Category: Cuban Missile Crisis

Though many might say that the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was the result of just Fidel Castro, many other factors contributed. The combination of the relationships and tensions between Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy, and Nikita Khrushchev all contributed to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a result of not just Fidel Castro, but many peoples’ actions. Without Khrushchev’s support of Cuba, JFK’s attempts of overthrowing Castro, and Castro’s communist regime, the Crisis would have progressed differently.

The Cuban Missile Crisis begins in Cuba with Fidel Castro. A prominent figure in history, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz ruled over Cuba for more than five decades. After being unhappy with the Fulgencio Batista, Castro organized a rebel force movement in the hope to begin to overthrow it. This attack happened on 26th July 1963 in Santiago de Cuba. It consisted of 165 revolutionaries who were to attack the Moncada Barracks. Castro ordered his men to not harm people unless they were met with an armed defense, showing this attack was not meant to be violent. Unfortunately, due to poor planning, the convoy of revolutionaries going to the barracks was met with gunfire immediately after arriving. After this failure, the rebels that did not die or escape were rounded up and sent to prison. While imprisoned, Castro renamed his group of 25 comrades the “25thof July Movement,” in memory of the date of their failed attack. In 1954 Batista held elections to be president and faced no opposition. Supporters of Castro began to bring the idea of him back into the picture, which sparked the thought of releasing him and the other prisoners. Eventually, on 15 May 1955, the Batista decided they were no longer a threat and released them from prison. For the next few years, Castro and his communist regime began to spread rapidly among the Cubans, along with other anti-Batista groups. In 1959, he established a totalitarian government in Cuba. It was at that point where Cuba became the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere.

By 1961, the economic and diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba were severed. At this point, everything was very strained between the two places; the Cubans found reason to believe the US was going to attack them, leading to both sides considering an attack. The Cubans raided the CIA and found a document stating that if Castro didn’t back down, they were resulting in tougher measures. A year prior, Fidel Castro had made a trade agreement with the Soviet Union. He and Nikita Khrushchev, the current leader of the Soviets, began working together closely. Starting from the trade agreement, the relationship between the Soviet Union and Cuba was much stronger than the relationship between the US and Cuba. Russia wanted to support Cuba and make sure nothing happened to it. Cuba’s relations with the US were only getting worse, especially after the Bay of Pigs invasion, and intel showed that the US was preparing to invade Cuba. The close proximity between the US and Cuba left both countries on edge.

In 1961, Raul Castro, brother of Fidel, and Che Guevara, right-hand man, went to Moscow to discuss missiles. After this meeting, it took a total of three weeks for the first convoy of missiles to arrive. Historian John McCone explained that the Cubans were spending an estimated $1 billion on military installments and “rapid construction activity.” This transaction was a defining moment in the relationship between Cuba and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, under the ruling of Nikita Khrushchev, was keen on helping Cuba. After they made their trade agreement because they share the same political ideologies. Both countries are communist and want to spread that to other places as well. In order to protect their trade and political connections with Cuba, the Soviet Union decided to make the deal with Cuba to give them nuclear missiles. The Soviet’s intention was never to make the US feel unsafe; they were just protecting their assets. With this mindset, they assumed that the US wouldn’t intervene with the installation of the missiles. When the US found out about the missiles, they were very unhappy. The Soviet Union did not care because they felt they were only defending their allies. After strains became tight between Cuba with the Soviet Union and the US, President Kennedy knew he needed to make some kind of agreement with Khrushchev. He and Khrushchev decided to meet on neutral grounds on 2nd June 1961. Unfortunately, no agreement was made, leaving even more tension. It was after that when the Americans decided to raise their defense budget, leaving Khrushchev to retaliate by threatening to test a one hundred megaton nuclear bomb. Though Khrushchev calmed down after this, tensions were very much high. This is all because he was anxious that the US would try and overthrow Castro, ruining his strong relationship with Cuba.

Nikita Khrushchev had every right to be anxious about the US attempting to overthrow Castro. In the first year of his term, President Kennedy authorized Operation Mongoose. This operation’s focus was on Cuba to try and remove the communists from power. One of the most well-known parts of this operation was the Bay of Pigs invasion. With the intent to take out Castro’s air force, JFK planned the Bay of Pigs invasion with the CIA carefully. Prior to the actual invasion, a secret radio station in Cuba broadcasted propaganda in hope of triggering a spontaneous revolt among the Cubans to overthrow Castro. Cuban exiles were trained in Guatemala at a place called Camp Tex and an airstrip was built for the US in Retalhuleu. The invasion was originally planned for March 1961 in Trinidad. Unfortunately, the troops weren’t ready, and the Cuban’s were suspicious, so they had to change both the time and location. Instead, they decided to attack the Bay of Pigs on the 17th of April 1961. The US tried to take out Castro’s air force, but unfortunately, an unknown source tipped off the Cubans and they were expecting the US. A large amount of the Cuban air force was able to get away, and there were many US casualties. Though he was told by multiple people to retaliate, JFK decided to not call in an airstrike. This led to more than one thousand men being captured and imprisoned for more than seven years. Those men were then ransomed for medical and other supplies. After everything took place, Kennedy ordered an internal investigation to find out what went wrong throughout the planning and execution of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Especially after this failed attempt, the tensions between the US were ridiculously high. A little more than a year later on the 29thof August 1962, JFK sent US U-2 planes to spy on Cuba. During their flyover, they spotted new military construction and Soviet technicians. This made the US even more suspicious, leading to them investigating more and having many flyovers by US spy planes. After two months, on the 14th of October, the US found out about the missiles in Cuba.

Introduction

The question of America’s intentions in Cuba may sound simple, yet the answers are not. The essay will attempt to make the reader understand why America spent decades trying to intervene in Cuba and overthrow the Castro government. Numerous American presidents launched covert operations in Cuba to destabilize the government and failed. Using the available literature on the history of Cuba, the business and industries, the rise of Castro, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the essay lists the reasons explaining why American intelligence was obsessed with Cuba.

The first section of the essay is about the role of businessmen and other interest groups that had a monumental stake in Cuba, who worked with the CIA to achieve their goals, and how American business was negatively affected by the reforms undertaken by the Cuban government. The second section of the essay is about the threat of communism spreading in Latin America. The third section is about Castro turning to communism and the Soviet Union. The fourth section is about the Kennedys’ obsession with Cuba relating to the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis. The fifth section talks about the counterrevolutionaries.

Business in Cuba

The purpose of the Central Intelligence Agency was to undertake the dirty work of American foreign policy. When the US government decided to topple Castro’s government, this task was handed over to the CIA. The Central Intelligence Agency from inception was well connected to business and corporate interests in America, most of which originated from Texas at that point in time (Mellen, 2016). Various actors in Washington had stake in Cuba, like the US ambassador to Brazil and Peru, who owned a gas company in Havana. He was closely associated with executives working at United Fruit Company, who also had stake in Cuba. To understand the extent of penetration of American businesses in Cuba, this essay explores some figures. President Kennedy once remarked that US companies owned 40% of Cuban sugar lands. American investments in public utilities in Cuba was $316 million in 1956, which comprised 90% of stake in public utilities. American capital controlled 50% of the stake in public service railways in Cuba and American banks had 25% of bank deposits. FDI from America totalled $850 million (Smith, 1960). Fulgencio Batista was the President of Cuba from 1940 to 1945 and 1952 to 1959 during which period he was backed by the US. He represented stability to American interests despite engaging in nationalistic rhetoric and the United States supplied arms and advisors to Batista, especially to crush the rebellion. To secure their business interests in Cuba, it was necessary to maintain internal stability.

Most of Cuba was under the influence of the “Sugar King” and the American market. American-owned industries received nearly 40% of the profit from the sugar industry. Landholding patterns continued from colonial times in rural areas. A minority of the population owned and controlled most of the resources and part of this minority were American citizens. This contributed to a sense of resentment among the Cubans, as many were suffering in extreme poverty. Castro’s ascendance in this environment is not surprising. Castro was not like the typical leaders in Latin America at that time. He built hospitals, hundreds of miles of highways, schools, etc. Large cities in Cuba were cleaned up and Havana was safer than it was a few years before Castro came to power. The particularly problematic part for America was the proposed land reforms, which were not taken seriously at first by American businessmen. In June 1959, it became apparent that Castro was determined to make Cuba lesser and lesser reliant on the United States. In the first wave of reforms, “interventors” were installed by the Cuban government to supervise American-owned companies (Smith, 1960). In October 1958, a meeting was conducted at the State Department regarding the Cuban political situation and consequences for American interests. Some of the people in attendance included representatives from Lone Star Cement, Freeport Sulphur, United Fruit Company, etc. Freeport was working on a $119 million nickel-cobalt project in Cuba. In exchange for overthrowing the Cuban government, they offered to support Nixon in his upcoming election (Escalante, 2004). Corporate interests that were present in a meeting with the FBI in 1958 included King Ranch, The Texas Company, Chase Manhattan Bank, Manati Sugar Company, among many others. This was the extent to which American businesses had penetrated Cuba. They would find unlikely allies in the Mafia, whose large prostitution and gambling rings had come to a halt following the revolution. Certain businessmen who were worried about communism in the Castro movement raised their concerns, but the State Department seemed unperturbed at that point in time. The CIA, however, seemed willing to act against Castro (Mellen, 2016, p. 92). Satellite King Ranches were joint ventures spread out in Latin America and other parts of the world. Robert. J. Kleberg, Jr. was the president of King Ranch, the largest private ranch in America. He was also on friendly terms with the highest levels of authority within the CIA. Becerra in Cuba was the satellite ranch that was the most important in the eyes of Kleberg. When Fidel Castro expropriated Becerra, Kleberg stood to lose all his investment and contacted the CIA to find out what measures were being undertaken (Mellen, 2016, p. 9). Many of the properties Castro confiscated in Cuba were US-owned properties. A segment of the 33,500-acre King Ranch was expropriated and 30,000 acres of United Fruit Company’s land had been “intervened”. It was determined by the State department that American-owned property expropriated was worth $5 to $6 million. Batista was put under trial, to which the Cuban people clamored for justice for his crimes (Smith, 1960).

American businessmen were against the land reform program and communicated their dissatisfaction to the US government. They urged the US government to cut the Cuban sugar quota. The Cuban expropriation program and development of friendly relations with the Communist bloc gave President Eisenhower the justification to cut the sugar quota. The American properties that were confiscated belonged to business interests who had deep connections to the CIA. Freeport Sulphur and United Fruit were names of two such companies. In Washington, the president formed the “Special Group”, which consisted of the Foreign Advisory Intelligence Board and the Forty Committee. This was required for approving covert actions for which the President would be otherwise accountable for. This way, the President would not be held accountable for the illegal actions of the United States. The Special Group was a medium that enabled the CIA to participate in policy-making under an official cover. Kleberg pursued a resolution to finish Castro politically, and in a CIA document, it is revealed that Kleberg and other American businessmen had been willing to fund an assassination attempt of Fidel Castro, his brother and Che Guevara. While this assassination did not take place, it exposed the hand of Kleberg and other corporate interests who supported it such as United Fruit, Lykes Steamship, and Dixie Industries (Mellen, 2016, pp. 128-132). There were also CIA assets in officials working in Pepsi. Part of CIA policy after inception was to achieve certain goals for the benefit of its client corporations. Kleberg and Malone, the vice-president of Czarnikow-Rionda sugar brokerage, became keenly involved in the policy-making of CIA (Mellen, 2016, p. 195). Malone met with Romualdi, the chief agent for labour operations in Latin America, who was leading CIA-managed ‘Free Trade Union of the American Federation of Labour’, which prepared people to challenge communism. It is clear from the opposition from various business interests who possessed influence with the higher level that they lobbied for American intervention to topple the Cuban government so as to further their respective agendas.

Communism in Latin America

According to Robbins (1983, pp. 3-4), Cuban agents were suspected at that time to have instigated revolutions in nearly every Latin American country during the 1960s. The activities included guerrilla operations in Argentina, devising assassination plots in Colombia, transporting arms to Venezuela and provoking student riots in Puerto Rico. Guerrilla training schools based in Cuba produced thousands of Latin American insurgents who went back to their respective countries to lead revolutions. Reagan Administration’s reports detailed the threats Cuba posed to the security of America. According to the reports, Havana was supplying weapons, training and guiding revolutionaries in Nicaragua and El Salvador. It was also believed that Castro’s government was providing guerrilla training and asylum to rebels and terrorists from various countries of Central and South America. A State Department report accused Cuba of organizing a drug-smuggling ring based out of Columbia to ensure finance for the guerrilla activities in these countries. However, these charges were more likely exaggerations due to Washington’s perception of Cuba as a threat. Castro’s government did not possess the military capabilities or the support of allies necessary to conduct a major campaign to launch revolutionaries across Latin America. During the 1970s, various American intelligence analysts came to admit that these charges were exaggerated greatly. During the period between 1961-1969, there was a maximum of 1,500 guerrillas trained in Cuba, which did not match the estimate of 1,500-2,500 guerrillas every year. The threat of such revolutions was manufactured by America for overthrowing Castro’s government and spending millions of dollars to supply weapons to the rest of the hemisphere.

Castro moves towards communism

America employed various weapons in its arsenal to overthrow Castro from economic and political destabilisation, employing propaganda and even assassination attempts. This is regarded as one of the most large-scale campaigns which was ultimately ineffective. US hostility towards Castro’s government can be explained as a combination of the Monroe Doctrine and the Cold war. According to Robbins (1983, pp. 72-73), one of the reasons US covert operators were obsessed with Cuba was because they were wary of the domestic policies in Cuba, especially the land reform and nationalization of most American companies. This was interpreted as a Communist attack on private property. America could not accept the revolution’s foreign policies and Castro openly adopting Marxist-Leninism and merging with the socialist bloc. As per Robbins, these were the strongest reasons why America viewed Cuba as a threat that must be contained. Further (Robbins, 1983, pp. 92-95), the Soviets sent a trade mission to Cuba only 13 months after Castro in power, signing an agreement in which they would buy 5 million tons of sugar for the next 5 years. This signalled to the American government that Cuba was willing to risk trading with the Soviet despite the tensions with America at that point of time. They also effectively deprived America of possible economic sanctions they could use against Cuba as a weapon. The trade agreement also included sale of crude oil by the Soviet in exchange for Cuban sugar. The American and British refineries notified Castro that they would not refine Soviet oil and were threatened with consequences by Castro. As he warned, he seized these companies. In response, America cut its sugar quota by 700,000 tons and the Soviet Union offered to purchase the sugar. They further deepened their commitment to Cuba by promising Soviet missiles for Cuban defense in case of any future intervention by America. Cuba’s continuous alliance with the Soviet Union was enough evidence to America that it was a threat to American interests. The Cold War climate was taken so seriously that America failed to notice facts that the resources at the disposal of Cuba were limited, there were limited number of guerrillas, and that the Soviet had not actually offered to endorse or sponsor Cuba’s internationalist approach (The National Security Archive, 2001). America was supportive of Cuban independence on the grounds that no foreign navy use its ports and Guantanamo belonged to the US. Prior to the second world war and throughout the period, there was a persistent concern for the straits vulnerable and threatened by German boats and of a Cuba-Germany alignment. Hence, the Soviet Union was keen to further its relationship with Cuba due to its strategic location. It was not solely about nuclear missiles but also the 90 miles distance from the United States, which was a major sea lane. Soviet submarines in this particular area threatened both the straits. It was not Cuba that America was scared of as much as Soviets allying with Cuba and using the opportunity to increase presence in this region (GPF, 2016). In July 1962, the CIA reported abnormal levels of activity in Cuba. There was an influx of Soviet ships onto Cuban shores who appeared to be transporting construction equipment and the unspecified weaponry on an almost-daily basis. The construction seemed to be progressing in several military sites. CIA analysts who assessed the data concluded that Moscow was enhancing Cuba’s air defense system. While America was concerned about the development, it could not protest these defense measures, especially in the light of the then-recent Bay of Pigs fiasco. Meanwhile, Washington received inputs from the Cuban refugee community regarding the construction of nuclear missile sites, which was received with some skepticism as such reports were received for well over a year and a half without any proof. The CIA doubted if these informants could legitimately differentiate between an offensive and defensive missile. It was only in late August when the truth was discovered after Kennedy ordered increased surveillance and photographs were taken that showed surprising activity in San Cristóbal. The Soviets were indeed developing launch sites for medium and long-range missiles and one such missile was discernible from the ground (Robbins, 1983, pp. 105-106). Cuba was effectively the base for Soviet Union’s nuclear missiles and it was dangerously close to American shores.

The Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis

According to the Church Committee report (Bohning, 2005, p. 3-4), covert action has been defined as an “activity meant to further the sponsoring nation’s foreign policy objectives, and to be concealed in order to permit that nation to plausibly deny responsibility.” The authority for covert option was a command from the National Security Council, NSC 5412/2. The instructions to the CIA were to tackle, minimise and discredit ‘International Communism’ all over the world in a way that was in line with American foreign policies. It was deemed necessary in the cold war era to battle communism with any means necessary. With the emergence of Castro, the communist threat was no longer a battle in a distant land, but from an alarmingly close one to American soil. After the successful regime changes in Iran and at Guatemala, a general feeling of invincibility had swept over the members in the CIA. President Eisenhower sought the help and direction of the CIA to tackle Castro. While there wasn’t enough evidence that Castro was actually a Communist, US officials were convinced that he was steadily under Communist influence. It was in 1960 that President Eisenhower approved an assassination plot to overthrow Castro. This plan came together during the Bay of Pigs, which was a fiasco for the CIA. The Bay of Pigs was a failed military operation of the CIA to invade Cuba. Cuba’s proximity to the United States and the comparably small size showed what a significant victory it was. It seemed that the imperial power of America was collapsing, and even small countries could count on the Soviet Union against imperialism. Castro stated that America could not tolerate that Cubans were undergoing a socialist revolution that they could not control. The Soviets promised the necessary aid required for Cuba during the progress of Bay of Pigs. After the victory of Cuba at Bay of Pigs, the Soviet was able to re-evaluate the balance of forces and could afford to offer more nationalist leaders support if they desired to revolt against the imperialist system. The Kennedy administration reluctantly had to swallow this bitter pill of defeat and humiliation. It was noted in a report ordered by the CIA director, Richard Helms, that the first serious CIA plan to assassinate Fidel Castro included members from the Mafia with contacts in Cuba. The Mafia, with funding from the CIA, was instructed to poison Castro with a pill given to them by the CIA following which, it was passed on to their contacts within Cuba (Bohning, 2005, pp. 25-26).

There are various conflicting accounts of how this was exactly linked to the Bay of Pigs invasion but the effort to topple the Castro government was a build-up to the Bay of Pigs. After the failure of the invasion, President Kennedy publicly accepted blame. In private, he was furious at the CIA, blamed them for the failure and accused the agency of providing him with incomplete information. The agency believed that it was President Kennedy’s actions that were to blame as he did not approve an attack on Cuba’s air force to occur simultaneously with the landing of the commandos. He was also blamed for calling off an airstrike at the last minute. This has been the subject of much debate even today. To understand America’s obsession with Cuba at that period of time, one must be aware of the nature of the Kennedy brothers, particularly Robert Kennedy. From their vantage point, Castro has one up over them and they could not accept the embarrassing outcome. They wanted to exact revenge as it had become shameful for them personally and the desperation drove them to do whatever it takes to oust Castro from power. The aim of the Kennedy brothers was to harass Castro in any way possible. Only six months after that, a multiagency covert action programme for subversion was formulated by the Kennedy administration called Operation Mongoose. Unlike Bay of Pigs, it was a small-level covert operation of economic sabotage, infiltration and propaganda. While it wasn’t the final plan itself, the goal was to contribute to the breakdown of the Castro government. Robert Kennedy took control over this small-time covert operation and the atmosphere in the White House left little doubt for compromise in ensuring Castro would not remain in the neighbourhood for long. He grew more and more restless due to the lack of significant progress in developing a concrete plan (Bohning, 2005, pp. 69-79). Meanwhile, missiles were being transported to Cuba discreetly under Moscow’s project Operation Anadyr. The increased threat of a US invasion of Cuba required Cuba and Soviet to work together to redress the nuclear missile imbalance. This operation lasted went on for a year till the missile crisis and accomplished nothing substantial for the amount of $50 million in expenditure. Bohning (2005, p. 150) states that the missile crisis was settled by January 1963. However, Kennedy was still determined to overthrow Castro. Months after approving a focused “sabotage and harassment” program, he was assassinated. In handling Cuba, Kennedy would be remembered for his inexperience that led to disastrous consequences which almost triggered a nuclear war.

After the Bay of Pigs, Castro was convinced that the Americans were going to try to invade again. Fearful that he may be overthrown, Castro accepted the offer from Khrushchev to bolster his country with nuclear missiles. The Cuban missile crisis was one of the most dangerous situations the world had experienced. As Cuba gravitated further towards communism, the Soviet missiles were transported into Cuba. It was not anticipated by either Khrushchev or Castro that placing missiles in Cuba would lead to a nuclear war, although they did consider that America would attempt to invade the country. With the Soviet standing firm in its commitment to Cuba’s defense, America was forced to act. President Kennedy decided to place a naval quarantine on Cuba to block off any further shipments. America and Soviet Union came close to nuclear war after increased tension in exchanges. After negotiations, Khrushchev decided to withdraw the missiles placed in Cuba back to the Soviet Union. The Cuban missile crisis deeply affected both Kennedy and Khrushchev. There was an unshakable fear of the dangers of the Cold War after a situation they had both misjudged, and a greater agreement on the need to reduce the probability that the arms race could lead to nuclear conflict. While Castro was displeased with the withdrawal of the Soviets, America was forced to publicly state that it would not engage in military intervention in Cuba.

Counterrevolutionaries

Hundreds of middle-class Cubans, with the politicians who moved to their country in search of former jobs they lost in the revolution, migrated to the United States. There, they unleashed a propaganda campaign condemning communism in Cuba. The goal was to create counterrevolutionaries who could destabilise the Cuban government in the future, one the CIA was fully behind (Escalante, 2004, pp. 36-37). These Cubans lived in the Florida region and there was constant communication with the CIA and they acted as informants. The counterrevolutionaries in Cuba engaged in criminal behaviour to manufacture a chaotic atmosphere similar to a civil war so that America could justify military intervention. Counterrevolutionary leaders coordinated with the CIA regarding arms supply and other support. The CIA began to create disturbances in the region. Air and sea movements between Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Florida were frequent. Soon, American and Cuban people began to trade illegal weapons in the guise of fight for liberty. This would be eventually replaced with drug trade. Escalante (2004, p. 59) states that the CIA and their partners were at the forefront of the drug trade, transporting thousands of tons of marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs. He also states that the US Central Intelligence Agency officials enriched themselves through drug trade in the process of overthrowing the Cuban government.

Conclusion

The reasons as to why US covert operations were obsessed with Cuba are many. The American business interests clearly had a huge role to play in various covert operations. The scope of the CIA is not limited but evidently involves protecting interests well beyond the traditional realm of intelligence and operations detail. The spread of communism in Latin America in the form of revolutions has been a fear for America, which has been apprehensive of communism so close to its shores. Since parts of Latin America were underdeveloped, it made them more susceptible to communism and America was fearful that it would spread with Castro’s influence. Castro’s conversion to communism and movement to the Soviet bloc was worrisome for America, as any Soviet presence in Cuba was unacceptable to America’s security. The fiasco at the Bay of Pigs was a huge embarrassment for Kennedy, who privately blamed the CIA. Robert Kennedy and President Kennedy were determined and obsessed to oust Castro so much that they launched Operation Mongoose, which didn’t achieve anything significant. The Missile Crisis was a moment in history when America was confronted with nuclear war so close to sovereign territory. Kennedy vowed to continue to harass the Cuban government in spite of publicly stating that America would not intervene in Cuba any longer. America is an imperial power that was losing grip on the countries that it could once control without question. Cuba was a country that challenged America’s imperial ambitions and America used every justification to quell the rise of Castro. These are some of the reasons why American covert operators were obsessed with Cuba.

JFK was showing the country what was going on within the government and was showing that he can be trusted as a president who cares for his country. During that time there were scandals from the government hiding secrets from the U.S so when he shared the information with the citizens it was proving that he is reliable and that he can be trusted. The president obviously has to have decent ethics to become the President of the United States but there have been times where the president’s ethics were not what they seemed to be.

JFK shows extensive background knowledge of what he is talking about and presenting in his speech. He demonstrates that he has control of the situation and is notifying the country because it was the right time and the right evidence.

JFK is also showing his values of protecting the country when he demands that the missiles are removed and all building of weapons cease in Cuba. If JFK had not confronted the soviet union his morals would have seemed questionable the listeners would have lost a sense of good ethics in their president.

JFK establishes his credibility through the immediate actions he took to protect his people. It showed his good sense of character and his loyalty to the U.S people along with a trustworthy figure to govern the country. These are all factors that go into the credibility that JFK had before and after his speech. JFK was the first Roman-Catholic president and became the president of the “new generation of Americans”, which showed through his optimism and charm.

In 1941, he joined the U.S. Navy Reserve and was a pilot in WW2 where he received many medals such as the Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for saving two groups of marines while he served. These are just two of the awards JFK was given before he become president. These medals show that not only would he talk about protecting the United States and their interests but he will also physically fight and risk his own life for the safety of others and his country which creates an impressive psyche for the people.

JFK also grew up in a home with politics and he was very well versed with politics himself, which gave him a set of skills used to help in his presidency and to direct the situation for the government. In 1946, JFK finally burst on the political scene, becoming a congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives. Then six years later as congressmen he won a seat on the Senate in 1953. Seven years later he ran for President of the United States and became President in 1961. making him a steadfast, firm, and confident leader.

With being just moments away from nuclear war, JFK kept a calm face and encouraging voice to the American people because he knew that is what they needed. This was very useful to the people because they needed someone to tell them what was going on and what might happen along with the fact that the U.S was going to do anything necessary to keep the country safe.

In his speech, he starts by announcing that the American spy plane Reconnaissance had discovered that “a series of offensive missile sites” was being formed in Cuba. He continued, “the purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere”. This was a huge threat to America if the soviet union was building long-range weapons, capable of striking almost anywhere across the continental United States. The missiles were capable of hitting almost all major cities in the United States including Washington DC. This information scared the American people but helped them prepare for what might happen. The Americans knew that they could trust what JFK was saying because of the trust they had gained from him.

The vocabulary that JFK uses is intentional to get the audience to understand why he is going to take the actions he will take and how important the situation is. The situation is so important that he brought it to the attention of the whole world, knowing that he would be able to gain allies along with the trust and support of the American people. As president, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to do anything for the safety of the country without the support of the people and other parts of the government. Through his speech, he helps others understand how important it is and what could happen if he doesn’t take proper actions immediately. His speech helped get the instant support he needed because of how urgent and important the whole situation was and could end up.

The president’s words indicate his knowledge of and power over the American armed forces as he outlines his seven-step process. His plan was to increase the military presence in Cuba and further derive Russia in their “course of world domination”. He began by justifying the course of action as the Commander in Chief, stating he is acting “in the defense of our own security and of the entire Western Hemisphere.

Throughout the moving speech, President Kennedy uses rhetorical techniques to argue the danger placed upon the world by Russia’s aggressive actions, but also maintain a trusting relationship with his country and its allies. President Kennedy is firm and undaunted in his statements. His qualifications as President of the United States and bold words help convince listeners that Russia’s actions do indeed place a threat to national security. His language throughout his address is direct and clear, adding to his credibility and logical appeal. His early life helped to mold him into a president that was bold enough to confront the arduous task of negotiating with Chairman Khrushchev.

Mr. Anderson first learned about the Cold War when the Cuban Missile Crisis was happening. His dad was a veteran from World War Two, so his family was very aware of what was happening. He said, “it was a nervous time”.

He still remembers the day he first learned of the Cuban Missile Crisis. He recalls president John F Kennedy going on the Monday night news and telling the American people what was happening. The government had known about Russia putting missiles on Cuba but they didn’t tell the U.S until this address to the nation. The next day at school, everybody was talking about what was happening. People were wondering what would happen if there was indeed a nuclear war, and asking each other if they had a bomb shelter and so on.

When asked if he thought this war could lead to the end of the world he said, “for a few days we did”. When the Cuban Missile Crisis had just happened, it had been a reasonable fear that it could lead to our destruction. The only other time that he was worried that the world might end was during the Vietnam War. Other than that, Mr. Anderson didn’t remember any other time where he believed our world was in danger.

After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the main focus was getting to the moon. Mr. Anderson’s dad had worked in the space program as an analytical chemist, and he was the head of the chemistry lab. Mr. Anderson explained that the reason we went to the moon was to show that America’s government was better than Russia’s totalitarian government. He said, “it was like a contest” to see which system was best. Back then some people thought that the Russians had gotten further in this race than the Americans and that Russia was going to dominate the world. He still remembers Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe on the table and telling the United States that they were going to bury us. Getting to the moon first was going to prove which government was better.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, many people believed that it was a possibility that Russia may fire nuclear weapons. Mr. Anderson explained what he thought might happen back then. At first, the United States had decided not to attack Russia, but to wait. We did, however, put up a blockade around Cuba and any ships found to be carrying any kind of nuclear weapons would be turned away. He said that if Russia did try to get any more weapons onto Cuba, it would turn into a “shooting match”. We could easily win this fight because Cuba was close to the United States and we had the “most powerful navy in the world”.

However, starting a fight with Russia was going to cause a problem later on. After World War Two, Germany had been divided into two parts. The free side on the west and the Russian side was controlled by a totalitarian government. Berlin had been divided between the two parts. If Russia did try to get weapons onto Cuba, then it would most likely turn into a war and Russia would try to capture Berlin. If the Russian’s tried to take over Berlin it would be much harder for the United States to win because Berlin was surrounded by Russian troops. So in the end, it wasn’t worth it for Russia to try to get missiles onto Cuba because the United States would go to war with them and most likely win. At the same time, the United States didn’t want to start a war with Russia because Russia could take over Berlin. At the time, Mr. Anderson didn’t know if this was going to turn into World War Three.

When asked how his family had prepared in case a bomb was fired he responded, “Nothing, my dad didn’t believe in the bomb shelter thing.” However, he did say that at school they would practice duck and cover drills. Also, in Lancaster on the last Friday of every month at ten o’clock AM, the air raid siren would go off and they would have to get under their desks. Even though there wasn’t much fighting going on in front of them, he said, “it was real enough”.

Even though Mike Anderson was only in fifth grade when the Cuban Missile Crisis was happening, he still remembers a lot from that time. He recalls when the president, John F Kennedy, addressed the nation about the Cuban Missile Crisis and felt like this could cause the end of the world. He remembers his dad working to get a man into space and wondering whether Russia was going to fire nuclear weapons. He also recalls the nervous times when he had to practice duck and cover drills in case a bomb was fired. The Cold War was a frightening time for many and even young kids like Mike Anderson understood the importance of what was happening.

Propaganda; A tool of strategic influence. Throughout history political parties, sports teams, and pretty much anyone who wanted to bring down an opposition or competitor has used propaganda of some sort. It is a powerful weapon used to create dislike and degrade an enemy. This could be through the exaggeration of a certain event or the falsifying of evidence to generate a public distaste towards the rival. Particularly common in war and politics, propaganda has been used to great extent in both world wars, the Russian revolution, and the American civil war. However, it is the propaganda of the Cuban revolution that is most intriguing to me. A small U.S controlled island was overthrown by a petty communist party. A classic example of the underdog versus the Favourite. This investigation will examine how both sides of the revolution used propaganda to influence the public and to what degree they worked. The investigation will be specifically looking at how propaganda was used in the period of 1966-1980. During this time socialization was occurring and April October Mariel Exodus. It also covers Fidel Castro’s election as the president of Cuba.

Before delving into how propaganda was used in the Cuban Revolution, it is important to understand what the Cuban revolution actually was and the context in which these posters were released. The Cuban revolution was an armed uprising that overthrew Fulgencio Batista on the 1st of January in 1959. It was from 1959 that the infamous Fidel Castro led Cuba until 2008. Under Fidel’s rule; Cuba successfully reduced illiteracy, racism and improved its public health care system. However, it was not all good. Fidel was criticized for repressive economic and political freedoms. Fidel was also slated over his relationship with the U.S which resulted in costly clashes such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Whilst propaganda was an effective tool utilized by Castro’s party, the U.S also implemented propaganda posters of their own warning the public of Castro’s intentions and swaying the public into picturing Castro as anger filled and power-hungry monster. A key example of American propaganda is Titled: The Bogeyman (1980), artist Lincoln Cushing depicts Castro in a devil like way playing to the public fear and uncertainty for their home country. It was around this time that socialisation was occurring, where Cuba was adopting a political system built off the soviets. This was bringing unwanted heat down on Fidel’s party, the public was under the impression that Cuba’s political and economic relationship with the Soviet alliance had become similar to Cuba’s pre-revolutionary dependence on the United States. Highlights this point in the text “Castro’s Cuba is an arsenal of Soviet weaponry and ground troops”. This highlights the reliance Cuba has on the soviet army building on the already uncertain Cuban demographic. By emphasising the distress and ambiguity the Cuban public have, the American political party effectively portray Castro as dangerous to the future of Cuba and also suggests that the alliance Castro has with the soviet army is also potentially damaging to the Cuban people and country. Propaganda is an extremely effective weapon of war, this effectiveness can either be achieved through the exaggeration of just one aspect of a situation or through blatant lies. In the case of the Cuban revolution the U.S exploit the situation of the soviet’s involvement in the Cuban political system and exaggerate Cuba’s new dependency on the soviets.

At the same time as the U.S were trying to bring down and de-throne Fidel, Castro’s Party were attempting to ignite hope and confidence in the Cuban public. It was almost as important if not just as important to inspire the people to believe in the Cuban communist party as the publics’ love and appreciation for Castro was fading. As the Cuban political system took some enormous changes through the form of socialization taking over the country, Fidel needed to ensure that the radical changes are beneficial and for the best. Fidel achieved this through successful campaigning and propaganda posters. Cuban artist Felix René Mederos Pazo illustrates a poster in 1973 commemorating twenty years since Fidel Castro led his “crazy attempt against the armed forces”, where a young Fidel led his “ragtag group of guerrillas” to overthrow military dictator, Fulgencio Batista, at the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Many of Castro’s men were killed and even Fidel and his brother were captured. What followed was Fidel’s celebrated “history will absolve me” speech. The poster designed in the classic colourful Cuban style is designed to depict Fidel in the light of the hero he was back in 1953. This image of “a young Castro” sparks the faith and certainty the Cuban public needed at the time. Celebrating this time brings the Cubans joy as it represents the start of their freedom. Castro’s powerful stance and ever-forward gazing eyes evoke a sense of hope and certainty about the future of Cuba. Whereas propaganda may be seen as an instrument used to bring others down in this case propaganda has been used to reassure the public in a time of distress. It has been employed to enforce a sense of solidity in Cuban politics and counter the fear caused by socialisation.

Propaganda is a weapon, a tool, a utensil. Used to put your opposition down or lift your team up. In the Cuban Revolution reassuring the public in a time of uncertainty and a fragility was the main objective of Cuban propaganda however, it was the American propaganda which toyed and exploited this fragility in order to express their concern and flaws with the Cuban government. By examining both sides, you are able to examine the connection and relationship each side has with one another. At this period Castro and the United States occasionally appeared to become consumed with each other’s downfalls and this was especially evident in the American propaganda with the depiction of Castro as the “Bogeyman”. “All news is lies and all propaganda is disguised as news” Willi Munzenberg.