The fighting at the Bay of Pigs continued until April 19, with some 100 persons being killed. The rest were taken prisoner. The Cuban government held these persons captive after the failed invasion until sometime later when a ransom was paid.
The planned invasion of Cuba by the United States, in 1961, using American trained Cuban anti-Castro exiles, was a failure. It was also an extreme embarrassment to the Kennedy administration. The administration was blamed by some for not giving adequate air support. It was blamed by others for allowing the invasion to take place.
CIA Audit of Failure Held Secret
The CIA also went into action as far as pointing the finger of blame. Their secret audit on the operation placed the cause of the failure on several mistakes the agency had made concerning the planning and execution of the invasion. This audit, prepared by CIA Inspector General Lyman Kirkpatrick, was held secret for 36 years. Its content was not revealed to the public until 1998.
CIA Fails to Serve
At it turned out, news of the invasion had leaked to the media. It had also reached Castro, allowing him time to prepare for the attack. The CIA had conducted very little intelligence that was reliable concerning the situation in Cuba. It had also failed to learn that no extensive organized resistance to Castro and his government existed. This, of course, was the reason there was very little local assistant for the landed exile forces. Disregarding this lack of necessary information the CIA informed President Kennedy that an invasion of Cuba would receive wide support from the Cuban people.
Castro and Khrushchev Fear Second Invasion
Following the American invasion of Cuba, now called The Bay of Pigs, it was wisely realized by both Fidel Castro and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev of the USSR that a second invasion was possible. To prepare for such an eventuality, and to show the importance of the alliance between the USSR and Cuba, Khrushchev began to take preparatory steps.
However, Khrushchev was not the only world power who saw the advantage in preparing for future confrontations. The United States, also, was on the move in spite of Kennedy and his advisers' opinion that United States nuclear superiority would stop any aggressive Soviet moves.
After the Bay of Pigs: Placing the Blame, continues on August 3, 2006, with: Before the Cuban Missile Crisis: Who Has the Biggest Gun?
Previous: The Bay of Pigs: United States Prepares For a Takeover.
