When the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, Sharaf Rashidov dealt not only with republican affairs. His experience in international relations he had gained in the late 1950s was not forgotten, and in 1962 he was included in a delegation to Cuba.
INITIALLY, FIDEL CASTRO, THE LEADER OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION, WAS NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY THE USSR AUTHORITIES, WHO THOUGHT THAT THE UNITED STATES HAD A GREAT INFLUENCE ON HIM. BUT AFTER FIDEL CASTRO STARTED NATIONALISATION AND THE UNITED STATES DECLARED AN ECONOMIC BLOCKADE ON THE ISLAND, IT BECAME CLEAR THAT CUBA COULD BECOME AN ALLY OF THE USSR. IN 1961, THE SOVIET UNION HAD ITS OWN INTERESTS IN CUBA.
This happened when 15 American PGM-19 Jupiter medium-range missiles with a range of 2,400 km were deployed in Turkey. The weapon directly threatened the European part of the USSR and Moscow in particular. Soviet strategists realised that they were practically defenceless before these missiles, but it was possible to achieve nuclear parity by taking a retaliatory step – by placing their missiles in Cuba.
With the task of agreeing on the deployment of missiles under the guise of negotiations on assistance to Cuba in the supply of agricultural machinery, the Soviet delegation went to Havana on 26 May 1962. Sharaf Rashidov was appointed the head. It was a secret operation codenamed Anadyr.
Biographers note that Sharaf Rashidov worked not only for the benefits of the USSR, but sincerely, as an internationalist, sought to help Cuba. Later he would write:
"CUBA IS A COUNTRY OF FALCONS, A COUNTRY OF HEROES WHO PREFER ONE DAY OF FREE AND INDEPENDENT LIFE TO MILLENNIA OF SLAVERY. THIS IS A COUNTRY OF BRAVE, UNRULY PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT BOWED BEFORE THE MIGHT OF AMERICAN IMPERIALISM. THIS IS THE FIRST COUNTRY IN AMERICA TO EMBARK ON THE PATH OF BUILDING SOCIALISM. IT BURNS WITH THE FLAME OF REVOLUTION."
Sharaf Rashidov, as a man born on the day of the beginning of the October Revolution, respected Fidel Castro and the entire Cuban people.
The delegation stayed in Cuba for two weeks and returned home on 10 June. The next day, all its members visited Khrushchev and reported to him about the agreement of the Cuban authorities with the Soviet government's proposal to supply missiles under the guise of agricultural machines and military personnel under the guise of tourists.
The operation was not completed – the US learned about the operation. This provoked the Caribbean crisis, which could lead to a nuclear war. But the leaders of the superpowers came to a compromise: Khrushchev agreed to withdraw all missiles from Cuba, and Kennedy in response promised not to bomb the island and remove the Jupiter missiles from Turkey. However, the Soviet leader made his decision without any coordination with Cuba, which dissatisfied the Cuban leader.
THE CONFLICT WAS SETTLED, FIDEL CASTRO LATER SAID: "KHRUSHCHEV MADE A MISTAKE TOWARDS US THAT CAUSED PAIN TO CUBA, BUT THIS NEVERTHELESS CANNOT OVERSHADOW OR ANNUL THE FEELING OF OUR GRATITUDE."
Although Fidel Castro outwardly forgave Khrushchev, inwardly he stopped trusting him. However, the Cuban leader had a completely different relationship with Sharaf Rashidov – according to one version, the Uzbek leader not only negotiated the deployment of missiles, but also promoted the development of agriculture in Cuba. It was his initiative that the organisers of economy were sent from Uzbekistan to the Island of Freedom. It was his personal contribution to the cause of international friendship with Cuba and personally with Fidel Castro, who would later visit Uzbekistan and celebrate Victory Day with Sharaf Rashidov.
