Deseret News archives: Failed Bay of Pigs invasion began on this day in 1961
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On April 17, 1961, some 1,400 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion within three days.
The invasion in 1961 was a failed attack launched by the CIA during the Kennedy administration to push Castro from power.
Since 1959, officials at the U.S. State Department and the CIA had attempted to remove him. Finally, on April 17, 1961, the CIA launched what its leaders believed would be the definitive strike: a full-scale invasion by American-trained Cubans who had fled their homes when Castro took over.
However, the invasion was doomed from the start. The invaders were badly outnumbered by Castro's troops, and many surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting.
The Deseret News and most newspapers in the nation followed the daily updates with anticipation as Russia and the United States battled in words and bullets during the Cold War, with the island of Cuba serving as a battleground.
Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about the Bay of Pigs invasion and what has resulted from the failed attempt to drive Fidel Castro from power:
'The man who saw too much'
'Bay of Pigs conference ends with visit to infamous beach'
'Over 50 years, Bay of Pigs vets shaped Miami, U.S.'
'50 years later, Congress honors Bay of Pigs veterans'
'Opinion: The time is now to change U.S.-Cuba relations'
'A.F. secretary during the Bay of Pigs, missile crisis dies'
'Were Kennedys obsessed with Castro?'
'Suit seeks release of CIA report on Bay of Pigs'
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Atlantic
25 minutes ago
- Atlantic
The White House Is Delighted With Events in Los Angeles
The last time President Donald Trump tried to send military forces into American streets to put down civil unrest, in June 2020, Pete Hegseth was positioned outside the White House with a Kevlar helmet and riot shield. Major Hegseth's mobilization as part of a District of Columbia National Guard unit summoned to restore order in the nation's capital, where protests had erupted following the police murder of George Floyd, occurred as Pentagon leaders scrambled to avert what they feared could be a confrontation between active-duty U.S. forces and their fellow Americans. Today, Hegseth is second only to the president in directing the administration's use of the National Guard and active-duty Marines to respond to unrest over immigration raids in Los Angeles. And this time, the military's civilian leadership isn't acting as a brake on Trump's impulse to escalate the confrontation. The Hegseth-led Pentagon is an accelerant. The administration's decision to federalize 4,000 California National Guard forces, contrary to Governor Gavin Newsom's wishes, and to dispatch 700 active-duty Marines to the Los Angeles area, marks a break with decades of tradition under which presidents have limited their use of the military on American soil. If there are any internal misgivings about busting through yet another democratic norm, they haven't surfaced publicly. Indeed, officials at the White House told us they are satisfied with the way the L.A. confrontation has unfolded. They believe that it highlights their focus on immigration and law and order, and places Democrats on the wrong side of both. One widely circulated photo—showing a masked protester standing in front of a burning car, waving a Mexican flag—has been embraced by Trump supporters as a distillation of the conflict: a president unafraid to use force to defend an American city from those he deems foreign invaders. 'We couldn't have scripted this better,' said a senior White House aide granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. 'It's like the 2024 election never ended: Trump is strong while Democrats are weak and defending the indefensible.' Democrats, of course, take a different view, and say the administration's actions have only risked triggering further violence. Retired officers who study how the armed forces have been used in democracies told us they share those concerns. They point to the damage that Trump's orders could do to the military's relationship with the citizens it serves. 'We should be very careful, cautious, and even reluctant to use the military inside our country,' Bradley Bowman, a former Army officer who heads the defense program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, told us. Conor Friedersdorf: Averting a worst-case scenario in Los Angeles State and local authorities typically use law-enforcement personnel as a first response to civil disturbances or riots, followed by National Guard forces if needed. Retired Major General Randy Manner, who served as acting vice chief of the National Guard Bureau during the Obama administration, said the federalizing of California Guard forces—putting them under presidential rather than state control, a move allowed with certain limits—pulls those service members away from their civilian jobs and makes it harder to complete planned training or exercises. 'Basically, the risk does not justify the investment of these forces, and it will negatively impact on readiness,' Manner told us. Retired officers we spoke with also drew a distinction between the involvement of National Guard and active-duty forces. Whereas National Guard troops assist citizens after natural disasters and have the advantage of knowing the communities they serve, active-duty forces are primarily trained to 'see the enemy and neutralize the enemy,' said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'When you're dealing with U.S. citizens, no matter what they're doing, that's not the right mindset.' 'This is not Fallujah,' Bowman added. 'This is Los Angeles.' Juliette Kayyem: Trump's gross misuse of the National Guard This morning, Hegseth made his first congressional appearance since his bruising confirmation process, appearing before a House committee. His tone with Democrats was at times combative. When Representative Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, asked the defense secretary what the cost of the California deployment would be, he declined to provide a figure and instead pivoted to criticism of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for the state's response to the violence that followed Floyd's killing in 2020. (Military officials said later they expected the Los Angeles deployment, as envisioned, to cost roughly $134 million.) 'If you've got millions of illegals, you don't know where they're coming from, they're waving flags from foreign countries and assaulting police officers, that's a problem,' Hegseth told lawmakers. Trump, for his part, told reporters that anyone who tries to protest at the Saturday parade celebrating the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army will 'be met with very big force.' He also said that he wouldn't hesitate to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would permit him to employ the military for law enforcement or to suppress a rebellion, if he believed that circumstances required. Speaking to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina later in the day, the president promised to stop the 'anarchy' in California. ' We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again,' he said. 'We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.' Some Republicans have privately expressed worry that Trump may overplay a winning hand. Even in the West Wing, two people we spoke with tried to downplay the incendiary rhetoric from Trump and Hegseth. They stressed that, to this point, National Guard forces have been in a defensive posture, protecting federal buildings. Although they believe that Trump has the political advantage at the moment, they acknowledged there would be real risks if U.S. troops got involved in violence. 'We don't know who would get blamed but no one wins if that happens,' one senior aide told us. 'No one wants to see that.' Hegseth's support for using active-duty troops in Los Angeles stands in contrast to what his predecessor did in 2020. At that time, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley, scrambled to block Trump's desire to employ active-duty forces against the demonstrators protesting racial violence. The president had mused about shooting protesters in the legs, Esper wrote later. To satisfy his boss while also avoiding a dangerous confrontation, the defense chief called active-duty forces from Fort Bragg to Northern Virginia but sought to keep them out of the fray. Tom Nichols: Trump is using the National Guard as bait In his 2024 book The War on Warrior s, Hegseth described how his experience as a D.C. Guardsman in 2020 crystallized his views about the divide between military personnel and what he saw as the degenerate protesters who were lobbing bricks and bottles of urine at the citizen soldiers. When the D.C. Guard was again summoned seven months later, to help secure the 2021 inauguration following the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Hegseth was told to stand down because fellow Guardsmen suspected that one of his tattoos was a sign of extremism. (Hegseth has maintained it is part of his Christian faith.) Hegseth was angered by his exclusion and resigned from the Guard. That experience remains with him as he attempts to reshape the military, and its role in society, in line with Trump's worldview. As he has written: 'My trust for this Army is irrevocably broken.'
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
O.C. politicians denounce ICE raids as the National Guard deploys in Santa Ana
Rep. Lou Correa assembled community leaders in front of his 46th District congressional office in Santa Ana to send a message following a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in the city that stoked fears, spread confusion and spurred angry downtown protests. 'We want to tell America who Santa Ana is [and] what this immigration issue is all about,' Correa, a Democrat, said during a Tuesday morning press conference. 'It's not us versus them. We are all part of the American fabric, part of the American community.' Correa flew to Washington, D.C. on Monday, but immediately boarded a flight back home once he learned of ICE raids carried out in Santa Ana as part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. By then, the Orange County Rapid Response Network, a coalition that monitors ICE activities, spread the word about immigration authorities arresting workers at locations like a Fountain Valley carwash and outside of a Home Depot in Santa Ana. Based on a Tuesday morning visit to an ICE detention facility in Santa Ana, Correa placed the number of immigrants in custody at 31 and described seeing a couple of detainees still wearing their painter overalls. He noted an accurate count is hard to pin down with multiple federal agencies involved in the enforcement actions. ICE did not respond to a TimesOC request for confirmation of the number of unauthorized immigrants arrested by press deadline. The Orange County sweeps followed ICE activity, raids and protests against them over the weekend in Los Angeles County as the Trump administration has since deployed the California National Guard and U.S. Marines to Southern California. Law enforcement agencies responding to downtown Los Angeles protests arrested 163 people through Monday. In response to news of O.C. immigration sweeps, activists gathered outside of the federal building in Santa Ana on Monday to protest. Federal agents shot pepper balls to disperse people who attempted to block vans from exiting the building. The protest swelled in numbers around Civic Center Plaza in downtown when the Santa Ana Police Department declared an unlawful assembly at about 8:30 p.m. Fireworks exploded near local and federal authorities. Some protesters also hurled rocks, bottles and other projectiles toward law enforcement. Officers shot pepper balls, tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds. Natalie Garcia, a spokesperson for the Santa Ana Police Department, confirmed that officers arrested 11 people Monday on suspicion of failure to disperse, assault on an officer and vandalism. In Sacramento Tuesday, the California Latino Legislative Caucus held a news conference where Assemblyman Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) denounced the ICE raids, as the 68th District he represents includes Santa Ana. 'It really is heartbreaking to witness what is unfolding in our communities across our state,' he said. 'Let me be clear: President Trump is using these raids to intimidate our communities and instill fear.' 'This deportation tactic that the president is implementing is about demonstrating his ability to govern through brute force,' Valencia added. Other Santa Ana elected officials held another press conference in front of the Old Orange County Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento recalled consoling a woman whose uncle was detained by immigration authorities at a Santa Ana Home Depot while seeking work. 'To the federal administration, we demand that you take your militarized equipment and troops and stop occupying our communities immediately,' he said. 'Yesterday, I personally witnessed the efforts of ICE officers clearly intending to escalate what was a lawful and peaceful demonstration.' In downtown Santa Ana, National Guard troops in beige camouflage with rifles slung on their shoulders blocked vehicle access along 4th Street near the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse on Tuesday morning. Correa told TimesOC that it's an 'irony' that National Guard troops are in Santa Ana when, on Jan. 6, 2021, they hadn't been deployed during the pro-Trump Capitol riot in Washington, D.C. as he took cover in the House chamber. Correa called for protests to be peaceful in the non-violent tradition of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the press conference while also deeming the ICE raids to be 'counterproductive.' 'If you've got serious, violent criminals in our community, come get them,' he said. 'But workers that are taking care of our seniors, feeding us, being part of the economic miracle that's called California, let's work on that. We need immigration reform.' Even before Monday's raids, federal agents arrested individuals after their ICE check-in appointments in Santa Ana on June 6. 'It's my understanding that in a lot of cases, they're going before a judge,' Correa told TimesOC. 'Authorities will, essentially, dismiss an order of deportation. [But] before they walk out, they're rearrested and put on an expedited order of deportation.' As the Trump administration deployed 700 active-duty Marines, some of them remain at the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach. They have not appeared in Santa Ana as of Tuesday evening. Correa told the press that his community does not need Marines. 'What are we coming to?' he said. 'This is not America.'
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Trump's AI czar downplays risk AI chip exports could be smuggled
White House AI czar David Sacks on Tuesday downplayed the risk that coveted American AI chips could be smuggled to bad actors, and expressed concern that regulating U.S. AI too tightly could stifle growth and cede the critical market to China. "We talk about these chips like they could be smuggled in the back of a briefcase. That's not what they look like. These are server racks that are eight feet tall and weigh two tons," Sacks said at the AWS summit in Washington."They don't walk out doors. It's very easy to basically verify that they're where they're supposed to be," he said. The comments indicated President Donald Trump's approach to AI could be centered on expanding markets abroad for U.S. AI chips and models. Former President Joe Biden had emphasized policies that countered risks the chips could be diverted to China and used to bolster Beijing's military."I do worry we're on a trajectory where fear could overtake opportunity and we end up sort of crippling this wonderful progress that we're seeing," Sacks said, citing a raft of bills in state legislatures seeking to regulate AI, as well as permitting challenges facing companies seeking to build the data centers that power AI. Trump rescinded Biden's executive order aimed at promoting competition, protecting consumers and ensuring AI was not used for misinformation. He also rescinded Biden's so-called AI diffusion rule, which capped the amount of American AI computing capacity that some countries were allowed to obtain via U.S. AI chip imports."We rescinded that Biden diffusion rule, diffusion a bad word. Diffusion of our technology should be a good word," Sacks said. The Trump administration and the United Arab Emirates also announced a plan last month for the Gulf country to build the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the U.S. after Biden in 2023 put in place rules that curbed most AI chip shipments to the aim at that regulation, Sacks said, "What play are we giving them? We're basically going to push them into the arms of China."He added that if, in five years, AI chips made by sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei were everywhere, "that means we can't let that happen."The need to remove hurdles to U.S. AI innovation is urgent as China has made important advances in its AI models, Sacks said. This year, the Chinese AI app DeepSeek shocked the world with its sophisticated, affordably trained model. "China is not years and years behind us in AI. Maybe they're three to six months," said Sacks. "It's a very close race." The White House later said he was referring to China's AI models, adding that Chinese AI chips are one to two years behind their U.S. counterparts.
