History of Cuba 20 April, the brigade surrendered and was publicly interrogated before being sent back to the US. Recently inaugurated president John F. Kennedy assumed full responsibility for the operation, even though he had vetoed the reinforcements requested during the battle. The invasion helped further build popular support for the new Cuban government. The Kennedy administration thereafter began Operation Mongoose, a covert CIA campaign of sabotage against Cuba, including the arming of millitant groups, sabotage of Cuban infrastructure, and plots to assassinate Castro. All this reinforced Castro's distrust of the US, and set the stage for the Cuban missile crisis. Tensions between
Day of the Cuban Armed Forces Havana. The parade has been held with breaks since 1963, and is presided by the President of Cuba in his capacity as commander in chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and (at times) First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (from 2006 to 2008 and from 2017 onwards, the posts have been held by separate people). With the veterans of the Revolution, the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the international deployments of the Armed Forces during the Cold War, active personnel of the armed forces and their families, the diplomatic corps, citizens of Havana