429. Editorial Note
At a press conference at the Department of State on September 13, 1962, President Kennedy made a statement concerning the situation in Cuba. He noted that there had been a good deal of speculation, prompted by statements made in Moscow and Havana, concerning the possibility of an imminent invasion of Cuba by United States forces. The President dismissed the speculation as a “frantic effort” by Castro to bolster a troubled regime. Military action by the United States against Cuba would be triggered, Kennedy stated, only if Cuba posed a threat to any other nation in the hemisphere, or if Cuba became an offensive military base for the Soviet Union. The President noted that, despite the increasing flow of Soviet arms and military personnel to Cuba, conditions had not reached the point that would justify military action against Cuba. He made it clear, however, that the United States would not hesitate to act if threatening conditions developed:
“If at any time the Communist build-up in Cuba were to endanger or interfere with our security in any way, including our base at Guantanamo, [Page 1066] our passage to the Panama Canal, our missile and space activities at Cape Canaveral, or the lives of American citizens in this country, or if Cuba should ever attempt to export its aggressive purposes by force or the threat of force against any nation in this hemisphere, or become an offensive military base of significant capacity for the Soviet Union, then this country will do whatever must be done to protect its own security and that of its allies.”
He added, with respect to the military build-up occurring in Cuba:
“If the United States ever should find it necessary to take military action against communism in Cuba, all of Castroʼs Communist-supplied weapons and technicians would not change the result or significantly extend the time required to achieve that result.” (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962, pages 674-675)