Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

Erica Uribe

DeVry University

In October of 1962, the world and the human race have never been as close to nuclear war as with the Cuban Missile Crisis. This was one of the key turning points of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. With this crisis, the world had come close to living through another world war, which would have been disturbing because of the missiles involved and with the intervention of humanity preventing a world war.

Fidel Castro took control in Cuba by overthrowing the preceding ruler, Fulgencio Batista, whom the United States had put into power. After the dethroned Batista government in Cuba, Fidel Castro installed a shadow government involving several Cuban political figures. Still, the bulk of power was in the hands of Castro. When the new government failed to set in his reforms, he discharged them and took control of the government while appointing himself Cuba’s prime minister

Two months after his overthrow victory, Castro had his first visit to the U.S. where his story was glamorized by the media. He was to have a meeting with President Eisenhower but the President rejected to have a meeting with him and Vice President Nixon went instead. During this meeting, Castro declined to receive financial support from the U.S. because he presumed that it would give power to the U.S. in Cuba. After Castro’s visit, the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba began to decay.

Moreover, the association between the Cuba and the USSR became livelier. Castro looked to the USSR for support, in order to gain economic freedom from the United States. As a result, in 1960, trade between the United States and Cuba declined to 0%, while trade with the USSR increased to 43%. Also, the indication that a communist Cuba could inspire other Latin America countries to alter their political systems to communism was unbearable to the U.S.

The CIA developed a plan to overthrow the Castro government. It was...