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00:00History is not an exact science.
00:05It is never set in stone.
00:16As time passes, knowledge of the past is refined and evolves.
00:20But, by definition, perceived ideas have thick skins and are hard to shift.
00:43I have a dream that all men are created.
00:46To understand the realities of the worlds, you sometimes have to shake them up and decipher
00:55the facts by looking at them another way.
00:57The Cuban Missile Crisis left the world on the edge of a nuclear abyss.
01:06Posterity has it that the worst was avoided thanks to the power of the United States and
01:11its charismatic president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
01:15And yet...
01:17The Cuban Missile Crisis left the world on the edge of a nuclear abyss.
01:21Posterity has it that the worst was avoided thanks to the power of the United States and
01:26its charismatic president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
01:29In the autumn of 1961, at its air base near Izmir, Turkey, the United States deployed a squadron
01:49equipped with fifteen medium-range Jupiter missiles.
02:02Jupiters could be armed with nuclear warheads almost a hundred times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
02:08They were able to reach Moscow in barely ten minutes and could plunge the Soviet Union into an endless nuclear winter.
02:21For the USSR and its leader Nikita Khrushchev, this threat so close to its border gave the Americans an unfair advantage.
02:33The Soviets had to respond and fast.
02:48In 1961, the Cold War was dangerously close to boiling point.
02:52In early June, the summit meeting in Vienna between the experienced Nikita Khrushchev and John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
03:02the recently elected US president, revived the tensions that existed between the two blocs.
03:07Especially regarding Germany.
03:17Khrushchev demanded that the Allies pull out of West Berlin.
03:22This enclave of freedom surrounded by the communist world presented an exit route for millions of Germans fleeing from the German Democratic Republic.
03:30Kennedy refused.
03:33While Berlin was a thorn in the side of the communist bloc,
03:44the island of Cuba had become the same thing for the Americans.
03:49Fidel Castro had come to power two years earlier and had since strengthened ties with the USSR.
03:59Kennedy's biggest fear was seeing this government last and become an example for its neighbors.
04:07For him, anything was permitted to bring about the downfall of the regime.
04:13We do not intend to be lectured on intervention by those whose character was stamped for all time on the bloody streets of Budapest.
04:23Cuba must not be abandoned to the communists and we do not intend to abandon it either.
04:29In April 1961, an invasion in the Bay of Pigs led by the US and anti-Castro Cuban exiles turned into a fiasco.
04:42In just a few days, 1400 of the men involved in the CIA-directed operation were killed, wounded or captured by Fidel Castro's forces.
04:51Khrushchev reacted to the attack, solemnly warning the Americans,
04:58the USSR will provide the Cuban people and their government the necessary aid to repel any armed attack against their island.
05:10Kennedy didn't give up.
05:16He asked CIA experts to formulate a top-secret plan to destabilize Cuba's entire society.
05:27Operation Mongoose was launched in late 1961.
05:37From their headquarters in Miami, 400 agents ran a program that cost $50 million.
05:44and there was no holding them back.
05:49Mongoose financed economic sabotage and propaganda programs
05:55and worked on plans to assassinate Cuban leaders.
06:04Military men were also brought into Operation Mongoose to formulate a number of scenarios
06:09which could serve as pretexts for invading the island.
06:13The staging of phony terrorist attacks in the United States, for example.
06:18Or the torpedoing of a ship filled with refugees on its way to Florida,
06:22for which the Cubans would be blamed.
06:24The CIA even considered trying to inject Fidel Castro's cigars with a drug that would cause behavioral problems.
06:34Everything was justifiable if it brought down the Cuban government.
06:39All this instrument had entered Cuba in the diplomatic bag of the Yankee embassy.
06:49The spies had made perforations in the floor to install microphones
06:53and capture everything that would happen in the apartment on the lower floor,
06:57sede of the Cable Graphic Agency.
07:00That's how the Yankees use their embassy.
07:03As a conspiracy center.
07:05Interference in the issues that only compete with the Cuban people.
07:08Espionage and violation of the sovereignty of Cuba.
07:15While Kennedy sought all kinds of ways to overthrow Castro's regime,
07:20Khrushchev gave orders to the East German government to close off access to West Berlin.
07:25In August 1961, temporary barbed wire fences and barriers went up along the borders of the occupied zones.
07:40Before eventually being replaced by an imposing wall.
07:44This was the moment that Kennedy chose to strengthen NATO's position by deploying the Jupiter missiles in Turkey.
08:03An action defended by the United States Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara.
08:07Actions were taken to increase both the nuclear and non-nuclear strength of the armed forces.
08:14These actions were inescapable in the face of the aggressive atmosphere in the Far East.
08:20Khrushchev was all the more put out by the fact that the US was far ahead of the USSR.
08:26The Americans had a total of 25,000 nuclear warheads, compared to fewer than 3,000 for the Soviets.
08:37How could Khrushchev make up for such a disadvantage?
08:41He suddenly had a flash of genius.
08:44He confided in his Minister of Defense.
08:47And what if we also put one of our hedgehogs down the Americans' pants?
08:56The hedgehog in this case was nuclear missiles.
09:02And the American pants was Cuba.
09:07The Soviet leader hoped to kill two birds with one stone.
09:16To secure the communist island while making Kennedy comprehend that he could not install nuclear missiles,
09:22a stone's throw from the USSR, with impunity.
09:25Fidel Castro decided to go along with Khrushchev's plan, but he still wanted to sign an official alliance treaty.
09:37He was scared that international public opinion would turn against him if nuclear warheads were supplied to Cuba secretly.
09:43In his eyes, Cuba was a sovereign state, with the legitimate right to possess nuclear weapons without having to hide them.
09:51Especially as he continuously denounced the violent aggression by the US towards his country.
09:56Khrushchev did not share this view.
09:57Khrushchev did not share this view.
10:01He wanted to supply military aid, but with the utmost secrecy, to keep the Americans guessing.
10:15In June 1962, Khrushchev managed to convince members of the Soviet Presidium of his plan.
10:33The Americans are planning to invade Cuba with their armed forces.
10:40They need to understand that by attacking Cuba, not only will they face a tenacious country,
10:48they will also face the nuclear power of the Soviet Union.
10:52Operation Anadya was launched.
10:59Its objective, to transport to Cuba more than 50,000 men, 60 short, medium and long-range nuclear missiles,
11:11bombers, some of which could be equipped with nuclear warheads,
11:14and a number of military vehicles, all without being discovered.
11:18To do this, merchant navy vessels were used.
11:25The material was wrapped and loaded onto cargo ships,
11:29and the men traveled on passenger liners.
11:34To maintain secrecy, the generals filtered information.
11:39The soldiers had no idea of their destination,
11:42nor did the captains of the 85 cargo ships chartered for the operation.
11:49Some of the ships sailed from Baltic seaports,
11:53others from the Black Sea.
12:00It was only once they were at sea that each captain opened an envelope containing instructions for the rest of the voyage.
12:06And finally, Foxtrot-class submarines discreetly escorted the convoys.
12:19But in spite of all the trickery, the Americans soon noticed this suspicious transport,
12:38notably thanks to one man.
12:40New CIA Director John McCone.
12:46Appointed by Kennedy in July 1962 after the Bay of Pigs disaster,
12:52he was the first to have suspicions about the unusual arrival of 21 Soviet cargo ships in Cuba.
12:58In a report dated August the 10th, he raised the first alarm.
13:04It could be deliveries of military equipment, and possibly nuclear weapons.
13:11Especially as 17 more ships are expected during the rest of this month.
13:17His warning went unheeded by both the CIA and the White House.
13:20Although Kennedy recognized the possibility of anti-aircraft rockets on Cuba,
13:26he believed they were purely defensive and not powerful enough to be of concern.
13:31Spy planes were nonetheless rapidly sent out to reconnoiter the Soviet ships,
13:37but they were unable to identify their cargo.
13:39As the nuclear warheads were arriving in Cuba by the dozen,
13:48in early August the just-married head of the CIA left the United States
13:53for his honeymoon on the French Riviera.
13:58In France, McCone kept up to date with the situation in Cuba.
14:02Although there was no definite proof of the freighter's cargoes,
14:07he was convinced they were carrying nuclear missiles.
14:13In early September, he cabled his deputy director.
14:17It seems entirely plausible that they are hiding the existence of offensive capacity nuclear weapons.
14:28A few days later, McCone sent a second cable.
14:32We must closely study the possibility of the secret deployment
14:35of a number of Soviet nuclear missiles.
14:45His agents didn't seem to share his concern.
14:50This is proved by the fact that his warnings were classified under the name honeymoon cables.
14:55Even worse, his service simultaneously published a report that contradicted him.
15:04It is very unlikely that nuclear missiles have been transported to the island.
15:08Back in the US, the CIA director continued to express his concern.
15:13His warnings had not been taken seriously, and reconnaissance flights over Cuba had been suspended.
15:21On October the 9th, McCone managed to convince President Kennedy to urgently resume spying missions.
15:27It wasn't until October the 14th that a Lockheed U-2 finally took off from Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
15:41Equipped with cameras, the plane was ordered to fly over Cuba and gather a maximum of information.
15:56Back at the base, the rolls of film were unloaded and sent to the CIA's photographic laboratory.
16:00928 photos of Cuban terrain were taken on that October the 14th, and their analysis continued throughout the following day.
16:24The result was irrevocable. Offensive missile launch bases, capable of striking the United States, were indeed installed on Cuba.
16:38Even worse, the missiles could be equipped with nuclear warheads.
16:44US National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy waited until the morning of October the 16th,
16:53before informing the President.
16:59Kennedy was shocked. He didn't believe Khrushchev was capable of such a trick.
17:05Meeting up with his brother and advisor, Robert Kennedy, the President flew into a rage against the Soviet leader.
17:12Branding him an immoral gangster and a fucking liar.
17:16The CIA and American intel had failed. Only John McCone had warned the White House, but in vain.
17:25Soviet military equipment was in place, and it was too late.
17:30This shift didn't change the nuclear balance of power.
17:41For the past few years, the USSR had already possessed missiles capable of reaching the US in a short space of time.
17:48The Americans were nervous. These weapons could permit Fidel Castro to attack them.
17:58The operation could also be a sign of imminent Soviet action in Berlin.
18:02The protection of West Berliners was only maintained by the American nuclear threat.
18:09If Kennedy didn't act firmly, it might give Khrushchev free reign to invade the former German capital.
18:16The United States had to react as rapidly as possible.
18:20The United States had to react as rapidly as possible.
18:27On October the 16th, Kennedy called an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, EXCOMM.
18:35He needed to find solutions fast to end the crisis.
18:39Among the members were Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, next to Robert Kennedy.
18:57President Kennedy had installed a secret tape recorder in the room, which he activated himself.
19:03Dean Rusk spoke first.
19:06Dean Rusk spoke first.
19:08But we can expect that he would have to have a likelihood of mine and whatever decision you take.
19:16The possibility of a likelihood of a Soviet reaction somewhere else, running all the way from Berlin right around to Korea.
19:25And the possibility of a reaction against the United States as well.
19:31That no one could surely force me the outcome.
19:36Kennedy replied.
19:39That we've done nothing.
19:40Communism castered and spread through the hemisphere as the government is frightened by.
19:45The evidence of power atop us.
19:49On the first day, opinions were almost unanimous.
19:51The Soviet installations in Cuba had to be destroyed.
19:57To do so, several plans of action were proposed.
20:00The President was in favor of a surgical strike.
20:04His Secretary of Defense suggested a wider scale attack, also targeting air bases.
20:13Robert Kennedy saw it as a chance to undertake what the United States had been dreaming of for several years.
20:18To invade Cuba and depose Castro.
20:22And yet, the discussions ended with no clear decision being taken.
20:35For Kennedy, the Cuban Missile Crisis came at the worst moment.
20:39Right in the middle of the campaign for the midterm elections.
20:41The next day, a series of meetings was scheduled in Connecticut.
20:46He couldn't pull out.
20:48Any last-minute changes would raise media suspicion.
20:53While the Cuban problem was now his priority, he couldn't let it be known.
20:59On October 17th, it was less the President and more the Democratic leader who landed at Stratford, Connecticut.
21:10The fact of the matter is that the great fight in 1962 is the same fight that we waged in 1960 and must be waged in this decade.
21:19And that is to provide employment for our people, education for our children, and security for our older citizens.
21:28And that job, in my opinion, can only be done by the Democratic Party.
21:31And meanwhile, as Kennedy flitted from rally to rally, over in Russia, Nikita Khrushchev was preparing another trick for him,
21:47with the unwitting help of his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Gromyko.
21:51Gromyko arrived in Washington on October 18th for an official visit already planned well in advance.
22:03The timing was perfect for Kennedy to enter into talks with the USSR without alerting the American public.
22:14Kennedy brought up the numerous Soviet cargo ships which had berthed in Cuba in recent months.
22:19But he didn't let on that the U.S. had discovered what the ships were transporting.
22:25And even Khrushchev hadn't informed Gromyko about the delivery of the nuclear missiles.
22:31The Soviet Foreign Minister swore blind.
22:34Soviet aid was purely defensive.
22:37Equipping Cuba with warheads capable of hitting the U.S. had never been part of the plan.
22:41Kennedy forced himself to remain calm in face of this blatant lie.
22:54Khrushchev was delighted.
22:56His plan was working better than he had ever hoped.
22:59The delivery of nuclear weapons to Cuba continued smoothly,
23:02while Soviet submarines took up position close to the island.
23:13The next day, October 19th, the President summoned his Joint Chiefs of Staff.
23:18He wanted the opinion of his senior military men.
23:20The U.S. Army generals didn't think that a surgical strike would guarantee the total destruction of the missiles.
23:34The only option was a full-scale attack and invasion.
23:37Ongoing maneuvers on the beaches of Florida proved the crushing superiority of the U.S. forces,
23:47which, if the order was given, would solve the problem within a matter of days.
23:53For Kennedy, this plan was unacceptable.
23:56How could he, the figurehead of the free world, justify aggression towards a small island nation
24:02when the world ignored its real threat?
24:05To say nothing of probable Soviet reprisals?
24:09General LeMay made one last remark to the President.
24:14We're going a pretty bad fix to the President.
24:17We're going a pretty bad fix to the President.
24:19We're going with us.
24:23After the meeting, Kennedy confided to one of his advisers.
24:26If we listen to them and do what they want us to do, none of us will be alive later to tell them that they were wrong.
24:44Two further EXCOMM meetings were held on October the 20th and 21st.
24:50Kennedy informed its members of his decision.
24:52To prevent Soviet freighters from reaching Cuba, he would order a naval blockade of the island.
24:59The argument of the blockade was that if you want to do it, avoid every day, it would be a war.
25:07It provides for escalation of imbalance.
25:11The Soviets from the freeze would take an additional action so it comes up with some degree of control.
25:18A week had gone by since reconnaissance photos had established the presence of nuclear missiles on Cuba.
25:28And life was going by without anybody realizing the mortal danger hanging over the world.
25:33But the secret wouldn't be kept for much longer.
25:42Kennedy was preparing to share the truth in a televised speech on October the 22nd.
25:48On the 21st, he dispatched Dean Acheson to Europe to inform his NATO allies in person.
25:56Faced with a fait accompli, European leaders were obliged to give President Kennedy the green light.
26:05The international press was called on to announce the importance of the President's speech.
26:11Out of respect for the Soviets, at 6 p.m., Secretary of State Dean Rusk received the Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin
26:24and gave him a copy of the speech that Kennedy would be making one hour later.
26:31Dobrynin was stupefied.
26:34He hadn't been informed of the deployment of the offensive nuclear missiles.
26:37The President of the United States.
26:49Good evening, my fellow citizens.
26:51Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact
26:56that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on the island of Cuba.
27:03The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.
27:13The truth was out.
27:15The nuclear threat hanging over the United States was now known to all.
27:19Last Tuesday morning...
27:21Kennedy demanded that the Soviets immediately cease all ongoing operations,
27:25or the USSR would be hit with terrible reprisals.
27:27Finally, he announced a quarantine around Cuba.
27:32All ships, whichever nation's flag they flew, would be intercepted and forced to turn back if they were carrying offensive weapons.
27:38The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it.
27:44Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right.
27:50Not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom here in this hemisphere.
27:57And we hope around the world, God willing, that goal will be achieved.
28:02Thank you, and good night.
28:06His speech plunged the world into apocalyptic anguish.
28:09Stores were stormed by panicked shoppers.
28:29Nuclear fallout shelters sprang up.
28:48From the Vatican, where worshippers were gathered to pray for peace,
28:52Pope John XXIII launched an urgent appeal.
28:54We pray to all governments to not stay weak to this cry of humanity.
29:02They do everything that is in them to save peace.
29:06They will avoid the fears of a war here,
29:11where nothing can be expected to be the inevitable consequences.
29:15On the morning of October 23rd, Khrushchev replied to Kennedy's speech in a brief letter.
29:28He denounced the aggressive action of the so-called quarantine,
29:33which violated the United Nations Charter and the freedom of navigation.
29:36He maintained that the weapons delivered to Cuba were exclusively defensive,
29:42and hoped that the Americans would renounce any action
29:45that could have disastrous consequences for peace.
29:53At the same time, he placed Eastern Bloc forces on red alert.
30:00While in the US, the machinery of war had started turning.
30:03I have taken the necessary steps to deploy our forces to be positioned to make effective the quarantine
30:10at 2 p.m. tomorrow, Greenwich time.
30:15That will be the equivalent of 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
30:19The forces are ordered to interdict delivery of offensive weapons and associated material to Cuba.
30:24Those are the instructions we've been given, those are the instructions we will carry out.
30:33Four aircraft carriers and 40 destroyers steamed towards the Caribbean Sea.
30:44At Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, an American enclave in the south of Cuba,
30:48families were urgently evacuated back to the United States.
31:03While war was on everybody's minds, in Moscow, a performance at the Bolshoi Theatre was drawing to a close.
31:10Khrushchev was peacefully watching.
31:13What better way to reassure the public than attending a ballet in the middle of a geopolitical crisis?
31:18At 10 o'clock on the morning of October 24th, the quarantine of Cuba officially began.
31:25Within hours, the first Soviet freighters would reach the blockade set in place by the American warships ordered to intercept them.
31:31At the same time, U.S. Army Strategic Air Command went to DEFCON 2, the highest alert state before Total War.
31:34At 10 o'clock on the morning of October 24th, the quarantine of Cuba officially began.
31:40Within hours, the first Soviet freighters would reach the blockade set in place by the American warships ordered to intercept them.
31:48At the same time, U.S. Army Strategic Air Command went to DEFCON 2, the highest alert state before Total War.
32:01All American nuclear weapons across the globe were activated.
32:08A large-scale conflict between the two nations seemed imminent.
32:15It was a grave hour. A tense Kennedy wondered.
32:20What if the Soviet ships actually broke the blockade?
32:25Would he really have to declare war?
32:27...
32:52Among the approaching Soviet ships, four of them were transporting nuclear warheads.
32:55nuclear warheads.
32:57Mas o que Kennedy não sabia
32:59era que Khrushchev já pediu
33:01eles de voltar.
33:02O líder do soviético não queria
33:04ter o risco de eles
33:05de entrar em seus Estados Unidos.
33:07Plus, ele estimou
33:08que havia já o suficiente
33:10warheads em Cuba.
33:16Khrushchev's order
33:17não preocupou em todos os shipes.
33:19Other soviético-feitos
33:20continuaram em sua forma,
33:21ready para o bloqueio.
33:25Like the Bucharest.
33:30Spotted,
33:31it was chased by the US Navy.
33:36An American destroyer
33:38approached it
33:38to call it into order.
33:40Tension was at its peak.
33:43When questioned via radio,
33:45the Soviet captain claimed
33:46he was only transporting fuel.
33:50After much consideration,
33:52the Americans decided
33:53to let the ship through,
33:56believing that it was not
33:57carrying military equipment.
34:02The first day of quarantine
34:04ended without any major incidents.
34:08To the great relief
34:10of the members of XCOM.
34:11but Kennedy knew
34:14the crisis was far from over.
34:17Well, now,
34:18the quarantine itself
34:19won't remove the weapons.
34:20So, you're going to get
34:21two ways of removing the weapons.
34:22One is to negotiate them out,
34:26in other words,
34:27trade them out,
34:27and the other is
34:28to go in and take them out.
34:29but I don't see any other way
34:30to get the weapons out.
34:36At the United Nations,
34:37on Thursday,
34:38the fourth day of crisis,
34:40the conflict is carried on
34:41among the diplomats
34:42of the world.
34:43Here,
34:43in this political forum,
34:45representatives
34:45of each of the nations
34:47involved in the global dispute
34:48are given the opportunity
34:50to hear and be heard,
34:52nation against nation,
34:53face to face,
34:54in dramatic confrontation.
34:56The Soviet ambassador
34:58to the UN,
34:59Valerian Zorin,
35:00began hostilities
35:01by accusing
35:02the United States
35:03of piracy.
35:05But the American ambassador,
35:06Adlai Stevenson,
35:07hit back.
35:08Let me ask you
35:09one simple question.
35:12Do you,
35:13Ambassador Zorin,
35:14deny that the USSR
35:15has placed
35:17and is placing
35:18medium and intermediate
35:20range missiles
35:21and sites in Cuba?
35:23Yes or no?
35:24Don't wait
35:25for the translation,
35:26yes or no?
35:34I am not
35:37in an American courtroom,
35:38sir,
35:39and therefore
35:39I do not wish
35:40to answer a question
35:42that is put to me
35:43in the fashion
35:44in which a prosecutor does.
35:46In due course,
35:46sir,
35:46you will have your reply.
35:47I am prepared
35:48to wait for my answer
35:49until hell freezes over,
35:50if that's your decision.
35:53Stevenson then displayed
35:54two photographs
35:55taken by American
35:56reconnaissance planes.
35:58Constructions can clearly
35:59be seen,
36:00and an expert eye
36:01could easily recognize
36:03the infrastructures
36:04required for launching missiles.
36:07The photos managed
36:09to sway public opinion
36:10into thinking
36:11that it was the USSR
36:12that had started
36:13the hostilities.
36:14of the Soviet Union.
36:15He wanted to bring
36:15to an end
36:16the vicious circle
36:17where a single spark
36:18could result
36:19in an apocalypse.
36:20Khrushchev would make
36:20the first step
36:21towards a diplomatic solution.
36:23He wanted to bring
36:24to an end
36:25the vicious circle
36:26where a single spark
36:27could result
36:28in an apocalypse.
36:31On October 25th,
36:33he summoned
36:33the Presidium
36:34and offered
36:35to withdraw
36:35the nuclear missiles
36:37installed on Cuba.
36:39In return,
36:40he demanded
36:40that Kennedy promise
36:42that the U.S.
36:42would never try
36:43to bring down
36:44Fidel Castro
36:45by invading the island.
36:51This was Khrushchev's
36:53prime objective,
36:54to sustain
36:55the spread of communism
36:56into the heart
36:57of the West.
37:04Her first message,
37:05seemingly written
37:06by Khrushchev,
37:07arrived at the White House
37:08the next evening.
37:10Robert McNamara
37:11recalled
37:11the event.
37:13We received
37:14the most extraordinary
37:15diplomatic cable
37:16that I have ever seen.
37:19Eight pages long,
37:21the message
37:21was quite surprising.
37:23After agreeing
37:24to withdraw
37:25the missiles
37:25in return
37:26for a promise
37:26not to invade Cuba,
37:29Khrushchev then
37:29embarked
37:30on a confused description
37:31of the drastic effects
37:32of a possible nuclear war.
37:35But it convinced
37:36Kennedy
37:36of his counterpart's
37:37willingness
37:37to negotiate.
37:41On the evening
37:42of October 26th,
37:44a second letter
37:45was written in Moscow,
37:46this time
37:47in a more formal style.
37:49In it,
37:50Khrushchev played
37:51another gamble.
37:52Beyond security
37:53for Cuba,
37:55he also demanded
37:55the withdrawal
37:56of all American
37:57Jupiter missiles
37:58from Turkey.
37:59first broadcast
38:07by Radio Moscow,
38:08the contents
38:08of the letter
38:09soon reached
38:10the ears
38:10of Western journalists.
38:13And on the morning
38:15of October 27th,
38:16an assistant
38:17brought the US
38:18president
38:18the first reports.
38:21Kennedy realized
38:23that another letter
38:24from Khrushchev
38:24was on its way,
38:25containing this new demand,
38:27and he wasn't
38:28completely hostile
38:29to the idea.
38:31If the United States
38:32didn't want
38:32nuclear missiles
38:33in Cuba
38:34for fear
38:34of being attacked,
38:35it was only natural
38:36for the USSR
38:37not to want them
38:39in Europe
38:39for the same reason.
38:41The majority
38:42of EXCOMM members
38:43were against
38:43this new demand.
38:45They believed
38:46that Kennedy
38:46should agree
38:47only to the exchange
38:48requested by Khrushchev
38:50the day before,
38:51the withdrawal
38:52of Soviet missiles
38:53from Cuba
38:54in return for a promise
38:55not to invade
38:56the island.
38:57During the day
38:59on October 27th,
39:01discussions continued
39:02while the shadow
39:03of the apocalypse
39:04stretched out.
39:05Things could still
39:06go either way.
39:10The same day,
39:11an American U-2
39:12on a mission
39:13to collect air samples
39:14from the Arctic Circle
39:15lost its way.
39:18The pilot flew off course
39:20right into Soviet airspace.
39:22picked up by Russian radar,
39:31a fighter jet
39:32was sent up
39:33to intercept it.
39:34at the same time,
39:47U.S. Air Command,
39:48realizing that one
39:49of its aircraft
39:50was lost,
39:51sent out fighters
39:52to retrieve it.
39:55Only due to the
39:56DEFCON-2
39:56state of alert,
39:57the U.S. jets
39:58were carrying
39:59nuclear rockets.
40:00The U-2
40:08was about to be
40:09intercepted
40:10by the Soviet MiG
40:11when it finally managed
40:12to leave Russian airspace.
40:13When the event
40:21was reported
40:22to President Kennedy,
40:23he lost his cool.
40:25There's always
40:26one son of a bitch
40:27who doesn't get
40:28the message.
40:29Khrushchev
40:30was equally shocked.
40:32A lost American plane
40:33could make us
40:34take that fateful step.
40:39A few hours
40:40after the incident,
40:41an American U-2
40:42reconnaissance aircraft
40:43on a mission
40:44over Cuba
40:44was shot down
40:46by an anti-aircraft missile.
40:56The order
40:57to fire the missile
40:58came from Soviet commanders
40:59stationed on the island,
41:01despite the opposing orders
41:02given by Moscow.
41:04The pilot,
41:05Major Rudolf Andersen,
41:07was killed in the crash.
41:11Fidel Castro
41:13was convinced
41:13that the Americans
41:14were about
41:15to bomb Cuba.
41:17He urgently
41:18cabled Khrushchev
41:19to ask him
41:19to consider
41:20a nuclear strike.
41:28Khrushchev
41:28was aghast.
41:32Kennedy
41:32was against
41:33any reprisals.
41:35At the White House
41:36and the Kremlin,
41:37the two leaders
41:37knew that a single spark
41:39could ignite
41:40could ignite
41:40the whole world.
41:47Another dramatic episode
41:49would be proof of this.
41:55Soviet submarines
41:56were still active
41:56in the blockade zone
41:57and were being systematically
41:59tracked down
42:00by the Americans.
42:00two of them surfaced
42:10and were immediately spotted.
42:11But submarine B-59
42:29was still untraceable.
42:31It had left its base
42:33three weeks earlier
42:34and since reaching
42:35the Sargasso Sea
42:36had been unable
42:37to report back
42:37to Moscow.
42:38Moscow
42:38All the radio operator
42:43could do
42:43was listen to news
42:44broadcast by Radio Miami.
42:48It spoke of an imminent
42:50American invasion
42:51of Cuba
42:51which plunged the crew
42:53into high anxiety.
42:59Especially as
43:00on board the submarine
43:01the air conditioning
43:02had broken down.
43:08The U.S. Navy
43:13finally traced
43:14the sub
43:15on October the 27th.
43:17To signal
43:18the vessel
43:18to surface
43:19the Americans
43:20dropped blank
43:21depth charges
43:22used for training
43:23exercises.
43:27The Russian captain
43:28thought he was
43:29under attack.
43:33Thinking that war
43:34had been declared
43:35he prepared
43:36to launch
43:36the 10-kiloton nuclear
43:38missile his submarine
43:39was carrying.
43:45Fortunately
43:45his second-in-command
43:47Vasily Arkhipov
43:48managed to convince him
43:49at the last instant
43:51to surface
43:51before committing
43:52the act of no return.
43:57The worst was avoided
43:59in extremis.
44:03After what was nicknamed
44:05Black Saturday
44:06by the White House
44:07Kennedy was determined
44:08to reach a diplomatic solution.
44:12XCOM composed a letter
44:13agreeing to abandon
44:14any invasion of Cuba
44:15in return for the withdrawal
44:17of Soviet nuclear missiles.
44:20But Kennedy was convinced
44:21that Khrushchev
44:22would refuse the proposal
44:23since there was no mention
44:25of withdrawing
44:25American Jupiter missiles
44:27from Turkey.
44:30Kennedy was ready
44:31to withdraw the missiles
44:32despite opposition
44:33from his advisers.
44:34and the problem
44:36was NATO.
44:39How would his allies
44:40take the withdrawal
44:41of weapons
44:42that protected them
44:43without consulting
44:44with them first?
44:52Kennedy summoned
44:53a small committee
44:54and informed them
44:55of his decision
44:55to accept
44:56Khrushchev's demand.
44:58To avoid upsetting
45:00their NATO partners
45:01it was Secretary of State
45:03Dean Rusk
45:03who came up
45:04with the answer
45:05to promise the Russians
45:07they would withdraw
45:08the missiles from Turkey
45:10but later
45:11once the current crisis
45:12was solved.
45:15Robert Kennedy
45:16was given the task
45:17of informing
45:17the Soviet ambassador
45:18Anatoly Dobrynin.
45:21In this way
45:21Khrushchev would get
45:22what he wanted
45:23without giving the impression
45:25that the US
45:25had handed him victory.
45:27The President's brother
45:32reassured Dobrynin
45:33it would probably
45:35take us
45:35four or five months
45:36to withdraw
45:37our missiles
45:37from Turkey.
45:39That's the minimum
45:40amount of time
45:41given the procedures
45:43imposed by NATO.
45:46And if the USSR
45:48wanted the proposal
45:49to come to term
45:50the strategy
45:50must remain
45:51strictly confidential.
45:53Robert Kennedy
45:55gave Dobrynin
45:56a direct number
45:57to the White House
45:58and asked him
45:59to call
45:59the moment
46:00he had Khrushchev's reply.
46:04The end of the crisis
46:06now depended
46:07on Moscow.
46:11Robert Kennedy
46:12joined the President
46:12who was trying
46:13his best
46:14to remain calm
46:15while awaiting
46:15the Soviet reply.
46:17When Khrushchev
46:26received the American
46:27proposal
46:28he was pleasantly
46:29surprised.
46:30He didn't think
46:31Kennedy would agree
46:32to the removal
46:33of the Jupiters
46:34from Turkey
46:34especially
46:35as he had just
46:36decided to accept
46:37his previous offer.
46:40The Soviet leader
46:41immediately
46:42cabled Dobrynin
46:43telling him
46:44to accept
46:45the American offer.
46:47Khrushchev
46:51then recorded
46:51a speech
46:52that would be
46:52aired by Radio Moscow.
46:55In it
46:56he agreed
46:57to withdraw
46:57the missiles
46:58from Cuba
46:59in return
46:59for the security
47:00of Fidel Castro's
47:01government.
47:04And as requested
47:04by his American
47:05counterpart
47:06there was no mention
47:07of the Jupiter
47:08missiles in Turkey.
47:13On the morning
47:14of October 28th
47:15Kennedy's
47:16cavalry came
47:17to an end.
47:19The news
47:19reached Washington
47:20at 9am
47:21and the tension
47:22was finally relieved.
47:25The members
47:25of XCOM
47:26congratulated
47:27the president
47:27except for
47:29the chiefs
47:29of staff
47:30who had still
47:31hoped for an attack
47:32against the Castro
47:33government.
47:35Admiral Anderson
47:36even went so far
47:37as to say
47:38we've been
47:39had.
47:42Kennedy
47:43was dismayed
47:44by the reaction
47:44of his top
47:45generals.
47:51Throughout the West
47:53Kennedy's victory
47:54was celebrated.
47:55In the eyes
47:56of the world
47:57he had forced
47:58the Soviet Union
47:59to retreat.
48:00The potentially
48:01tragic crisis
48:02which had lasted
48:0313 long days
48:04was finally over.
48:08Its peaceful
48:09resolution
48:09paved the way
48:10for a period
48:11of detente
48:12between the
48:12USSR
48:13and the USA.
48:21The Moscow-Washington
48:22hotline,
48:23the famous
48:23red telephone,
48:25was set up
48:25and several
48:26non-proliferation
48:27of nuclear weapons
48:28treaties
48:29were signed.
48:33And as proof
48:34of the easing
48:35of tensions,
48:36in 1963
48:37Secretary of State
48:39Dean Rusk
48:39and Nikita Khrushchev
48:40met on the shores
48:42of the Black Sea.
48:43Mr. Rusk
48:43said that they
48:44touched on many
48:44things in a
48:45relaxed atmosphere
48:46but reached no
48:47conclusions
48:47on any further
48:48agreements.
48:52Later,
48:53the meeting
48:53adjourned to a
48:54recreation room
48:54where Mr. Khrushchev
48:56took on Mr. Rusk
48:57at badminton.
48:58Decked out
48:58in his Ukrainian
48:59blouse,
48:59the Russian leader
49:00defeated the American.
49:01But that's the life
49:02of a diplomat.
49:14Yet Kennedy's
49:15so-called victory
49:16was relative.
49:17Firstly,
49:18the crisis
49:18would never have
49:19happened without
49:20repeated aggression
49:21by the US
49:22towards Cuba.
49:24Fidel Castro,
49:33at first furious
49:34at Khrushchev's
49:34decision,
49:35repaired their
49:36falling out
49:36in 1963
49:38by making
49:38an official visit
49:39to the USSR.
49:45Khrushchev acted
49:46purely to safeguard
49:47the Red Island
49:48from further
49:48American offensives.
49:50And in this,
49:51he triumphed.
49:52The communist
49:53regime has
49:54lasted in Cuba
49:55until this very
49:56day.
50:02As for the
50:03withdrawal of
50:03the American
50:04missiles from
50:05Turkey,
50:05in February 1963,
50:07before a select
50:08committee of the
50:09House of Representatives,
50:11Secretary of Defense
50:12McNamara and
50:13Secretary of State
50:14Dean Rusk
50:15swore that the
50:16withdrawal of
50:17Jupiter's were
50:18never part of
50:19the bargaining
50:19over Cuba.
50:20A lie
50:25which would
50:25ensure the
50:26popularity of
50:26a campaigning
50:27president
50:27and feed the
50:29myth of
50:30American
50:30intransigence
50:31in the face
50:32of communism.
50:34But it
50:35wouldn't help
50:35Nikita Khrushchev,
50:36who was removed
50:37from power in
50:38October 1964.
50:39It wasn't until
50:421969 that the
50:43secret agreement
50:44was revealed.
50:46History is made
50:47in such a way
50:48that, in order
50:48to fully grasp
50:49it, no event
50:51can be left
50:51out.
50:52to be left
51:05in Хотя
51:05to be left
51:05in mystery
51:06and
51:06within
51:07the
51:08observing
51:08of
51:09European
51:09and
51:10Spirit
51:11in
51:12Contour
51:13of
51:13England
51:13are
51:13guilty of
51:14histoire
51:14to be left
51:14foot
51:15and
51:15to be left
51:16the
51:17door
51:17even
51:18to be
51:18in
51:19say
51:19in
51:20A CIDADE NO BRASIL
51:50A CIDADE NO BRASIL
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