Page 12 - Social Science.docx

Principles of social science
and any win for them
would be a loss for the Soviet Union. The U.S.’s close neighbor, Cuba, was
a glaring win for the
Soviets and an embarrassment for Kennedy in this zero-sum game. In order
to protect Cuba from
another U.S.-backed invasion, Castro and his outraged population, allowed
the Soviet Union to
assemble launch sites for ballistic missiles on the island, just 90 miles away
from their shared
enemy. News of these nuclear weapons set off the
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 which was, “generally agreed to have been the closest approach to all-out nuclear war that the
world has yet encountered.14
President Kennedy’s de-escalation and reaction to such a significant crisis has been lauded as an example for political leaders, yet Fidel Castro–who was not involved in this crisis’ management–had expressed a desire to use Soviet weapons. Although the crisis was averted, it was clear that Cuban-American relations had been degraded even further as tensions soared. In addition, Cuban-American relations were also worsened by Kennedy’s mid-crisis tightening of trade restrictions and freezing of Cuban assets in America.15
Using both confrontations with President Kennedy as fodder for his anti-imperialist sentiment, Castro’s propaganda was gaining support and illustrated worsening relations between Cuba and America. In an October 27, 1962 Tunisian interview, he stated that: “The United States does not fear Cuba’s armed forces nor its planes and tanks. They fear above all the consequences of the Cuban revolution on their economic monopolies in Latin America. For the oppressed peoples, the Cuban revolution signifies hope in a better future of dignity and freedom.”16
14
15 “Cuban Assets Control Regulations.” Federal Register, September 8, 2009.
16 “Castro Speech Data Base - Latin American Network Information Center, LANIC.” LANIC.
"Cuban Missile Crisis," International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd ed., ed. William A.
183-185, vol. 2 (Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008).
8
Darity, Jr., pp.