Create a 11 page essay paper that discusses How was the Cuban Missile Crisis perceived in the USA and Cuba.Download file to see previous pages... The U.S. and Cuban governments were each compelled to

Create a 11 page essay paper that discusses How was the Cuban Missile Crisis perceived in the USA and Cuba.

The U.S. and Cuban governments were each compelled to action by the fear of each other. Both countries posed a threat, real and implied, to the other. Nuclear bomb paranoia swept the post World War II world. In no place or time was this fear more apparent than during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the 1962 crisis, Fidel Castro, Nikita Khrushchev and John Kennedy jockeyed for the upper hand, each employing bold moves that brought the world to the brink of possible annihilation.

Prior to the Cuban Revolution in the mid to late 1950’s, the tropical island of Cuba was a favored tourist attraction of U.S. citizens. The United States government held substantial control in Cuba’s economic and political dealings. However, Castro, a leading political figure in Cuba, refused to be controlled by the United States. The United States government suspected that when Castro assumed power on January 1, 1959, his communist government would pose a close threat to America. Castro further raised concerns when he seized property belonging to prosperous Cuban Nationals and foreigners in an attempt to improve conditions for working-class Cubans. Many of these properties belonged to businesses owned by U.S. companies and individuals. U.S. suspicions and concerns were heightened in December, 1960 when Castro officially and openly aligned Cuba with the Soviet Union. Less than one month later, in early January, 1961, the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Castro and imposed a trade embargo on Cuba that remains in effect to this day. The embargo stopped the flow of oil to Cuba and the sale of its major cash crop, sugar, from Cuba.