Abstract
In this paper, the effects of the invasion of the Bay of Pigs has been discussed and the role of the United States of America. The role of American government largely influenced the invasion although it was meant to be a discreet and secret action. This was actually one of the reasons that led to the failure of the invasion. Cuban relationship with the American government is even today very shaky.
The Cubans have ever since remained paranoid of every action the Americans take. Business dealings between the two countries are flawed due to the fallen relationship and mistrust between the two countries. Being a super power, America was badly tainted by the fail of the invasion. Most people anticipated for an easy overthrow of the president. This defeat was a great embarrassment to the American government. Political decisions are critical and may have negative long term effects that may hurt a countries integrity and security measures.
The effects as discussed in the above research are too risky and destructive. It is apparent that political alignment may also lead to war. Politics is a major aspect of any republic and sound and careful decisions should be made. Every political decision has a potential to lead a country to war or cause destructive effects on the economy as well as social interactions with other countries. As discussed in the paper, American government was in the losing end due to careless political decisions made by the then president J.F. Kennedy.
His approval for the recruitment of the Cuban rebels and supply of American weapons were uncovered. His determination to conceal American role in the invasion was not successful. This not only humiliated the country, but also limited the Americans from effecting full military actions on the invasion. In the attempt to conceal their involvement, the Americans used obsolete air craft to launch air attacks but were overwhelmed by Fidel’s troops who had their air space under tight surveillance.
The Americans anticipation of a rebellion fro within the government was also another uncalculated move that led to the failure of the invasion. The effects of the invasion were severe on both sides as the Americans suffered humiliation and public condemnation from all over the world. Cuba on the other also suffered distraction caused by bombings and deaths of some of its troops although the ordeal left the country stronger than before. As discussed below the Bay of Pigs was an event influenced by political actions ad the effects there of are as a result of politics.
Brief historical account
Every time the Bay of Pigs invasion is mentioned, the first thing that runs through people’s mind is the iconic involvement of the American government under the stewardship of the late president J.F. Kennedy. The whole event is a past that the American government would wish to forget but nothing can unwind the hands of time, history was written then and this will always be in the minds of generations to generations.
The unsuccessful invasion to oust the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro destroyed the relationship between the two states and up to date the countries’ relation remains sour. The failure of this invasion was a huge blow to the Kennedy’s administration which was an embarrassment in the global scene. The Cuban exiles who received military training in the United States of America were overpowered by the Fidel Castro’s troops with some getting kill while others were taken as hostages.
This took place in 1961(Vandenbrouche). Fidel Castro rose to power through military action after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista. Due to his close ties with the Soviet Union, Fidel did not enjoy warm relations with the United States which is why they supported a group of rebels to oust him. However, the invasion was challenged by the Cuban troops and defeated. This was following some mishaps in the planning of the invasion that gave the Cuban troops an advantage to stand against the rebels.
The invasion
The Americans started making faulty moves just at the beginning of the invasion. First was the disguise to facilitate deniability. This was a failed plan that led to inadequate commitment to the battle by the American forces. The need to keep American’s involvement discreet limited their action in the battle field and hence the rebel troops were overwhelmed.
First was the use of obsolete aircraft in order to make the invasion look like a Cuban affair. The obsolete aircraft were even painted to have them look like Cuban aircraft. The guise effect led the use of less military power which did not even bare much fruits. The cover-up was exposed in the end and this made the struggle to remain anonymous not worth the pain.
Castro’s troops took advantage and counter attacked the rebel troops maintain tight security on its air space and on the ground, the troops suppressed the rebels overwhelming them. So many were killed and others captured. The American government had to negotiate and pay ransom for the captured rebels and American troops to be released by the Cuban government.
Reasons influencing the invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion was a military blue print that was underway even before the J.F. Kennedy came to power (Pessen, 25). The main reason why the American government gave their support to the Cuban exiles to launch an invasion in their home country was to dismantle the communist government miles away from their shores. The government acted in their own interest anticipating support from the locals. The anticipation however was wrongly placed as event turned differently when the American trained rebels landed on Cuban soil.
The American government having seen their mistake quickly withdrew from the promised air strike support hence giving Fidel’s troops an upper hand in winning the battle. Another reason why the Americans supported the invasion was because the Cuban communist administration was a threat to the larger Latin American countries. Allowing Fidel Castro to reign would mean allowing communism to thrive in the Latin American countries which would create problems for the United States.
The Cuban communist influence was threatening to get out of hand. In addition to all this considerations, the United States found it necessary to strike and overthrow the president Castro due to his close ties with the Soviet Union. They could not stand to have a friend of the Soviet Union close to their border. The relationship between the Castro’s administration and the Soviet Union was a security threat for the Americans.
American involvement
The Bay of Pigs invasion could not have happened without the backing of the United States. The United States had everything thing to do with the invasion. The troops that landed on the bay pigs were 1500 in number all were heavily armed with American weapons. The troops also received special training from a United States government’s military wing called the Central Intelligence Agency “CIA” (Craughwell, and William 22).
Camps were set in Guatemala and by November 1960, a small army was already trained in preparation to launch an attack on Fidel’s administration (Knorr, 10). The American administration was doing everything possible to cover up their involvement in these attacks (Lynch 11). Landing on the Bay of Pigs for instance was a way to disguise the American involvement through by entering the Cuban territory through an insignificant point in a swampy remote area.
This was to create a notion that the invasion was being carried out by inexperienced and weak troops. To further hide the involvement of the United States, president J.F.Kennedy declined to offer the troops an air strike support as it was plan and he pulled out from the agreement. All of this was done to try and hide the American participation in the attempt to overthrow Castro’s government. Unfortunately, president Castrol had already received this information that the Americans were helping a group of exiles to launch an attach in his country and consequently judging from the ultimate results of the invasion he took precautionary measure that put him a head of the Americans and brought him victory.
Why the invasion failed
Despite the long and perceived careful planning of an invasion, the ordeal never succeeded. The Americans as well as the rebels anticipated a successful mission but they were both disappointed by the turn of events. One of the reasons that led to the unsuccessful invasion was the fact that the American government tried everything possible to avoid the exposure of their involvement (Howard 25).
This limited their actions since they did not want the world to now that they were actually aiding the rebels to overthrow Fidel Castro. The implications of their exposure could have caused friends of Cuba to hold the United States in contempt (Vandenbrouche 11). The majority of the Latin American countries by then were having good relations with Cuba and America could not risk create enemies around itself. Nonetheless the truth came out and the cover-up did not allow the USA to engage full military force to help the rebels.
They had agreed to help the rebels through air attacks but J.F. Kennedy chose to protect his administration and save the image of the country which consequently led to an embarrassing loss. The American trained Cuban exiles were overwhelmed by Castro’s troops immediately they landed on the bay of troops. The anticipated support from some members of Fidel’s government did not happen. The rebels and Americans never took time to carefully examine Fidel’s strong points and weakness instead they assumed they would get support from the locals which was not the case.
The failure of the invasion was phenomenal considering the backing of the United States a world’s superpower. The American government was mocked for the loss in the battle. Fidel’s troops received heroic comments for defending its country and consequent created new friendship with the Russian who were long time American enemies. Fidel’s troops became even stronger and loyal to their country after defeating the Americans and all of the other rebels in the government were frightened to show their intentions
Effects of the invasion
After this invasion, the American government was determined to make the Cuban suffer as a way of revenge. Plans to even assassinate the Cuban president were deliberated though they all failed. The lasting impact of this was that the two state’s relationship remains strained up to date. The failed invasion tainted a bad image on the American power making the super power seem incompetent.
The American failure to oust President Castro strengthened his government and made the Cuban government look like the victim of American invasion. This increased the loyalty to Fidel’s governance hence promoting communism which was one of the reasons the American government had agreed to get involved in the attack. Many people lost their lives especially civilians a factor that led the locals condemn the American government.
The Kennedy’s administration was condemned all around for its involvement in the attack. Cuban government wary of future attacks from the Americans pursued relations with the Soviet Union and sought their counsel. This improved the relationship between the Soviet Union and the Cuban government which was partly for protection purposes. This posed a threat to the American government.
The Soviet Union and the United States were had no close relations and the Americans were not comfortable with the close ties between Cuba and the union. This led to the Cuban missile crisis which further destroyed completely the relationship between America and the Cuban government. There was an element of distrust that exists even to date. The troops that fought the battle remained loyal to their government making the Fidel Castrol’s administration even more powerful.
Economic and Social repercussions
The failed invasion was too embarrassing to the American government. As a retaliation process, the Americans wanted to completely destabilize Cuba. This led to sanctions imposed against the Cuban government. The economic repercussions experienced during this time were severely felt by the Cuban citizens and the Cuban government was critically affected by these sanctions.
On the other hand, supplies to the American’s that were shipped via Cuban waters were jeopardized and this affected business in the unite states as well. This led huge economic losses to both countries with the Cuban people suffering the most due to the invasion. The whole incident led to strained social ties between the two countries a factor that goes on to date. The relationship between the two countries was destroyed. In this event however, the American image in the global view was tainted as the world sympathized with the Cuba and condemned American actions.
With every instance of a battle or military invasion, most activities that are paramount in driving the economy cease. This brings countries economic activities to a halt hence inflation rates escalate rapidly. This was the same effect on Cuba during the time of these attacks backed by the American government. The deaths that occurred and injuries affected the two countries severely as families lost dear ones. The kind of damage caused by the war at the Bay of Pigs was so devastating.
Conclusion
The effects as discussed in the above research are too risky and destructive. It is apparent that political alignment may also lead to war. Politics is a major aspect of any republic and sound and careful decisions should be made. Every political decision has a potential to lead a country to war or cause destructive effects on the economy as well as social interactions with other countries. As discussed in the paper, American government was in the losing end due to careless political decisions made by the then president J.F. Kennedy.
His approval for the recruitment of the Cuban rebels and supply of American weapons were uncovered. His determination to conceal American role in the invasion was not successful. This not only humiliated the country, but also limited the Americans from effecting full military actions on the invasion. In the attempt to conceal their involvement, the Americans used obsolete air craft to launch air attacks but were overwhelmed by Fidel’s troops who had their air space under tight surveillance.
Works Cited
Craughwell, Thomas and William Phelps. Failures of the Presidents: From the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and War in Iraq. NY: Fair Winds, 2008. Print.
Howard, Jones. The Bay of Pigs. Cambridge: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.
Knorr, Klaus. “Failures in National Intelligence Estimates: The Case of the Cuban Missiles.” World Politics. 16.3 (1964): 1-13.
Lynch, Grayston. Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs. Boston: Potomac Books, Inc., 2000. Print.
Pessen, Edward. “Appraising American Cold War Policy by its Means of Implementation.” Reviews in American History. 18.4 (1990): 22-30.
Vandenbrouche, Lucien S. “Anatomy of a Failure: The Decision to Land at the Bay of Pigs.” Political Science Quarterly. 99.3 (1984): 52-73.