Operation Zapata

Operation Zapata, or invasion in the Bay of Pigs, was developed by the CIA as a way to replace Castro’ s regime by non-communist government friendly to the USA. The initial plan of the operation was revised greatly: “Kennedy thought the plan exposed the role of the United States too openly” (Sierra, J. A. , 2008). Revised operation had little chances to succeed (Sierra, J. A. , 2008), and several major failures occurred during performance of the invasion (The Bay of Pigs, n. d. ), resulting in failed operation and imprisonment of almost all CIA-trained invading troops.

Initial plan was well thought out and had much more chances to succeed, but interference from the new President and his advisors made this impossible to perform and underlined dependence of intelligence agency, its activities and plans from external decisions. Cuban missile crisis was a logical consequence of failed operation Zapata. Castro feared of military interventions from the USA and decided to agree for placement of Soviet intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba (An Overview of the Crisis, n. d. ) in exchange for training and funding of Cuban army. This activity soon was discovered by CIA (Simkin J. , n. d. ). Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and demanded USSR to remove all missile bases and their content (Goldman, J. , 1997), and the crisis was launched. Due to efficient performance of intelligence agency critical information about potential enemy activity was obtained beforehand and actions that ensured national security were taken in time. If operation Zapata would be successful, Cuba would have been ruled by the non-antagonist government and USSR would have received no possibilities for the placement of nuclear missiles so close to the US territory.

If intelligence had failed to discover Soviet activity on the Cuba, national security would have been endangered greatly because of Soviet nuclear missiles placed so close to the national borders. Both of these examples show how crucial is effective and unhindered performance of intelligence divisions to the national interests, for intelligence proved critical role in both of accidents mentioned.

An Overview of the Crisis. (n. d. ). In ThinkQuest Library. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from http://library. thinkquest. org/11046/days/index. html 2. Goldman, J. (1997).
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 18-29, 1962. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from http://www. hpol. org/jfk/cuban/
Sierra, J. A. (2008). Invasion at Bay of Pigs. – The Plan. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from http://www. historyofcuba. com/history/baypigs/pigs3. htm 4. Simkin, J. (n. d. ).
Cuban Missile Crisis. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from http://www. spartacus. schoolnet. co. uk/COLDcubanmissile. htm 5. The Bay of Pigs. (n. d. ).
In John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum: Historical Resources. Retrieved January 8, 2009, from http://www. jfklibrary. org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/JFK+and+the+Bay+o