Castro's Involvement

Fidel Castro and America had a very bad relationship and Cuba Played a very important role in the crisis. During the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Fidel Castro was the dictator of Cuba. Cuba and America had bad relations, because previous violence between the two nations.      On April 17, 1961, an army of exiles armed with American weapons landed in Cuba with the goal of overthrowing Castro. The army failed, and Castro grew aware of America’s willingness to take him out of power.  Russia was behind in the arms race, so Khrushchev negotiated with Castro to install military installations on Cuba. Castro was almost sure on an American invasion, so he accepted Khrushchev’s offer. Russia didn’t waste any time installing the military installations on Cuba, and had 35 different types of military bases in Cuba. Castro announced that if the America invades, they will use battlefield nukes. When the Soviet’s sent America a letter to come to terms, they said that the missiles will be dismantled if America promises not to invade Cuba. America agreed, and the near nuclear was over (PBS). Cuba played as key role in the crisis, and with the cooperation of Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro, many lives were saved.