The failed attempt to invade Cuban territory by Cuban exiles, mercenaries and CIA agents was one of the main failures of the John F government. Kennedy, strengthening the government of Fidel Castro, who had seized power on the Caribbean island two years earlier. The episode known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, on April 17, 1961, marked the official passage of the government of Castro side with the Soviets and inaugurated an escalation of actions that endangered world peace in the decade of 1960.
After taking power on January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro had already constituted a state action that intended to make Cuba independent of the US economy and diplomacy. This measure greatly displeased the US neighbor, mainly because such measure was accompanied by a rapprochement with the USSR, in a context of Cold War rivalry.
The objective of the action orchestrated by the CIA and carried out months after the inauguration of John F. Kennedy was to train a group of Cuban exiles in Miami so that, along with some mercenaries, they would enter the island through the Bay of Pigs and start a civil war. This situation would create the conditions for a more massive US intervention against the Castro regime. However, the action was easily prevented by troops linked to the Cuban commander, and in 72 hours of fighting, under direct orders from Fidel Castro, the invaders were contained, resulting in a few hundred deaths and a few trapped. In addition, a US plane was shot down and another landed in Miami, riddled with bullets.
The episode served for Fidel Castro to publicly declare that the Cuban Revolution adopted a supposedly socialist character, strengthening ties with the USSR. In addition to strengthening the Castro regime, the episode served to stir up tempers between the US and the USSR, especially after the known episode like the Missile Crisis, when this type of weaponry, sent by the Soviets to Cuba, would be just over a hundred kilometers from the territory American.
* Image Credit: Boris15 and Shutterstock.com
By Tales Pinto
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/invasao-baia-dos-porcos.htm