of more significance is fidel castro as the opening ceremonies. the one-week visit are part of a program to woo the goodwill of castro in cuba. while he was boosting russia n industrial and military achievements, a soviet composer was leading the city symphony orchestra. the soviet may have made real progress toward link trade and reestablishing diplomatic relations, thus adding to american headaches in our troubled relations with this caribbean neighbor. ♪ narrator: cuba celebrates the seventh anniversary of castro's revolutionary movement with a red chinese delegation and one from bolivia as a quarter million march past castro's viewing stand. this appearance on the sierra where he directed the revolt against the batista regime was one of castro's few public appearances. suffering from a lung infection, he has laid aside duties to take dr.'s orders -- doctors orders for complete rest. castro's brother raul was enjoying this triumphant section in moscow at the time. here at the moscow trade union house, he seems to respond eagerly to the soviet

castro seizes more united states property. now in the summer of 1960 the united states and cuba have reached the point of no return. in washington the eisenhower administration is now convinced it is in the united states national interest to get rid of fidel castro. at this moment in guatemala a cuban exile army is being created by the cia. a cuban exile air force with b26 bombers. they are the instruments with which the cia plans to overthrow fidel castro. havana, summer 1960. fidel castro admits publicly for the first time there is unrest inside cuba. counter revolutionary activity. among his opponents now is his former minister of public works, leader of the mrp. >> the mrp was highly organized and well extended over the whole country. reached almost every section of the cuban life, city institutions, professional organizations, labor unions, the militia, the army. and we have people inside fidel castro's office. >> the mrp operates in the cities. it's an underground movement specializing in sabotage. in the mountains is an

and they ought to find some way to help anti-castro cubans take up arms against castro. of course, this is exactly what the eisenhower administration was trying to do. when nixon saw this in the newspapers, he was outraged. somebody in the cia, he thought, must have told kennedy about the cia's plan. now kennedy was claiming this as his own idea when, in fact, he, richard nixon, had been pushing for this operation for months. but nixon couldn't say that because it was a covert operation. so he just had to shut up and let kennedy pretend the whole thing was his idea. that's probably what he should have done. that's not, in fact, what nixon did. instead in the fourth debate, he lashed out at kennedy's statement denouncing it as irresponsible and foolish. he gave a long thoughtful argument as to why a covert military operation against the castro regime was a terrible idea. dangerously irresponsible as he said in the debate. nixon later explained that this lie of his was very painful, but that it was his "uncomfortable and ironic duty." then he added from that point on, i ha

castro knew what was happening. he had agents in guatemala where the cuban exiles -- most of them -- were being trained. but also, he was relying mostly on american and regional newspaper reporters who would hear things from the cuban exile community in miami and were able to piece together pretty much the whole story. in fact, "the new york times" on january 10th, 1951, at a front page above the fold, about the map article explaining that the u.s. was preparing cuban exiles for action against the castro regime. president eisenhower, who was in the last days of his administers -- administration, said that basically they had the whole story. and yet, planning went forward. one of the many blunders of this operation. host: who were these cuban exiles who were being trained for this assault brigade? how long had they been outside of cuba and what type of support could they realistically expect if they got to cuba? nicholas: after castro took power in early 1959 and started nationalizing industries and expropriating the

anti-castro cubans take up arms against castro. this was exactly what the eisenhower administration was trying to do. when nixon saw this in the newspapers, he was outraged. somebody in the cia, he thought, must have told kennedy about the cia's plan and now kennedy was claiming this as his own idea when, in fact, he, richard nixon, had been pushing this operation for months. it was a covert operation and had to let kennedy pretend it was the whole idea. it's probably who wha he should have done but not what he did. in the fourth debate, he lashed out denouncing it as irresponsible and foolish. he gave a long thoughtful argument why he thought a covert military operation against the castro regime was a terrible idea, dangerously irresponsible, as he said in the debate. nixon later explained that this was very painful but it was his, quote, uncomfortable and ironic duty and then he added, from that point on, i had the wisdom and wariness of someone who had been burned by the kennedys. vowed i would never enter an election being vuln

do to castro what castro had done to the dictator batista before him. and so as the planning went forward in the late days of the eisenhower administration, the plan kept getting bigger. it started with we're going to infiltrate 30 or so trained guerillas at a time that would link up with resistance forces, and then by the fall of 1960 and especially after the election it sort of morphed into this conventional amphibious operation that had these presumptions that the cuban people were ready to rise up against castro, which was totally false. one of the mistakes was that the operational planners were not consulting the cia analysts who knew cuba best. the analysts were never asked, well, if we're able to put a force ashore would the cuban people then rise up? i mean there's a lot of discontent in cuban society, but castro's grip on power it seems pretty secure. anyway, the analysts were never asked that question. >> let me remind everyone watching that they can take part in this conversation about the bay of pigs 60th anniversary. we're going to open up

at the hotel, and he celebrated when castro -- with castro and from that day on, russia had won castro's confidence and they became friends. nicholas: -- host: is that it would happen, nicholas? nicholas: that is what happened. a lot of that was political theater. i think castro intended to stay in harlem for appearances. he already was developing a relationship with the soviet union, wasn't sparked because of this act of generosity in the part of khrushchev. these things are usually political theater. it is interesting that on that trip, castro did meet -- eisenhower would not meet with him, but he met with the vice, richard nixon, who was impressed by this young, charismatic, new leader of cuba. but said afterwards that he is either incredibly naive about communism or is one of them. host: i am going to show for everyone a clip from president kennedy, who was speaking about the bay of pigs invasion to the american society of newspaper editors on april 20th the medic, 1961. here is what he said. [video clip] >> the president of a great democracy like ours and the editors of great newspa

was fidel castro a communist? now you have to recall that in late 19 fifties and early 1960s, the battle against the so-called international communist conspiracy was the organizing principle in which american foreign policy was based. and was interest the spread of communism that was so feared, it was the fact that the communist had nuclear weapons. and given the rhetoric coming out of the -- cruise travelers saying all sorts of things like we will bear you and those were literally his words. they see more and more willing to use them. i emphasize this to point out that the communist country 90 miles from american shores was simply intolerable, not just the conservatives like barry goldwater, richard nixon, but really to everybody so. fidel castro was interrogated on the subject of communism anywhere he went on his visit. vice president nixon, by congressional subcommittee, by scores of journalists, everyone asked him the same question. doctor castro, are you a communist? and he answered the same every time. no, h

castro takes personal command. the roads out of havana are clogged with troops moving up to the invasion beach. but in the first hours, the brigade pushes inland. castro has not yet been able to bring up his tanks and heavy guns. the first communicae reports satisfactory progress. over the beach are 12 b-26s. shortly after dawn, they are attacked by the three castro jets that survived saturday's airstrike. five of them are shot down. the brigades' communication ship and supply ship are sunk. within a few minutes, the men on the beach have lost their air cover and their supplies. now, castro can bring up his tanks without fear of air attacks. and he can bring up thousands of his milicianos. by afternoon, castro is pressing the brigade hard. how are they to survive? where are they to get help? some expected to come from the ground. there is no uprising, there is no sabotage, there is no help from the underground for the brigade. well, the next 48 hours, the men on the beach take a terrible pounding. they wait for hel

it doesn't oust castro. many members of the brigade were rounded up and captured and in many respects, the bay of pigs actually helped castro to consolidate his power inside cuba. prior to the bay of pigs, people could speak out against castro, there were embryonic movements against castro, but after the bay of pigs he was able to crack down on these opposition movements and lock in his power. when he met with american ambassador deen russ, the secretary of state under kennedy, he said thank you so much for that ridiculous operation because it allowed us to lock down power inside cuba. so let's look quickly at what went wrong. there's a lot of rushed planning when it came to the bay of pigs. we knew through intelligence that the soviets were going to ship advanced weapons to cuba as part of the deal that castro had made with khrushchev, and so we couldn't wait long to kind of figure out how to get this done right because eventually the cuban exiles would be dumped on the beach and running up against state of

castro: i want to salute to the people of the united states. and i do not want to do -- my english is the same, like the other time, but the other things i want to tell, i wish that you -- to the general assembly of the united nations. thank you very much. narrator: the first arriving in new york are representatives from czechoslovakia. they are not greeted by any united states government representative, not being guests of this country. novotny makes his arrival speech in his own tongue. despite their status as high-ranking red leaders they are almost ignored by numerous demonstrators, many of them european refugees who protested the arrival of khrushchev and other arriving reds on a russian liner, on which the heads of five satellite states arrived on a dank and foggy morning, heading up the east river to the deep river dock. it was harassed by cruising parties of hecklers. one boat hired by the longshoremen's union. onshore, hundreds of demonstrators massed, despite heavy rains. ♪ on shabby pier 73, carpets had been laid by soviet emissari

fidel castro. many ways an unknown person in his politics, but certain to be dominant in cuba, as a new era has just begun. >>> fidel castro demonstrates his unchallenged power over cuba's masses. he announces his resignation as premier and the response is explosive. from shops and factories, mass demonstrations by workers and students, calling on castro not to resign, hailing castro as the leader of the revolution. the president shown just after the revolution, when castro shown him, was ousted to be replaced by the former ministry of revolutionary laws. but sit certain whoever may be president or premier, fidel castro is number one man in cuba. in an emotional four-hour broadcast that evening, he accused the former president of treason, toppling him. fidel castro's dramatic show of strength makes it clear that after 6 1/2 months, he is still riding high on a wave of turbulent, mass e voegs. ♪ ♪ >>> 1 million machete wielding peasants in response to the call of fidel castro for a celebration o

an ailing fidel castro. he delivers a typical rebel rousing talk after raving for a half hour, the cuban premiere loses his voice, but he regains enough strength to come back and announce his latest blow against the united states, the seizure of three-quarters of a billion properties. castro promises to pay for it all in 50 years. but at the rate the cuban economy is failing, the payoff may come sooner than he expects. ♪♪ this is definitely a pro-castro crowd enthusiastically defacing the telephone company building. a day after this demonstration, senior castro charges that the u.s. in what he calls fascist priests are in a part to defeat the revolution. he says his government has been generous to the church. but there are no clergymen at the mock funeral of the telephone company. in costa rica the organization of american states votes sanctions against the dominican republic led by venezuela who complained that the dominican trujillo had ordered an attempted assassination of venezuela's president. and d

whatever happens to castro in cuba, or to his revolution in the future, whether castro stays on as the maximum leader, as he is called, or his revolution fails, cuba was never be the same again. it will never go back to things as they were. south america was never be the same again either. pope john warned in that talk that the gulf between the rich and the poor had to be bridged. the continent to the south of us will never be the same again because the word has gotten around that that gulf can be bridged, for the visit a while and -- venezuelan and others, better lives are possible. schools have learned to read and write are possible. one does not have to age quickly and die young because of her work in hunger and disease. that better houses to live in than mud huts and packing cases with tin roofs as things are possible, this word has gotten around. the trouble is though that this word is not being spread by christian men who practice a christian charity, that pope john suggested. it is being spread by revolutionaries who practice a different method, as suggested by the men who offer

castro's b-26s have no nose gun. the pilot is identified from a newspaper picture is a member of the brigade. the airstrike he took part in was intended to destroy castro's air force. more are planned. two castro has been dealt a serious blow, but his entire air force has not been destroyed. the crucial fact is, three jet trainers are untouched. the airstrike has humiliated the united states before the world. it has humiliated adlai stevenson, who did not know that what he told the u.n. was not the truth. the united states reacts to the world outcry against the bombing. the other two air strikes are postponed. this decision leaves castro with three undamaged jets. these jets will be the key to the failure of the invasion. sunday, april 15. the exile leaders do not know the invasion fleet is already at sea. [speaking in spanish] >> a waiting meet at the steps of the plane that brought me from miami were two people who identified themselves as officials of the american agencies. they took me 12 traded, and in a short w

castro takes personal command. the roads out of alana are filled with trust moving to the invasion beach. but, in the first hours the brigade pushes inwards. he is not yet to bring up his tanks or heavy guns. the first communique of the brigade reports that it is progress. over the beach are 12 b 26 is providing air coverage. shortly after dawn, they are attacked 23 castro jets that survived saturday's airstrikes. five of them are shot down. the grades to supply ships are sunk. -- the brigade's two. within a few minutes, they lost air cover and supply. now, castro can bring up his tanks and the fear of air attacks. and, he could bring up thousands of his militia. the afternoon, he is pressing the brigade hard. how are they to survive? where are they to get help? some expected it come from the underground. there is no uprising, there is no sabotage, there is no help from the underground for the brigade. for the next 48 hours, the men on the beach take a terrible pounding. they wait for help. none times. they say eve

whatever happens to castro in cuba or to his revolution in the future, whether castro stays on as the maximum leader, or whether his revolution fails, cuba will never be the same again. it will never go back to things as they were. in south america will never be the same again either. pope john warned that top of the gulf between the rich and the poor had to be bridged. the continent to the south of us will never be the same again, because the word has gotten around that the gulf can be bridged, that for the venezuelan and bolivian mestizo, and the paraguay in, better lives are possible. schools to learn to read and write are possible. one does not have to age quickly and die young because of hard work and disease. there are better houses to live in then mud huts and cases with tin roofs. this word has gotten around. the problem is this where it is not being spread by christian men who practice a christian charity, as pope john suggested. it's being spread by revolutionaries who practice a very different method, as suggested by the man who offered these goods and services to castro to

but this time, free from castro. there are all kinds of cuban groups like these, most of them disunited, disorganized, but intensely, wholly committed to counterrevolution against castro. >> i was commander of a command base. i was chief of the army school there. when communists were sent to teach at the school, i reported this to fidel castro. this was last march. i then realized that fidel castro too with communist. i had to go underground. after three months, i was transported to brazil and then came to the united states. i am a member of the anti-communists and the alliance for liberation. i am ready to join those already fighting castro. >> this is dr. antonio varona. he was prime minister. today he is in exile and counterrevolutionary. then there is dr. carillo. he escaped from cuba and is with the democratic revolutionary front. once minister of cuban education, he was a strong anti-bautista man. today, he is preparing to fight castro. he left to medical school to join castro, only to learn later about castro'

get rid of castro. yes. both eisenhower and kennedy were unwilling to commit at least openly us military forces to the overthrow of the castro regime one of the great concerns was to maintain good relations with the rest of latin america latin america. latin american people saw the united states as overbearing they didn't like them on road doctrine. they didn't like to be in america's backyard. they and so for for good foreign policy reasons it was ruled out that we would have the united states military openly go against the castro regime now. kennedy considered that when it came to the event that happened some 18 months later, and that was a cuban missile crisis, but that's another another story. what made us officials decide to back this bay of pigs invasion what was going on that made us official decide to consider any type of intervention in cuba at this point. well castro was definitely posing up to the soviet union. at the time this is in the depths of the of the cold war tensions are high. there's a a

castro has said these were mercenaries. according to press reports, the final message to be relayed on the refugee forces on the beach, came from the rebel commander. when i asked if he wish to be evacuated, his answer was, i will never leave this country. that is not the reply of a mercenary. he has gone now to join in the mountains, other guerrilla fighters, who are equally determined that the dedication of those who gave their lives shall not be forgotten. and cuba must not be abandoned to the communist. and we do not intend to abandon it either. [applause]. thank you and people have not yet spoken their final piece. and i have no doubt today, and the revolutionary council, led by doctor -- and members of the families of the revolutionary council, and i am informed by the doctor yesterday, they are involved themselves. and the island will continue to speak out, and break free for free and independent cuba. meanwhile we will not accept mr. castro's attempt to blame this nation, and his regarded oppression. but there are u

castro has said these were mercenaries. according to press reports, the final message to be relayed from the refugee forces on the beach, came from the rebel commander, when asked if he wished to be evacuated. his answer was, i will never leave this country. that is not the reply of a mercenary. he has gone now to join in the mountains, countless other guerrilla fighters who are equally determined that the dedication of those who gave their lives shall not be forgotten, and that cuba must not be abandoned to the communists, and we do not attend to abandon it either. [ applause ] the cuban people have not yet spoken their final piece. and i have no doubt that they, and the revolutionary counsel, led my dr. cadona, and i am informed by the doctor yesterday, are involved themselves in the island and will continue the speak up for a free and independent cuba. meanwhile, we will not accept mr. castro's attempts to blame this nation for hatred which is one time supported, now regard his repression. but there are from the sobering

[inaudible] >> in the year since he took power, fidel castro has become an ene o

and if you go to castro, walk down castro street, you'll see randy's picture there. he was one of the first 20 notable gay americans who are so enshrined. i'd like to think of him that way and do so though with the honesty and the completeness of his whole story. so thank you very much. [ applause ] if there were any questions i could try to answer them, or we can call it a day. yes, sir? >> you mentioned his brother. how much insight did his family give? >> i had cooperation of his oldest brother gary shilts and one of his youngest brothers reed shilts. there's only three brothers living. his youngest brother david is autistic and lives in a group home and is not available for interviews. but gary and reed were both very cooperative. they had very interesting perspectives on the family. gary is the oldest child. his family experience was very different than reed's. by the time reed had grown, was coming into adolescence, the family had been to settle down. his parents' marriage had resolved some of the previous issues. his mother's drinking had been brought under co

castro: i was happy to see it. it is invaluable, because it sends a strong message to all the cabinet secretaries, every agency had, and the deputy secretaries that y'all need to connect the dots of these policies. people don't live their lives in silos. it is about fair housing, but it is also how it connect to education opportunity, transit opportunity, economic opportunity, that allows one to break down the barriers of discrimination and allows people to overcome these obstacles if we address them holistically. there are things like public credit reporting agency that during the campaign, the biden that during the campaign, the biden campaign put forward as an idea, something like that connects directly to the ability of potential homeowners on every background, but particularly homeowners of color to get better access to capital. so, so far so good. i think that was a strong way to start. i trust, that so many of the people that serve in the administration are similarly oriented. i trust there will be great col

next on american history tv, historian vince houghton discusses america's attempts to overthrow fidel castro, as well as lesser known plans as poison, drugged coffee, and exploding cigars. >> good morning, everyone. >> good morning. >> yes, it is a good morning, a great day, and after that, well, we won't even go into that.

role. >> the bay of pigs. ♪ [speaking in spanish] narrator: in the years since he took power, fidel castro has become an enemy of the united states. in the eyes of washington, the united states security in the caribbean, a plan of action against him is drawn up. march 17, 19.

as they hail castro's expropriation of the united states' holdings. delegates are from red china, the united states, canada, russia and romania. in 1961, castro reveals, i'm a marxist-leninist and will be one until the day i die. socialism is a world reality today. there no halfway between socialism and imperialism. >> we have been watching the communist takeover of territories and countries. while this was going on, comrades throughout the world were charged that capitalism leads to imperialism. this is like thief, crying thief. we note, their movements followed a rigid pattern. there is a reason for this. because it is spelled out in the communist international's official publication. let's look at a few very select quotes. immediately after the seizure of power, the central committee will set up a new government. it will appear democratic. opponents of the new administration should be removed as soon as possible, but in a democratic fashion. that is to say, be brought to trial before a people's court comprised of one known member of the party and t

this weekend more than 1,400 cia-trained cuban ex aisles launched a failed invasion to overthrow fidel castro's government at the bay of pigs. live on american history tv and washington journal we will look back at the invasion and its consequences with former cia histrionic lass dujmovic. and sunday four films op u.s.-cuba relations, an edited version of the 1961 nbc report, kwgs, bay of pigs, president john f. kennedy's 1961 speech after the failed invasion, a compilation of universal news reels from 1959 to 1961 on the cuban revolution through the bay of pigs invasion. and a 1960 broadcast, cuba, the battle of america. exploring the american story. watch american history tv this weekend on c-span 3. >> founded in the early 17th century the massachusetts bay colony had a predominantly puritan hospitalization. up next on american history tv we hear a presentation from the nantucket historical association about the history of this new england settlement and the tumultuous period when quaker missionaries arrived.

on december 2nd, 1961. >>> castro reveals, i am a marxist leninist. there is no halfway between socialism and imperialism. >> we have been watching the communism takeover of territories and countries. while they was going on, capitalism inevitably leads to imperialism. this is like thief crying thief. and we note that their movements followed a rather rigid pattern. there's a reason for this because it is spelled out in the communist internationals official publication communist. let's look at a few very select quotes. immediately after the seizure of power, the central committee will set up a new government. it will appear democratic. opponents of the new administration should be removed as soon as possible but in a democratic fashion. that is to say be brought to trial before a people's court comprised of one known member of the party and two secret members are sympathizers. the country should not apply for inclusion in the soviet union until they have received instructions from the common term. traitors are to be liquidated without trial. the term

than 1 40ishgs 0 cia trained crew ban exiles launched a failed invasion to overthrowfy dell castro at bay of pigs. we'll look back at the invasion and its consequences with former cia historian nicholas dumavich and sunday at 4:00 p.m. eastern, four films on u.s./cuba relations. an edited version of the 1961 nbc report "cuba:bay of pigs." a compilation of universal news reels from 1959 to 1961 on the cuban revolution through the bay of pigs invasion. and a 1960 broadcast "cuba: the battle of america." egs exploring the american history. watch american history tv this weekend on c-span3. >>> next we visit plimoth patuxet in plymouth, massachusetts, and talk to interpreters about daily life. the year depicted is 1627, seven years after the mayflower landed when 160 pilgrims lived there. >> i am richard pickering, executive director at plimoth and we're in the 17th century english village, a recreation of plymouth as it looked seven years after "mayflower" landed. when our guests enter the historic site, they encounter living history educators who are portraying men and women who lived i

it absolutely has to be the case that when fidel castro goes, the cuban people get a chance to elect their next government, it's not just handed somehow to raul castro. [ applause ] >> that was a setup question in miami. both the national security adviser and certainly the secretary of state are almost firefighters part of the time. you get woken up in the middle of the night. someone does something stupid, either within your own organization or around the world. >> yeah. >> how do you anticipate the future though? there's some evidence that while there was the basis for the arab spring or others predicted the soviet collapse, how do you anticipate the future when you're in those particular leadership roles for both the president, but, more importantly, the country? and how do you organize yourself to do that? >> obviously, you try to have experts who are keeping an eye on events. in this regard, having embassies with people who really know the place and can get out into the communities. one of the things i tried to get foreign service officers to do was not stay in the embassy, not

the bay of pigs on the southern coast of cuba their goal was the overthrow of communist leader fidel castro who had taken power two years earlier in the cuban revolution on real america. we look back at us cuba relations first cuba bay of pigs; and encyclopaedia britannica edited classroom version of an nbc report the documentary traces the diplomatic split between the us and cuba describes exile groups opposed to the castro government the cia's role in helping to train equip and organize an invasion force and president kennedy's decision not to deploy president kennedy outlines his policy towards cuba and fidel castro and the aftermath of the failed operation. a compilation of news reels from january 1959 to april 1961 did they cover the cuban revolution to the aftermath of the bay of pigs. educational pioneer albert burke host a broadcast exploring the causes of the cuban revolution. >> the bay of pigs.

exiles launched a failed invasion to overthrow fidel castro's communist government in cuba at the bay of pigs. live, saturday at 9 am eastern on american history tv and washington journal. we will look back at the invasion and its consequences with former cia historians, nicholas doom of. itch sunday at 4 pm eastern on real america, or films on u.s. cuba relations, a version of the 1961 nbc report, cuba, bay of pigs. president john f. kennedy's 1961's speech after the failed invasion. a compilation of universal news reels from 1959 to 1961 on the cuban revolution through the bay of pigs of asian. and in the 1960 broadcast, cuba, the battle of america. exploring the american story, watch american history tv this weekend on c-span three. it is 1626. along the new england coast there are several new settlements. it's a small community, nothing scares me more than 30 people. robert cramped here is a fisherman. built this barked way guam with albert sims and jason conway. there are a few women. the beds are hung up lightly every morning but the fire is dining out. it's a rare occurrence ov

during this period, living in the castro, and learning that other game and we're starting to get yell and start in some of them were beginning to die from very exotic sorts of causes, in some cases kaposi's sarcasm or a very valid stain strain of pneumonia, pneumocystis pneumonia and there was so still known him for what was going beyond. in new york, san francisco and los angeles, game and we're showing up. eventually this pressure on the group, particularly intravenous drug users, feels like the workers adhesion immigrants. combined with game and, you talk about not a very powerful movement in the reckon it is. so shilts became frustrated by the slow reaction to the number of people who were being impacted by this disease on a regular basis. and began writing about it. he did not write the chronicle's first about aids, but he wrote a second one, in 1982, and it appeared on page six, of all places. so it was still not a front page story for san francisco. it eventually would become so, as tens of thousands of people died, and randy just covered all of this even before there was even