What Do You Need To Know About Bay Of Pigs?

By Divya G

In the 1960s, President Kennedy and his administration were terrified of a communist takeover of Cuba. They recruited Cuban exiles to invade their home country with hopes that they would overthrow Fidel Castro, who was allied with the Soviet Union at this time. JFK’s plan failed as there wasn’t enough popular support for an invasion from within or outside of Cuba, and it ended up being one big mess!

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The Bay of Pigs Invasion is often discussed, but not many people know what has happened before going into too much detail. The Cold War created great anxiety among warring countries, which led Presidents like John F Kennedy to take risks he never thought possible when deciding how best to deal with communism spread throughout Latin America, including right next door in our own backyard here.

Former general, General Fulgencio Batista, who had the support of the United States, was a strongman in the late 1930s and the power behind the presidents. He legalized Cuban Communist Party (P.S.P.), which supported him in his successful bid to become president in 1940. In 1944, Batista stepped aside for Ramon Grau after being elected but then seized power with coup d’etat forces within two years.

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One of the revolutionary groups was Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement (MR-26-7), which had 10 members in each cell. Each member would stay oblivious to what any other one is doing or where they are as a way to not get caught by Batista’s forces. From 1956 – 1959, Castro led these guerrillas, and with help from rebels abroad such as Che Guevara, he managed to overthrow Batista on January 1st. At this point, America looked for alternatives between both men but eventually found that it wanted neither man so much when after being attacked many times over 5 years, Moore joined their cause too late because, at this time, there were no more options left.