Fidel Castro and Cuban Missile Crisis

Fidel Castro

a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008

Nikita Krushchev

Leader of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, known for his role in the Cuban Missile Crisis and promoting communism.

John F. Kennedy

elected President of US in 1960, he inherited the Bay of Pigs plan and navigated the Cuban missile crisis

ExComm (executive committee of the national security council

that advised President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This group evaluated options and strategies to address the threat posed by Soviet missiles in Cuba.

fulgencio batista

staged a successful military coup in 1952 to seize power and ruled Cuba as a brutal dictator 1952-1959 with US backing

Ernesto “Che” Guevara

an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution; he really inspires Castro (with communism) and goes back to Cuba with him

Robert F. Kennedy

The younger brother of President John F. Kennedy, he served as Attorney General and was a key figure in the administration's response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, advocating for a diplomatic resolution by meeting with the Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin and agreeing to remove their missiles in Turkey

Russian Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin

The Soviet ambassador to the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he played a crucial role in negotiations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and discussed the Turkey missiles with Bobby Kennedy.

Batista’s Coup (when did it happen)

1952

Castro’s Trial and History will Absolve Me Speech

during his trial for the Moncada Barracks Attacks he justifies his involvement and gives a speech saying that he is on the right side of history

Castro’s Exile in Mexico (who did Castro Meet?)

Castro fled to Mexico in 1955 as they feared they would be re-arrested for criticizing Batista and refusing to repet for their actions at Moncada. They meet Che and bagan to plan witht he 26th July Movement

Sierra Maestra Campaign 1956-1959 (How did the Fidelistas survive against Batista)

it gave them time to regroup and start to carry out guerrilla attacks and Casto was able to gain support from the peasants

Methods that Castro used propaganda to gain power

-Radio Rebel to broadcast their propaganda and counteract the governments

-interviews with sympathetic US reporters

-portrayed himself as a patriotic freedom fighter of the poor and oppressed Cubans

How did Castro and Cuba address economic inequality and ownership of Cuba’s economy by US corporations?

-nationalization of large land holdings and other businesses of US corperations

-land reform (redistribution)

how did Castro address the inequalities in Cuba through his domestic policies

-land redistribution

-nationalization of industries

-universal healthcare and education

-discrimination was illegal on paper

-Cuban Women’s Federation

How did Castro deal with opposition to his policies?

-arrested people

-had times in which he’d let a lot of people all leave at once to escape if they didn’t like his rule

USA reaction to the Special Period in Cuba

-American embargo suspended for commercial supplies to help with hurricane aftermath

-With Clinton made an annual quota of cubans to leave for the US

restrictions on human rights in Cuba during Castro’s rule (what types of things were restricted?)

-imprisioned without trial and arrested without evidnece

-freedom of expression and political opposition was silenced/restricted

-didn’t like black people and hated gay people

what were the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs)

An important set of local bodies that provided the govt with an extrajudicial means of controlling the population. It was a form of communal activity intended to consolidate the revolution by giving a sense of identity within the regime

What did Castro’s foreign policy focus on?

tearing down colonial and imperialist systems

Moncada Barracks Attack (what happened?)

attempted to sieze the Moncada barracks on July 26, 1953. It was Castro’s first major move. It failed and Castro was caught

Moncada Programme (what were some of the goals of it?)

-return power to Cubans

-give rights to people living on small land plots

-profit sharing for industrial workers

-profit sharing for sugar workers

-end corruption and confiscate property from those found guilty of fraud

The Granma expedition (why did it happen in 1956?)

castro had promised to liberate Cuba before 1957 and realized that renege on this promise would hurt his propaganda campaign

Weaknesses of Batista’s Operation Verano campaign

US withdrew support and he was just generally unpopular the cubans weren’t united behind him

steps that Castro took to consolidate power after 1959

-forming the INRA

-consolidating his positions and not holding elections that were fair

-only the e Communist party was allowed

-Batista government officials put on trial and killed

-media/news censorship

US Trade embargo of 1959 (what was the impact on Cuba’s economy? How did Castro respond to the embargo?)

hurt the economy and Castro begun to sign more economic agreements with the USSR

What was the role of the INRA and how did it Carry out the goals of the Moncada Programme?

INRA oversaw the development of rural infrastructure and consolidated Castro’s position of power

What happened during the Special Period in a Time of Peace (1989-2000)

1991 commie govt in USSR collapsed and this was bad for Cuba bc they relied of Soviet assistance and Russia didn't have to follow the old agreements

What was the impact of the Special Period in a Time of Peace (1989-2000) on Cuba’s economy

• Increased strain on cuban econ 

• Era is known as the special period

• Cuban income dropped ~50%

• Power supplies to homes and factories were cut

• Cuba's annual oil supply dropped 11 million tons

• Strict rationing was introduced

Positive impacts of Castro’s domestic policies on the Cuba population (what was successful to help the Cuban people?)

-universal free healthcare

-super high literacy rate

-free education at all levels

-unemployment at 0

-land distribution

what role did the Cuban women play in the building of a new Cuba

• Women were prominent in maintaining the 16 July Movement 

• 1975 a family code was introduced which granted wives and husbands the same rights to be educated and pursue a career

• 1960 the FMC complemented the work of the CDRs by organizing a range of activities at local level

  • Implementing Cuba’s literacy drive

  • Training women and girls in domestic skills

  • Retraining former domestic servants for industrial work

  • Raising health standards by promoting hygiene programs

  • Organizing day-care centers for women and infants

  • Enlisting and supervising unemployed women for voluntary work on the land

What was the impact of the Soveit Union on Castro’s foreign policy?

Cuba depended on the USSR causing econ difficulties and allowed them to influence policy aims

What was the Non-Aligned movement and how was Cuba involved?

• Castro’s reward for the performance of his Cuban forces in Africa and Latin America was his election in 1979 as president of the non-aligned movement

  it was a group of countries not aligned to one power bloc in the Cold War and its purpose was to help developing countries

What types of revolution movements did Castro support and where were many of them located?

• 1971 - Chile - supported left-wing govt

• Sent 100s of Cuban military advises to Angola in 1975 they worked with the Marxist rebel forces fighting a civil war

• Between 1975-1977 Castro made personal visits to many countries to show support for Marxist govts or Marxist parties seeking power

• 1979 - Cuba supported the Nicaraguan Sandinistas in ousting their dictatorial govt

nuclear test ban treaty of 1964

forbid nuclear tests in atmosphere, space or underwater

nuclear non-proliferation treaty of 1968

prevented nuclear powers from transferring weapons and knowledge on how to make them to non-nuclear powers

Bay of Pigs (what happened? who was involved?)

in 1960 President Dwight Eisenhower authorized a CIA program that trained Cuban Exiles in Guatemala in preparation for an attack on Castro’s Cuba. The goal was to inspire a popular uprising among Cuban people to overthrown Castro’s regime. Castro was forewarened on the attacks and troops were ready to meet the 1400 exiles. The failure was a massive US embarrassment.

what did Castro declare to the world after the Bay of Pigs failed invasion?

That Cuba would become a fully Communist state that would allow Marxism-Leninism.

John F Kennedy’s options after missile sites in Cuba were discovered (October 16, 1962)

1) naval blockade/quarantine

2) airstrike on missile sites and full scale invasion

3) bring to UN for diplomacy

4) deal with USSR to remove Cuba and Turkey missiles

5) use nukes on USSR and Cuba

actions of Soviet ships on October 24, 1962

Soviet ships carrying missiles for Cuba approach the quarantine zone’ and proceed to slow down, stop, & turn around to head back

october 26th message from Khrushchev (what did he propose to JFK?)

Khrushchev proposed to Kennedy that the Soviets would remove missiles as long as the US pledges to not invade Cuba

JFK’s final decision on how to address the October 26th and October 27th messages from Khrushchev

Kennedy ignores the 2nd letter (talks about Turkey) and accepts the terms of the first letter (will not invade Cuba)

impact of Cuban missile crisis on the relationship between the US and USSR

immediate: avoided nuclear confrontation

long term: both sides realized Mutual Assured Destruction would occur if either side used missiles against each other which lead to decreased tensions in the Cold War

bay of pigs (what was the result of the failed invasion?How did it influence Cuba and the USSR’s relationship?)

Castro announced that Cuba would be fully communist. The USSR began to ship more Soviet weapons to Cuba

why did the USSR place/build missile sites in Cuba

-defend Cuba against foreign invasion -test Kennedy because he was weak from that Bay of Pigs - it was fine because of the missiles in Turkey

John R. Kennedy’s speech to the American Public on October 22, 1962 (what happened in the speech and what did he implement)

told the public about the Cuban missiles and their blockade and no invasion plan. He left out that they would remove the Turkey missiles

UN Nations Security Council meeting on October 25, 1962 (what occurred?)

US ambassabor Adlai Stevenson aggressively confronted his USSR UN counterpart, Valerian Zorin with photographic evidence of missiles in Cuba

October 27th message from Khrushchev (what did he propose to JFK)

Khrushchev insists that the US will also need to remove the Turkey missiles

October 27th meeting between Robert F. Kennedy and Russian Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin

Robert agrees that they will remove Turkey missiles but not publicly acknowledge it

impact of Cuban Missile Crisis on the relationship between Cuba and USSR

-strained because of Khrushchev’s decision; Castro felt that the USSR disregarded the needs of Cubans and used them like a bargaining chip