Fidel Castro:
The Bay of Pigs Invasion &
Cuban Missile Crisis
Mr. Deal
Western World History
Fidel Castro
• Castro took control of Cuba on January 1, 1959, when
dictator Fulgenico Batista fled Cuba
• Relations between the U.S. and Cuba soon declined and in
1960, Castro took over U.S. oil refineries in Cuba
• Castro referred to the US as “the most hated country in the
Americas”.
U.S. / Cuba Relations
• Because Castro took over U.S. oil refineries in Cuba, the
U.S. stopped buying Cuban sugar and Castro responded by
taking over all U.S. businesses in Cuba – JFK bans all trade
with Cuba.
• What is this called?
• President Kennedy, angered by Castro’s actions, authorized an
attempt to overthrow the Cuban dictator in 1961
• The U.S. planned and funded a landing by armed Cuban exiles on
southern Cuba
• On April 17th, about 1,500 exiles armed with U.S. weapons landed
on the southern coast of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. The exiles were
hoping to find local support as they moved inland to Havana, but it
became evident that they were not going to receive any support
from citizens
Bay of Pigs
Invasion
• The exiles were captured and 1,189 were tried and
sentenced to 30 years in prison for treason
• After 20 months of negotiation with the U.S., Cuba
released the exiles in exchange for $53 million in
food & medicine
• The failed Bay of Pigs Invasion severely
embarrassed the Kennedy administration and made
Castro wary of future U.S. actions
Results of the invasion…
• After the Bay of Pigs, Nikita Khrushchev offered to
place nuclear missiles in Cuba and Castro agreed
• Castro was merely a pawn in the international chess
match and Cuba was merely a playing field for
Khrushchev
• Castro would have little effect on the outcome of the
crisis and Cold War
Missiles in Cuba
Cuban
Missile
Crisis
• In October 1962, the World came very close to nuclear war
• The Soviets installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off
the coast of the U.S.
• Soviet Premier Khrushchev felt that JFK was a weak President,
but felt threatened by the U.S. missiles in Turkey, just 150 miles
from the USSR
ORTSAC
• Castro permitted the weapons because he was
convinced the U.S. was serious about invading
Cuba
• In 1962, there was a mock invasion of a Caribbean
island by the U.S. armed forces to overthrow a
fictitious dictator whose name was Ortsac.
• Ortsac was actually Castro spelled backwards!!!
Thirteen
Days…
• On Monday, October 15th, U-2 pilot Richard Heyser revealed SS-4
nuclear missiles in Cuba
• On October 16th, Kennedy was informed of the missiles. His 12
most important advisors, known as Ex-Comm, convened
• Most of them supported an air strike followed by an invasion. No
matter what happened, most expected Khrushchev to retaliate
Oct. 17 to Oct. 20
• Kennedy, in order to maintain
secrecy, followed his planned
schedule of campaign trips to CT
and the Midwest
• Another U-2 flight discovered SS-5
missiles, which could reach most of
the U.S.
• On Sat., Oct. 20th, Robert Kennedy
called JFK in Chicago and told him
to come home to meet with ExComm. JFK told the press that he
had an “upper respiratory infection”
and he returned to Washington
Sunday Oct. 21
• Kennedy asked the Air Force if they could take
out the missiles, but they said there could be 10 to
20,000 casualties
• Kennedy then decided, with the advice of his
brother, to set up a blockade around Cuba and
told the press not to leak the information about the
missiles in Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis
(Part II)
Monday October 22
• On Monday evening,
President Kennedy gave a
speech to the United
States to inform the nation
that missiles were in Cuba
• The Organization of American States (OAS)
unanimously approved the U.S. decision to “quarantine”
Cuba (a blockade was an act of war)
• By the end of the day, U.S. ships at the quarantine line
were prepared to “disable” any ship that failed to stop at
that line
Tuesday Oct. 23rd
• On Oct. 24th, Soviet ships approached the
quarantine line. Ex-Comm wondered if Khrushchev
had enough time to instruct the ship captains
• Soviet ships stopped dead in the water after
receiving a radio message from Moscow
• Dean Rusk (Secretary of State) – “We were eyeball
to eyeball and the other guy just blinked”
Wed. October
24th
Thursday October 25th
• Military alert was raised to DEFCON 2, the highest
ever in U.S. history
• The military could, at any moment’s notice, launch
an attack on Cuba or the USSR
Friday Oct. 26th
• The U.S. Navy searched the Soviet ship Marcula
and cleared it to Cuba when they found only paper
products
• Ex-Comm received a letter from Khrushchev in
reply to Kennedy’s speech to the U.S. The Soviets
would remove their missiles if Kennedy publicly
guaranteed the U.S. would never invade Cuba
• Another U-2 flight showed the Soviets were trying to
camouflage their missiles
Saturday
October 27th
• This was the worst day of the crisis
• A U-2 on a routine mission incorrectly navigated, went into Russia,
so he alerted U.S. fighters, which carried nuclear tipped missiles.
This could have touched off war
• Another U-2, trying to get new pictures over Cuba, was shot down,
but the orders did not come from Khrushchev. This was the only
casualty of the crisis.
• Khrushchev sent a 2nd letter to JFK that raised the price for
removing the missiles. He now wanted the U.S. to remove missiles
from Turkey. Robert Kennedy said to ignore it and only respond to
the 1st letter!
Sunday October 28th
• Khrushchev announced over
Moscow radio that the Soviets
would dismantle their nuclear
missiles in Cuba
• He ruined his career by backing
down, BUT he prevented
nuclear disaster
• Poor communication led to the Cuban Missile Crisis
• It took 7 days to reach a compromise because of no link between
the U.S. and USSR
• They negotiated by TV, radio, and letters
• Realizing how close a war had been, both leaders established a
“hot line” between the White House and the Kremlin so they could
speak directly
• Khrushchev said that if the U.S. had attacked Cuba, the Soviets
were ready to launch missiles
Conclusion…