The Bay Of Pigs Declassified By Kornbluh Summary

The Bay of Pigs Declassified by Peter Kornbluh is primarily a collection of source documents referring to The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba on April 17, 1961. Kornbluh’s goal with this book, it would appear, is to make evident the cause’s and effects of the Bay of Pigs in attempts to assign blame, specifically to the CIA. With the exception of the first twenty pages, the book consists of the major documents which the author considered of vital importance to the subject from the people who were most heavily involved in the proceedings and post-invasion shock. Most of these documents had to be carefully considered when they first came out in the late 1990s because of preconceived notions and misconceptions about the operation as propagated by the CIA. When reading the book it must be kept in mind that some of the sources came closely after the invasion, and others were written in response to
For years prior to the release of these documents it was widely considered that the Bay of Pigs happened for good and legitimate reason. However, in the years since the exposure of these documents to the public it has become more well known that the assassination attempts on Fidel Castro were not an attack on him personally, but rather an attack on communism which threatened the interests of American capitalist as well as the control the American government had in the area. The Bay of Pigs did not, as the author argues, come as a result of or reaction to Castro himself, but rather as a result of America’s belittling attitude towards Latin America in general. Kornbluh discusses that it was Castro’s charismatic leadership skills which concerned CIA and government officials the most, partially because they were directed towards communism, but also because a strong leader would mean more autonomy for the Cubans, forcing Americans to relinquish their control over the area to a capable