Bay of Pigs: CIA-Backed Invasion Fails

On April 17, 1961, approximately 1,400 Cuban exiles trained and funded by the CIA (Brigade 2506) landed at Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs) in an attempt to overthrow Castro. President Kennedy withheld promised air support. Within 72 hours, Cuban forces crushed the invasion: 114 brigade members were killed and 1,189 captured. The fiasco was a humiliation for the Kennedy administration and the CIA, and strengthened Castro's position.