France had eyes and ears in Cuba

First modification: 07/11/2022 – 16:08

At the heart of France’s diplomatic archives, several telegrams hint at the role the French played in the Cuban missile crisis, especially officials at the embassy in Havana.

Jean Mendelson was ambassador to Cuba and today he is one of the guardians of these historical documents. One in particular dates from August 18, 1962, that is, two months before the military escalation. “The French embassy in Cuba realized that things were happening. A French non-commissioned officer, returning to Havana after a weekend in the Pinar del Río region, told the ambassador that some 4,000 people of Slavic or North European origin arrived to Cuba, in addition to a lot of military equipment,” summarizes Mendelson. “As a member of the Atlantic Alliance, France of course informed the Americans,” adds the former diplomat.

What the noncommissioned officer had seen was actually the first fruits of the Soviet operation Anádir: the positioning of military material and nuclear ballistic missiles on the island. Something that the United States suspected but not without certainty.

The rest is known. On October 22, 1962, President Kennedy ordered a naval air blockade of Cuba. Not without first informing General Charles De Gaulle, through his Secretary of State Dean Acheson.

“Immediately, even before Dean Acheson presented him with the evidence of the presence of missiles in Cuba, de Gaulle declared that the United States had the unconditional backing of France, that they had its support,” says Vincent Touze, a French historian and specialist in the Cuban missile crisis.

On the brink of nuclear conflict

The diplomatic conflict lasted almost two weeks in total. In definite accounts, it was the secret negotiations, the famous “hotline” between Washington and Moscow, that allowed to de-escalate this dangerous situation, because although the suspicions were strong, both sides knew little about the magnitude of a real clash.

“De Gaulle himself realized that the world was on the brink of a nuclear war, that Europe almost became the victim of a nuclear conflict on its soil, not on American or Soviet soil,” explains Touze.

According to him, for France this episode was decisive, although the consequences were paradoxical. “In 1963, he gave an anti-American speech. So this unconditional support that the United States gave him led him to reflect and ultimately decide to withdraw France from NATO,” he says.

De Gaulle’s government maintained appeased relations with Cuba. Although he did not travel to Cuba during his tour of Latin America in 1964, he did appoint the president of the French-Cuban friendship association as ambassador in Havana and favored commercial ties between the two countries after the crisis.

Follow us on Radio France International for the details of the story. RFI will dedicate a podcast series to France’s actions in the Cuban missile crisis, as part of the 60th anniversary of the events.