65th Anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion

WASHINGTON — On the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, surviving veterans gathered in Miami to mark the failed 1961 operation that aimed to overthrow Fidel Castro’s government. The commemoration took place ahead of the reopening of the Bay of Pigs Museum in its recent, expanded location in Little Havana. Manuel Portuondo, who was still a teenager when his family fled Cuba for Miami in 1960, recalled enlisting in the U.S.-backed force at age 18. “With 18 years and many ideals and a big heart, I wanted to return to my country and be free and able to do what I wanted,” he said. “I enlisted for the invasion and was sent to Guatemala for training.” Approximately 1,500 Cuban exiles, supported by the CIA, launched the invasion at Playa Girón — known in the United States as the Bay of Pigs — on April 17, 1961. Their goal was to establish a beachhead and declare a provisional government seeking international recognition. Within 72 hours, the operation collapsed due to miscalculations, political hesitations and a chain of decisions no one sought to stop. More than 100 members of the invading force, known as Brigade 2506, were killed in combat or drowned. Another 1,197 were captured after running out of ammunition and remained imprisoned for about 20 months before their release was negotiated. Only around 200 veterans of the brigade are still alive today, with the youngest nearing 80 years aged. The failed invasion marked a significant early Cold War confrontation, strengthening Castro’s alliance with the Soviet Union and setting the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis the following year. For Cubans, Playa Girón symbolizes the decisive defeat of the foreign invader; in the United States, the site is commonly referred to as the Bay of Pigs. Both names describe the same geographic area within the Zapata Swamp, where fighting unfolded between Cuban revolutionary forces and the invading brigade. The museum’s reopening in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood serves as a focal point for preserving the memory of the event, particularly as the generation of veterans continues to age. The exhibits detail the training in Guatemala, the amphibious landing, the leverage of C-46 and C-54 transport aircraft, B-26 bombers, M41 tanks, and various amphibious craft, as well as the subsequent capture and imprisonment of most of the invading force.