The Bay Of Pigs
Storyboard Text
- In 1959 Fidel Castro came to power in an armed revolt. The ultimate goal for the US was to overthrow Castro and the establishment of an non-communist government friendly to the US.
- The CIA set up training camps in Guatemala. By November the operation had trained a small army for an assault landing and guerilla warfare.
- The original plan called for 2 air strikes against Cuban air bases. A 1,400-man invasion force would disembark under cover of darkness and launch a surprise attack.
- The first mishap occurred on April 15, 1961. The CIA had used obsolete WWII B-26 bombers and painted them to look like Cuban air force planes. The bombers misses many of their targets and left most of Castro's air force intact. As the news of the attacks got out, pictures of the repainted U.S planes became public, which revealed the American help and support of the invasion, President JFK cancelled the 2nd air strike.
- 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.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.
- The brigade prisoners remained in captivity for 20 months, as the U.S negotiated a deal with Fidel Castro. Robert F. Kennedy made personal pleas for contributions from pharmaceutical companies and the baby food manufacturers, and Castro eventually settled on $53 million worth of baby food and medicine in exchange for the prisoners.
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