Bay of Pigs

The Origins of the Plan

The plan for what became known as the Bay of Pigs was originally conceived during the Eisenhower administration. After Castro came to power on 1 January 1959, the Eisenhower administration watched with trepidation to see what sort of policies he would pursue. Once Castro began leaning toward Communism and instituted land reform, Washington decided that he posed a significant threat to U.S. national security by providing a base for Soviet influence and exporting radicalism to the rest of Latin America. Eisenhower formally approved “A Program of Covert Action Against the Castro Regime” on 17 March 1960. The plan involved creating a covert intelligence and action organization within Cuba and developing a paramilitary force outside the country. What the planners envisioned was a guerrilla force of 300 men who would infiltrate Cuba in small teams, connect with the opposition within the country, and spark a revolt. Soon after the plan was approved, the CIA began training Cuban exiles in guerrilla warfare at camps in Guatemala.

By the fall of 1960, however, the CIA realized that its efforts to develop a guerrilla network inside Cuba were failing and that the planned infiltration of three hundred exiles would not be able to trigger a mass uprising. In addition, Castro's forces, bolstered by arms shipments from Czechoslovakia, were fast becoming better armed and more proficient at combating guerrilla activity. As a result, the CIA changed its approach from an infiltration to an amphibious assault with 1,500 men, which was designed to achieve a “minimum critical mass” that would spark an islandwide revolt. The change in plan also meant that the Cuban exiles received no further guerrilla training.

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