1960 - World - Americas and the Communist Revolution(s)
Lusitania
Donor
1960 – 1969
World (cont.)
Americas and the Communist Revolution(s)
In 1960 the seizure of Cuba by Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries had left Cuba as the only Soviet Aligned country in the Americans with the rest of the American states either democratic or right-wing dictatorship. Poverty, corruption and repression made the Americas a prime location for the rise of communism and over the decade more than a dozen countries were affected in some ways by communist insurrections. Against the communists stood the USA who saw itself as the defender of free world against the communist threat. At the beginning of the decade its first priority was the containment and elimination of Fidel Castro and the Communists on the island of Cuba but by 1969 it was locked into a continental wide battle with communist rebels.World (cont.)
Americas and the Communist Revolution(s)
The Major Players
The US was the Americas foremost political, and military power, it dominated the other countries in the Americas and with an economy that dwarfed all the Latin American countries together. The USA GDP was over 2 trillion while all 50+ Latin American and Caribbean countries was just over 800 million. While it was more evenly matched by population 174 million vs 218 million due to the disparity in economic power the GDP per capita was 11,328 vs 3,029. Another major hurdle hindering Latin American development was the simple fact that the US was for most part able to dominate the Latin American and Caribbean countries. The US viewed the Americas as their back yard and took dim view of countries from other regions meddling in their region. While European countries including Portuguese Federation traded in region the Americans always made point of flexing their economic, political and military power to demonstrate their power in the Americas.In late 1950s the American resolve and determination had been shaken by fall of Fulgenio Batista military junta government of Cuba by Fidel Castro and his “movement”. While at first Fidel Castro was ambiguous about his political leanings his subsequent declaration of alignment with USSR both angered the US government and set the two countries as political and military antagonists.
With the election of John F Kennedy as President of the USA in 1960 it was thought that relations between the two countries would improve, while President Kennedy administration advocated calm publicly behind the scenes the American government worked to isolate the Cuban government from other American states and maintained the American embargo. During the winter of 1960-1961 the American CIA provided funding and training to ex-patriot Cubans for both the elimination of Fidel Castro government and liberation of Cuba.
Operation “Liberdade”
On 5 March 1961, the Cuban leader Fidel Castro barely survived an assassination attempt, but was incapacitated for several months in the hospital. Cuban and Soviet doctors operated for six hours and removed four bullets from Castro who remained in coma from 5th of March to 7th of April.On 1st of April, ex-patriot Cubans who had fled Castro’s takeover of Cuba landed on the southern Cuban coast. The 2,100 paramilitary Cubans member of the Cuban DRF supplied and trained by the US CIA met little resistance at first. The commandos surprised the local militia and moved inland without alerting Cuban communist government. American transport ships brought supplies and additional commandos during the night. On 2nd of April news of the DRF invasion finally reached Havana and José Ramón Fernández Álvarez leader of the militia led the Cuban militia and military response to the invasion. As the Communist government readied the island’s military and militia to move against the invaders news of additional invasions throughout the island kept the units spread out ready to deal with additional invasion and unable to move in larger numbers against the DFR forces. At 16:00 General Álvarez and 8,000 troops and militia attacked the Cuban DRF troops who with support from American military stopped the Cuban counterattack. News of the invasion was greeted with joy by the expat Cuban population in Miami and thousands of Cubans rushed to volunteer. The Cubans on the island teetered in fear of invasion while at same time anticipating a quick resolution to the invasion as the government continually promised in hourly news updates on Cuban radio. For over a week while the communists and DFR continued to battle without major movement on the front the US military transported thousands of Cubans and American volunteers from Florida to Bay of Pigs area held by DRF troops.[1] On 6th of April, communist Cuban forces which now numbering over 20,000 launched a new offensive. For two days, the Communist forces tried to break through the DFR lines but were unable as American aircraft joined in the repulsing the communist forces.
On 16th of April, the DRF launched their own offensive breaking the communist lines to the east. The communists were caught by surprise by the DRF offensive which included tanks and rocket artillery. By 16th the DRF had over 25,000 troops in Cuba of which about ¼ were American regular troops or veterans (all volunteers). On 15 April 1961, the Cuban Nationalists established their capital in the city of Cienfuegos and requested assistance from USA. President Kennedy immediately recognized the Cuban Nationalists as the legitimate government of Cuba and ordered the US Navy to establish a naval and air blockade around the island of Cuba. All ships travelling to Cuba would be stopped and searched, no military equipment or fighters were to be allowed to the communist “rebels” areas including Havana. Included in the blockade was an air blockade and all planes flying to Cuba were forced by American fighters to divert to American airports in Texas or Florida for inspection before being allowed to continue to fly to Cuba.
On 1st of May, the city of Santa Clara was liberated, which was the first major city liberated on the island but just as important the Nationalist now threatened to cut the island in two. The news of the city falling to Nationalist forces was a shock to the Cubans who for most part believed the government’s account of continued advances against the imperialistic invaders. On 3rd of May, the Nationalists own radio station “Cuba Livre” began broadcasting throughout the island providing an alternative to the communist reporting of the “liberation” of Cuba. The communists reacted with rhetoric and Fidel Castro finally came on the radio appealing for the Cuban people not to give up and loose the revolution and to fight back. The problem for the communists is that while they had marshalled an army of 50,000 troops and 500,000 militia almost half were situated in the north of the island and around Havana due to risk of invasion from Florida as reports of American and Imperialistic sightings along the coast overwhelmed the defense. Raids and attacks against remote villages kept the communist believing an attack from north was imminent and they requested assistance from Soviet Union and other communist countries. Due to fears of further invasions less than 50,000 troops and militia were involved in attack on the Nationalist forces on the island.
The fall of Santa Clara finally forced the communists to recommit their forces to fighting the Nationalist invasion and during the 2nd battle of Santa Clara over 100,000 troops were involved. For two weeks, the Nationalist forces repulsed the communist attacks from north and south while also trying to cut the island in two. Then on 5th of May news of simultaneous large-scale nationalist/American invasion east of Havana and around Santa Cruz forced the communist forces to divert over half their attacking forces to the new invasions. On 6th of May, the Nationalists responded to the reduced communist strength by launching an attack along the southern front, which was the weakest front, and by 10th of May they were able to take all land south of Santa Clara including the city of Trinidad. The invasions in the north and south proved to be false reports instigated by saboteurs and nationalist sympathizers within the government and military. The communists responded by launching a ruthless purge of any military and government person with any perceived Nationalist inclinations. Listing to “Cuba Livre” became a treasonable crime. On 11th of May, the communists launched the “Sancti Spiritus counterattack” and by 15th of May had pushed the nationalists back 15 kilometers. Once again communists spoke of driving the invading imperialist forces back to the sea but on the 16th the nationalist broke the communist front line around Santa Clara and were able to cut the island in half. By the 20th the city of Sancti Spiritus was liberated and the communists on the southern part of island were cut off from Havana and on the defensive. The communists in the north launched several attacks on the nationalist northern front without success. By 25th of May the nationalist forces numbered over 100,000 troops on the island with locals now accounting for about 40% of the nationalist forces. By 4th of June Ciego de Avilo was liberated and the communist forces in southern Cuba were in disarray.
On 5th of June, the USA and Soviet Union almost came to war as a Soviet naval taskforce with military weapons and two divisions on way to Havana were blocked by the US navy. For the next four days, the world waiting in suspense as the two major powers navies faced each other north of the Bahamas. The US, British and French armed forces including nuclear weapons waited for the Soviet reaction to the American blockade. On 10th of June, the Soviet Union leader Khrushchev conceded to the American demands and ordered the Soviet Navy ships to return to Black Sea port.[2]
During the remainder of June, the communists lost half the remainder of southern Cuba including the cities Las Tunas and Holguin while Nationalist northern forces still were unable to break through the communist lines in the north.
The Liberation of Cuba 1 April – 30 June 1961
The Expanding Communist Threat
For the remainder of 1961 the island of Cuba remained divided between the Nationalist and Communist and many felt it was just a matter of time for the remainder of the island to be liberated. The civil war in Cuba had a profound impact to the rest of Latin America and the fledging communist rebels in Guatemala, Nicaragua grew stronger and belligerent in their attacks on government and military targets. In 1962 the countries of El Salvador, and Honduras were also rocked by communist rebel movements. The US responded to the communist threats by increasing military aid and providing military advisors but the conditions that caused the emergence of rebels did not improve, the opposite was true as military reprisals and abuses of civilians strengthened the rebels. By 1964 both Columbia and Peru were also rocked by communist rebel attacks. The countries of Columbia and Peru were not only rocked by communists supported by Soviet Union but also communists supported by China. The two communist groups fought not only the right-wing governments but also each other.
In 1965 the USA not only continued to send these countries and other American nations military support and military advisors but deployed thousands of US troops which by 1965 numbered over 120,000 troops in Central and South America. The US also put in place a continental blockade trying to stop any and all weapons and support from reaching the communists.
On the island of Cuba, the nationalists and Communists continued to fight but without any major movement in the front in the north or South. This all changed in 1964 when the Cuban Nationalist forces with the assistance of USA launched their long anticipated renewed liberation. The US Navy provided naval and amphibious support to Nationalist forces east of the USA Naval base of Guantanamo Bay. This occurred at same time the Nationalist forces attacked the Communist front lines both in the north and south. The communist forces in Southern Cuba tried vehemently to stop the Nationalist forces landing but were slowly pushed back. From 1st – 15th of August the communists in the south of the island slowly lost the war and by 15th had retreated to the Sierra Maestra Mountains. For the remainder of the year and into the next two years the Nationalist forces slowly cleared the mountain range. On 1 May 1967, the last communist rebels in the south surrendered to the Nationalist forces.
While progress was visible in Cuba the same could not be said in the rest of Latin America as rebel insurgents appeared in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia. The most dangerous was the communist attacks on the American Pan Canal Zone. In 1965 several locks in the canal were sabotaged causing the Panama Canal to be out of service for six months. The US responded by increasing military presence in the Canal Zone to 50,000, and by 1968 the US had over 400,000 troops in Latin America.[3] The US troops were involved alongside government troops in fighting communist rebels throughout the Americas. By 1969 the US was struggling to support over 1 million combat troops in both South-East Asia and Latin America. In 1967 the US government of President Humphrey realizing they were losing the war in Latin America and began a major reversal of US policy in Latin America by starting to resolve the root causes of the poor’s anger and support for the communists. On 5 October 1967, the Guatemala government of Julio César Méndez Montenegro was overthrown and in a shocking development Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán the former Guatemala president from 1951 – 1955 was installed with US support. He negotiated the purchase of large portion of United Fruit Company plantations and re-launched his agrarian reforms providing land to thousands of landless peasants. He reformed the 20,000 Guatemala army forcing many soldiers and leaders to resign and leave Guatemala else face prosecution. Support for the rebels decreased drastically and they responded to the abandonment by the poor and natives by attacking them thus turning them against the communists. Within two years the communist threat that threatened to topple the previous government had weakened greatly.[4]
In 1968 the governments of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras either “changed” on their own or with American help and began their own agrarian, military and government reforms in an attempt to counter the rebel insurgencies. By the end of 1969 the communists were beginning to lose territory and more importantly support from poor for the first time in the decade. In 1969 Richard Nixon became the US president and his administration did not support the previous administration policies or reforms. While the US support to the reformed Central American governments continued, they refused to implement such policies in Panama, Columbia and Peru. At same time, the governments of Panama, Peru and Columbia also had no appetite to implement any reforms and believed the only way to defeat the communists was through military means. The US increased its financial and military support to the three countries, but the communist forces continued to make advances. The only reason they were not able to defeat the Americans and Right-Wing governments was due to them fighting each as much as the Americans/Right Wing opposition.
In Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Bolivia the governments also followed the new American policy of using military as only means to deal with the rebel insurgency. Columbia and Peru which bordered, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia were the primary source of weapons and supplies to the communist rebels in those countries, so the USA provided them with support in an attempting to secure their borders and prevent movement of rebels and weapons between the countries. In Mexico, the communists who were mostly natives from the southern states became stronger and more active than the much-diminished communists in Guatemala and most of Guatemala army was stationed along the Mexico border in an attempt to stop the flow of Mexican communist rebels and weapons from reaching Guatemala. In Venezuela the 2nd largest oil producer in the Americas behind the US and a key US oil source, suffered several major attacks on its oil installations by communist rebels. This coupled with embargo by Arab oil producing countries against western countries caused oil prices to climb to over 6USD a barrel. The US pressured the Venezuelan government to request American military support and troops and by end of the decade over 50,000 US troops along with 75,000 Venezuelan troops fought communist insurgents along with protecting Venezuelan oil installations. The huge spike in oil prices led to increased search for new sources of oil in the Americas with both Mexico and Ecuador, two countries with known oil reserves, granting new oil exploration and extracting concession to international oil companies while both countries were also at risk of communist insurgency attacks.
The other South American country also facing a communist rebel movement was Brazil. The “Araguaia Guerrilla War” pitted both Soviet and Chinese Communist rebels against the Brazilian government of Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira or as he was better known JK. The rebels were based in the state of Goias and from 1965 to 1967 they expanded into states of Bahia and Mato Grosso. In 1968 the Brazilian military offensive started pushing the rebels from both Bahia and Goias and by 1969 the communists had retreated deeper into the Amazon and to their bases in Mato Grosso.
Map of Latin America in 1969 with presence of communist rebels as indicated
Countries not colored indicate no armed communist rebels
[1] Over the month of April American Naval seals carried out hit and run attacks on Cuban coastal villages and installations. Withdrawing before Cuban forces could respond, leaving destruction and panicking Cubans behind. While the Cuban government continually accused the Americans of the incursions there never was any proof and the American goal was accomplished with Cuban government forced to maintain over 200,000 troops and militia arrayed along the northern coast as rumors of American invasion abound. Over 100 American Naval ships patrolled just outside the Cuban 12-mile sea limit and their presence fed the Cuban government’s fear of American invasion.
[2] Less than two months after the Cuban Blockade the Soviet Politburo removed Khrushchev as leader of the Soviet Union and appointed Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev as leader. For the next decade, the Soviet Union upped its military support to communist rebels in dozen countries in Africa, Americas and Asia against the capitalists and Chinese.
[3] In 1965 as the US was forced to greatly increase its military forces in Central American and South America two other western countries became involved in the fight against communists. Former British commonwealth countries in the Caribbean and Latin America became rocked by communist insurgencies and communist attacks. The British forces were attacked in British Honduras (Belize) and was by 1966 had over 20,000 troops in the region fighting or supporting British Commonwealth troops in their fight with Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago as two countries it had the most troops. Starting in 1965 Canada was the other country that slowly got sucked into the fight against insurgencies. It sent over 2,000 soldiers to help train the commonwealth troops and its navy joined the British navy in patrolling the Caribbean and Mid Atlantic Ocean. By 1967 the Canadian forces in the region had grown to over 5,000 with half of them fighting the communist insurgency in Guiana.
[4] The Cuban Nationalist government had allowed American companies to return to the island but to the surprise of many had preserved many of the worker rights and benefits instituted by the communists. This coupled with increased economic activity in the Nationalist areas led to increased satisfaction and support for the Nationalists. By 1966 many Americans wrote and spoke about the Cuban Nationalist alternative as the answer to the continued Latin America communist rebel problems.
The situation in the Americas had a profound affect on the Portuguese Federation and the environment it found itself in during the 1960s. The humiliation the USSR had felt in face of the US blockade and threat to attack the Soviet Union if their forces attempted to bypass the American blockade had resulted in the Soviets choosing a new target for their expansion which included both the rest of the Americas but more importantly for the Portuguese Africa, Middle East and South East Asia. This was partly to blame for the reckless manner in which the Soviet sent their best and most advanced hardware plus thousands of advisors to Africa. We will discuss both the Middle East and South East Asia in the next posts. What is also important is the Soviet - Chinese animosity which translated to border wars along their mutual border as well as between rival communist groups.
The near collapse of communist Cuba had the opposite affect in rest of Latin America and Caribbean. With both Canada and Britain being drawn in to fight both insurgencies and rebels in various newly independent British Commonwealth countries in Caribbean, British Honduras and Guiana. These military actions and increased USA involvement in Americas along with South East Asia had the affect of limiting both American and British Commonwealth ability to respond to SA crises or Civil War.
We will be detailing Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay situation in a more detailed posts soon.
Questions/ Comments?
Return in 2 weeks on October 25 as we move to Asia and talk about Israel and its struggles against Arab neighbors and the clash of the communists.