In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower secretly authorized the CIA to overthrow Fidel Castro's government in Cuba. Following Castro’s 1959 revolution, Eisenhower approved an initial budget of 4.4 million dollars for the operation. He increased this to 13 million that August, as the Cuban government began nationalizing U.S.-owned businesses like oil refineries and banks. The primary goal was to replace Castro with a U.S.-friendly government, while maintaining plausible deniability of American involvement. This was a high-stakes gamble in the Cold War, the first major U.S. attempt to remove a communist government in the Western Hemisphere. The CIA's plan depended entirely on one critical assumption: that a small landing force of exiles would inspire a mass anti-Castro uprising across the island.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
The CIA's disastrous failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro using Cuban exiles.
A Secret Plan
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the US want to overthrow Fidel Castro?
After Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, he began nationalizing U.S.-owned businesses in Cuba and aligning with the Soviet Union. The U.S. government saw his communist regime as a threat to its interests in the Western Hemisphere.
What was Brigade 2506?
Brigade 2506 was the name given to the invasion force of approximately 1,400 Cuban exiles. They were recruited, funded, and trained by the CIA to carry out the invasion and hopefully trigger an anti-Castro uprising.
What were the long-term consequences of the Bay of Pigs invasion?
The failed invasion was a major public embarrassment for the Kennedy administration. It strengthened Castro's position in Cuba and pushed him into a closer military alliance with the Soviet Union, which led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
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