Mission Statement

The Caribbean Chapter of the Cold War Museum was founded on November 2008 for the purpose of examining and encouraging discussions on the events that shaped up our times: The Cold War.

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe” These powerful words uttered by Winston Churchill at Westminster College in Fulton Missouri on March 5th 1946; brought to the forefront the new reality born out of the ashes of the Second World War. A reality that transformed our geopolitical structure in ways we are still having trouble understanding. For almost forty five years, we lived that reality. Much has been discussed on both sides of the “Curtain” pretending to the events of the last half century and still we don’t have the full picture of it all.

The Cold War was a global entanglement. All nations, in one way or another, became players in this struggle. The conflict also involved all the twenty six nations, states, commonwealth and/or territories that compromise the basic Caribbean Area. Thirteen more countries, including Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia; form what is known as the greater Caribbean basin. As in the case of all other nations in the world, the Caribbean states played a role, and sometimes, a very important one, in shaping the course of the Cold War and our current geopolitical status.

It was in the Caribbean where the most famous and controversial encounter between the superpowers took shape. The incredible events surrounding the thirteen days of October 1962, not only involved the Island of Cuba, but Puerto Rico and other small Islands went on to  play a pivotal, supplemental role in the mapping of that crisis. Their role, as it the case with many other incidents related to the Cold War, is seldom explored in great account. It’s the attempt of the Caribbean Chapter to, not only detail those and/or other incidents during those forty five years, but to place them in the contest of our current structure.

We are here because we want to promote a further understanding of the scarified made by the unsung hero of the Cold War: the veterans. During almost five decades, the men and women who wore with pride the uniform, of not only the United States and/or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and their respective allies or satellites; but also the fatigues of the many Caribbean nations that were touched by the conflict.

If you are a veteran of those times or an historian, student or anyone who is interest in the study and research of one of the greatest events in the history of mankind; the Caribbean Chapter of the Cold War Museum is the place for you. We had begun to assemble a cradle of information, articles, newspaper and other material related to the last five decades. We will provide our members and visitors, alike, with in-depth analysis of all events, actions and results generated in the Greater Caribbean Basin during the Cold War.

This is our mission.