Bay of Pigs

Apologies for missing Monday! I would say it was an April Fools joke, but it'd be a lie. However, since we missed Monthly Micronational Monday, we shall revisit micronations next Monday.

Today, we go to a rather infamous event during the Cold War, known commonly as the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

The Bay of Pigs invasion refers to April 17, 1961, when 1400 Cuban exiles tried to invade the south coast of Cuba. Cuba had, in 1959, been taken over by the communist Castro, and the US was very wary of new communist governments and especially their relation to the USSR. At the time, Dwight Eisenhower was President of the US and Khrushchev was leader of the USSR.

 

The invasion was meant to be started by the Cuban exiles and backed up by American troops. However, the US had overestimated unrest under Castro's rule- the US had expected many Cubans and Cuban military men to join the US in the fight to overthrow Castro. So when American troops faced heavy opposition upon landing on the coast of Cuba, the 1500 men who arrived either surrendered or fled. Over 100 were killed and many more captured.

 

"Premier Fidel Castro issued a statement over Cuba's nationwide network saying that the invaders, members of the exiled Cuban revolutionary front, have come to destroy the revolution and take away the dignity and rights of men"

After not receiving the US support they expected, the Cuban exiles were easily put down and the unsuccessful invasion was put down by April 20th. The result was an embarrassment for the US and a failure to place non-communists in power in Cuba. 





Bay of Pigs memorial in Little-Havana, Miami, Florida

Sources: Wikipedia, JFK Library, Education.miami.edu