The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by a CIA sponsored paramilitary group on April 17, 1961. A counter-revolutionary military group (made up of mostly Cuban exiles who traveled to the United States after Fidel Castro's takeover of the country, but also of some US military), were trained and funded by the CIA, and called Brigade 2506. They launched the invasion from Guatemala and Nicaragua to overthrow the communist government of Castro. They were defeated by Castro's Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces within three days.