'Bay of Pigs' veterans mark 45 years since failed invasion
Scores of veterans, along with their friends and family members, took part in a half-hour ceremony on Miami's famed "Calle Ocho" to honor the memory of the fallen rebels.
Those marking the anniversary left flowers at a monument paying tribute to those who took part in the aborted invasion, and pledged their continued commitment to the overthrow of the Cuban government.
"That is definitely what all of us want, without a doubt," said Felix Rodriguez Mendigutia, a veteran of the operation.
Of the 1,500-strong invading brigade, only about 150 managed to escape; the others were either killed in battle or captured by the Cuban armed forces.
The prisoners were freed in 1962 after payment to Cuba of 53 million dollars' worth of food and medicine.
US officials at the time said the invasion was organized by Cuban patriots, though it was covertly financed by the Central Intelligence Agency. The Soviet Union stepped up support for Cuba after the invasion and historians say the failed attack helped trigger the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962.
The fiasco was an embarrassment for US President John F. Kennedy, who inherited the plan from his predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and who later privately regretted agreeing to launch the invasion on the advice of the US military.
At the last minute, Kennedy decided not to provide air support for the attack, which some Bay of Pigs veterans believed doomed the invasion.