The United States and Cuba continue to share a strained and fragile relationship based on the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion over fifty years ago. This strained relationship had a long term effect on the Kennedy government. The attack at the Bay of Pigs started with a group of Cuban refugees who were trained and financed by the American group the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in March 1960. They arrived in Cuba and attempted to overthrow the government headed by Fidel Castro. This socialist government, led by Fidel Castro fought back and the attack on the government failed.
The Americans were concerned with the actions of Fidel Castro after he gained power in Cuba by force in 1959 with the overthrow of then “Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista”. In addition, the United States government became upset with the close relationship between Castro and the Soviet Union leader, Nikita Khrushchev, the assaults on United States companies that existed in Cuba, his open criticism of the American policies. Based on these reasons, the United States started to see Cuba as a threat to their businesses in the West.
John F. Kennedy inherited the preparation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under the Eisenhower government to build an army from the Cuban exiles in the United States to attack their homeland. The goal of the plan was to remove Castro from power and create “a non-communist government” that shared a sociable relationship with the United States. These training camps were in Guatemala. Jose Miro Cardona, who was one a member of the Castro – led government, headed the group of Cuban Revolutionary Council. He had all intentions to take over the leadership of the country if the plans to overthrow Castro succeeded. The plans to attack reached Castro, even though the United States government made every effort to keep the attack a secret. Five days before the invasion, the American President J.F. Kennedy told the media that he has no intentions of getting involved in the business of Cuba. However, the “cover-up” unraveled and left Kennedy calling Adlai E. Stevenson, the American ambassador to the United Nation, his “official liar”. Stevenson had tried to deny the role of the United States in the invasion of Cuba.
Although President Kennedy was warned of the failure of the attack by his military advisors, he continued with his mission. Kennedy tried to mask the plan to attack as a plan to offer the support of the United States government to the Cuban administration. Approximately twelve hundred exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961. This landing site was a decoy as the main group would move across the island to Matanzas and create a defensive post. The refugees were armed with American-made weapons and landing crafts, but these failed to help them as they were not prepared for the response of the Cuban army.
The United States hoped that these refugees could gain the help of the citizens who remained in Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro, but the plan failed to work. The Cuban army was ready to counterattack and their small air force team destroyed most of the supply ships that the refugees brought with them for the invasion. By the end of the attack more than one hundred of the refugees died and over eleven hundred were captured by the Cuban military.
The first problem that the exiled fighters faced occurred when eight bombers attempted to destroy the Cuban airfields with outdated World War II B-26 bombers on April 15. The Central Intelligence Agency disguised the planes to look like Cuban planes. During the attacks, the bombers missed most of their targets and the Cuban air force remained untouched. The disguise broke and the news spread of the United States involvement in the invasion. As such, the second air strike was abandoned. On April 17, Castro’s army waited as the Cuban – exile attack force landed at the Bay of Pigs. The refugees came under heavy fire. The Castro army sank two of the escort ships and ruined half of the refugee’s air support. In addition, the refugees had to deal with the poor weather conditions and a limited amount of ammunition.
Cuba counterattack the refugees within twenty-four hours and nearly twenty thousand soldiers moved to attack the refugees on the beach while the Cuban air force controlled the skies. President Kennedy sent in an "air-umbrella" team at dawn on April 19 as the situation grew in favor of the Castro led army. American fighter planes joined in under Kennedy’s instructions in an effort to help in the fight. However, they were late. The invasion came to a stop when the Cubans shot down the planes. Jones (2008) noted that the “strategists underestimated the enemy”. In fact, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs believed that Castro’s army not fully loyal and did not have the manpower to win against the anti-Castro army, who had the help of America planes and weapons. However, from the start of the invasion, it was clear that the mission would fail because the support from those living in Cuba. When this did happen, the Central Intelligence Agency were surprised as it they were depending on their numbers to grow so as to be able to better fight the Cuban army.
The Cuban armed forces won the invasion against the rebels in three days. The New York Times (2012) point to the reasons for the failed attempt to overthrow Castro. The first of these reasons is the Central Intelligence’s failure to carry out an undercover attack. Castro knew of the attack long before it happened and planned for this attack. Secondly, America failed to take out the Cuban Air Force and as a result, the Cuban Air Force fought strongly against the rebels who invaded the country. Finally, the number of soldiers in the Cuban army outnumbered the rebels. In addition, the plan to get the Cubans citizens to side with the rebels failed and the increase in soldiers to fight against the Castro regime failed miserably.
The loss in the invasion at the Bay of Pigs served a serious blow to the United States. Fidel Castro built his strength as the leader of the country from the invasion and received added military aid in the form of missiles and missile bases from the Soviet Union. However, President John F. Kennedy recognized that the refugees needed help and as Smith (1995) noted, Kennedy decided to make any kind of deal with Castro to rescue the refugees. Castro and Kennedy negotiated a possible deal that included “five hundred American-made heavy tractors” (Smith, 1995) for the prisoners of war, while improving the relationship in economic and diplomatic disputes. However, Kennedy’s failure to take this deal seriously resulted in Castro openly criticizing the American imperialism and the belief that Kennedy was similar to German leader, Adolf Hitler.
In concluding, the failed attempt of the United States to overthrow Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs, contributed to the poor relationship in Cuba nearly fifty years ago. President John F. Kennedy ordered the invasion of Cuba on the advice of the Central Intelligence Agency who had trained Cubans refugees to fight against the Castro government. The United States in its bid to create a provisional government for the Caribbean government, because Castro posed a threat to the United States, underestimated the loyalties of Cubans living in Miami. The Cubans there passed along the news that anti-Castro refugees would attack the Castro government. The attempt failed as because Castro prepared his troops to counterattack and the United States lost the invasion. The United States was embarrassed by this failure. To add to the embarrassment, Castro spoke out against the President J.F. Kennedy and likened him to Hitler.
Works Cited
John F. Kennedy – Presidential Library and Museum (n.a., n.d) Web. Accessed June 4, 2014
Jones, Howard, (n.d.), Lessons Not Learnt at the Bay of Pigs, History News Network, Web.
Accessed June 4, 2014
Smith, Thomas, G, (1995) Negotiating with Fidel Castro: The Bay of Pigs Prisoners and a Lost
Opportunity Diplomatic History (1995) 19 (1): 59-86 doi:10.1111/j.1467-7709.1995.tb00577.x Accessed June 4, 2014
“The Bay of Pigs invasion begins.” 2014. The History Channel website. Jun 4 2014, 7:28.
Accessed June 4, 2014
The Learning Network April 17, 1961 | The Bay of Pigs Invasion Against Castro The New York
Times April 17, 2012 4:02 am Web. Accessed June 4, 2014
