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Fidel Castro, My Life: chapter 12 - The Bay of Pigs / Playa Girón

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On April 17, 1961, at Playa Girón, the US unleashed an attack of 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban mercenaries in a blazon attempt at an illegal takeover of the island. This plan was first formulated under the Eisenhower administration soon after the Batista government was forced out of office and freedom from foreign rule finally established on the island. But by 1961, a new administration  had taken over and the original plan was retailored to fit the direction that the Kennedy administration was headed.

In reality, the attack began even sooner than the morning of the 17th. The night before, paratroopers had landed near the only access roads in the area, two highways that ran through Zapata Swamp and went all the way to the beach. Offshore, the USS Essex aircraft carrier with a full compliment of planes and marines could be seen bobbing in the Cuban waters. The idea was to land the marines on the beach once it had been secured. But even before the arrival of the paratroopers, a squadron of B-26 bombers piloted by both American and former Batista soldiers were illegally painted with Cuban colors on April 15 had attacked the few airfields on the island virtually destroying all of Cuba's military aircraft. On the morning of the 17th, Fidel had no airforce, few military options, and only the will of the Cuban people to hopefully stop the illegal, surprise attack launched by the US with its ominous naval fleet just miles offshore.

The day after the illegal bombing of Cuba's airfields at the burial proceedings of those who were killed, and realizing that there now existed an imminent and real war with the United States, Fidel announced the intention of his government to follow a truly Socialist path of government. If he were to go down now under the crushing blow of the world's largest military force, he would do so as the revolutionary fighter he had become, fully attached to the Socialist philosophy and way of life.

The decision to land at the Bay of Pigs was obvious due to its remote location and hard to reach beaches. But the Cuban forces had spotted them early on and were able to meet the first landing forces as they came ashore. By aggressively disrupting even the earliest attempts of the mercenaries to create a foothold on the beach, the Cuban forces were able to effectively counterattack at key locations and keep the invading troops in a defensive posture. Fidel climbed onto at least five different tanks during that battle and one photo of the event  has even become legendary. The audacity and fighting spirit of the Cuban forces were too much for the mercenaries and the battle was decided after only 60 hours.

Around 1,200 soldiers of the invading army were captured during that battle and they were all transported to military prisons in Havana. Not one POW was mistreated, not one was ever struck with the butt of a rifle even and torture was strictly forbidden. A few unfortunately lost their lives, when one vehicle was packed too densely with prisoners before being sent on the road to Havana. Other than that one specific event, there has never been one report of mistreatment of any of the POWs. Even though these were the same men who were shooting at the Cuban soldiers just hours before, the steel rule of the Cuban government stayed firm, not one POW was to be mistreated under any circumstances. To this day, not one complaint has been filed in any jurisdiction in the world by any of the mercenaries who illegally attacked that day against any member of the Cuban defense forces. All prisoners of war from that day, with the sad exception of the one incident, were eventually returned to the United States. In the annals of war history throughout time, there are few instances where mistreatment of POWs was not permitted and not performed, but the Cuban military were under strict orders from Fidel and all the military administration there at the battle that this fight, their fight, would be won following ALL the precepts of international rules of engagement and nothing short of complete compliance would be acceptable.

The terms of return of these mercenaries to the US was approximately $100,000 per POW to be paid in $2 million cash and $50 million or so in food and medicinal supplies for the island. Even though it was understood that these same people would very likely return to fight again, there was no reason for the Cuban government to keep them incarcerated on the island. From the beginning, the idea was to allow these prisoners safe passage back to their families in the US, even if that meant possible future retaliation by the same. One of the more audacious aspects of the post-attack resolution of these prisoners was the fact that the CIA tried to use the American diplomats to assassinate Castro. During the Church Commission report in the mid-1970s, the CIA revealled that on one occasion they had sought the services of chief negotiator, james Donovan, to present Fidel with a diver's wetsuit which was full of biological spores which would have killed him had he ever used it.

Over the years many attacks by many different American-sponsored groups such as alpha 66 and Omega 7 plotted attacks against the Cuban government and the people of Cuba. Biological, chemical as well as regular military warfare beseiged the island and killed thousands of its citizens. Fidel has been attacked at least 600 times by CIA-sponsored agents, most of which have become public record through the Church Commission reports and other documents. At each turn, however, Fidel, his administration and the citizenry of Cuba were there to confront, interdict, defend and protect the island from its aggressors. It has been against international law since the Nuremberg trials to attempt to assassinate a sitting leader of a country, yet the US is guilty of this on at least 600 different occasions. It has been illegal to attack any country unless it is in strict self-defense or is sanctioned by a unanimous vote of the Security Council of the United Nations, yet the US is guilty of this on numerous occasions such as the Bay of Pigs catastrophe.

The US Constitution specifically states in This Constitution Constitution; Article VI; clause 2, "and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." The US is signatory to the Nuremberg trials, the Geneva Conventions, the United Nations charters and many other international treaties that bind it to world scrutiny. The US is not privileged above all other nations and the founding fathers never meant for that to be the case. The United States was born of agreements with France, England, Spain and other nations. It did not seek to violate nor supercede all other acts, treaties and covenants that it entered into then nor later. The US is a member of the world community much the same as Cuba is. Fidel Castro has stated emphatically that his country will abide by all international treaties, bar none. Is the US really that inferior to Cuba that it can't even comply with such a simple task as that?

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66 year old Californian-born and bred male - I've lived in four different countries, USA, Switzerland, Mexico, Venezuela, and currently live in the Dominican Republic - speak three languages fluently, English, French, Spanish - have worked as a (more...)
 

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