COLD WAR IN CUBA

Fidel Castro

U.S. embargo

Castro installs communist government in 1959

CUBAN REVOLUTION

“a communist menace that has been permitted to ar ise under our very noses, only 90 mi les off our shores”

- President John F. Kennedy, 1960

C.I.A. sponsored operation to invade Cuba and depose Fidel Castro

Soviet officials knew of a possible invasion

Cuban Army prepared, operation failed

Severely embarrassed Kennedy administration

BAY OF PIGS DISASTER

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

American U-2 spy planes discover Soviet missile sites

Kennedy ordered a “quarantine” (blockade)

Secret negotiations between Kennedy and Khrushchev

THE BRINK OF WAR

“if they actually carry out the brutal act of invading Cuba in violation of international law and morality, that would be the moment to eliminate such danger forever through an act of clear legitimate defense”

–Fidel Castro

THE ARMAGEDDONLETTER

U.S. readied for invasion

Soviets agreed to remove missiles

Secret agreement for American missiles removed from Turkey and Italy

CRISIS AVERTED