What is the course of a global crisis : the Cuban crisis ?

What is the course of a global crisis : the Cuban crisis ? At first we will see the origines of this crisis and then we will argue about Castro and Khrushchev.

During the nineteenth century, President James Monroe issue the Monroe Doctrine, a statement which declared the area of the Caribbeans to be a sphere of US influence. The US had demonstrated its unwillingness to accept Communist influence in the Latin America Caribbean area and Washington gave permission for the CIA to train and prepare a group of anti-communist Guatemalan exiles. The US owned most of the land and the larger industries and Cuba became well known as a holiday destination for rich Americans and the Mafia. The gulf between the rich and poor in the country was tremendous ; living conditions in the rural areas were almost medieval. Batista's government was harsh and corrupt and very unpopular with many of the Cuban people. The first to raise the flag of protest was Fidel Castro, a young lawyer who offered Cubans the chance to change their lives, to restore their dignity and to break free of US control. The uprising faded he was imprisoned and later sent into exile in Mexico and the USA. On his release, he returned to Cuba and began plotting the overthrow of the Batista regime. Here he launched guerrilla attacks on Batista's forces, aided and abetted by Che Guevara.

Batista's use of terror lost him a great deal of support the Cuban people and he fled the country. Castro began a series of reforms designed to end corruption and terror and to improve Cuban prosperity, but at first, his governement was more nationalist than socialist. Castro signed a trade agreement with the Soviet Union and nationalized American interests in Cuba worth over a billion dollars. The United States failed to moderate Castro's policies by setting up an economic blockade and refusing to buy Cuban sugar. It was natural for Cuba to move ever closer towards the Soviet Union as the United States cut all ties with her Caribbean neighbour. In Cuba, the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs rallied the people behind Castro's government and persuaded him to hitch his wagon to the Socialist revolution. Missiles positioned in Turkey were a direct threat to the Soviet Union and could launch a nuclear attack on the country. Russia would station nuclear, missiles on Cuba thus protecting the island from an American invasion. Castro felt that missiles might provide a shield against American imperialism and improve the balance of power in the Caribbean. In the US and Turkey, the result was hailed as a victory. In Moscow too claimed a victory and hailed the conclusion as a triumph for common sense. It was a great result for diplomacy and not a shot had been fired. Privately the result was seen as a humiliation and Khrushchev was deposed the next year. Kennedy emerged as the young hero who had kept his cool and taught the Soviets a lesson.

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