Hunt assembled a team of mainly Cuban exiles whom he had commanded in the CIA's disastrous Bay of Pigs Invasion into Cuba in 1961.

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Similarly, America's sympathy for Cuban refugees stems at least in part from American shame over the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

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The Communist Party Congress was preceded by a one of the largest military parades Cuba has seen in years, marking the 50th anniversary of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion by US-backed exile groups.

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At a march on April 16th to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the rout of the CIA-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs, several people reported being ordered by their bosses to attend.

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Fernandez, who is in his 80s, was the U.S.-trained head of the Cuban military force that defeated the U.S.-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs, said CNN analyst Carlos Alberto Montaner.

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In April, Kennedy allowed the CIA to move forward with a poorly planned invasion of Cuba, which resulted in humiliation at the hands of Fidel Castro: the Bay of Pigs.

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