CJC Prelim 2025 SBQ Suggested Approach

1 2025 Catholic Junior College JC2 Preliminary Examinations Suggested Answer Success Criteria Answer #1a Sources A and B are similar in showing that Castro believed that Cuba’s interests were sidelined in Superpower negotiations to end the crisis . Castro, in Source A, asserts that the removal of Jupiter missiles from Turkey as a condition for the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba “was contradictory to the theory that the missiles were sent for the defence of Cuba,” suggesting that Castro perceived Cuba’s security was not prioritised and instead, Cuba was used as an “exchange token” for the USSR to improve i ts position in the nuclear arms race. Similarly, Castro, in Source B, asserts that “American guarantees have no great significance for us,” and the US continued to pose a threat to Cuba with “the blockade” that “existed [before],” suggesting that Castro believed the deal did not benefit Cuba’s interests. #1b The similarity in views is due to their shared historical context . During the negotiations between Kennedy and Khrushchev on 27 October 1962 to defuse the crisis, Castro was not consulted and was kept in the dark. The decision to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba was made without consulting Castro. Castro only discovered through a third party on 28 October that Khrushchev had made a deal behind his back. The deal left Castro without a nuclear deterrent against American aggression, and also did not address the ongoing economic blockade and covert operations against Cuba, leaving Cuba vulnerable. Thus, both sources expressed Castro’s frustration with the USSR for the way the crisis was handled. #2a Sources A and B are different in showing the extent of Castro’s dissatisfaction with the USSR’s actions to end the crisis . Castro, in Source A , is critical and resentful of Khrushchev’s actions. Castro suggests that Khrushchev had intentionally wanted to withhold the secrets of Superpower negotiations i.e., the trading of missiles in Turkey for the missiles in Cuba from Castro, and Khrushchev’s slip of the tongue led to Castro discovering “the last thing that Nikita wanted me to hear.” In contrast, Castro, in Source B , is more measured in his words, where he reminds Mikoyan that Cuba had agreed to “the withdrawal of the Soviet bombers only in order to help the Soviet Union” end the crisis, while reminding him that this had made Cuba’s “situation…worse.” #2b The difference in views is due to the differing purposes of the two sources . Source A was from Castro’s recollections of a discussion with Khrushchev during his visit to the USSR in 1963, when he belatedly discovered from Khrushchev’s slip of the tongue that the US had removed their Jupiter missiles from Turkey as part of the deal for the USSR’s removal of missiles from Cuba. Given that he was sharing his incident at a conference on the Cuban Missile Crisis held in Havana in 1992, Castro could have been motivated to remind his international a