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Bay of Pigs Invasion

 

March 1960, the CIA proposed a plan to overthrow Castro's government to President Eisenhower; he approved. The plan involved training Cuban refugees (exiles) for an invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Unfortunately President Kennedy inherited the plan after Eisenhower's death in 1961 and its subsequent failure. Of the 1400 refugees that invaded, more than half (1214) were captured, later released for $53 million worth of food and machines. Not only did this absolutely humiliate Kennedy and his administration, but President Kennedy was blamed condemned internationally. 

 

The failure had a butterfly effect: popular support for Castro strengthened, Latin American governments were outraged, and Cuba's relationship with the Soviet Union was strengthened. Despite failure to reverse the effects of the Cuban Revolution with this operation, the US persisted on shucking Castro from power:

  • Operation Mongoose (November 1961)

    • Sabotage sugar plantations and petroleum installations

  • Assassination plots

  • Diplomatic isolation of Cuba

    • Expelled from Organization of American States in 1962.

Cuban Missile Crisis


The crisis began immediately after Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev began placing intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) into Cuba--in 1962. Khrushchev reasoned that placing the missiles in Cuba was in order to combat US aggression that had been demonstrated by America's failed attempt at sabotaging Fidel Castro's revolution. Khrushchev believed that "it was high time America learned what it feels like to have her own land and her own people threatened." The US under President Kennedy was not going to back down; ordering the placement of missiles in Turkey was in response to Khrushchev's actions.

 

Both nations, the USSR and the US, walked a very thin line of nuclear intimidation as fear tools for power. Khrushchev believed he could use the threat of nuclear fallout as a bargaining chip regarding the question of Berlin and ownership. The US did not respond well to being threatened so close to their homes. Amidst the crisis Kennedy stated, "Offensive missiles in Cuba have a very different psychological and political effect in this hemisphere than missiles in the USSR pointed at us." His statement acknowledged what many historians in retrospect realized was a ploy for bargaining power on Khrushchev's part. Within the context of 1962 and the pile up of nuclear weaponry, Khrushchev's tactic of threatening complete annihilation on either side of the equation was effective because of how uninformed the US public was about Soviet nuclear capabilities. Khrushchev capitalized on the nature of US presidency and the dedication to American prestige as bait to lure the US into engaging in what was the closest she has ever come to nuclear war. 

 

In order to resolve the conflict President Kennedy summoned a crisis management team--the Executive Committee and they worked out an effective strategy. Kennedy began with ordering a naval blockade of Cuba October of the same year in order to prevent delivery of Soviet nuclear warheads. Khrushchev finally acknowledged the proverbial burning white flag the US was waving on October 26--an offer of a more 'peaceful' end to war on its last legs--when he sent two telegrams to Kennedy stating that the Soviet Union would remove the nuclear warheads from Cuba if the US pledged not to invade Cuba and remove its missiles from Turkey. On October 28, Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba but no public announcement was made regarding US removal of missiles from Turkey, which made Khrushchev appear to be the push over in the end.

Cuban Revolution

Fidel Castro inciting a revolution in Cuba in 1959 was to overthrow the pro-US government of General Fulgencio Batista. Fulgencio Batista was a pro-US dictator, which cast negative light on US support for a man that could not respect the inalienable human rights that construct US ideology. The US considered Cuba within its sphere of influence, so they were determined to have the Cuban government reflect and protect US interests:

  • US companies controlling financial, railway, electricity, telegraph, and sugar industries in Cuba (until of course Castro nationalized these American companies, substantially decreasing what economic benefit the US could make).

  • Platt Agreement (1902)

    • Gave the US the right to establish a naval base at Guantanamo Bay and stipulated that the US would exercise the right to intervene for preservation of Cuban independence and maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty; slightly ironic considering the US supported Batista, a man who lacked any regard for Cuban 'independence.'

 

7 January 1959, Fidel Castro snatches power from the fleeing hands of Fulgencio Batista. The US was reluctant to recognize the new government of Cuba under Castro, but America hoped to control Cuba through economic interests and the presence of a large pro-US middle class in Cuba. In April of the same year, Castro visited the US in hopes of getting economic assistance for reforms in Cuba--which included nationalization of US economic interests as previously listed. The US did not want to give economic assistance and tried to regulate Castro's reforms by informing him of the required adherence to guidelines set by the International Monetary Fund. The Organization of American States refused to provide Castro with financial aid for economic development in Cuba so Castro turned to the Soviet Union in February of 1960 for help, thus beginning America's tense involvement in Cuba.

CUBA

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