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1. Reasons that drew American-Cuban tensions into the Cold War, download…
1. Reasons that drew American-Cuban tensions into the Cold War
Significance of Cuba to USA strategically and economically
Cuba was a
major producer
of
sugar/tobacco
, which were in
high demand
in EU and USA
USA
invested heavily
in Cuba's
sugar
and
tobacco
industries,
bought land
to set up
plantations
and
build factories
for these
raw materials
(60% of Cuban sugar industry was American-owned by 1926)
RESULT
: Majority of Cubans
resented economic dominance
of USA over Cuba
Cuban economy was
highly vulnerable
to
changes
in
prices of sugar
as it
relied heavily
on sugar for
economic growth
Most
sugar/tobacco
plantations
were
owned
by
wealthy upper-class Cubans
, which caused a
large economic gap
between the
small number
of
Cuban elites
and the
majority of Cubans
who were
poor
Cuba was seen as extremely important to the
security
and also
strategically important
to the USA as
Cuba was geographically close to USA
Cuba was the
gateway
to
Caribbean islands
Importance of Cuba reflected in
Monroe Doctrine
in
1823
Example of
unilaterism
in which
USA
sought to
expand its influence
over
neighbouring Carribean states
- e.g. they
set up pro-USA government
in Cuba
Tensions between USA and Cuba
a. American political intervention in Cuba
Anti-USA sentiments
grew in Cuba as
USA took actions
to
install 'puppet leaders'
for their
own interest
Colonel Batista
was especially detested
His rule was
1. corrupt
and
2. oppressive
He
exploited Cuba's commercial interests
through
contacts
with
US corporations
and American
Mafia
He also used
secret police
to
suppress political opposition
violently
Nevertheless, USA still supported him due to
Cold War rivalry
with USSR as they feared
opposition
might bring
communists to power
into Cuba
b. Cuban Revolution and Castro's rise to power
Fidel Castro
, a
nationalist
, sought to
overthrow Batista
Castro led
armed guerilla attacks
(small group of combatants use military tactics to fight a larger/less mobile traditional military)
against Batista government from
1956
Batista
increasingly lost support
from US as his
rule
became
more oppressive
By
1958
,
Batista's soldiers
were
demoralised
while Castro's
swelled to thousands
During the start of
1959
, Batista was
ousted
, and Castro established a
new government
in Cuba
Castro was
not identified
as communist, was
not a member
of
Cuban Communist Party
USA
suspected
Castro
to be a
communist
; they stated it would only recognise Castro's government if he
held elections
to establish
democratic governments
in Cuba
Castro
did not accede
to US' condition, which caused
USA
to have a
greater fear
over
Castro's government
and
communism
over Cuba
c. Castro's policies that threatened USA's investments in Cuba
Sought
new markets
for Cuban
sugar
Castro
opposed the overreliance
on Cuban
Sugar quota
of
US government
Sought new potential markets such as Egypt, USSR in
1959
Castro
and
USSR
agreed to
barter
(exchange of goods and services instead of money)
Cuban sugar
for
Russian oil
, which
reduced Cuba's dependence
on US oil
This
threatened US investments
in Cuba (especially sugar), and US suspected Cuba was
aligning with communist bloc
Land Reform Law
introduced in
May 1959
Land Reform laws
Foreigners
were
not allowed to own
sugar plantations
large tracts of estate land were to be
redistributed
into
smaller pieces of land
banned
private ownership
of large estates
Castro did this to
fulfill
his
promise
to
farmers who supported him
during the Cuban Revolution and
solve inequality
- USA
perceived
this as
being communist
USA was
against these reforms
as it
affected
American
investors
(who invested in Cuba) and
economy
adversely
Castro's friendship with Khruschev in USA during 1960 UN meeting
In
1960
, Castro visited USA for the UN meeting and stayed in
Harlem
(poor black neighbourhood in NYC)
Khruschev visited Castro in Harlem; meeting
strengthened their relationship
, which meant a
double demonstration
against discriminatory policies in USA
Castro's
stay at Harlem
and
his address
to the UN fighting for black rights
provoked conservatists in USA
who did not want to grant those rights, which
embarrassed Americans greatly
His stay and address also pointed out
flaws of USA as flaws of capitalists
, which
caused USA
to
see
him as
associating
himself
openly with USSR leader
, thus worsening their relations
Escalating Tensions due to American retaliation against Cuba
America sought ways to
remove Castro from power
as it could
no longer secure American interests
in Cuba
a. Economic pressure on Cuba
US attempted to weaken Cuban economy
US government also reduced the
Cuban Sugar quota
from
3 million tn to 700,000 tn
USA
urged
its
oil companies
and their allies in Cuba
not to process Soviet oil
, which prevented
300,000 tonnes of oil from USSR into Cuba
from being processed
These measures
greatly affected
Cuban economy
Castro retaliated by
nationalising
1.
oil refineries
and 2. all
major US-owned properties
(e.g. banks, railways, hotels)
Caused US to
further retaliate
in
Nov 1960
by
placing embargos on American exports to Cuba
on all but food/medicine
US's embargo was
ineffective
as
USSR
and communist
allies
fulfilled Cuba's economic needs
, allowing Castro to
continue his land reforms and nationalisations
(80% of industries were nationalised by 1961)
affected
US's
economic interests
adversely
b. Bay of Pigs invasion in
Apr 1961
American CIA
trained Cuban exiles
to
overthrow Castro's government
exiles landed
in the
Bay of Pigs
in Cuba on 17 Apr 1961 and
began a revolution
Invasion
only ended in
two days
as Castro was
well-prepared
Invasion
allowed Castro
to
crack down
(deal with severely)
on opponents
and
rally nationalist sentiments
of Cubans against American intervention
Humiliated
US as
US
clearly
supplied weapons
and
logistical planning
ended up as a
diplomatic disaster
,
angered
international community
against USA
Made USA
even more determined
to overthrow Castro's government
c. Operation Mongoose (
Nov 1961
)
CIA operation
commenced to
1. sabotage Cuban industries
and
2. assassinate political leaders
Operation still
failed
in
destroying Cuban economy/assassinate Castro
as it
continued to the 1980s without success
when it was supposed to finish in just a year
d. Cuba's formal alliance with USSR
Cuba was
convinced
that a
potential large-scale invasion by USA
could occur
Castro
declared himself a communist
in
December 1961
and
reorganised his party/government
along
Soviet
model of
communism
Castro
formed a formal alliance
with USSR, which made
American-Cuban tensions part of Cold War
USSR was a
strong ally
that could
meet
Cuba's
security concerns
American presence in the 1.
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
and 2.
military exercises
by American forces
in the Caribbean islands
simulating an
invasion of an island
, further unnerved Cuba
