Young Cubans last December [2014] greeted the leap in relations between their island and the United States with joy. Diplomatic relations were to be re-established after a 50-year interruption. To cries of ‘with you forever, Fidel,’ students marched with hope for a future quite different from what their parents experienced.
A guerrilla army with Fidel Castro at its head drove dictator Fulgencio Batista from power in 1959. The communist takeover swiftly destroyed ties with the US as American companies were expropriated.
Washington decided to remove Castro by force. On 17th April, 1961, 1,500 Cuban exiles took part in the disastrous Bay of Pigs assault, conceived under Eisenhower, CIA-funded and launched by Kennedy. The US thought that, once ashore, others against Castro would boost attack strength. But Castro got wind of the plan and wrapped the whole thing up within days, with 118 attackers killed, 1,200 taken prisoner, and a relatively light death toll of 176 defenders.
The Cold
