forces, backed by Soviet tanks and jets

9. Result Troops surrounded, some killed others taken as prisoners
Cuban counter-revolutionaries, members of Assault Brigade 2506, after their capture at the Bay of Pigs, Cuba, in April 1961

10. Result
Castro turned event into public relations triumph. Americans looked like bullies to rest of world.
Kennedy looked embarrassed, took blame and vowed no more communist expansion in W. Hemisphere.
Negotiated for surviving commandos – paid $52 million in food and medical supplies
Castro welcomed USSR aid.