The Cuban Missile Crisis

Abstract

In the wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Castro tried to mend his relations with the USA. Kennedy was not interested. But the risks involved made an invasion impossible. Instead the CIA were authorised to launch operation Mongoose — renewed attempts to destabilise Castro’s regime. This involved more raids on economic targets and new plans to assassinate Castro. To intimidate Cuba, US forces undertook a huge military exercise in 1962, practising invading an imaginary island ruled by a dictator threateningly codenamed Ortsac. These steps worried Castro, but they also worried Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Cuba was Communism’s only foothold in the western hemisphere: it had to be protected.