1966 Cuban Stamps - Victoria de Giron

Five Cuban postage stamps celebrating their victory over CIA-led forces at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961.  After Fidel Castro’s stunning and successful revolution in Cuba which saw him seize power in January 1959, the US government struggled to understand his intentions for Cuba’s future. Planning to oust him one way or another began in earnest as Castro began aligning himself with the Soviet Union and nationalizing US-owned businesses on the island. The potential for a new Soviet ally less than 100 miles from Florida was considered unacceptable.The biggest plot of all involved training and arming nearly 1,500 Cuban expatriates, most of whom had resettled in Florida, and sending them back as an invasion force to rally the Cuban people to overthrow Castro. The Cuban volunteers were trained at camps in Guatemala and Nicaragua, and became known as Brigada 2506. Led by two CIA paramilitary officers, the brigade landed at Playa Giron on the south side of Cuba on April 17th, 1961. Their amph