CIA aims to clean up its image with commemorative coin on Bay of Pigs’ failure

CIA aims to clean up its image with commemorative coin on Bay of Pigs’ failure
Fecha de publicación: 
1 June 2021
0
Imagen: 

The CIA has just released a commemorative coin on the anniversary of one of its biggest failures in history: the failed attempt of “freeing” Cuba during the Bay of Pigs’ invasion back in 1961.

According to a RT’s press release, the silver coin, which “commemorates an anticipated, but never realized victory,” showcases a cross and a shield with the Cuban flag and the phrases: “Crusade to free Cuba” and “There will be no end but victory.” While on the other side the outline of the island is printed and a rebel invader is seen advancing on a Fidel Castro soldier.

That weird CIA's release triggered jokes by users of social networks.

Some netizens responded with memes in which the smiling Cuban leader is seen smoking a cigar, and some even wondered if the CIA account had actually been ‘hacked’.

“The victory anticipated, but never realized” is an interesting way for the agency to say “we lost”, hinted other.

There were also commentators who called the commemorative coin a kind of “participation trophy” from the CIA, referring to the consolation awards that is usually given to participants who do not win in sports contests.

In addition to memes, the coin also raised some questions like why did they choose this date to commemorate that failure, as the anniversary of the failed mission was back in mid-April and on the actual intent to celebrate as a “victory” “a failed attempt.”

A plausible explanation is that the CIA aims to clean up its image on the failure of the Operation Pluto based on the famous phrase used by the then U.S. president Kennedy to accept defeat: “Victory has many fathers, but defeat is always an orphan.”

In fact, the defeat was not that orphan as JFK suggested. The CIA did not only play a key role in the selection and training of mercenaries, but also misinformed the U.S. administration by confirming them that, after the mercenaries landed on the island, there would take place a popular uprising against the revolutionary government.   

After all, minting a coin on the Bay of Pigs’ failure is not entirely unwise and foolish if the agency uses it to reward all those agents who, for 62 years, have been worn out, unsuccessfully, to topple the Cuban Revolution.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.