Bay of Pigs Lesson

The Bay of Pigs

Incident

Sheesh.

First of all… the players

John F Kennedy: President of the USA

Nikita Khrushchev: Premier of the Soviet Union

Fidel Castro: Leader of Cuba until his death in 2016

The USA and Castro

-Before Castro, there was an American backed leader: Fulgencio Batista

-Castro and friends militarily take over and exile Batista

-AMERICA DOES NOT LIKE THIS:

-Castro nationalized a couple American dominated industries like sugar

production, mining etc..

The Plan of Action

Not everyone in Cuba liked Castro! Many fled to Florida.

JFK (and Eisenhower) authorized a plan to SECRETLY train 1400 exiles in
guerilla warfare to take back Cuba.

The Important Bits (so far)

At this point, the USA refused to buy sugar from Cuba (which would
collapse its economy)

SOVIET UNION JUMPS IN! Agrees to buy sugar and make good
relationships.

Now, USA is dealing with the potentiality of Soviet retaliation for the
potential reinvasion of Cuba. (MUST STAY SECRET)

Whatever… game time:

A couple American B-26 bombers PAINTED TO LOOK LIKE CUBAN
PLANES, sets out to destroy Cuba’s air force

A step ahead, Castro had moved his planes...unsuccessful bombing.

Ok, that failed, stage 2!

Regardless of the plane thing, Cuban exiles planned to invade by boat
the Southern shore of Cuba (the Bay of Pigs)

- Boats hit coral reefs, some sink

- Troops land in a swampy area

- Cuban radios broadcast literally every move the invasion makes

The Damage.

In under a day, the exiles surrendered.

- 114 were killed

- 1100 were captured.

- Millions of dollars in supplies lost in swamps

The Other Damage

- Cuban relations were as bad as they could be

- To get POWs back, Kennedy had to trade 53 million in supplies and
medicine.

- Cuba becomes stronger friends with the Soviet Union.