Big Trouble in the New Frontier: The Bay of Pigs
Student Overview Sheet

by Max A. Delgado
Boise State University

On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro triumphantly led his revolutionary army into downtown Havana, Cuba. The revolutionary force was able to oust the corrupt U.S.-backed regime of Fulgencio Batista with a successful guerrilla campaign out of the Cuban countryside. Although Castro at first denied that his regime was communist, the revolution was a social one and as a result, many companies were nationalized including many American ones.

With no desire to be allied to the U.S., Castro aligned himself with the Soviet Union and declared itself a communist state. President Eisenhower at the time stated that the United States would not "tolerate the establishment of a regime dominated by international communism in the western hemisphere."(J.A. Sierra, Invasion at Bay of Pigs, 2002)

Shortly after, many plans were made to disrupt the fledgling Cuban regime, of these one called for a covert invasion of Cuba itself. The plan called for Cuban exiles to be trained and equipped by the U.S. in a secret location in Latin America. It was to be a covert operation in which the U.S. could completely deny any involvement. This operation was to receive U.S. air support in order to establish a beachhead and form a provisional government. This "provisional" government would then radio the U.S. for support and the military would then officially join the invasion.

John F. Kennedy in 1961 inherited this plan from the Eisenhower administration and as a fervent anti-communist agreed to move ahead with the plan. As the invasion began, Kennedy received word from Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev informing the president that it was widely known that this force was trained and financed by the U.S. Khrushchev also informed Kennedy that if he didn't pull back the U.S.S.R. would regard Cuba as an ally and defend it from further attack. As a result, President Kennedy was forced to call off the planned air support to the mission. Without the air support the mission failed miserably with 200 of the exiles killed and about 1,200 captured. The Kennedy administration was humiliated and American prestige throughout the world was severely tarnished as a result. This debacle however changed the way Kennedy made his decisions regarding the escalating Cold War and ultimately saved the world during the subsequent Cuban Missile Crisis.

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