Bay of Pigs Invasion

1. Bay of Pigs Invasion Project by: Nick DeLuca, Ryne Ramaker, Kyle Martz, Buster Gean, Brittany Boyle, and Natalie Cruz

2. First Ideas • Cuban revolution of 1959 brought in the regime of Fidel Castro- initially a conservative not against the U.S. • Tension continually increased with Cuba’s increasing economic ties with the Soviet Union • The Cuban government expropriated American assets on the island without compensation (oil refineries, sugar mills, and electric utilities) • Castro took steps away from the forming the democratic state he initially planned to create • Free press was outlawed and elections were cancelled- Castro basically became a dictator • U.S. government and especially the CIA knew something needed to be done to eliminate this threat 90 miles from the coast of Florida

3. Planning/Approval • March 17, 1960 CIA under director Alan Dulles presented a plan of invasion to president Eisenhower • Planned for a 4-pronged initiative to take out Castro’s regime with public support • Propaganda- 1.7 million dollars to spread propaganda in Cuba against the government and pro-U.S. • Training and Equipping a force, called Brigade 2506, comprised of Cuban exiles to invade the island and rally local rebels • Intelligence collection by CIA and Cuban dissidents on the island to aid effort • Forming a Cuban exile organization to cover any U.S. or CIA involvement • The Cuban side of things were led by Dr. Jose Miro Cardona, a former prime minister of Cuba • Landing site was planned as near the coastal city of Trinidad, a strategically advantage location with population nearby extremely anti-Castro

4. Preparation • Headquarters were established in Florida called the Western Hemisphere Division-4 • The mission was codenamed “Operation Zapata” under control of Richard Bissell • It acquired training sites in Panama and Florida and held mock landings • The recruits were not given any sensitive information including: the location, date, or even purpose of their action (only days before did they find out)

5. How things were supposed to go • There would be 3 days of bombing by WWII B-26 bombers flown by Cuban pilots based in Nicaragua with the objective of achieving air supremacy and weakening coastal defenses • 1400 heavily-armed members of Brigade 2506 would land on the beach, establish a beach head and penetrate the coast to join with local forces • They would lead a guerilla-esque warfare to overwhelm the Cuban government and take over

6. Kennedy’s second thoughts • Landing site was changed to the Bay of Pigs, a strategically inferior location with a population aligned for the most part with Castro-Kennedy thought that Trinidad was too revealing of U.S. intervention • Last minute, the size of the air-force was cut in half and they were played off as Cuban air-force defectors, so they did not bomb Cuban planes on the ground • The landing date, place, and exact tactics were not told to the actual soldiers of Brigade 2506

7. Air Campaign • Air attacks commenced April 15, 1961 • The large, slow-moving B-26s were no match for the faster T-33 Shooting Stars and Hawker Sea-Furies of the Cuban air-force • One aircraft was pre-fabricated with bullet holes to act as a cover story for the CIA that “requested to land” in Florida • Many aircraft shot down on both sides; 4 US servicemen filling in for Cuban exiles were killed in combat • Last ditch air assault led on the 19th, but it was too little too late

8. Ground Fighting • Evening of April 17th, forces landed from former WWII landing assault craft that embarked from Nicaragua • Razor-sharp coral reefs cut up ships and slowed the invasion process down considerably • Forces once on the ground fought valiantly, inflicting many more casualties than they received • Lack of supplies, air cover, and support trapped them on the shore with no real chance for victory • Two transport ships Houston and Escondido were sunk by the Cuban AF, effectively cutting off supplies for the invaders; other ships would not dare to enter out of fear of attack • Anti-Castro underground forces in Cuba were not alerted and thus could not supply significant aid to the invaders

9. Accusations, Denials ,and Lies • Shortly after attacks began, UN ambassador Adlai Stevenson flatly denied a claim by Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs that the US attacked Cuba with B-26s • He showed a photograph of a B-26 painted with Cuban AF insignia, but it had a different nose style than those flown by the Cuban AF; a feeble effort by CIA to disguise US involvement • Secretary of State Dean Rusk blatantly lied about the US involvement on the morning of the attack • Adlai Stevenson went forward and revealed the truth after being thoroughly embarrassed and called “My official liar” by Kennedy

10. End of the day • Fighting ended on the 19th, with the Cubans victorious • 200 members of Brigade 2506 were killed and close to 1,200 were captured • Estimates of Cuban deaths range from about 2,000 to 5,000 • Not until after the Cuban Missile Crisis did the U.S. agree to pay $53 Million for the return of the captives in 1962 • There was no contingency plan for failure, so Brigade 2506 was doomed to defeat

11. Aftermath • This incident resulted in a serious embarrassment for the Kennedy administration and the US • CIA director Allen Dulles, Deputy Director Charles Cabell, and Deputy Director of Operations Richard Bissell were all forced to resign • JFK remarked that the best way to deal with the CIA would be to “splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds” • Relations with Cuba turned extremely sour, and its ties with the USSR were increased Allen Dulles, Richard Bissell, JFK, and John McCone

12. Aftermath Cont. • President Kennedy publicly accepted fault for the debacle, but blamed the CIA in private • He became fixated on the goal of dismantling Castro’s government • Richard Bissell wrote that “To understand the Kennedy administration’s obsession with Cuba, it is important to understand the Kennedys, especially Robert. From their perspective, Castro won the first round at the Bay of Pigs. He had defeated the Kennedy team; they were bitter and they could not tolerate his getting away with it. The president and his brother were ready to avenge their personal embarrassment by overthrowing their enemy at any cost. I don’t believe there was any significant policy debate in the executive branch on the desirability of getting rid of Castro. Robert Kennedy’s involvement in organizing and directing Mongoose became so intense that he might as well have been deputy director for plans for the operation.”

13. What went Wrong? • Inspector General Lyman Kirkpatrick submitted a report that summarized what led to this failure in the CIA • As the project grew, CIA reduced status and influence of rebel leaders, effectively making them puppets • Agency failed to gather adequate intelligence about the extent of anti-Castro forces and the power of Cuban gov’t • Operation was not started with adequate bases, training facilities, and other essential components • There were severe organizational difficulties with blurred lines between chains of command • Minimal provisions were laid out to inform national policy makers of the need for quick, decisive action in fast moving situations • What started out as a resistance/guerilla operation quickly became an overt military assault that exceeded the capacities of CIA • In the last minute, the Kennedy Administration called off crucial air raids intended to finish off Castro’s air forces

14. Lasting Significance • The Bay of Pigs invasion is a classic example of a cold war confrontation that went terribly awry • First major defeat for the CIA and its foreign operations • Strengthened the government of Fidel Castro while weakening the image of the US abroad • Even today, many Cubans recall the events of April 16th, 1961 and resent the US for it • Increased Soviet aid and investment in Cuba

15. Vocabulary • Dwight D. Eisenhower- supreme commander of the Allied Forces in World War II and president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. He instituted “dynamic conservatism” in office by creating the interstate highway system and supporting the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. Eisenhower also ended the Korean War and issued the Eisenhower Doctrine to counter aggression in the Middle East. The Bay of Pigs invasion was planned during his administration as well. • John F. Kennedy- 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 to his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest president ever elected into office at age 43. Key actions that he took during his administration were creating the Peace Corps, escaping from the Cuban Missile Crisis, and early, limited military action in Vietnam. Kennedy also vaulted the country into the space race with Russia and implemented his domestic policy, the “new frontier”. Kennedy was the president who finally signed off on the Bay of Pigs invasion and forced CIA agents Allen Dulles and Richard Bissell to resign when it failed.

16. Vocabulary Cont. • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)- a member of the United States intelligence community along with the FBI, the National Security Agency, and Homeland Security. The CIA obtains, evaluates, and reports information from foreign governments, corporations, and persons. The CIA also employs propaganda to influence others and engages in covert operations. The CIA was the agency in charge of the Bay of Pigs invasion and several of its members were removed after their unsuccessful performance. • Fidel Castro- has been the president of Cuba since 1959. Castro came to power by leading the revolution to overthrow Fulgencio Batista. Castro is seen by many as a dictator and he created an alliance with the Soviet Union while they were in power in order to counter the United States. Castro was successful in squashing the Bay of Pigs invasion and simultaneously humiliating the U.S. government.

17. Vocabulary Cont. • Operation Zapata- CIA plan which included training Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro’s regime in Cuba. The original plan called for landing the exile brigade in the vicinity of the old colonial city of Trinidad, Cuba 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 during the invasion. This is often referred to as the Bay of Pigs invasion and its planning took place during the Eisenhower administration. CIA head Allen Dulles appointed Richard Bissell as director of “Operation Zapata.” When Kennedy finally signed off on the operation several changes had been made that hampered the maneuver’s success. • Richard Bissell- Was appointed by Allen Dulles as the CIA’s Director of Plans in 1958. He was also made director of “Operation Zapata” and drafted a top-secret policy paper titled “A Program of Covert Action Against the Castro Regime”. His plans were approved by Eisenhower and implemented by Kennedy in the Bay of Pigs invasion. In a face-saving effort Kennedy forced him to resign after the invasion failed.

18. Vocabulary Cont. • Allen Dulles- the first civilian and longest serving Director of Intelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency. Under Dulles the CIA created MK-Ultra, a mind control research project and oversaw Operation Mockingbird (Dealt with American media companies). Dulles was also successful in overthrowing the prime minister of Iran, Mohammed Mossadegh and the president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. Dulles did, however, receive criticism during the Kennedy administration because of the embarrassing failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion and because of connections with the Mafia the undermined his credibility. • Exile Brigade- known as brigade 2506; consisted of 1,511 Cuban exiles. The brigade was trained in Florida, Panama, and Guatemala in order to fight in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Led by Jose Miro Cardona, the brigade, severely outnumbered, suffered heavy casualties and were forced to surrender. The United States ended up paying a $53 million dollar ransom for their return.

19. Vocabulary Cont. • Jose Miro Cardona- a former Cuban politician who served as prime minister six weeks before Fidel Castro took over. After he was exiled he became head of the Cuban Revolutionary Council and worked with the Kennedy administration on plans for the Bay of Pigs Invasion. He would have became the president of Cuba had the brigade been successful. • Cuban Revoluion- revolutionary movement that led to the overthrow of Dictator Fulgencio Batista and replaced him with Fidel Castro. The “26th of July Movement” finally achieved their goal on January 1, 1959. Hundreds of Batista- era government agents were tried for human rights abuses and many received the death penalty and all remaining received long prison sentences. Cuba didn’t exactly move forward from that point unfortunately. Castro implemented an atheist government and confiscated all property held by religious organizations without compensation. Castro also created a militia with the task of stopping counter-revolutionary activity. This organization has a detailed record of the personal habits of each Cuban inhabitant. There have been many unsuccessful U.S. attempts to overthrow Castro’s regime.

20. Vocabulary Cont. • Bahia de Cohinos- Spanish for Bay of Pigs; identifies an inlet on the southern coast of Cuba and was the site of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. • Kennan’s “containment” policy- Famous policy created by George F. Kennan in a telegram to the U.S. in 1947 that was later published as the X article. Kennan stated that the U.S. should prevent the spread of communism to non-communist countries. Essentially just keeping communism within its current borders instead of trying to attack it head on and risk major war. This was officially made part of U.S. policy in the Truman Doctrine.

21. Bibliography • “"1961:Bay of Pigs Attack." Thinkquest.Org. 1998. <http://library.thinkques.org/18355/the_bay_of_pigs_attack.html>. • Bay of Pigs 40 Years After." National Security Archive. 15 May 2007 <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/bayofpigs/chron.html>. • "Bay of Pigs." 16 Apr. 2007 <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDbayofpigs.htm>. • "The Bay of Pigs Invasion." Brigada Asulto 2506. 16 Apr. 2007 <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/baypigs.htm>. • "Bay of Pigs Invasion." Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia UP. 16 Apr. 2007 <http://www.bartleby.com/65/ba/BayPigsI.html>. • "Bay of Pigs Invasion." Wikipedia. 22 Apr. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion>. • "Bay of Pigs." JFK Presidential Library. 22 Apr. 2007 <http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/JFK+and+the+Bay+of+Pigs.htm>. • "Central Intelligence Agency." History.Com. 13 May-June 2007 <http://history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleID=205103>. • Clark, Juan. "The Process of the Bay of Pigs: Its Development and Consequences." 22 Apr. 2007 <http://www.brigada2506.com/history.htm>. • "Fidel Castro Ruz." Cnn.Com. Aug.-Sept. 1998. 13 May-June 2007 <http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/coldwar/kbank/profiles/castro>. • "I Can Hear It Now: the Sixties." Real Player Music Store. 16 Apr. 2007 <http://musicstore.real.com/music_store/album?albumid=775045>. • "Presidents of the United States." The White House. 15 May 2007 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/>. • Sierra, J.A. "Invasion At the Bay of Pigs." 22 Apr. 2007 <http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/baypigs/pigs.htm>. • "The ULTRASENSETIVE Bay of Pigs." 3 May 2007. George Washington University. 16 Apr. 2007 <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB29/index.html>. • Warner, Michael. "CIA's Internal Probe of the Bay of Pigs Affair." Central Intelligence Agency. 22 Apr. 2007 <https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v42i5a08p.htm>. • Weiner, Jared. "Bay of Pigs Report." 22 Apr. 2007 <http://members.aol.com/yo1460/byopr/report1.html>. The Good Shepherd. Dir. Robert DeNiero. DVD. Universal, 2006.

22. Presentation Outline • PowerPoint • Nick presents First Ideas, Planning/Approval, Preparation, and How things were supposed to go • Buster presents Kennedy’s Second Thoughts, Air Campaign, Ground Fighting, and Accusations • Natalie presents End of the Day, Aftermath • Brittany presents What Went Wrong, Lasting Significance • Ryne presents the 15 vocabulary words, bibliography • Movie • Kyle cues up movie and plays it