It seems that Kennedy had been told
by the CIA that as soon as the Cuban exiles landed, that Cubans would
rise up on all parts of the island. They did not, for the reasons you
mentioned, and because Castro was at that moment executing former
members of Batista's government. He had already made it clear that
people who opposed his regime would be killed. So, the people could not
rebel against Castro en masse until they knew the invasion would
succeed.
.
The Bay of Bigs "invasion" also failed for many tactical reasons, not
least of which is that Castro's government had infiltrated the exiles
and knew it was coming. That is why the USA should have had some
follow-on divisions to "help" it succeed. A few years later we invaded
the Dominican Republic and overthrew its Communism regime in 48 hours.
.
It should be noted that it took Castro about 5 years to secure control
over the entire island. An anti-Communist guerrilla war was waged
against Castro in the mountains (the same mountains that Castro had used
to foment his Communist coup) until the mid 60's. It did not take long
for a certain element of Cuba's population (primarily the educated
middle class) to realize that Castro was evil. If the Bay of Pigs
Invasion had been followed by U.S. divisions Castro would not have
lasted long.
.
A couple weeks ago another commenter (I can't remember who) recommended
the following book LIGHTS OUT: A CUBAN MEMOIR OF BETRAYAL AND SURVIVAL
by Dania Rosa Nasca. She was born in 1958 and grew up during the Cuban
Revolution before migrating with her family to the USA in 1970. Her book
enlightened me as to how malevolent Castro's revolution had been. Like
many Americans, I had thought it to be an improvement over Batista's
mal-governance of the island:
. https://www.amazon.com/Lights-Out-Memoir-Betrayal-Survival/dp/153703605X/
.
The book is an educational and very sad story of what happened aftr
Castro took over. It was definitely not an improvement, not even by
Batista's evil and corrupt standards.
.
The Bay of Bigs "invasion" also failed for many tactical reasons, not least of which is that Castro's government had infiltrated the exiles and knew it was coming. That is why the USA should have had some follow-on divisions to "help" it succeed. A few years later we invaded the Dominican Republic and overthrew its Communism regime in 48 hours.
.
It should be noted that it took Castro about 5 years to secure control over the entire island. An anti-Communist guerrilla war was waged against Castro in the mountains (the same mountains that Castro had used to foment his Communist coup) until the mid 60's. It did not take long for a certain element of Cuba's population (primarily the educated middle class) to realize that Castro was evil. If the Bay of Pigs Invasion had been followed by U.S. divisions Castro would not have lasted long.
.
A couple weeks ago another commenter (I can't remember who) recommended the following book LIGHTS OUT: A CUBAN MEMOIR OF BETRAYAL AND SURVIVAL by Dania Rosa Nasca. She was born in 1958 and grew up during the Cuban Revolution before migrating with her family to the USA in 1970. Her book enlightened me as to how malevolent Castro's revolution had been. Like many Americans, I had thought it to be an improvement over Batista's mal-governance of the island:
.
https://www.amazon.com/Lights-Out-Memoir-Betrayal-Survival/dp/153703605X/
.
The book is an educational and very sad story of what happened aftr Castro took over. It was definitely not an improvement, not even by Batista's evil and corrupt standards.
From The Economist