Now, this idea that Cubans don’t play soccer is, again, wrong, but the fear over Russian construction in Cuba was real. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was about as close as humanity has ever come to blowing itself into oblivion, and if the Soviets were going to put more missiles there, then the world was going to enter another crisis.
Fortunately, it never got to that point. Kissinger met with a Soviet ambassador to discuss the concerns, and on October 5, 1970, the Soviets agreed to not construct anything in Cuba that would violate the 1962 agreement that ended the original Cuban Missile Crisis.
This crisis, if it was ever going to become one, was averted before it began. The Cold War was filled with instances of the U.S. and Soviet Union pushing each other’s boundaries just to see what they could get away with. It’s hard to say that Henry Kissinger saved the day here, as there is no way of knowing if the Soviet ships and construction ever posed any real threat. One thing is for certain, though: seeing soccer fields meant nothing. Because Cubans play soccer.
Sometimes in America’s capital, even.
Top Image: CIA
Related: 6 Tiny Mistakes That Almost Ended the World
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