Cruz of the missiles of Cuba
Introduction
The movie thirteen days shows us how the White House overcome the Cuba missile crisis from October 16 to 28, 1962. It is seen from Kenneth O’Donnell’s eyes, personal secretary and friend of President John F. Kennedy, who also appears along with his brother Robert F. Kennedy, Secretary of Justice and Attorney General.
Developing
Let’s start by briefly appointing history as president of John. His government lasted from January 21, 1961 to November 22, 1963, and was the thirty -fifth president of the United States of America, belonging to the Democratic Party. In addition to the missile crisis, this president also went through cultural, education and economic reforms, by the exemption of Martin Luther King, the exit to space with satellites and humans, the lifting of the Berlin wall and part of the war of the war ofVietnam. Kennedy was killed at 46 in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, while he was on tour presenting his candidacy for the elections to President of 1964.
Today it is not yet known who killed him, but what he is sure is that it was a conspiracy of an organization. During his short term, Cubba’s economic restrictions increased since 1959, which were imposed by Kennedy’s predecessor, Eisenhower, after the Cuban revolution. This caused the American embassy on the island to close in 1961.
In 1962, the Soviet government began to support the Cuban government economic and militarily. The already deteriorated relationship between the United States and Cuba began when Nikita Kruschev (USSR) tried to convince Fidel Castro (Cuba) of the need to provide the missile island to protect from Americans. In the first minutes of the film, the president is informed by McGeorge Bundy, National Security Minister, who have photographed Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba.
A meeting is organized to decide how to face this situation of Soviet missiles. In it, apart from our three protagonists we find: Ted Sorenson, special advisor to the president;General Maxwell Taylor, president of the Board of Chiefs of Staff;Dean Rusk, Secretary of State;Adlai Stevenson, US ambassador to the or.N.OR. and Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense. Among them, three options are considered:
- Make an air attack directed against missiles.
- Make a broader attack against its aerial defenses, including its missiles.
- The third option, idea of the Board of Chiefs, consists of adding a subsequent invasion to air attack, which, in turn, would end with Castro. Rusk suggests that between the attack and the invasion of an ultimatum to develop missiles.
Among these options, John considers that the best is the first, but he does not like it, since he believes that, if they throw bombs against missiles, a conflict against the Soviets could be created. Everyone around John (except Kenneth and Robert) presses him to bombard the missiles, but he does not want a violent solution that can lead to deaths. At another meeting with the Board, Robert Kennedy following his brother’s purpose, asks McNamara to a better solution than bombings, and he says that a slower strategy could be carried out without having to eliminate the missiles. This strategy would be to block Cuba.
In a new assembly with the Board of Chiefs, they still deliberate whether to make the initial air attack, block Cuba, or reach an agreement withdrawing Guantanamo (jail in Cuba) and the American missiles of Turkey in exchange for the withdrawal of the Soviet missileCuba. This idea arises from the United States representative at the United Nations.
Finally, a consent for the blockade of Cuba to which they will call quarantine is achieved, so as not to look like an act of war. This quarantine will avoid the arrival in Cuba of Soviet ships loaded with more missiles. The decision is exposed to the population through a televised statement from the president on Monday, October 22.
The Soviet response to this determination comes by Teletype the next day. Although for what it says, the Soviets do not know how to react, the Board concludes that they will probably try to overcome the blockade. The Board meets with the Navy to agree how to react if the Soviets act in such a way.
That same day, some airplanes fly Cuba to photograph the missiles and know what state they are in. Although only for that purpose, the Soviets when they see US planes think they are going to throw bombs, so they shoot them in response. The bosses, doing justice to their violent position, wanted to achieve precisely that (in order to have a white letter to bombThe meetings with what reaches the men of these. Therefore, when the commander in command of the planes of this operation is going to talk to General Taylor, he declares, at Kenneth’s request, that everything has gone well, without shots.
At 10 am on Wednesday 24, when the quarantine enters, there are two ships (Gagarin and Kimovsk) and a submarine approaching Cuba. After a few minutes, and the Navy prepared to attack, most ships stop and even turn around, except six of them, of those who suspect that they do not carry weapons.
On Thursday, after the reluctant responses of the USSR representative in the United Nations, they ask Adlai Stevenson to intervene in the court, which far exceeds the Soviet representative who on September 11, the Soviet government guaranteedpublicly that they did not have to send missiles to Cuba, and showing photographs as evidence of the missiles found in Cuba.
The Grozny ship has not yet turned around and does not respond to the signals of the American ships. The Admiral has ordered flares near that ship to respond, but McNamara did not have those president’s orders.
On October 26, an ABC journalist arrives at the White House saying that he has a Soviet source that personally knows Kruschev. This is the spy Alexander Mo. That same afternoon, the journalist meets with MO.
In the early hours.
Hours later, another letter leaves the Board confusing, understanding that with the previous letter the Soviets were only looking for time. They consider the idea that Kruschev has been dismissed and is a trap. The Soviets have intensified the preparation of their missiles and have sent nuclear battle weapons to Cuba. John decides that the forces are prepared for Monday for possible air attacks towards missiles and the invasion of the island.
Another plane goes out to photograph more missiles, this time piloted by Commander Rudolf Anderson. This mission fails and Anderson dies shot down. This pilot was the only victim of the crisis. The president decides to accept Kruschev’s initial decision and ignore the second letter, as if he had never reached them. John asks Robert to talk to the USSR ambassador, Dobrynin, to negotiate about the first letter.
When he arrives at the embassy, he introduces the ambassador to what they can offer them, a confidential guarantee: as Turkey missiles are outdated, they planned to remove them equally, but six months later. If that guarantee were revealed, the agreement would be disabled and would be refuted by the US government. This is the last option that the United States has to avoid going to war.
The next morning, Kennedy arrives at Kruschev with the intention of acting to preserve world peace. The Soviet government has ordered the dismantling of weapons in Cuba and the return of these to the Soviet Union. This agreement caused Fidel Castro’s anger since it left them with nothing in front of their rival years ago, United States.
At the end of the film we see our protagonists concerned with the foreign policy of the United States, which was worsened during the years that the cold war lasted.
conclusion
Apart from the consequences that we have been commenting on throughout the analysis, there is the so -called red telephone, a confidential telephone line with direct communication between the USA. UU. and the USSR to agree on issues that involve these two countries. After more than half a century of hostility between the United States and Cuba, in 2014 the American president Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro agreed to regain diplomatic ties.
This new relationship of cordiality was harmed by the arrival of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States in 2017, thus reinstating the economic restrictions that were imposed on Cuba years ago.
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