Kira Rudik: ‘Nuclear fears as Russian rhetoric mimics Cold War’
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Experts found graffiti scrawled across the walls in a system of bunkers and trenches on the Cuban coast. The words, written 60 years ago during the Cuban Missile Crisis, declare that surrendering to the US was not an option. The individual’s message, written in Spanish, indicates that they were determined to fight in the event of war breaking out.
Researcher Odlanyer Hernández de Lara told Live Science: “Some inscriptions relating to the time of the Missile Crisis are very interesting, including one that reads: ‘aquí no se rinde nadie’ (no one is giving up here).”
During the Cold War, Washington and Moscow came within touching distance of nuclear war in a bitter power-driven spat that would last more than four decades.
This threatened to boil over during the Cuban Missile Crisis when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev fulfilled Fidel Castro’s request to place nuclear weapons on the island.
The missile preparations were spotted by a US Air Force U-2 spy plane, sparking fury in the West and leading President John F. Kennedy to order a naval blockade on October 22, 1962.
Most historians agree that the 13-day standoff that ensued “brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster,” with both nations armed to the teeth with weapons capable of obliterating each other in seconds.
While the US never launched a full-scale invasion on Cuba, a system of bunkers and trenches were dug to defend the island that still remain today.
Archaeologists are now documenting these using 3D scanning techniques.
De Lara added: “These bunkers are concrete structures with a main and an elevated/secondary embrasure [opening] facing the sea, and a main rear entrance with two alternative exits to the sides.
“The trenches are excavated into bedrock, connecting the bunkers with [a] storage area.”
They were abandoned shortly after the crisis.
The team say some of the bunkers are in good shape, but others have been damaged by coastal erosion and other effects.
The research, which is not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) that was held in Chicago from March 30 to April 3.
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The Cuban Missile Crisis would highlight the necessity of a quick, clear, and direct communication line between Washington and Moscow.
As a result, the Moscow-Washington hotline was established.
A series of agreements later reduced US-Soviet tensions for several years until both parties began to build their nuclear arsenal even further.
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