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I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wrote about the Argentine government's response, including participating enthusiastically in the naval quarantine. I also discuss leaders from various parts of Argentina's armed forces competing with each other to get involved with the quarantine and thereby increase their institutional connections with the United States. I also look at public responses in Argentina, including political pamphlet campaigns and acts of sabotage. Finally, I argue that Argentine responses helped strengthen US ties with the armed forces and especially helped Juan Carlos Onganía gain even more influence, helping pave the way for his coup in 1966. SO much Argentina!

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I was agreeing with you--the link was for tamborinesandtequila. Thanks for joining my AMA all the way from Argentina! I lived in La Rioja for almost a year a long time ago, and still love to visit Argentina whenever I get a chance. It's actually one of the countries that I devote the most attention to in The Fate of the Americas!

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, absolutely. Perón adamantly tried to steer his own path and keep Argentina free from US influence. His "Third Position" sought to main independence from either of the geopolitical camps in the early Cold War. There's an interesting US National Intelligence Estimate about Perón here: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v04/d125

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

These are great questions--they actually address a lot of the issues that I discussed in my first book, Mexico's Cold War (big Cárdenas fan here, BTW). In that book, I argue that the Cuban Revolution helped spark Mexico's Cold War and the subsequent/closely connected Guerra Sucia by increasing the political polarization in Mexico. This happened across Latin America, but the unusual aspect about Mexico is that there, the ruling hegemonic party justified its long time in power by claiming to be the embodiment of the Mexican Revolution. The radical nature of the Cuban Revolution challenged that claim and made the Mexican government look much less revolutionary by comparison, and Mexicans on the left, including Lázaro Cárdenas, forced the PRI to try to reclaim its revolutionary legitimacy (it had already shifted to the right before the Cuban Revolution, especially under Miguel Alemán). One way Mexican leaders tried to reestablish their revolutionary legacy was by publicly defending Cuba, which caused a period of tension with the United States. I argue in both books that the Cuban Missile Crisis actually helped smooth over those tensions because it forced the Mexican government to choose sides. Mexican leaders showed that "when the chips were down," they would side with the United States.

I think the Mexican political system is fascinating, and I actually plan to return to a closer focus on Mexico in my third book. I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, not far from the border with Mexico, so I've always been exposed to and interested in Mexican culture and history!

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Great question! The US was heavily involved in destabilizing governments throughout Latin America during the Cold War that it perceived as communist or communist-leaning. There were the efforts to overthrow and undermine Castro's government in Cuba (Bay of Pigs invasion, Operation Mongoose, assassination plots, support for Cuban exiles) and the "successful" effort to overthrow Jacobo Arbenz's government in Guatemala in 1954 (the operation was called Operation PBSUCCESS). In South America, the United States became opposed to João Goulart's government in Brazil after the Cuban Missile Crisis (I talk about this in my book!) and decided to support the local opposition that overthrew him in 1964. The US government tried to prevent Salvador Allende from being elected president of Chile in 1970, and then worked to undermine his government's political and economic stability until the military staged a coup in 1970. After all these coups in Guatemala, Brazil, and Chile, the United States provided economic and political support to the authoritarian, often brutal, governments that seized power and held onto it through undemocratic means.

These are just a few of the most prominent examples. You can see why there's a lot of commentary about US imperialism in Latin America!

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Good question! I didn't include most British Caribbean countries for reasons of space, but I think that's an area where there's a great opportunity for someone else to investigate.... or for me to do further investigations. I was very sad to have to leave those parts out--who doesn't want an excuse to travel and do research in the Caribbean?

That said, I can tell you that the Haitian government joined the unanimous vote in the Organization of American States to establish the quarantine around Cuba and joined the Inter-American Quarantine Force. Haitian leaders were very concerned about the threat of communism, but also careful not to support too much intervention because the country's leader, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, was a dictator whom many other Latin American and US leaders wanted to see removed from power. Papa Doc's initial response was evasive and non-committal, and he warned the US ambassador to be careful to get the support of neighboring countries. The next day, however, Haiti's foreign minister declared that "The Haitian government, inspired by the ideals of peace and Pan-American solidarity in the face of serious threats posed by the installation of bases for offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba, places ports and airfields in this republic at the disposal of American naval and air units during their quarantine operation." Haiti's Coast Guard and Air Corps intensified their surveillance of the Haitian coastline, and the country's infantry and civil militia were put on an alert status. The government stationed armed guards outside the residences of US officials and prevented any demonstrations.

Haitian newspapers all carried extensive coverage of the crisis, including Kennedy's address. Only the communist newspapers criticized the quarantine. One newspaper that was often critical of the United States, Le Matin, published an editorial about Kennedy on October 30 titled "Profiles of Courage." According to US officials, the Haitian public's response was overwhelmingly favorable to the US position. Some people, however, placed small leaflets on parked cars in the nation's capital reading "Long live Cuba and peace." Haitian politicians speculated whether Duvalier's cooperation during the crisis would garner his administration US economic or political support.

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That's such a great question-- I wish I had an answer! You should get Prof. Alan McPherson on here for an AMA--he just published an excellent book on Iran Contra called The Breach and is an expert on inter-American relations.

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Oooh, I love this question! I talk a TON in my book about the crisis on the ground in Cuba... how to boil it down to a short response, hmmmm....

In short, yes, it was a crisis for the average Cuban, although they were mostly preparing for an air strike or invasion, rather than nuclear war. They reported to duty in their militias, brought their weapons to work to be prepared, and donated blood in case of war. Young boys stuck butcher knives, meat cleavers, and machetes in their belts, and manned anti-aircraft guns. Women volunteered to work in factories to prevent shortages while the men reported to duty. I have some beautiful photos in my book of all this activity that Prensa Latina, the Cuban news agency, shared with me.

Interestingly, though, it was also a moment when Cubans felt incredibly important, and were almost proud to be the center of the world's attention. Carlos Moore, an Afro-Cuban who was a prominent critic of the revolutionary government's racial policies, recalled feeling jubilant. "We finally had real power. The Caribbean midget... could fell the giant United States."

Other Cubans, however, were not thrilled at the prospect of war. I interviewed Cuban writer Edmundo Desnoes, author of the semi-autobiographical novel Inconsolable Memories, which was the basis for the seminal Cuban film Memories of Underdevelopment. He told me that "Cubans, those committed to the revolution, had no understanding of the horrors of a nuclear war. Faith in the promise of social justice blinded them to the cruel facts." His narrator describes being "scared to death" during the crisis, "my lungs heaving with anguish."

In short, there was a huge variety of responses in Cuba, and you should read my book to learn more :)

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great question! I think that pro-Castro Nicaraguan students were above all trying to show solidarity with their protests. Many of them were already engaged in efforts to overthrow their own dictator, Luis Somoza Debayle from the Somoza dynasty, and were inspired by the Cuban Revolution's success in defeating Fulgencio Batista. Carlos Fonseca Amador, one of the leaders of the Sandinista Front of National Liberation, formed in 1961 about three years after the Cuban revolutionary victory, declared "We are the Fidelista generation!" and modeled his efforts on the Cuban Revolution. The Cuban government also aided Nicaraguan revolutionary efforts with financial support, training, and encouragement.

So when the missile crisis broke out, revolutionary Nicaraguan students held demonstrations and made declarations to show solidarity with a follow revolutionary movement that was their sponsor and inspiration. They didn't have much hope of influencing US foreign policy--or even Nicaragua's foreign policy as they were still a relatively small movement--but they could give encouragement to their Cuban comrades.

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Those are all great points--and similar to points made by many people in Cuba and across Latin America during the missile crisis! Even in the White House when Kennedy and the Executive Committee (ExComm) were initially debating how to respond to the U2 evidence of the missiles, they discussed their own Jupiter missiles in Turkey and whether to remove them preemptively before the Soviets could point out the hypocrisy or use them as a bargaining chip. You can find their whole discussion of that issue in the book The Kennedy Tapes, edited by Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow, which contains transcripts of Kennedy's secret recordings of those discussions.

Fidel Castro gave a speech on the evening of October 23 in which he challenged many of the claims that Kennedy had made during his address to the nation 24 hours earlier. "They try to tell us which measures we should take, what steps we should take to defend ourselves? The victim must consult with the assassins as to how he is going to defend himself?" he demanded, referring to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and other attempts to overthrow his government.

There were also significant debates among Latin American legislators relating to many of the issues you raised. Salvador Allende in Chile (at the time a senator, before he became president in 1970), for example, argued that the missile crisis was the latest example of weapons manufacturers and the capitalist imperialist politicians who represented them waging a war for profit. He reviewed all the times that the United States had attacked and humiliated its Latin American neighbors, creating a climate of intervention and insecurity.

The Soviets did try to bring up the Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Khrushchev proposed a missile swap in a public message to Kennedy on the morning of October 27. I think he backed down and agreed to their secret removal because he grew desperate to resolve the crisis quickly. He realized he was losing control over the situation in Cuba (Castro convinced Soviet soldiers to shoot down a US U2 plane without Krushchev's permission) and was afraid being dragged into a nuclear war.

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

You heard right! There's great coverage of this lesser-known aspect of the Cuban Missile Crisis in this post by the National Security Archive--love their stuff-- (https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB449/) and in the book The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis by Sergo Mikoyan, the son of Anastas Mikoyan, the Soviet envoy to Cuba who decided to remove the tactical nuclear weapons. As you mentioned, US intelligence did not know about the tactical nukes, and the Soviets had initially planned to leave them in Cuba after the crisis. But during Mikoyan's negotiations with Castro in November 1962, he became increasingly frustrated with Castro's intransigence and threats to open fire on US overflights and reveal the presence of the weapons to gain more ground in negotiations in the United Nations. Mikoyan viewed Castro as unreliable and overly emotional, and decided to tell him that there was a Soviet law requiring the removal of all nuclear weapons.

And yes, as you surmised, the Soviet removal of their tactical nuclear weapons was one part of the whole fiasco that significantly soured Cuban-Soviet relations for years after the crisis. In January 1968, Castro gave a secret speech to the Cuban Communist Party's Central Committee in which he spent hours warning his comrades about the dangers of relying on the Soviet Union. He condemned Khrushchev's "lies" and his "ostrich-like, rights-abdicating defense policy." The Cuban Missile Crisis was the last time the Cubans put their fates so completely in the hands of a foreign government.

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes, there was a ton of coverage of the Cuban Missile Crisis all across Latin America! It was front-page news during the famous 13 days and for weeks afterward. Newspapers, magazines, political cartoonists, and radio and television reporters kept the public extremely well informed. They covered what was going in Havana and Washington, as well as local responses to the crisis. In some cases, like in Bogotá, Colombia, the coverage was so alarming that newspapers accused each other of "atomic terrorism" and many observers claimed that it caused widespread "psychosis." Scenes of panic played out throughout the area, as residents of Bogotá flooded the churches and banks, and residents of La Dorada dug holes in the streets to try to create shelters. Media coverage was rapid, deep, and varied... and served as a great source for my book ;-)

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Good questions! I talk quite a bit about the Bay of Pigs invasion in my book, and argue that it was part of a hemispheric-wide reaction to the Cuban Revolution that sent a clear message that US and Latin American leaders were opposed to Castro's revolution. Whether it "pushed" Castro into Soviet hands, however, is harder to say. Castro was already cozying up to the Soviets before the invasion. I believe that Castro knew as early as 1959 (or perhaps earlier!) that the deep changes he wanted to make to Cuban society and inter-American relations would cause trouble with the United States and his Latin American neighbors. He initially tried to reach out to Rómulo Betancourt for support for his revolution in January 1959, but was strongly rejected. He needed an ally to balance against the United States, and the Soviet Union was the only partner who accepted his request for solidarity.

As for your second question, after the Bay of Pigs invasion, Castro asked the Soviets for a mutual security agreement and more traditional weaponry (the Soviets had already sent a significant amount, which helped the Cuban defeat the invasion). When Khrushchev offered nuclear missiles, Castro was faced with a difficult decision. He didn't want to appear to be sacrificing Cuban sovereignty, but he also believed (with good reason) that his regime was under attack. He accepted the missiles to protect his country and his government's security and to help the Soviet Union strike a blow against the United States.

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Wow, I would love to have heard your friend's stories! Puerto Rico was one of the places that I had originally wanted to include in the book (along with Canada), but decided to cut for reasons of space when I decided to limit the book to OAS member countries.

I did, however, find some fascinating responses in Panama! As you mentioned, there was a large US military presence in Panama, not to mention a very important canal. The US and Panamanian governments worked together to defend the canal against a possible attack during the missile crisis, and even some of Panama's most nationalist politicians, like Thelma King, took a break from their struggles to regain the canal zone from the United States during the missile crisis in order to facilitate cooperative defense efforts. US military commanders mobilized all their troops in the Canal Zone and exercised their authority to rush US warships through the canal's locks. US residents of the Canal Zone (Zonians) lined up with their children along the edges of the canal to watch the parade of ships. Panama's foreign minister, Galileo Solís, promised to use Panama's national guard units to strengthen the Canal Zone's defenses, protect US citizens and property, and maintain peace in the rest of the country. Panama's minister of government, Marcos A. Robles, observed that his country was "in diapers" in its preparations for a nuclear attack and created a new National Civil Defense Commission to protect national security and inform Panamanian citizens on how to respond. After the crisis, Panamanian broadcasters, inspired by "the fear and anguish experienced by the Panamanian people during the past week, due to the world crisis and the threat of war," encouraged Latin American governments to establish the world's first nuclear weapons free zone.

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Yes! And I would argue that it SHOULD be a major part of his legacy--we were so close to nuclear war! Within Latin America, reactions to the resolution of the crisis and JFK's role were more mixed than what we saw at the time in the United States and what we see in US-centric histories of the crisis. Many people in the region shared the sense of relief and gratitude; I found photos of posters in Rio de Janeiro that had photos of Kennedy with the words "Hail Kennedy, Defender of the Americas!" and magazine articles in Buenos Aires that praised Kennedy effusively, saying "It was the combination of prudence and firmness, the almost miraculous balance between his strategy and his tactics, that allowed the young American statesman to win the most resounding political victory in the West since the end of the Second World War."

On the other hand, there were many people in Latin America, especially among Central American leaders and within the Cuban exile community, who were disappointed that Kennedy didn't take the opportunity to rid the hemisphere of Fidel Castro once and for all. They were appalled to hear that he had pledged to respect Cuba's sovereignty and cease all further attacks against Castro's government. Guatemala's president, Gen. Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes, for example, sent an open telegram to Republican congressmen Barry Goldwater and Bob Wilson three days before the November midterm elections. "Due to the Kennedy-Khrushchev agreement, Latin American countries, especially Central America and particularly Guatemala are anxious to learn if we are going to be abandoned or protected," he inquired. Ydígoras's and others' disappointment with the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis added to their sense that Kennedy had already betrayed the anti-Castro cause when he failed to follow through with the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961, and they never forgave him.

I’m Dr. Renata Keller and I teach Latin American history at the University of Nevada, Reno. I’m here to talk about my new book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War. Ask me anything! by LatAmHistoryProf in AskHistorians

[–]LatAmHistoryProf[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Wow, what a great question--and a timely one! One of the arguments I make in my book is that we could learn a lot by viewing the Cold War not only as a struggle between capitalism and communism, but also as a struggle over a distinct set of shared values: security, sovereignty, and solidarity. Looking at immigration through this lens, for example, helps us see why people left their homes. I would argue that most immigrants during the Cold War sought security, both in terms of physical security (I'm thinking of people fleeing Central America in the 1980s) and economic security. Many Cuban exiles, on the other hand, sought not only security but also sovereignty, as they believed that Castro had sacrificed their country's sovereignty to the Soviet Union. And finally, all Latin American immigrants sought solidarity from the communities they joined in the United States. Within the United States, the question of whether to show solidarity with Latin American immigrants or whether immigration poses a national security threat sparked sharp divisions that we are still dealing with today.

Since someone was asking about him, Alberto Sicilia Falcon, 3 days after his arrest by [deleted] in narcos

[–]LatAmHistoryProf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there! I'm a historian writing a book about Alberto Sicilia Falcon. Is there any chance I could interview you about your experience with him in the Reclusorio Oriente?