CUBA AND THE COLD WAR | From revolution to missile crisis
CHANNEL | BBC Television
FIRST BROADCAST | 26 June 1961
DURATION | 16 minutes 39 seconds
FIRSTBROADCAST
1961
Fidel Castro takes a group of journalists around Cuba, touring the places and meeting the people changed by the revolution. Among the scenes are reminders of the recent attempt to topple him. Later, BBC reporter Robin Day secures an interview with Castro, who chooses to speak to him directly in English rather than through an interpreter, revealing some of his ideals and stating that he is a socialist, not a communist.
Bahia de Cochinos, or the Bay of Pigs, was made famous by a CIA-backed invasion by Cuban exiles, who landed there on 17 April 1961. Among the pilots of the bombers that were deployed were former members of the Batista regime. Two days later, however, the exiles were defeated during a battle in which hundreds were killed or wounded. Reportedly, 1,200 were taken prisoner.
Castro speaks to reporters a week after the revolution.
Robin Day reports from Florida on the Cuban exiles.
President Kennedy speech following the Bay of Pigs incident.
'Panorama' visits Fidel Castro after the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Kennedy's speech on the Cuban missile crisis.