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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.
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.
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.
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-
bay-of-pigs-a55028#ixzz1DAfmwNt0