Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis Fidel
Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis
Fidel Castro 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista and became leader of Cuba n Castro quickly formed an alliance with the Soviet Union, and declared Cuba communist n
Bay of Pigs US disliked Castro and felt threatened due to his communist ties n March 1960 – Eisenhower approves funding of a CIA operation to train 1, 400 Cuban exiles, later known as Brigade 2506 n
Bay of Pigs n April 1961, Brigade 2506 landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba n Plan was to assassinate Castro
Bay of Pigs n Castro had learned of the planned invasion and his troops were waiting when the exiles landed n Castro’s troops quickly destroyed the Cuban exiles and the assassination attempt was a complete disaster n Embarrassment to the US and President Kennedy
Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962, a US spy plane flying over Cuba spotted Soviet missile pads n This posed an immediate threat to the US due to Cuba’s close proximity to the US (90 miles south of Florida) n
Cuban Missile Crisis n Kennedy formed Executive Committee of National Security Council (EXCOMM) to formulate a plan Bobby Kennedy-Attorney General n Robert Mc. Namara. Secretary of Defense n Dean Rusk- Secretary of State n
Cuban Missile Crisis n Three options were considered – Diplomacy – Use and airstrike to destroy missiles, then invade Cuba – Use a Naval blockade to keep supplies from reaching Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis n Chiefs of Staff and most EXCOMM advisors supported invasion n JFK opposed war in Cuba – The goal was to avoid war, especially with the Soviets
Cuban Missile Crisis n Diplomacy would likely see trade-offs – The US wants the Soviets to dismantle missile – Soviets would increasingly require more concessions from the US
Cuban Missile Crisis n Naval blockade would stop all supplies from reaching Cuba – Including much needed food and medicine n Also considered act of war
Cuban Missile Crisis Decided to initiate a naval “quarantine” of Cuba to prevent more missiles from entering n Made a deal with Khrushchev (leader of USSR) to dismantle missiles already in Cuba n
Vasili Arkhipov n Soviet submariner n Convinced superiors to not launch nuclear weapons n Argued Americans just wanted to talk
Cuban Missile Crisis n 1. 2. Kennedy agreed to: Never invade Cuba Later dismantle US missiles in Turkey Khrushchev agreed to: Dismantle missiles in Cuba Allow UN inspection in Cuba
Crisis Averted Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the US has come to a nuclear attack n John F. Kennedy’s greatest foreign policy success n
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