CODEX Entry 3650: San Cristobal Cuba
On October 15, 1962, the CIA spotted a Soviet medium-range ballistic missile installation in San Cristobal, Cuba. President John F. Kennedy was briefed the next morning. The U.S. began deploying troops and weapons to Florida, confronted the Soviets at the UN, and set up a naval blockade of Cuba. For two weeks the crisis deepened, and a nuclear conflict appeared a real possibility. On October 27, the U.S. and Soviets reached a secret agreement, where Kennedy would order the removal of missiles in southern Italy and Turkey, and Khrushchev would remove all missiles in Cuba. Over the following weeks, U.S. forces monitored the departure of 42 missiles aboard eight Soviet ships, and the crisis was averted. Now the site is a suburban residential neighbourhood, but the housing layout maintains the missile silo layout.