The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to

invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt
to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

The conflict was launched in April 1961, less than three months after John F. Kennedy assumed
the presidency in the United States. The Cuban armed forces, trained and equipped by Eastern
Bloc nations, defeated the invading combatants within three days.

The main invasion landing took place at a beach named Playa Girón, located at the mouth of the
bay. The invasion is named after the Bay of Pigs, although that is just one possible translation of
the Spanish Bahía de Cochinos. In Cuba, the conflict is sometimes known as La Batalla de
Girón, or just Playa Girón.

PLANNING OF BAYS OF PIG

In April 1960, the CIA began to recruit anti-Castro Cuban exiles in the Miami area. Until July
1960, assessment and training was carried out on Useppa Island and at various other facilities in
South Florida, such as Homestead AFB.
Specialist guerrilla training took place at Fort Gulick, Panama and at Fort Clayton, Panama.For
the increasing ranks of recruits, infantry training was carried out at a CIA-run base code-named
JMTrax near Retalhuleu in the Sierra Madre on the Pacific coast of Guatemala.
The exiles group named themselves Brigade 2506 (Brigada Asalto 2506).In summer 1960, an
airfield (code-named JMMadd, aka Rayo Base) was constructed near Retalhuleu, Guatemala.
Gunnery and flight training of Brigade 2506 aircrews was carried out by personnel from
Alabama ANG (Air National Guard), using at least six Douglas B-26 Invaders in the markings of
FAG (Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca), legitimate delivery of those to the FAG being delayed by
about six months.
An additional 26 B-26s were obtained from US military stocks, 'sanitized' at 'Field Three' to
obscure their origins, and about 20 of them were converted for offensive operations by removal
of defensive armament, standardization of the 'eight-gun nose', addition of underwing drop tanks
and rocket racks. Paratroop training was at a base nicknamed Garrapatenango, near
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Training for boat handling and amphibious landings took place at
Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Tank training took place at Fort Knox, Kentucky and Fort Benning,
Georgia. Underwater demolition and infiltration training took place at Belle Chase near New
Orleans.

The CIA used Douglas C-54 transports to deliver people, supplies, and arms from Florida at
night. Curtiss C-46s were also used for transport between Retalhuleu and the CIA base code-
named JMTide (aka Happy Valley), at Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. On April 9, 1961, Brigade
2506 personnel, ships, and aircraft started transferring from Guatemala to Puerto Cabezas,
Nicaragua.

In early 1961, Cuba's army possessed Soviet-designed T-34 and IS-2 Stalin tanks, SU-100 self-
propelled 'tank destroyers', 122 mm howitzers, other artillery and small arms, plus Italian 105
mm howitzers. The Cuban air force armed inventory included Douglas B-26 Invader light
bombers, Hawker Sea Fury fighters, and Lockheed T-33 jets, all remaining from the Fuerza
Aérea del Ejército de Cuba (FAEC), the Cuban air force of the Batista government.
Anticipating an invasion, Che Guevara stressed the importance of an armed civilian populace,
stating "all the Cuban people must become a guerrilla army, each and every Cuban must learn to
handle and if necessary use firearms in defense of the nation."

The Plan

The original invasion plan called for two air strikes against Cuban air bases. A 1,400-man
invasion force would disembark under cover of darkness and launch a surprise attack.
Paratroopers dropped in advance of the invasion would disrupt transportation and repel
Cuban forces. Simultaneously, a smaller force would land on the east coast of Cuba to
create confusion.

The main force would advance across the island to Matanzas and set up a defensive
position. The United Revolutionary Front would send leaders from South Florida and
establish a provisional government. The success of the plan depended on the Cuban
population joining the invaders.

Bay of Pigs Invasion - Preparation

The CIA had begun recruiting and training Cuban exiles during the Eisenhower administration,
months before diplomatic relations were severed with Cuba in January 1961, as tensions between
Washington and Havana were increasing. However, it was Vice President Richard Nixon, and not
Eisenhower who pushed the plan forward.
The original plan had called for landing the exile brigade (Brigade 2506) in the vicinity of the
old colonial city of Trinidad, Cuba, located in the central province of Sancti Spiritus
approximately 400 km southeast of Havana at the foothills of the Escambray mountains.
The selection of the Trinidad site provided a number of options that the exile brigade could
exploit to their advantage during the invasion. The population of Trinidad was generally opposed
to Castro and the rugged mountains outside the city provided an area of operations where the
invasion force could retreat to and establish a guerrilla campaign were the landing to falter.
Throughout 1960, the growing ranks of Brigade 2506 trained at locations throughout southern
Florida and in Guatemala for the beach landing and possible mountain retreat.
However, under Kennedy's orders, the mission was revised so as to land Brigade 2506 at two
points in Matanzas Province, 202 km southeast of Havana on the eastern edge of the Zapata
peninsula at the Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs). The landings would take place on the Girón
and Larga beaches. The Castro government had been warned by senior KGB agents Osvaldo
Sánchez Cabrera and "Aragon," who respectively died violently before and after the invasion
(Welch and Blight, p. 113). The US government was aware that a high casualty rate was possible.

FAILURE OF BAYS OF PIGS:

The first mishap occurred on April 15, 1961, when eight bombers left Nicaragua to bomb Cuban
airfields.
The CIA had used obsolete World War II B-26 bombers, and painted them to look like Cuban air
force planes. The bombers missed many of their targets and left most of Castro's air force intact.
As news broke of the attack, photos of the repainted U.S. planes became public and revealed
American support for the invasion. President Kennedy cancelled a second air strike.
On April 17, the Cuban-exile invasion force, known as Brigade 2506, landed at beaches along
the Bay of Pigs and immediately came under heavy fire. Cuban planes strafed the invaders, sank
two escort ships, and destroyed half of the exile's air support. Bad weather hampered the ground
force, which had to work with soggy equipment and insufficient ammunition.
Over the next 24 hours, Castro ordered roughly 20,000 troops to advance toward the beach, and
the Cuban air force continued to control the skies. As the situation grew increasingly grim,
President Kennedy authorized an "air-umbrella" at dawn on April 19—six unmarked American
fighter planes took off to help defend the brigade's B-26 aircraft flying. But the B-26s arrived an
hour late, most likely confused by the change in time zones between Nicaragua and Cuba. They
were shot down by the Cubans, and the invasion was crushed later that day.
Some exiles escaped to the sea, while the rest were killed or rounded up and imprisoned by
Castro's forces. Almost 1,200 members of Brigade 2056 surrendered, and more than 100 were
killed.

From the mistaken assumption that Cuba would rise against Castro to its poorly managed
execution, the entire venture was marked by miscalculation. To prepare for the invasion, the CIA
trained the force in secret camps in Guatemala for nearly six months. But long before the
landing, it was widely known in the Cuban community in Florida (and, presumably, the
information was also available to Castro agents) that such a landing was in the offing. Finally,
the invasion failed because Kennedy refused to provide U.S. air support for the brigade. Castro's
aircraft easily disposed of the exiles' tiny air force and proceeded to sink the invasion ships and
cut down the men holding the Bay of Pigs beachhead. Twenty months later, in December 1962,
Castro released the 1,179 Bay of Pigs prisoners in exchange for $53 million worth of medical
supplies and other goods raised by private individuals and groups in the United States.

How Fidel Won

Castro wasted no time in repelling the assault. As reported by Time magazine in 1961, although
“half of (Castro’s) B-26 (fighter planes) and Sea Furies and four of his T-33 jets were blown up
or damaged” in a successful air strike by the counter-revolutionary exiles two days before the
invasion, he utilised the remainder of his air force to great success. On April 17, the day of the
invasion, Castro “had four jets left and they were armed with rockets. Before the morning was
done he had sunk two transports and driven off two others” (Time magazine, Online Archives,
1961). He grouped together out-of-service aeroplanes as bait to fool the attackers and placed his
military on high alert. Later, Castro’s superior military strength was evident, when during the
invasion it became clear that the brigade was surrounded by 20,000 troops with artillery and
tanks.
Without the aid of air reinforcements Brigade 2506, as the invaders were named, stood little
chance of success. According to Alfredo Duran, a member the brigade, “the air power was
crucial. It made no sense just to establish a beachhead, without backup from the marines”
(Thomas, 1971). The decision not to provide it proved to be the critical factor in the ultimate
failure of the expedition. Castro was somewhat fortunate that Kennedy lost his nerve and
rescinded the order for a second strike which would have eliminated Cuban air capacity. This
virtually left the brigade as "sitting ducks" at Playa Giron and Playa Larga. The invasion was
defeated in 3 days, with the majority of the defeated combatants taken prisoner by Castro.
Read on
• Fidel Castro and The Cuban Revolution
• John F. Kennedy - The Bay of Pigs
• After Cuba and the Bay of Pigs
Produced by the CIA within three months, its chief architects Richard Bissell and Allen Dulles,
the invasion strategy was flawed in numerous fatal areas which in due course were to be its
defeat. It proved to be a disaster in every way. Internationally Fidel Castro was seen to humiliate
Kennedy and humble the United States. Ever since the invasion Fidel has proved to be a constant
thorn in the side of the US, foiling many CIA assassination attempts and in the process becoming
an international icon for socialism.

Read more at Suite101: Fidel Castro's Bay of Pigs Victory: Details of the Cuban Leader's
Triumph Over the US Invasion of 1961 http://www.suite101.com/content/castro-america-the-
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