Conformity and Challenges in the Eisenhower and Kennedy Years 387so overwhelmingly influential in Cuba that... the American ambassador was
the second most important man in Cuba, sometimes even more important than
the President... Now, today, his importance is not very great.”
And Castro certainly took measures to distance himself from that U.S.
control–instituting land reform measures that took property away from U.S.
corporations to give to Cuban peasants, condemning the Platt Amendment,
insisting on the return of “Gitmo,” taking on the “gangsters” and the casinos,
and seeking actual Cuban independence from the “Yankees” [in fact, one of
the popular slogans of the day was “Cuba, Si! Yanqui, No!”]. In 1960, in fact,
Castro infuriated the Americans by agreeing to a deal to trade sugar to the
Soviet Union in exchange for oil, machinery, and technicians. Trade between
Castro and the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies rose from 2 per-
cent to 80 percent in the year. However, even Ambassador Philip Bonsal later
admitted, “Russia came to Castro’s rescue only after the United States had
taken steps to overthrow him.”
JFK had vowed to “oppose any foe” and had actually attacked Nixon dur-
ing the campaign for Eisenhower’s failure to contain Castro [even though he
knew that the CIA was developing secret plans to take out the new Cuban
leader] and so he had to act. In April 1961, not even 100 days into his pres-
idency, he authorized an invasion of Cuba at the Bahía de Cochinos, or Bay
of Pigs, an inlet on the southern coast of the island, across from Havana. Castro
had vowed “what happened in Guatemala will not happen here.” So, when
about 1500 CIA-trained Miami Cubans arrived at the Bay of Pigs on April
17th, 1961, Castro himself led the battle on the beaches, which crushed the
American-backed invasion in two days with 114 dead and 1100 captured.
There was, it goes without saying, no general uprising against Castro and in
fact his successful resistance made him more popular than ever. In turn, JFK
tightened the noose on Cuba even more, with an economic blockade on Cuba
that still exists today, removal of the country from the Organization of
American States, and sponsorship of countless assassination attempts on Castro
for many years, all of which, of course, failed. Among the unsuccessful plots
were an attempt to put explosives into Castro’s beloved cigars, one to make
his beard fall out and embarrass him, and yet another to seed the clouds above
Cuba to cause a drought and ruin the sugar crops.
Perhaps it would be extreme to say JFK was “obsessed” with getting rid of
Castro, but it would remain a very high priority throughout his term. Indeed,