Office of the Historian

282. Memorandum From Gordon Chase of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)0

Washington, February 14, 1963.

SUBJECT

  • Isolation of Cuba

There seems to be very little doubt that Cuba has been substantially isolated from the Free World.

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1.
Only about 5 OAS countries maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba and all of the OAS countries, to a lesser or greater degree, regard Castro as a menace.
2.
Free World shipping to Cuba has fallen precipitously during recent months. There are about 1/2 as many Free World ships travelling to Cuba now as opposed to the period before the quarantine.
3.
Cuba’s trade with the Free World has dropped considerably over the past few years—trade with the Free World totaled about $1-1/2 million in 1958 as opposed to $200 million in 1962.
4.
Free World air services are extremely limited. At present only Mexico and Spain permit flights to Cuba.

This isolation has not come about accidentally. We have actively encouraged this isolation unilaterally (shipping restrictions), bilaterally (representations to certain countries trading with Cuba), and multilaterally (OAS).

If he can help it, I don’t think the President should play too hard this afternoon1 on the great job we are doing by isolating Cuba; it may come back to haunt us. While a policy of isolation has some advantages (e.g. highlights the problem and sets the scene for more drastic action in the future) it is becoming quite clear that isolation from the Free World does not hurt Cuba in any real sense (e.g. total import levels remain the same). It may well be that at some future date we will find it in our interest to back off some of our formal and informal restrictions on contact between the Free World and Cuba. The real crux of the matter, of course, is to isolate Cuba from the Soviet Bloc.

I would much prefer to see the President steer away from the isolation issue and instead try to get across to the American people a sense of perspective in viewing the Cuban problem.

GC
  1. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Cuba, General, 2/63. Confidential.↩
  2. Reference is to the President’s press conference, February 14, which included questions and answers on Cuba; for text, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States:John F. Kennedy, 1963, pp. 172-180.↩