The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, recalled the Cuban Missile Crisis during his speech at the Munich Security Conference, reflecting on the most critical moments of the confrontation between the West and Soviet communism.
In his speech, Rubio recalled that when the first edition of that conference was held in 1963, the world was coming out of one of the most dangerous episodes of the 20th century.
“The Cuban missile crisis had brought the world to the brink of nuclear destruction,” he stated, contextualizing the climate of tension that characterized the early years of the Cold War.
The head of U.S. diplomacy used that historical episode to illustrate what he described as the advance of communism at that time and the risk it posed to Western civilization, according to his perspective.
He pointed out that at that moment “thousands of years of Western civilization hung by a thread” and that victory over the Soviet bloc was far from guaranteed.
Rubio framed the reference to Cuba within a broader message about the need to revitalize the transatlantic alliance between the United States and Europe, defend national sovereignty, and strengthen the economic and military capabilities of the West in response to current challenges.
Although the mention of Cuba was brief and restricted to the historical context of the 1962 crisis, the episode was once again referenced as one of the moments that defined the global balance during the Cold War and, according to Rubio, exemplifies the importance of strategic cooperation among allies.
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