Reagan Speeches

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Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea which sits as close as 90 miles off the coast of the United States. It has been a borderline socialist/communist country since Fidel Castro took power in 1959. Currently, the island is strong allies with socialist Venezuela and has maintained its ties to Russia. During his presidency, President Barack Obama pushed to normalize relations with Cuba, in fact being the first president to visit the country in nearly 100 years (the last visit being 1928), but many of these actions were reversed by President Donald Trump.

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Speech Relevance

In 'A Time For Choosing' Reagan tells a story about a Cuban who had escaped the island while it was under Castro's rule:

Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the Cuban stopped and said, "How lucky you are! I had someplace to escape to." In that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth.

In 'Encroaching Control', Reagan makes a brief reference to Cuba as being:

a Russian beach head 90 miles off our Florida coast

Little would anyone realize that within the next year, Cuba almost became a literal beach head for the Soviet Union when they attempted to place Soviet missile bases on the island. Luckily, the Cuban Missile Crisis was averted.

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Other Appearances

Reagan references Cuba frequently during his Radio Commentaries in the 1970s, with 18 named commentaries and several which mention Cuba tangently.

In his first commentary, Reagan mentions 2 US Senators who had recently visited the island. These appear to be Jacob Javits (R-NY) and Clairborne Pell (D-RI) who visited in September 1974.

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Source Links

Cuba (Wikipedia)

Cuba: The People - a 1974 produced documentary filmed in Cuba.

Agriculture and Food Situation in Cuba, May 1962 - discussing the de-evolution of life in Cuba after Castro took power.