Fidel CastroThe Bay of Pigsby Madeline St. Michel

Fidel Castro in Washington

Fidel CastroCastro led a guerrilla movement to overthrow dictator

Fulgencio Batista. Castro gained control in 1959, and promised to eliminate poverty, inequality, and dictatorship from Cuba. He won public support through his promises of democracy.

Castro did a lot to help the people of Cuba. He rationed food, put a limit on rent, and put stringent anti-discrimination laws into effect. The health care system is excellent, and Cuba now has a 96% literacy rate.

US ReactionThe US came to recognize this new government, but

Castro later seized British and American oil refineries, and broke up commercial farms into land communes for peasants. Americans were losing money, worsening relations between the two countries. Trade barriers against Cuban sugar were put in place.

Shortly before JFK was elected, Eisenhower cut off diplomatic relations with the rise of Castro, as he was openly communist and welcomed aid from the USSR.

Cuban Reactions to Castro

Some Cubans loved Castro, he was charismatic and willing to stand up to the US. Some saw Castro as a dictator that overthrew one unjust government and erected a new one. Castro wouldn’t deal with people opposing him, and about 10% of the population was forced into exile. Many exiled Cubans came to the US, specifically Miami, Florida, and began to take counterrevolutionary measures.

Bay of PigsCastro with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces

Bay of Pigs InvasionEisenhower allowed the CIA to secretly train ~1,500

Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. This invasion was the beginning of a plan that would result in Fidel Castro’s ouster.

April 17, 1961-about 1,400 Cuban exiles supported by the US landed on Cuba, at the Bay of Pigs. The plan was a complete disaster, the air strike to take out Cuban air force fell through, an advance group sent to distract Castro had never reached shore, and the main unit lost American air support - facing 15,000 Cuban troops on their own.

Works CitedMcDougal Littell: The AmericansFidel Castro and Bay of Pigs from U.S. History in ContextImages:http://www.tcpalm.com/photos/galleries/2013/feb/28/bay-of-pigs/122490/?enlarge=1 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fidel_Castro_in_Washington.jpg