13. Castro plans to oppose an invasion of Cuba
As the United States and the Soviets probed each other diplomatically, the leader of the nation at the center of the dispute between the two superpowers, Fidel Castro, took steps to defend his country. Castro had opposed the installation of the Soviet missiles, and had only been persuaded when the Soviets promised additional financial and military support for his regime. By October 26, alarmed by the increased American flyovers of the missile sites in Cuba, as well as over Cuban military installations, Castro was convinced that an invasion of the island was at hand. He urged the Soviets to launch a pre-emptive missile strike on the United States, before the missiles installations could be destroyed by bombing, or captured by ground forces as part of an invasion.
Kruschev’s message to Kennedy on October 26 had offered the removal of the Soviet missiles in exchange for a promise from the United States that it would not invade Cuba. In the morning of October 27, another message arrived, allegedly from Kruschev, which abrogated that of the evening before, and offered to remove the missiles in Cuba in exchange for the United States removing the Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Italy. The Turks had already announced their opposition to such a move. As the message was being discussed by EXCOMM, which considered that it indicated internal dissension in the Kremlin, yet another message arrived from Kruschev reiterating the quid pro quo of exchanging the missiles in Cuba for those in Italy and Turkey. At the same time, Soviet ships drew nearer to the quarantine line in the Caribbean Sea.