Which invasion, backed by the United States, failed in 1961 against Fidel Castro's Cuba?

• A. Invasion of Grenada
• B. Cuban Missile Crisis
• C. Bay of Pigs invasion
• D. Operation Northwoods

Answer: (C)

The situation being tested is a 1961 attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro that was backed by the United States. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a CIA-trained group of Cuban exiles who landed on Cuba’s southern coast near the Bay of Pigs in April 1961. The plan hinged on air strikes to neutralize Castro’s forces and a quick ground push, but the air strikes failed to achieve air superiority, local support for the uprising was weaker than hoped, and Cuban forces mounted a strong, organized defense. Within a few days the invaders were overwhelmed, and many were captured or killed. The fiasco embarrassed the Kennedy administration, strengthened Castro’s grip on Cuba, and pushed Havana closer to the Soviet Union, influencing Cold War dynamics going forward. The other options refer to different events or plans: Grenada’s invasion occurred in 1983, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a 1962 standoff rather than an invasion, and Operation Northwoods was a proposed but never executed plan to stage provocations in Cuba.