WI: Castro seizes Guantanamo?

[Roland Traveler]

What if, either in the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs invasion or during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Castro seizes (or tries to seize) Guantanomo Bay? Would he succeed in either scenario? How would the US respond? How would the Soviets respond?

 

[Matt Wiser]

If he does it after the Missile Crisis-and the Russians were worried that he would do something stupid after Khrushchev backed down-the Russians told him flat out: You are on your own. Anastas Mikoyan, Khrushchev's envoy, told Fidel that "Nothing would please the Kennedy brothers more than to see you hanging from the tallest lamp pole in Havana." Essentially, Soviet Forces Cuba would stand aside, and let the invasion force come in.

 

[riggerrob]

Considering that the US Navy has more infantry, more airplanes and more ships than any Latino country, attacking Guantanamo would be a disaster for the new Communist Cuban nation.

 

[Napoleon IV]

Attacking US territory is pretty much guarantees war, especially if the US already hates your guts.

 

[1940LaSalle]

This. Sure, a few Latin American nations would see it as a hemispherical version of imperialism (so what else is new?) but within a short while Castro would be hung out to dry with a new regime in charge. I doubt the US would be as short-sighted as to let the old regime back, so the replacements would probably be considerably to the left of Castro's predecessors, but willing to take US money / work with Washington.

Not sure what the Soviets would do or want in the long run. It wasn't like they had much of an investment in Cuba, so to speak: too recent and too far from Moscow to be a lot of use. They may just write it off as "it seemed like a good idea at the time..." and forget about it. The only alternative I could imagine is that they'd want the US to stand aside if a revolution took place in an equally out-of-the-way, relatively insignificant nation elsewhere.

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

Attacking US territory is pretty much guarantees war, especially if the US already hates your guts.

Of course, Guantanamo is NOT US territory, which is why the Bush administration was able to do things there they couldn't in the US.

It's US controlled, but not owned.

 

[sloreck]

Castro attacks Gitmo, the USA stomps him flat. End of story. The USSR may make noise about how (somehow) Castro was justified, imperialism etc, but they do nothing.

 

[Tredecimus]

During the Bay of Pigs? Probably.

If they can successfully use the argument of the Americans attacking first, then maybe they can justify taking Guantanamo by force. But the chance is slim. Very slim.

 

[Genghis]

Of course, Guantanamo is NOT US territory, which is why the Bush administration was able to do things there they couldn't in the US.

It's US controlled, but not owned.

USA Wants to have it both ways. What pisses me off throught is that they pass it off as if they were in the right when they are not.