The Bay of Pigs Invasion

Situated ninety miles off the southern coast of Florida, Cuba has always had some sort of economic relationship with the United States. This relationship escalated at the beginning of the 20th Century, after the United States severed Cuba's colonial relationship with Spain in the Spanish American War. Throughout the Century, the United States dominated Cuba's economy and gained tremendous political influence on the island, virtually replacing Spain as Cuba's colonial master. Military intervention in Cuba was occasionally necessary in order to maintain American control. Until the end of 1958, President Fulgencio Batista was actively supported by the United States, through the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency, during the Castro Revolution (Paterson 127-28).

During the Revolution, Fidel Castro tapped into the resentment against the United States residing in the psyches of the Cuban peasants. This resentment was never completely understood by most of the American diplomats and intelligence analysts, who were never able to understand or accept Castro's popularity amongst the Cuban people (Paterson 128). Castro, however, understood t

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ion, a personal rivalry between two charismatic leaders, or a feeling of betrayal on the part of Kennedy, who had initially welcomed the Cuban Revolution before Castro openly cast his lot with the communists (124-25). Paterson followed these theories through his examination of the three conflicts between the U.S. and Cuba, insisting that Kennedy's policy towards Cuba was of his own making, and not inherited from the Eisenhower Administration. Kennedy exaggerated the threat from Cuba, including that of exporting communist revolution to Latin America (129). Paterson's article, while not a fresh account of the events surrounding the invasion, was a critical examination of the motivation behind the decisions. Wyden did made similar arguments, although in less detail. Paterson seemed to ignore the Soviet element in Kennedy's motivation in authorizing the Bay of Pigs operation, focusing solely on Cuba. Even in his discussion of the missile crisis, Paterson placed the emphasis on U.S./Cuba relations in explaining the Soviet decision to base missiles in Cuba. Similarly, Wyden did not elaborate on the Cold War background to the operation. He did not try to establish the mood in the United States at that time, but seemed to assume that the
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Approximate Word count = 5818
Approximate Pages = 23 (250 words per page)

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