Playa Giron--site of the Bay of Pigs invasion and debacle

Playa Giron, Bay of Pigs landing site

It’s always valuable to get a different perspective on history, particularly when it’s one so radically different from Americans’ view.  Playa Giron, one of the Bay of Pigs’ landing sites, is just such a place.  Today, the beach is peaceful, with a rundown hotel, beach palapas and swimmers enjoying the warm, shallow water.  The museum shows Cuba’s view of the ill-fated landing that embarrassed the United States and infuriated the Cubans.

Che and Fidel marching with victorious army

During the last years of the Eisenhower administration, Cuban exiles, mostly in Florida, were enraged over Fidel Castro’s nationalization of their businesses and property.  A group of them persuaded the administration that, with US support, they could foment an uprising of the Cuban people against Castro and return the island to an anti-communist bulwark in the Caribbean.  Given the fear of Communism in the U.S., and particularly, the ardent anti-communism of Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, and his brother, Alan Dulles, head of the CIA, both the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations supported what turned out to be a hare-brained idea.

Cuban plane used during Bay of Pigs invasion

Trained in Central America, the Cuban exile commandos expected to land at the Bay of Pigs (Playa Giron) and Play Largo, farther up the south coast of Cuba, and set up an alternative government that would encourage the people to rise up against Castro and gain the recognition of the U.S. government.  They also expected American air support, which didn’t materialize as President Kennedy got cold feet and decided to reduce the U.S. exposure to this plan.  If the idea were to have been secret, that soon got lost in a series of leaks from the CIA and aerial bombing of Cuban airfields and towns.  Fidel Castro was well-prepared, the Cuban people did, indeed, rise up, but against the exile commandos and for Castro and the entire debacle lasted only a few days.

Russian tank at Giron museum

From the Cuban perspective, as laid out in photos in the museum, the Cuban-Americans were invaders bent on overthrowing a regime that had lifted Cubans out of desperate poverty, redistributed land to poor farmers from rich landowners, and created a society of equals.  The Cubans triumphantly captured over 1100 of the commandos, killed several hundred, and imprisoned their POW’s until they were freed months later in a trade for food and medical goods.

Part of the museum shows photos of the swamp dwellers, truly desperate people who lived in the swamps between the Caribbean and higher ground miles inland, who survived by making charcoal.  Photos of naked, horribly malnourished children—and adults—and the filthy hovels where they lived provide the “before” of this particular revolutionary story.  The “after” is children going to school, families using new government health centers and collective farms taking over some of the swampland (though plenty still exists). 

Fidel celebrating vistory

The Cubans are very proud of stopping the American invasion and besting their huge neighbor and former colonial master.