Site Mission
This site serves as a collection of information on Cuba, with an emphasis the process of socialist development on the island and international solidarity with sister Third World nations.

It takes its name from the Cuban reference to the Bay of Pigs invasion. The successful defense of the island against US-backed exile forces — seen merely as a military blunder by the West — bears a stronger meaning for Cuba and the rest of the Global South, however. It symbolizes a rejection of imperialism and a decisive victory in the struggle for Third World self-determination.

Among the bits of information available here that are not found anywhere else on the web are my college papers on Cuban Internationalism and other subjects, scanned images of photos and artifacts collected during a summer in Cuba, and a personal reflection on Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.

Site Navigation
PlayaGirón.org is meant to be navigable either by generic content — the drop-down menus above — or by specific topic — via the links at left. If you cannot find what you're looking for, please use the search form on the right, although it's a bit buggy right now.

Also note that many papers and articles here can be viewed in a printer-friendly format or be emailed (a summary, at least) to a friend or colleague. You can take advantage of these features by clicking on the printer or envelope icon seen on applicable pages.

In the meantime...
Enjoy this passage I culled from this month's Mother Jones 25th anniversary issue, the final entry of Pablo Neruda's Memoirs, August 1976:

I am writing these quick lines for my memoirs only three days after the unspeakable events took my great comrade, President [Salvador] Allende, to his death. His assassination was hushed up, he was buried secretly, and only his widow was allowed to accompany that immortal body. The aggressors' version is that they found clear signs of suicide on his lifeless body. The version published abroad is different. Immediately after the aerial bombardment, the tanks went into action, many tanks, fighting heroically against a single man: the President of the Republic of Chile, Salvador Allende, who was waiting for them in his office, with no other company but his great heart, wrapped in by smoke and flames.

They couldn't pass up such a beautiful occasion. He had to be machine-gunned because he would never have resigned from office. That body was buried secretly, in an inconspicuous spot, the corpse followed to its grave only by a woman who carried with her the grief of the world. That glorious dead figure was riddled and ripped to pieces by the machine guns of Chile's soldiers, who had betrayed Chile once more.