This document provides an in-depth analysis of Cuba's reactions to various international developments during late 1964. Cuban leaders were pleased with the radical anti-imperialist tone and diplomatic successes of the Cairo Conference of Non-Aligned Countries. Fidel Castro welcomed French President de Gaulle's anti-American stance during his Latin America trip, linking it to tensions in pro-American governments. The British Labour Party's election victory was viewed positively, fostering hopes for policies aligned with Cuba's interests. Domestically, Nikita Khrushchev's ousting in the USSR created distrust and concerns about the continuity of Soviet support. Lastly, Cuba cautiously celebrated China's first nuclear test, seeing it as a potential shift in global power dynamics favoring socialism.

This document summary was generated by an artificial intelligence language model and was reviewed by a Wilson Center staff member.

In this conversation between Khrushchev and Novotny, Khrushchev used exceptionally candid language to defend his handling of the superpower confrontation, what he described as “six days which shook the world.” While well aware that many fellow communists (including the Chinese and Cubans) regarded his agreement under pressure from US President John F. Kennedy to remove the missiles as a surrender to the imperialists, Khrushchev stoutly defended his action as not only a necessary measure to avoid a catastrophic nuclear war, but actually a victory. Khrushchev bluntly criticized Fidel Castro for failing to comprehend the true nature of war in the thermonuclear age and, that at the height of the crisis, he had suggested in a letter to Khrushchev that the Soviets should be the first to use nuclear weapons, striking the United States should it attack Cuba, even though this would lead promptly to a global war.