Narrator: In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew a corrupt right-wing dictatorship, and took power in Cuba. This was just 90 miles from Florida.
The Americans had many business interests in Cuba, and once in power, Castro nationalised American companies. In retaliation, the US stopped all aid to Cuba, and all imports of Cuban sugar. This was a huge blow, as sugar was the core of the Cuban economy. Castro asked the Soviet Union for help. They agreed to buy 1 million tonnes of Cuban sugar every year. Castro and Khrushchev were now trading partners. Castro became a communist.
America was alarmed. So in April 1961, the CIA trained, armed and transported 1300 Cuban exiles to invade Cuba. They landed at the Bay of Pigs, and tried to overthrow Castro. But they failed, and President Kennedy was humiliated.
After the Bay of Pigs, Castro asked the Soviets for weapons to defend Cuba against America. The Americans saw this agreement, and sent planes to photograph Cuba. They discovered the missile sites in October 1962. They put major American towns and cities within range of Soviet nuclear missiles.
America had already put nuclear missiles in Turkey, in firing distance of the USSR. President Kennedy called a meeting of the National Security Council, and went on TV to tell the American people that they were under threat.
President Kennedy: I call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination, and join in an historic effort to end the perilous arms race, and to transform the history of man.
Narrator: It was the start of a crisis that took the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust.
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Publish date : 2023-04-20 05:36:00
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