Castro did not come to power intent on seeking economic and military assistance from the Soviet Union. His early statements and policies did not betray that he was a communism waiting to out himself. In many respects American reactions to Castro forced him closer to the Soviets and into declaring Cuba a communist state. Castro’s economic policies sought to take away American business interests through nationalisation, well established American companies complained bitterly to the US government to safeguard their interests, Castro claimed to be acting in the interests of the Cuban people. The US started a trade embargo in retaliation, refusing to buy Cuban sugar and preventing the sale of oil to the island. This action meant that Castro had to turn to find new trading partners, the Soviet Union was the obvious choice.
Another important element in the strong reaction of the USA to Castro was in the influence of Cuban exiles within the United States, former Batista loyalists, workers for US interests and criminal gangs lobbied intensely to force the US government into taking firm action. The Cuba lobby presented Castro as a great danger to US security and encouraged the US to employ covert operations and military strategies to isolate and threaten Cuba. Operation ‘Ortsac’ – Castro backwards - was a training exercise for the attack on an unnamed island, Operation ‘Mongoose’ looked to destabilise the Cuban economy. The most notorious example of US over-reaction was the Bay of Pigs in April 1961 when CIA backed Cuban exiles invaded Cuba but, due to a failure of US air and naval support, were easily captured or killed. This was a major setback for Kennedy at the start of his term of office, especially as the Soviets had achieved the first Cosmonaut in space in the same month. The Bay of Pigs convinced Castro of the need for further Soviet support, defensive military aid as well as economic assistance.
It was the placing of offensive nuclear weapons on Cuba in 1962 which evoked the strongest reaction from Washington. Here SS-4 and SS-5 missiles were placed within range of all major US cities, when they were identified on 16 October, Kennedy formed ExComm to discuss the level of US response to the threat placed on the USA by missiles so close to their shores. Even though Soviet ICBM’s could provide just as much of a threat, and the USA had missiles on the Soviet border in Turkey, the perception of having nuclear warheads so close to home alarmed the US Government and public. It was seen as too great an affront to US independence within the Western Hemisphere. It could also significantly increase Cold War tension as it gave the Soviets a clear ‘first strike’ capability. In reality, Soviet missiles on Cuba were due to their weakness in developing a significant arsenal of ICBM’s.
Kennedy felt he needed to take a strong line over the Cuban Missiles Crisis because of the wider Cold War context, he through Khrushchev might be seeking to use Cuba as a lever to remove Western influence from Berlin. Kennedy also needed to be seen to be acting tough as Soviet propaganda had made the US public feel they were losing the arms and space races. In Vietnam, US backing for the South was coming into question as Diem’s corrupt regime failed to deal with the growing Vietcong insurgency. All this meant Kennedy needed to gain a favourable resolution to the Cuban issue, especially with mid-term elections coming up.
Kennedy can be credited with developing a measured response to the Cuban Missiles Crisis. Although Castro continued to be an ‘obsession’ for the Kennedys and covert operations continued. After the tension of the ‘quarantine’ Cuba was left with a guarantee of her independence in return for the withdrawal of the nuclear warhead from the island. The backdoor agreement to remove Jupiter missiles from Turkey showed Kennedy’s willingness to compromise in the interests of wider peace. Both Kennedy and Khrushchev were unwilling to take the decision to make the Cuban issue one resolved by nuclear exchange. Had more aggressive forces within ExComm been allowed to launch a surgical strike or an invasion then the outcome could have been devastating.
In public, the perception was one of success for the US in October 1962, but Castro would remain in place to present an alternative to US domination in the Americas, with Soviet backing. In many respects the US precipitated the crisis in 1962 as a result of earlier hostility shown towards Castro. The US believed it needed to act strongly against Cuba in order to prove its dominance in its own sphere of influence and to ensure the US public that it was not losing the Cold War. Miscalculations about Castro’s initial intentions forced Cuba into Soviet hands and through the Bay of Pigs led to the placing of offensive nuclear weapons on Cuba. The presence of these weapons was intolerable to US interests and resulted in the strongest reaction in order to show the US could stand up to Soviet encroachment in the Cold War, especially in its own back yard.