History of Cuba This military campaign to topple Cuba's revolutionary government is now known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion (or "La Batalla de Girón" in Cuba). The aim of the invasion was to empower existing opposition militant groups to "overthrow the Communist regime" and establish "a new government with which the United States can live in peace." The invasion was carried out by a CIA-sponsored paramilitary group of over 1,400 Cuban exiles called Brigade 2506. Arriving in Cuba by boat from Guatemala on the 15th of April, the brigade landed on the beach Playa Girón and initially overwhelmed Cuba's counter-offensive. But by
Friends of Democratic Cuba Friends of Democratic Cuba Friends of Democratic Cuba was formed on January 6, 1961 to serve as the fund-raising arm of anti-Castro activist Sergio Arcacha Smith's New Orleans' branch of the Cuban Revolutionary Council (CRC). According to an October 26, 1967 CIA document: "This organization was created by several New Orleans business and political figures, including the deceased former FBI agent, Guy BANISTER, to collect money to aid Cubans in their fight against Communism." Guy Banister, helped draw up a charter for the organization and was on its board of directors. According to the before cited CIA document: "One month