Why did the Bay of Pigs Invasion Fail?

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Mr. Beat tells the story of the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of April 1961.

Uh ok, so this is, like, the description of the video so keep reading. Produced by Matt Beat. Filmed by Matt Beat. Additional images used under fair use guidelines or found in the public domain. Music by @ElectricNeedleRoom(Mr. Beat's band) and Bad Snacks.

Check out Grant (@CasualHistorian)'s videos about the Cuban Revolution:

Check out the 2506 Brigade Museum and Library

Here's an annotated script with footnotes

Sources/further reading:

The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America’s Doomed Invasion of Cuba’s Bay of Pigs by Jim Rasenberger

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For the few Americans who know about what we now call the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the only thing they know about it was that it was a failure. In this video, I'm going to tell you WHY it was a failure, and you better just, like, listen, because if you don’t I will fail you.

The Bay of Pigs Invasion, as most folks call it now, was an embarrassing defeat for Kennedy and the United States. It showed the CIA was in over their heads. They got too cocky and miscalculated. And the agency must have been embarrassed, too, as it classified lots of information that made it look bad.

The invasion also ended up being quite a political victory for Castro and his authoritarian government. It turned not only most Cubans, but most LATIN AMERICANS against the American government, and only made Castro more popular.

Still, despite feeling abandoned by the American government, many of the Cuban exiles who participated in the Bay of Pigs Invasion remained steadfastly loyal to the United States in the following years. Some went on to become officers in the military. Some even served in the Vietnam War. Today, here in the United States we honor members of Brigade 2506 as heroes who tried to overthrow a dictator and free their home country. And what an honor it was to visit the Brigade 2506 Museum and Library in Miami. And good news…it’s getting a brand new building soon! Exciting stuff.

And it was an even GREATER honor to have the privilege of speaking with an actual Bay of Pigs Invasion VETERAN. Dr. Eduardo Zayas-Bazán, thank you for sharing your story with us.