How Did the Tensions Begin?

The increase of U.S. military action in the Caribbean region foreshadowed the preparation of a direct invasion of Cuba.  

Author: Tomás Diez Acosta | internet@granma.cu

October 28, 2022 12:10:07

Faced with the threat of direct military invasion, every inch of coastline was guarded. Photo: Archivo de Granma

More than six decades have passed since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959. Throughout those years, the Cuban people have been the protagonist of countless events in defense of their independence against the obstinate aggressive policy of successive U.S. administrations.

One of these instances was the Missile Crisis, or October Crisis, in 1962, when humanity was on the brink of nuclear war, stands out for its global character and transcendence.

Cuba was directly involved in this dangerous conflict and was the main scenario of the confrontation.

BACKGROUND

After the defeat at the Bay of Pigs, it became evident to the Cuban government that the U.S. administration was considering a direct invasion with the objective of liquidating the Revolution as an alternative in the military field.

This was confirmed in the following months with the increase of internal subversive actions organized and directed by the United States.

The northern country allocated large financial and technical resources to organize terrorist and sabotage activities against Cuba, to prepare attacks against the main revolutionary leaders, to develop an ideological and psychological war, to provide material support to the armed groups operating in rural regions of the country, to implement an iron economic blockade and diplomatic isolation and to train its Armed Forces to carry out a direct aggression.

This situation served as a context for the events of the second half of 1962.

The increase of U.S. military action in the Caribbean region foreshadowed the preparation of a direct military invasion of Cuba. The situation led to the proposal of the Soviet leadership to deploy medium and intermediate range rockets in the island's territory.

This initiative, of which the top leader of the Soviet Union at the time, Nikita S. Khrushchev, was its main mentor, was also related to the threat posed by the U.S. Jupiter rockets in Turkey, together with the strategic disparity between the United States and the Soviet Union, in favor of the former.

OPERATION ANADIR

At the end of May 1962, this initiative was presented to the Cuban leadership which accepted it after analyzing it. It would be an important internationalist contribution by Cuba to the strengthening of the defensive capacity of the socialist camp as a whole and, in fact, it would be an important deterrent that will contribute to the defense of the country.

In accepting this proposal, the Cuban leadership expressed the need to draw up a military agreement and make it public.

Khrushchev thought that the deployment of these means should be carried out in a secret and hidden manner and it should only be revealed to the public when it had been concluded.

Both the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR in Spanish), Raul Castro Ruz doubted the operation would not be detected earlier.

This was informed directly to the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev twice. The first time, during Raul's visit to the USSR in July 1962, and the second time, by Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, in August of that year. On both occasions, Khrushchev's response was the same. If that happened, he would send the Baltic Fleet to Cuba.

Between the end of July and October 1962, the Soviet military contingent of about 42,000 troops of all types of weapons and forces was deployed.

Infantry, artillery, armored and anti-aircraft rocket troops arrived first at the end of July. The medium and intermediate range rocket division arrived later in mid-September.

The news of the Cuban military buildup caused an uproar in the U.S. press and in political circles, which predicted the genesis of a dangerous crisis.

The situation got worse and worse. Propaganda about the alleged threat from Cuba became more bellicose.

On September 27, the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committee submitted the Joint Resolution No. 230, which gave the President the authority to use arms against Cuba to prevent the creation or use of a military capability that would endanger the security of the United States, to the U.S. Congress.

In response, on September 30, the Council of Ministers of the Revolutionary Government approved a declaration denouncing the warmongering intentions animating the United States, and pointed out the principled position that, in the face of aggression, the country has the right to possess the armament necessary for its defense.

The position of the Soviet Government was different. It always denied the questions directly and indirectly asked about the installation of offensive weapons in Cuba. It did not uphold its right to support an allied country in danger of aggression.

Illegal reconnaissance flights by U-2 aircraft over Cuban airspace increased during September and the first two weeks of October, but they could not obtain evidence due to the bad weather conditions.

On October 14, and with better weather conditions, there was the U-2 flight that photographed the mid-range rockets in the western region.

On the 16th, President Kennedy was informed and he decided to increase the U-2 flights to make intelligence estimates of the level of operation and range of these means. He also decided to create a group made up of high officials, known as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm), which met secretly for a week to decide how to eliminate them, whether by means of a naval blockade, air strikes or invasion.

Air attack was the most discussed option, but it did not guarantee the destruction of all the rockets. Kennedy opted for a naval blockade, although he did not rule out other stronger options.

On the morning of the 22nd, the Joint Chiefs and Staff issued the directive to the Atlantic Fleet on blockade operations. The task forces for the blockade included 238 ships consisting of eight aircraft carriers, two cruisers, 118 destroyers, 13 submarines, 65 amphibious ships and 32 auxiliaries.

It provided 250,000 men and air assets for the invasion in order to execute no less than 2,000 missions.

In addition, he approved the preparation of one hundred merchant ships for the transfer of troops, and ordered to carry out low altitude flights at dawn and dusk.

On the 21st, the Naval Base in Guantanamo was reinforced with three Marine infantry battalions, which increased from 8,000 to 16,000 troops, and on October 22nd , civilian personnel was evacuated.

Translated by ESTI