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  • Cuba
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961
    Fidel Castro

    The CIA Attack

    Cuba
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961

    On 15 April, CIA-supplied B-26s bombed three Cuban military airfields; the U.S. announced that the perpetrators were defecting Cuban air force pilots, but Castro exposed these claims as false flag misinformation.




  • Baracoa, Cuba
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961
    Bay of Pigs Invasion

    Sending reconnaissance sortie

    Baracoa, Cuba
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961

    During the night of 14/15 April, a diversionary landing was planned near Baracoa, Oriente Province, by about 164 Cuban exiles commanded by Higinio 'Nino' Diaz.The reconnaissance boats turned back to the ship after their crews detected activities by Cuban militia forces along the coastline. As a result of those activities, at daybreak, a reconnaissance sortie over the Baracoa area was launched from Santiago de Cuba. That was a FAR (Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria) (Cuban Air Force) T-33, piloted by Lt Orestes Acosta, and it crashed fatally into the sea.




  • Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961
    Bay of Pigs Invasion

    Deception flight

    Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961

    About 90 minutes after the eight B-26s had taken off from Puerto Cabezas to attack Cuban airfields, another B-26 departed on a deception flight that took it close to Cuba but headed north towards Florida. Like the bomber groups, it carried false FAR markings and the same number 933 as painted on at least two of the others. Before departure, the cowling from one of the aircraft's two engines was removed by CIA personnel, fired upon, then re-installed to give the false appearance that the aircraft had taken ground fire at some point during its flight. At a safe distance north of Cuba, the pilot feathered the engine with the pre-installed bullet holes in the cowling, radioed a mayday call, and requested immediate permission to land at Miami International airport. He landed and taxied to the military area of the airport near an Air Force C-47 and was met by several government cars. The pilot was Mario Zúñiga, formerly of the FAEC (Cuban Air Force under Batista), and after landing, he masqueraded as 'Juan Garcia' and publicly claimed that three colleagues had also defected from the FAR.




  • Havana, Cuba
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961
    Bay of Pigs Invasion

    The Cuban national police Reaction

    Havana, Cuba
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961

    On April 15,The Cuban national police, led by Efigenio Ameijeiras, started the process of arresting thousands of suspected anti-revolutionary individuals, and detaining them in provisional locations such as the Karl Marx Theatre, the moat of Fortaleza de la Cabana and the Principe Castle all in Havana, and the baseball park in Matanzas.




  • San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba - Ciudad Libertad Airport, Havana, Cuba - Antonio Maceo Airport (SCU), Avenida al Aeropuerto Internacional Antonio Maceo Grajales, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961
    06:00:00 AM
    Bay of Pigs Invasion

    Air attacks on airfields

    San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba - Ciudad Libertad Airport, Havana, Cuba - Antonio Maceo Airport (SCU), Avenida al Aeropuerto Internacional Antonio Maceo Grajales, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961
    06:00:00 AM

    On 15 April 1961, at about 06:00 am Cuban local time, eight Douglas B-26B Invader bombers in three groups simultaneously attacked three Cuban airfields at San Antonio de los Baños and at Ciudad Libertad (formerly named Campo Columbia), both near Havana, plus the Antonio Maceo International Airport at Santiago de Cuba.




  • New York City, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961
    10:30:00 AM
    Bay of Pigs Invasion

    The Cuban Foreign Minister's Reaction

    New York City, U.S.
    Saturday Apr 15, 1961
    10:30:00 AM

    At 10:30 am on 15 April at the United Nations, the Cuban Foreign Minister Raúl Roa accused the US of aggressive air attacks against Cuba, and that afternoon formally tabled a motion to the Political (First) Committee of the UN General Assembly. Only days earlier, the CIA had unsuccessfully attempted to entice Raúl Roa into defecting.




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