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Materials from the 40th Anniversary Conference
Havana, Cuba
10-12 October 2002
The tip of a Soviet R-12 (SS-4) medium-range missile, now a museum piece, points into the Havana sky
The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
A National Security Archive Documents Reader
Edited by Laurence Chang and Peter Kornbluh
Ordering information for this book is available at the W.W. Norton & Co. website. Or by phone:
800-233-4830 (U.S.)
717-346-2029 (Outside U.S.)
 
Read original Washington Post coverage of the Cuban Missile Crisis as it unfolded 40 years ago this week
 
The Cuban government's La Crisis de Octubre: una visión política 40 años después. "The Crisis of October: A political vision 40 years later" (In Spanish)
 

George Washington University's National Security Archive, in partnership with Brown University's Watson Institute for International Affairs, generated worldwide headlines by gathering U.S., Russian and Cuban veterans of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis for two days of discussions in Havana on October 11-12, 2002, followed by a tour of the last surviving remnants of the missile emplacements on the island. Cuban President Fidel Castro hosted the 40th anniversary conference and participated fully in both days' deliberations. The conference featured extraordinary discussions and new revelations from archival documents from 10 countries -- including memoranda of conversation between Cuban and Soviet leaders, detailed information on Cuban-Soviet military ties, recently declassified U.S. intelligence analyses, and new information about nuclear dangers arising from the crisis that have been unknown until now.

Below are links to Archive press releases from the conference in Havana, including links to selected documents and other new revelations about the history of the crisis.
  • Cuban missile crisis not over in 13 days; Soviet tactical nukes in Cuba until Nov. 20
  • New documents detail Cuban-Soviet arguments on missile pull-out, UN inspections
  • Cuban November order to fire on US planes provoked Khrushchev to pull tacticals
  • British ambassador predicted long-term victory for Castro in Cuba

PRESS RELEASE, 11 October 2002, 5:00 PM EST

  • Havana conference on Cuban missile crisis reveals dangers unknown at the time
  • New documents show US located only 33 of 42 missiles, zero warheads during crisis
  • US Navy dropped grenades on nuclear-armed Soviet sub at height of crisis
  • Cubans thought malaria more dangerous on Oct. 24, but expected invasion by 27th
  • Missile Crisis Conference connects Bay of Pigs to Soviet missiles in Cuba
  • JFK told Khrushchev's son-in-law in 1962 US "will not meddle" with Cuba, While Joint Chiefs planned pretexts for invasion and RFK ran Mongoose
  • Cuban government declassifies threat estimates on US and defense plans
  • Veterans of Cuban Missile Crisis arrive in Havana
  • Cuban Vice President greets McNamara, Sorenson, Kennedys
  • Conference to feature new Cuban, US, Soviet secrets
  • Veterans of Cuban Missile Crisis to Meet in Havana
  • Cubans to Host 40th Anniverary with U.S. & Russian Officials
  • Oct. 13th Visit to Nuclear Warhead Bunker at Missile Site