The Caribbean would never again be an American lake

The debacle at the

— By TOM MORRIS

“If the nations of this hemisphere should fail to meet
their commitments against outside Communist penetra-
tion, then I want it clearly understood that this govern-
Ment will not hesitate in meeting its primary obligations

Which are to the security of our own nation...”
_. As muchas this sounds like Ronald Reagan in 1981, it
Was in fact President John F. Kennedy speaking 20 years
ago this month as the debris of the Bay of Pigs debacle

Was falling around his ears. :

_ On April 17, 1961 shortly after midnight, the skies over
the Zapata swamps on the southwest coast of Cuba were
illuminated. Amid a crackle of coded radio messages, a

 1,600-man invasion force launched from secret training

bases in Central America landed on the beaches of Playa

Giron and Playa Larga.

; It was the first major military action against the Cuban
_ Tevolution, then only 27 months old. :
As the world was to later discover, the invasion force

was bankrolled ‘and trained by the United States. It’s

troops were almost all Cuban emigrees, a sad collection

_ Of former landowners, police, bankers and the sons of

the Cuban elite who enjoyed the good life under Batis-

ta’s dictatorship.
The invasion itself was crushed by the Cuban people

almost before it began, but with heavy sacrifice. The.

_ 1,200 prisoners taken in the days following found them-
selves freed some months later with the exception of a
few criminals and torturers who were shot for former
Crimes against the people.

The world was on the brink of war. Kennedy pro-
claimed his ‘‘doctrine’’ for the hemisphere which gave
the U.S. unilateral rights, under the guise of its own
_ Security, to bring in the marines.

One year later came the ‘‘missile crisis’. In 1965 the
United States crushed a centrist government in Santo
Domingo. But the victory by the Cuban people at the
Bay of Pigs and the triumph of their revolution stamped
Latin American politics. The Caribbean would never
‘again be an American lake. .

as cd
-_ The Zapata swamps were one of the poorest regions of
Cuba. Formerly small fishing communities, the rev-
olutionary government had begun constructing workers’
resorts. :

Graphically, as the invaders appealed to Cubans to
tise up against Fidel Castro, their shells and bombs were
Teducing the newly built workers’ resorts to rubble.

Two days after the first landings I walked along the

. blazing hot sands of the Bay of Pigs stepping through the
debris of the sharp fighting just ended. The hulk of an
invading transport carrier lay half sunk offshore.

_We passed the still-smoking ruins of a U.S.-made
__ aircraft downed ‘by the fledgling Cuban airforce which
numbered only a handful of obsolete planes. The mood
was grim, casualties high and the shock of the invasion
lay heavilly over the. area.

~ That evening as we walked up the highway we saw a -

Temarkable sight. Twenty metres apart on both sides of
the road, stretching for miles were clusters of Cuban
_ hnilitia sitting around bonfires. ‘‘ They’re waiting for the
gusanos’ to come out of the jungle,”’ our Cuban friend
-€xplained. “‘It’s either capture or the alligators ...””
‘And out came the gusanos (‘‘worms’’), until 1,200
Y surrendered. sigs

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The Toronto press in April, 1961. Threats of war, reprisals, as the U.S.-backed invasion is announced.

John F. Kennedy’s reaction to the military debacle
was swift: In a face-saving effort, he announced the
so-called ‘‘Kennedy Doctrine’ which gave the United
States unilateral say in proclaiming dangers to U.S. in-
terests in the hemisphere. :

He told an incredulous world that the USA would
intervene in any nation (including Canada) should
Washington feel its ties. with socialist states (“outside
communist penetration’’) were a threat to-the U.S.

Kennedy reserved the right for his country to charac-

.terize any movement for national or social liberation
“communist inspired’ — clearing the way for American -

intervention.

In the first hours of the Bay of Pigs invastion, Kennedy
warned the Soviets to stay out of Cuba (1) and proclaimed
his admiration for the invaders. Before the full story

surfaced of a U.S.-organized invasion, he spoke of

“freedom fighters’ and ‘‘the spirit of liberty”’.

The scenario of that day, 20 years ago, is by now
familiar. So is the rhetoric. We heard it to justify the
butchery in Vietnam. It was used to kill democracy in
Chile.\ :

We hear these words to support bandits operating in
Afghanistan from bases in Pakistan. The killer bands of
Pol Pot in Kampuchea are described as allies. And now
the same phrases come at us to justify U.S. penetration
into El Salvador. "

eS

I interviewed many “‘gusanos’” in the days that fol-

gonveddal

PHOTO — PRENSA LATINA

lowed the defeat. They were housed in Havana’s sports
palace. Tomas Castillo was a priest.

‘**How did you find yourself in the army?”

‘‘T heard about some training camps and decided to go.
I flew to Guatemala from Miami. The men needed
spiritual assistance.’’ Castillo and two other priests
parachuted in with the first wave. They carried
weapons. i
- Others told stories of being promised American back-

ing and were horrified when they were abandoned. Many _

said they expected to be welcomed as liberators. They
were a sorry lot.

But who were Kennedy’s ‘“‘freedom fighters’?

Of the 1,200 prisoners, 800 owned 27,556 caballerias of
land (1 caballeria=96 acres), 966 villas, 70 factories, 10
sugar refineries, 2 banks and 5 mines. One hundred and
thirty six were former officers in Batista’s army. Sixty-
five were former criminals. Six were notorious police
agents, torturers, wanted for the deaths of several Cuban
trade unionists. tes ;

* * * i

The lessons of what led to the Bay of Pigs, its fate and

_the ensuing consequences are important today as the
U.S. flexes its muscles again in the region.

But the tide of social liberation has risen considerably
in the two decades since the Cuban revolution met the
challenge with courage and dedication: Its example to
the millions of Latin America that there is a way, that
victory, consolidation and successes can be achieved is
today an indisputable fact.

ae

- Es
~~

Se ee ~

The “gusanos” rounded up by Cuban militia.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 17, 1981—Page 9