Bay of Pigs

Bay of Pigs

"Bahía de Cochinos"

• The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful attempt by United States-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
• On April 17, 1961 about 1300 of these cuban exiles, armed with U.S. weapons, landed at the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba.
• It was the hope to find help from the local population, that they intended to cross the island to Havana.
• It was evident from the first hours of fighting, however, that the exiles were likely to lose. President Kennedy had the option of using the U.S. Air Force against the Cubans but decided against it. Consequently, the invasion was stopped by Castro's army. By the time the fighting ended on April 19, 90 exiles had been killed and the rest had been taken as prisoners.
• Those involved were the United States president Dwight D. Eisenhower and his government and Fidel Castro's leftist cuban regime government. President Eisenhower broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961 due to increasing missle tensions.
• Castro turned to the Soviet Union for assistance and the blockade made hostility between Cuba and the USA grow. These hostilities are still present today.

--SaraH*