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The 1960's

Bay of Pigs

Bay of Pigs
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 7 to 9
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.95

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    happening, dictator, invasion, shores, invaders, wounded, administration, reign, supportive, nation, possibility, blame, successful, beginning, aircraft, election
     content words:    Fidel Castro, Although Castro, President Dwight Eisenhower, Central Intelligence Agency, Latin American, President Eisenhower, John Kennedy, In March, Richard Bissell, Allen Dulles

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Bay of Pigs
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     A revolution took place on the island nation of Cuba in the mid 1950's. The government was replaced by a young Communist leader named Fidel Castro. The American government knew from the beginning of Castro's reign in Cuba that he would be trouble. After all, Cuba was just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. Government leaders feared the possibility that Communism could spread across that small gap to the shores of this country. Although Castro had promised free elections to the Cuban people, he soon decided that that would not be in their "best interest." He became a dictator whose word was law. In the first three years after the revolution, 250,000 Cuban citizens fled their homeland.
 
2     President Dwight Eisenhower initiated a study of how to rid Cuba of Communism and Castro at the same time. The Central Intelligence Agency came up with several ways to get rid of Castro. It has been reported that some of the plans were quite bizarre, from exploding cigars to shoes filled with a powder which would make Castro's beard fall out. These ideas were quickly dismissed.
 
3     In April of 1960, a group of Cubans who had escaped their homeland began training for an invasion of Cuba. They trained in the Latin American country of Guatemala. They would have to face a force of 200,000 trained Cuban soldiers. This plan had the backing of President Eisenhower, an army general himself.

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