Voices From The Other Side Quotes

“American officials estimated millions would be spent to develop internal security systems, and State Department officials expected the Cuban government to increase internal surveillance in an attempt to prevent further acts of terrorism. These systems, which restricted civil rights, became easy targets for critics. CIA officials admitted early on in the war of terrorism that the goal was not the military defeat of Fidel Castro, but to force the regime into applying increasingly stringent civil restrictions, with the resultant pressures on the Cuban public. This was outlined in a May 1961 agency report stating that the objective was to “plan, implement and sustain a program of covert actions designed to exploit the economic, political and psychological vulnerabilities of the Castro regime. It is neither expected nor argued that the successful execution of this covert program will in itself result in the overthrow of the Castro regime,” only to accelerate the “moral and physical disintegration of the Castro government.” The CIA acknowledged that in response to the terrorist acts the government would be “Stepping up internal security controls and defense capabilities.” It was not projected the acts of terror would directly result in Castro’s downfall (although that was a policy aim), but only to promote the sense of vulnerability among the population and compel the government into increasingly radical steps in order to ensure national security.18”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“American officials estimated millions would be spent to develop internal security systems, and State Department officials expected the Cuban government to increase internal surveillance in an attempt to prevent further acts of terrorism. These systems, which restricted civil rights, became easy targets for critics. CIA officials admitted early on in the war of terrorism that the goal was not the military defeat of Fidel Castro, but to force the regime into applying increasingly stringent civil restrictions, with the resultant pressures on the Cuban public. This was outlined in a May 1961 agency report stating that the objective was to “plan, implement and sustain a program of covert actions designed to exploit the economic, political and psychological vulnerabilities of the Castro regime. It is neither expected nor argued that the successful execution of this covert program will in itself result in the overthrow of the Castro regime,” only to accelerate the “moral and physical disintegration of the Castro government.”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“The actions of both sides made it easier for that American wrath to be warranted as retribution of the aggrieved. The early months saw the United States refuse to buy Cuban sugar or refine oil purchased from the Soviets. The Cubans instituted land reform, confiscating American land (with offers of compensation that were refused), then turned to the nationalization of American industry. As more property was taken, more economic measures were instituted against Cuba. American aggression ran from the embargo, propaganda, isolation, and the Bay of Pigs military invasion. As the rhetoric increased, terrorist acts were formulated and carried out. In partial response to the terror and other hostilities, the revolution became increasingly radicalized. From the start, policy makers knew terrorism would put a strain politically and economically on the nascent Cuban government, forcing it to use precious resources to protect itself and its citizens. It was to be part of the overarching strategy of making things so bad that the Cubans might rise up and overthrow their government.17”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“South Carolina representative Mendel Rivers angrily reaffirmed America’s perceived historical relationship with Cuba in a tirade against Fidel: “That bearded pipsqueak of the Antilles, who seized American property in a country that was conceived by America, delivered by America, nurtured by America, educated by America and made a self-governing nation by America.” He warned of the coming storm between the two nations: “When ingratitude on the part of a nation reaches the point that it has in Cuba, it is time for American wrath to display itself in no uncertain terms.”16”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“Warnings of the dire consequences came fast. For Castro to control Cuba is “a disgrace and an affront which diminishes the respect with which we are held by the rest of the world in direct relation to the length of time we permit it to go unchallenged,” Senator Barry Goldwater said in 1961.”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“Logically, then, whatever Fidel Castro did in opposition to American policy was wrong, regardless of his intentions and strategy towards his own people. All of the revolution’s accomplishments in free education, free medical services, the re-distribution of wealth and agrarian land reforms were disregarded, and continue to be discredited. All actions by Fidel were seen through the prism of being against American interests, and were by definition wrong. The only way to deal with Castro and his revolution was to remove him and the disease. In whatever way possible.”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“American control was represented as desirable as it would bring social stability, political maturity and economic prosperity to the child-like Cubans. Naturally then, the Cubans would acquiesce to the wishes of the adult. In this regard local opinion was made irrelevant, as no right thinking person would reject subservience when it brought so much benefit. Connecticut senator Orville Platt articulated the view, “No man is bound to adopt a child, as we have adopted Cuba; but having adopted a child he is bound to provide for it.”7”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“Writer William Mills in 1898 bluntly articulated that “The independence of Cuba is, therefore, an historical absurdity… Nothing but her complete incorporation into our territorial system will allay the menace of her geographical position.”4”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“The same conclusion had already been presented to incoming President Kennedy by Arthur Schlesinger, transmitting the report of his Latin American Mission, which warned of the susceptibility of Latin Americans to “the Castro idea of taking matters into one’s own hands.” The dangers of the “Castro idea” are particularly grave, Schlesinger later elaborated, when “The distribution of land and other forms of national wealth greatly favors the propertied classes…[and] The poor and underprivileged, stimulated by the example of the Cuban revolution, are now demanding opportunities for a decent living.” The Soviet threat was not entirely ignored. Kennedy feared that Russian”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“When Kennedy took over from Eisenhower, the CIA spelled out much the same concerns. In July 1961 the CIA observed that “The extensive influence of ‘Castroism’ is not a function of Cuban power… Castro’s shadow looms large because social and economic conditions throughout Latin America invite opposition to ruling authority and encourage agitation for radical change,” for which Castro’s Cuba provides a model.”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“The “virtual colony” gained authentic liberation in 1959, apart from its Eastern region. And within months the assault began, using the weapons of violence and economic strangulation to punish the inhabitants of “that infernal little Republic” who had so angered the racist expansionist Theodore Roosevelt “that I would like to wipe its people off the face of the earth,” he declared in fury as they continued to rebel, not recognizing that we had set them free. And to this day refusing to comprehend that their role is to serve the master, not to play at independence.”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba

“The State Department Policy Planning Council soon expanded on these concerns: “the primary danger we face in Castro,” it concluded, is “in the impact the very existence of his regime has upon the leftist movement in many Latin American countries… The simple fact is that Castro represents a successful defiance of the US, a negation of our whole hemispheric policy of almost a century and a half”—that is, back to the Monroe Doctrine, which asserted Washington’s intention and right to dominate the hemisphere.”
― Keith Bolender, Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba