Cuban-Russian Relations

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a huge part in causing distrust of Communism on America’s side and why the cold war was intense. This encounter sealed the deal of concern. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a huge event that affected the relationship between America and the Soviet Union. This encounter between the two superpowers was part of proving expansion was nowhere involved with the Cold War for the Soviets. This event was one of the scariest time periods of the unknown when it came to trusting each other.

This economic stimulus that the USSR gave the Cubans did not come without a steep price. For the second time in a few years Castro felt the pressure of a super power trying to control the future of his county. Soviet Premier

After it became officially globally acknowledged that Cuba was in fact a communist state and was being led through a dictatorship run by Castro, it did not take long before powerful enemies and essential allies were formed. The act of seizing all foreign land with none or very little compensation was received with great hostility amongst those who lost in their property through this process, and probably the reaction that had the biggest impact on Cuba’s economy was that of the US. Castro’s communistic policies did not of course help calm this resentment and also took part in leading to the establishment of trade embargos with Cuba from the US. This meant that Cuba would now lose a very valuable buyer of their precious sugar, [5] but they did however gain another one, a powerful nation that shared quite similar Marxist ideals and were quick to form an alliance with the Cubans, the USSR.

During the Cold War, relations between Cuba and the United States were icy. Cuba was allied with the USSR, America’s enemy, and was well within their sphere of influence. With events like the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis happening on their soil, Cuba was at the center of the Cold War. Between ideological differences and their alliance with Russia, Cuba became an enemy of America as well. It took the efforts of ten American presidents, six Popes, and countless other actors, but Cuba and America are finally in the process of normalizing relations. There is still work to be done, but the path is clear and the time is right. However, one cannot simply ignore the last fifty years. In that time, millions of lives were affected by the lack of social, economic, and political ties between the U.S. and Cuba. In this paper, I will analyze the last fifty years of U.S. - Cuban relations by looking at the involved actors, their means, and their values and interests through the lenses of two paradigms, realism and constructivism.

In 2016 Cuba’s economy was a bit indecisive, the first half of 2016 Cuba’s economy collapsed 0.9% while during the last half of 2016 Cuba’s economy ascended 1% (Chase, 2017). Not only does Cuba have a bit of an indecisive economy their economy also seeks reliability from other countries such as the Soviet Union along with Venezuela. For three decades Cuba stayed dependent on the annual subsidies delivered by the Soviet Union. When all subsidies ceased from the Soviet Union in 1991 Cuba’s economy plummeted. Then history later repeated itself with Venezuela as their economy fell and left Cuba’s economy once again in laboriously hard times (Chase, 2017). But everything soon changed for Cuba’s economy once President Barack Obama opened the doors between the United States and Cuba. As of 2017 Cuba’s economy flipped around with the notable increase of U.S. tourist just from 2016. Cuba’s economy has come an astronomical way in twenty-six years, they found their way making it up to the second most popular place to visit throughout the Caribbean’s (Chase, 2017). With the amount of tourist that come to Cuba provides support and cushion on a good feeling of conducting business in Cuba.

Cuba is a nation that formed from a history of colonial and imperial domination. Formal colonial status under Spain ended during the invasion by the United States in 1898, when military and corporate interests made the island a de facto colony of the United States. However, Cuba and the United States have had a long history of both political and military ties; both good and bad. Nevertheless, these ties have played a vital role in the current relationship the United States maintains with Cuba. In the recent years, both countries have continued to work toward a better diplomatic relationship; possibly enhancing the overall success of both Cuba and the United States.

The event of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Fifteen years into the cold war, the two superpowers continued the fierce competition to increase their military strength. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, whereas the US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba which would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. The fate of millions

The U.S.’s relationship with Cuba has been arduous and stained with mutual suspicion and obstinateness, and the repeated U.S. interventions. The Platt agreement and Castro’s rise to power, served to introduce the years of difficulty to come, while, the embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, enforced the harsh feelings. The two major events that caused the most problems were the Bays of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.

Castro’s involvement with the foreign and domestic politics during the early Cold War period greatly influenced the outcome of the Cuban Revolution. Without the actions taken by foreign powers like the United States and Russia, some events on the domestic front may have had very different results. It is important to understand how every nation’s foreign policies can influence more than just one other nation, and this was especially true for Cuba. It was this mix and chain of events which produced the communist Cuba that we are familiar with today.

In the recent months, the media has been in a frenzy with the topic of the new emerging relations evolving between the United States and Cuba. This new development, following merely years after Raul Castro was succeeded by his brother Fidel, prompted an inquiry. Why new relations now? Has there been a significant current event to prompt the end to a 50 year embargo? Is Cuba becoming more liberal? Or is the United States merely become more sensible? In essence, we are aiming to unearth the underlying forces this modern direction of joint Cuban and U.S forces.

The scope of this investigation is to discover the involvement of Fidel Castro in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. First to be analyzed is the relationship of Castro with the Soviet Union and the United States as to identify the significance of Castro’s role in the stages of the Crisis. Castro’s role will then be deduced referring to the early days of the Crisis, the period when a US U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba, and the resolution of the Crisis.

The Soviet policy to end the arms race and achieve a more economically sounding measure backfired during the 1980s as the economy continuously faltered until the fall of the Berlin wall. In the framework, the immediate appearance of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, presented with both advantages and disadvantages to Moscow. The USSR supported third world, least developed countries to balance the ideological and politically affluence par with the USA. When the unexpected revolution broke out in a strategically positioned location just 80 miles far from its foe. “So the USSR was at first reticent to that newcomer with a strange Latin accent who claimed to be a close relative. Such was the reticence that Pravda waited until April 1962 to report to its readers that Cuban Revolution was defined as "socialist" and the Cuban

The CIA informed John F. Kennedy before his inauguration on the plan to train Cuban exiles for the invasion on their homeland. The ultimate goal was to overthrow Fidel Castro and set up a non-communist government the United States could be comfortable with. The United States wanted the attack to appear as though the revolution was being started by Cuba’s own people to return to a capitalist nation. They also hoped that most of Cuba’s people would join in the revolution and help overthrow Castro. The government wanted to keep this plan as much of a secret as possible, but sure enough Castro discovered the training camps taking place. The original plan involved two air strikes and a 1,400 man surprise attack invasion. The plan in April 1961 went terribly wrong almost from the start. The landing forces went under attack from Castro’s military, the Cuban air force sank supply ships, the United States failed to provide proper air force support, and the grand overthrow from the revolution never appeared to happen. According to Grant (2015), “more than 100 of the invaders died in the attack and 1,189 were taken prisoner”. This ending result made the United States look foolish and weak and made Fidel Castro look even stronger to solidify his power in Cuba. Castro used the United

It is an exciting time in the history of the United States and Cuba. For the first time in 50 years, the U.S. will send an ambassador to Cuba to serve as the head of the Embassy of the United States in Havana. As an expert policy analyst for the Council on Foreign Relations, you have been called upon to give advice on the issue of Russian spy bases reportedly reopening in Cuba against the backdrop of normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations. According to anonymous sources at the Department of Homeland Security, Cuba and Russia reached an agreement to reopen the previously Soviet-run Lourdes signal intelligence base in Cuba, located 150 miles from the U.S. Ambassador Jeff DeLaurentis and his team has hired your department at the Council on Foreign Relations to participate in discussions about policy decisions. By analyzing the historical significance of relations between Russia and Cuba and taking into consideration the interest each side has for one another, we can better understand the implication U.S. policies in Cuba may have.

Soviet leader Krushchev quickly agreed to protect Cuba. Cuba was in a strategic location to place missile launch sites that could strike nearly all of the continental United States. During the Cold War the United States had many missile launch sites placed all over the world and pointed at the Soviet Union. The United States was allied with Turkey, so the American military had a base there to work their U-2 from and many missile sites pointed at the Soviet Union. These missiles in Turkey made Krushchev want to build surface to air missile sites on Cuba to balance the power and show his force. Krushchev would soon start sending ships and submarines loaded with equipment to start building medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles. In May 1962, Krushchev wrote in his memoirs: “This will be a means of protecting Cuba from another U.S. Invasion of Cuba like the Bay of Pigs in 1961, also to counter the U.S. emerging lead of deploying strategic missiles.”