Posted on by d.balchand Module 3 assignment - Latin America in the Cold War

Probable Soviet MRBM Sites in Cuba, The Cold War.

The image I selected demonstrates one of the most famous events to have taken place throughout human history, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Spoiler, it didn’t happen. Nevertheless, the image displays arguably the location and range for the potential launch of the weapons planted in Cuba by the Soviets. As seen in the image, the scale of the weapons launching targeted nearly half of both the United States and Mexico, and completely affecting all of Central and Latin America. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) conducted a meeting within the White House on October 16, 1962 alongside President John F. Kennedy and his numerous advisors. They conducted several meetings primarily focusing on the methods of either destroying or removing the weapons out of Cuba. 

At this point in time, communism was the primary threat originating from the Soviet Union. The United States and Russia were deemed as the two strongest forces across the world, resulting from the aftermath of World War II. The US understood that the relatively newly established countries in Latin America had no chance of combating the oncoming threat of communism as they were. The rise of Fidel Castro to power made matters worse, who was determined to lead the Cuban government straight through the hands of communism. The Cuban Revolution, which took place from 1953 – 1959 was the elimination of President Batista by the revolutionary government led by Fidel Castro. He gained immense fame and likability within the Cuban population through his discontent with the United States. During his speech at Havana, where they dethroned the reign of Batista, doves flew down on the podium and perched on Castro’s shoulder. (Dawson 209) Due to that instance, the people deemed him as the savior of Cuba, in which he promised real change and the emergence of Cuba as a world power. This ultimately came at the hands of establishing his own dictatorship and the introduction of a communist government, due to Castro making ties with the Soviet Union. The United States’ failed attempt to bring his reign to an end at the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion resulted in the Soviet Union secretly planting nuclear weapons on the coast of Cuba directly aiming towards numerous US cities.  This aided the growth of Castro’s communist regime, as the missiles were to prevent any US intervention in the affairs within Cuba. During the meeting between the CIA and President Kennedy, they deemed this action as the Russian displaying their determination of spreading communism throughout Latin America. The United States military leaders and government officials urged JFK to make a decision, in which he knew that military action could lead to the Soviets retaliating by launching the missiles or something elsewhere. Ultimately, the result came to the US installation of their own missiles pointed towards Russia located in Italy and Turkey. President Kennedy and Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev both agreed to remove their respective weapons, as both did not want to essentially cause the start of World War III and perhaps, the end of the world itself.

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/29165-oct-16-first-cia-memo-soviet-missiles-cuba-1962

Wood, James A. and Anna Rose Alexander, editors. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. 5th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence: A History with Primary Sources. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2022.