Pigs, Bay of

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Inlet on the south coast of Cuba about 145 km/90 mi southwest of Havana. It was the site of an unsuccessful invasion attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro by some 1,500 US-sponsored Cuban exiles 17–20 April 1961; 1,173 were taken prisoner. The failure of the invasion strengthened Castro's power in Cuba and his links to the USSR. It also sparked the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.

The creation of this antirevolutionary force by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been authorized by the Eisenhower administration, and the project was executed under that of J F Kennedy. In 1962 most of the Cuban prisoners were ransomed for US$53 million in food and medicine. The CIA internal investigation report in the 1960s into the Bay of Pigs disaster was released for the first time after 36 years in February 1998. It blamed the agency for the failure, contending that Kennedy had been misinformed and poorly advised.

Green is a symbol of fertility. White represents neutrality. Black reflects the Emirates' oil wealth. Red recalls the former flags of the Kharijite Muslims. Effective date: 2 December 1971. >>