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Timeline
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CIA involvement
The CIA wanted to secretly train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. President Eisenhower gave them permission so they could overthrow Castro. Kennedy was oblivious of this plan until nine days after he was elected President. Kennedy was skeptical about the plan, but he gave it the green light. -
Invasion of Cuba
The invasion begun with 1,300 to 1,500 Cuban exiles landing on the island’s Day of Pigs. There were false reports of the airstrike wiping out the Cuban air force. One advance group didn’t even make it to shore. After the main unit landed the American air support didn’t show up, and the forces faced 25,000 Cuban troops alone. Kennedy had to pay a ransom of $53 million ransom in food and medical supplies for the release of the survivors. -
Cuba allies with Soviets
Castro had made friends with the Soviets. Cuba was defended with Soviet weapons. The Soviets increased their weapons supply to Cuba exponentially. Kennedy wouldn’t tolerate nuclear weapons in Cuba. -
Missiles
There were Soviet missile bases found in Cuba. Some even had missiles loaded. It was a threat because Cuba is close to the U.S. and could destroy our cities in minutes. Kennedy was forced to move quickly. -
Missile removal
President Kennedy discovered ready to launch missile bases in Cuba. He informed the US about the missile sites and his plan to remove them. He informed them that any attack from Cuba would trigger a mass attack on the Soviet. There was now a fear of nuclear warfare between the Soviets and the US. -
Nuclear War
After the missile bases were discovered, the world faced the possibility of nuclear war. To stop this, President Kennedy employed a “naval quarantine on Cuba. This blocked Soviet ships from reach Cuba. Some Soviet ships altered their course to avoid the confrontation. This added to the trust issues between the US and the Soviet. -
Soviet ships checked
The Soviet ships coming to Cuba were stopped by American Destroyers. USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. and the USS John R. Pierce stopped and boarded the Soviet Ships to search them. After two hours of searching, it was determined that there was no threatening cargo and they let the ship pass. The U.S. was very weary of what was passed form the Soviet to Cuba in order to prevent anything from sparking a war. -
Peace
Soviet Prime minister, Nikita Khrushchev, sent a broadcast to President Kennedy. He told the President that he was in agreement and wanted to keep the peace. He agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba, as well as the missiles placed by the Turkish border. He also promised not to invade Cuba. There was now a peace between the Soviets and the US once again.
