Cuba, Havana, 1962, Mid-October
The American man sat at the table. He was fat, ignorant and loud. He gave off the impression that he thought he was close friends with everybody and he was liked by everybody. He wore a white shirt with short sleeves with faded floral patterns decorating the shirt. He yelled out for all to hear “Hey you! Waiter! Waiter! Uno Club Soda! Capiche?” He looked at his chunky gold watch on the inside of his forearm, 1:43 pm, he pulled a blue handkerchief out of his pocket and swiped away the beads of sweat on his forehead. The waiter returned with his drink, which he yearningly snatched to quench his thirst, another man strolled towards his table and momentarily lifted his sunglasses. They both reached into their left
…show more content…
pockets and withdrew a yellow envelope each. The mysterious man continued his path towards the American’s table and they promptly exchanged envelopes. The fat American entered the now abandoned and run down Hotel Nacional de Cuba through its once grand lobby, “I wish those guineas were still here, they woulda kept things nice”.
He re-checked his pocket to make sure he was still carrying the package, his hand safely landed on the crisp yellow paper of the envelope, reassuring him that he was doing his job well. He entered the stairwell and made his way up the four flights of stairs to the conference room, half-way up the second flight of stairs he was struggling, by the end of the third, patches of sweat had appeared under both armpits, his back and under his breasts. He ungracefully burst into the room wheezing and sweating like a pig. A man in a blue suit and brown tie spoke coldly and rapidly, “Did you lose it? Show it to me? Did anyone see you? Jones speak” Jones intermittently replied “Yes Mr Patron … it is all here … I didn’t … notice anyone”. At this point he was bent over with his hands on his knees gulping in profound breaths as he reached into his pocket and emerged with the yellow envelope in his outstretched hand. Mr Patron moved forward and plucked the envelope from Mr Jones hand. Jones cautiously asked, “and my end of the deal?” “Ah yes, bottom left draw, in the corner over there” Patron replied kindly, appearing to be pleased with the message contained in the envelope. Jones walked to the corner of the room and bent down and opened the draw, “It ain’t here” “Your other left Mr Jones … that’s better, well …show more content…
done” Jones picked up the small packaged box and took his leave. Patron re-scanned the papers from the envelope and sat down with the phone in his hand. He dialed, waited for the tone and dialed more numbers in, he waited patiently until he was abruptly confronted with the voice of a south Texan women “Howdy there, this is Charlie’s Diner, best coffee in all of Texas …” Patron interrupted her, “j486c” “One moment sir”. He waited patiently to be patched through, “Who is this?” a voice replied unwelcomingly, “Agent Patron, reporting back into HQ sir” “Anything?” the voice asked indifferently. Patron paused, glanced at the pages and spoke, “2 new bases capable of firing, Range estimated to be capable of hitting targets as far north as DC, 3 in construction and reports of 3 Russian ships suspected nuclear warheads, 1 unidentified the other 2 are the Marucla and the Bucharest, sir”, The voice replied almost instantaneously, “Nothing more?” “No sir”. Patron heard the dead line tone from the phone before he was able to exhale. On the other side of the phone line, the man dressed in a white shirt, long brown slacks, black polished shoes and a black tie wrote the message down on a loose piece of paper and exited his cubicle.
The sounds of his footsteps echoed down the concrete hallways of the Pentagon. He quietly entered the meeting room and passed the piece of paper onto a man dressed in full military uniform, he whispered something into the Military man’s ear. The Man dressed in his green military uniform rose from his seat, “Gentlemen, We have reports that there are now 2 more missile bases capable of hitting as far north as DC” He paused and then took his seat. The rabble of noise quickly arose as discussion became heated and frantic.
“I’m telling ya, nuke these ba****ds before they do the same to us”, one voice erupted from one side of the table.
“Now hold on now, If we launch at Cuba, the Soviets I can guarantee will hit Turkey, East Berlin, Munich and other city in Europe they deem to be strategic”, his tone was reasoning and calm.
The Head of the CIA stayed in his seat as he spoke, “I agree, we’re powerless, F*****g powerless, the risk we would have to take is too substantial, the Commies can match us now, maybe even have more missiles than we
do” The president sat there, listening to the constant and endless argument followed by counter arguments. After sitting in silence, he gestured his hand upwards and the room fell to silence, “We won’t do anything because we can’t do anything, I’m not gonna risk the lives of millions of good Americans” He paused and took a deep breath, “I don’t think the Cubans will launch, the Soviets will be discussing the exact same things we have here, they have missiles capable of reaching here, we have missiles capable of reaching Moscow, they know this, gentlemen, we wait”. They all sat there, waiting in silence, many were fidgeting with pens, paper clips and whatever else was nearby. They waited in silence.
General Taylor remarks Russians are doing whatever they want when they want (Thirteen Days), he also makes reference to the Bay of Pigs. A false analogy fallacy (Fujishin 112), trying to put two events that are different from each other together. And so begins the cat and mouse game deciding what to do and how to react to this discovery. Many of JFK’s military advisors were in favor of striking now before weapons were active. JFK and his closest of advisors knew that if they reacted with force it could start a chain reaction beginning WWIII (a nuclear war of mass destruction). JFK decided against his advisement to wait and look for alternative
...roposed that if the U.S. removed its missiles from Turkey then Russia would remove its missiles from Cuba. Robert Kennedy wanted Soviet missiles and offensive weapons removed from Cuba under UN inspection. Later that same day, a U.S. U-2 was shot down over Cuba. Bombardment of Cuba was the initial reaction, but JFK calmed everyone down. The next day on October 28, Russia agreed to withdraw their missiles from Cuba. If they had not, war may have begun.
Thomas G. Paterson's essay, "Kennedy's Fixation with Cuba," is an essay primarily based on the controversy and times of President Kennedy's foreign relations with Cuba. Throughout President Kennedy's short term, he devoted the majority of his time to the foreign relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union. After the struggle of WW II, John F. Kennedy tried to keep a tight strong hold over Cuba as to not let Cuba turn to the Communist Soviet Union. Kennedy seen Cuba and the Soviet Union as a major threat to the United States. As Castro fell farther and farther into the Communist party, he inched his way closer and closer to becoming a close ally with the Soviet's, As Kennedy seen this happen before his eyes, he was astonished. Kennedy, a newly formed president, did not want to seem like the kind to just sit back and roll with the punches, he wanted immediate action taken for these measures. "As someone said, Cuba was one of the four-letter words of the 1960s" (268). Cuba was not viewed as a very potential power before Fidel Castro took office. It was viewed more as a neutral country that we sent aide and military supplies to in exchange for sugar and other products. When Castro took office, things drastically changed. He started taking back land that we had set aside for military bases, he wanted the American forces no more than what they had in Washington, and he openly defied orders from America. Unknown to Kennedy Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, was also watching everything that played out between Cuba and the United States. President Kennedy, later realizing, would make a few decisions for the worst. These decisions would haunt him for the re...
The situation continued to escalate from this point. Kennedy met with the Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin on several occasions, and he consistently claimed that Soviet Chairman Nikita Khrushchev assured him that "there would be no...offensive weapons placed in Cuba."4
...sponsored terrorists, as well as from nuclear-capable countries, it is necessary that we have the ability to stop whatever comes our way and save the lives of thousands, if not millions, of American citizens. To do so, it was important that the new administration under George W. Bush take action to further our research and development in the area of anti-ballistic missile defense systems.
missiles in Cuba if the Americans removed their missile installations in Turkey." Few says later
The Cuban revolution was one that transformed Cuba into an independent socialist society. This revolution sent a message around the globe. The message: “ Socialism can be achieved and capitalism, with its culture stripping mechanism’s can be supplemented”. However, the revolution did leave its mark on Cuba. This can be seen in the events that took place during the early stages of the revolution. The effects of the revolution were positive for certain sections of the population and negative for others.
He stated that if the Soviets execute a “hostile move anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom we are committed, including in particular the brave people of West Berlin, [it] will be met by whatever action is needed” (source). Respectively, war was not the President’s first choice. President Kennedy declared that he himself and government officials “are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on both sides, including the possibilities of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to determine its own destiny” (source). During the Cuban Missile Crisis, America desired peace without war in the Western Hemisphere, but President Kennedy made it clear that the U.S. would fight for it if necessary. Throughout his address, President Kennedy utilized the logos appeal wonderfully to gain the trust of the American and Cuban
Whether it 's for the music, people or food, Cuba is a popular and interesting place to visit. Cuba is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. At 42,426 square miles, Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and the 105th largest country in the world. Cuba has a population of 11.1 million. Out of that 11.1 million, Havana is home to 2.1 million (Nation Facts). The official language of Cuba is Spanish, but English and French are spoken throughout the country. The most practiced religion of Cuba is Roman Catholicism, but a large number of people follow the Afro-Cuban and Protestant religions. The president of Cuba is currently Raúl Castro, which is Fidel Castro 's brother. The currency of Cuba is the Cuban peso (Cuba).
On October 22nd, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered the famous "Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation" speech in response to Nikita Khrushchev’s act of placing nuclear and flying missiles on the island directly south of the United States: Cuba. The purpose of the speech was to alert the nation of the situation and inform them on how it would be handled. This speech successfully won the attention and respect of the American and Russian people through the use of multiple rhetorical devices.
The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted two weeks in the midst of the Cold War, and brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. In October of 1962 multiple nuclear missiles of the Soviet Union’ s were discovered in Cuba, a mere 90 miles south of the United States. Given the communist ties between Cuba and the USSR, this poised a considerable threat to our national security. Throughout the 14 days the two leaders, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev struggled to clearly understand each others‘ genuine intentions. Actions taken by each state during this crisis demonstrates the realist point of view, in a variety of ways. The fundamentals of Realism will be explored and explained along with actions taken during this crisis from a realist point of view.
It was a damp morning and the sun had not yet risen. The grounds of the Royal Palace were bathed in semi-darkness and there were small puddles all over the place, remnants of the rain storm that had passed by the previous night. A lanky man sat on the top step of the vast stairway that led to the entrance doors. Dressed in a black leather trench-coat, he was easy to miss in the dark, and beneath this coat he wore a white shirt and a loosely tied black tie. He pulled a small silver lighter from one the coat's many pockets and lit a white cigarette which was hanging from his mouth. As he pocketed the lighter, he inhaled deeply on the cigarette and let a stream of smoke escape his nostrils. This chap did not look as if he belonged anywhere
“I say we shoot him for treason and…” said an angry voice over the intercom from the dark.
No matter what destination I choose for my holidays in Cuba, I always travel to Havana and after a couple of days going around and meeting friends, I embark on an adventure vacation. Last summer, I went to Havana. It was the first time I travelled to Cuba in summer and it was quite hot and sticky, but it was really great. In my previous trips to Cuba, I had always had the feeling that I was swimming against the tide. Most people were working while I was on holidays. It was "cold" for Cuba standards, so no Cubans were at the beach when I wanted to go swimming and it was boring. This time, I decided to go along with the crowd and it was much better.