Rumble On 46th Street – Communists And The Congo – September 23, 1960 – Past Daily Reference Room

The doves were window dressing.

Click on the link here for Audio Player – Special Report on the United Nations – September 23, 1960 – NBC Radio Network – Gordon Skene Sound Collection

September, 1960 was a milestone year for The United Nations. With Africa going through Independence upheavals, Cuba flexing its newly gained Communist muscle and the Soviet Union tossing around the infamous U-2 Spy Plane incident, it was a pretty dramatic, and worrisome time for the cause of peace – however tenuous and fragile it all seemed at the time.

During this week of September, the focus was on the situation in The Congo, a former Belgian colony going through cataclysmic changes on its way to achieving independence.

On hand to lend his two cents was the inimitable Nikita Khruschev, premier of the Soviet Union and a host of African dignitaries.

On his way to join the proceedings was Cuban President Fidel Castro, and another wave of controversy to take place later on in the week.

But this latest burst of activity and debate was covered in a special report by NBC Radio news, giving highlights of the proceedings and previews of coming attractions.

Never a dull day it seems, where the UN is concerned.

And that’s how it went on September 23rd, 1960.

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• DR Congo neighbors call for quick accord with rebels (congoayuk.wordpress.com)
• Fighting for DR Congo’s cash cow to secede (bbc.co.uk)
• From the archive, 17 August 1960: Lumumba declares martial law (theguardian.com)

Buying Friends And Influencing Destiny – August 22, 1961

And all because of this guy.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: Sec. of State Dean Rusk and C. Douglas Dillon – Press Conference re: Alliance For Progress – Aug. 22, 1961 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection.

The popularity contest for Hearts and Minds was roaring full-speed ahead on this day in 1961. With Cuba under the influence of Moscow, our Cold War fears shifted to the Southern Hemisphere and the possibility that a Communist wave overtaking Latin America could happen. Since relations with our neighbors to the South had deteriorated since the heady days of World War 2, it was time we rectified that and started, with fervent conviction, to mend fences and get “back on the Latin good side”. New programs were developed. Alliance for Progress was implemented and a conference arranged in Punta del Este, Uruguay to make our case. All to stem the growing fear that Fidel Castro‘s Cuba was making in-roads.

So on this day in 1961, a press conference was held featuring Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon, the outline the goals of the Punta del Este conference and to give updates on the Alliance For Progress Program.

All well and good. But it didn’t do a whole lot to nullify the growing concern over Cuba. That would only intensify.

Here is that entire press conference from August 22, 1961.

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Another Day – Another Hijacking Hostage Drama – June 17, 1985

Terrorist activities happening so frequently you felt compelled to ask “okay, what is it now?”

Click on the link here for Audio Player: [audio https://pastdaily.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/news-for-june-17-1985.mp3]

When hijacking passenger airliners began, somewhere in the early 60s, as the first crazed gunman wandered into a cockpit and screamed “Cuba, Cuba, Cuba!” while waving a pistol, little did we realize this would be the wave of the future – and every group or individual with an agenda and some firepower could commandeer a plane and terrorize the passengers into giving in to whatever demands were made.

By 1985, the incidents of Passenger Plane Hijackings took an alarming leap, and the violence that went along with them, graduated as well.

So on June 17th in 1985, this day 28 years ago, it was about yet another militant group, hijacking yet another TWA jet and yet another hostage drama unfolded on the tarmac in Beirut Lebanon. The tense stand-off kept everyone riveted  to their radios and TVs as the fate of the Americans on board was being played out. The militants meant business and, as always, were prepared to die for their cause and were willing to sacrifice the lives of the passengers even quicker. One passenger was taken out, brutally beaten and shot and the threats of more every five minutes were promised.

So once again, the Middle East became the story of the day – although a lot of other things happened on this day in 1985, this event took precedence  over everything else on that June 17th in 1985, as reported on The CBS Radio Network.

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Having A Continent Despise You – Nixon In South America – May 16, 1958

Oh, the love. . .

Click on the link here for Audio Player: [audio https://pastdaily.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/radio-beat-what-happened-in-south-america-may-15-1958.mp3]

News on this day in 1958 had to do with the aftermath of the disastrous visit by vice-President Nixon to South America. In each of the stops on this State visit, the Nixon party was greeted with bottles, rocks and violent Anti-American demonstrations.

As in everything that smacked of Anti-American sentiment during this period, the South American fiasco was blamed squarely on Communists gaining a foothold in the region. Not having anything to do with our failing Foreign Policy in the region, or our support of Military juntas. No, it was all the Communists fault.

So rather than being pelted with roses, the Nixon party was pelted with rocks and we were left trying to figure out why.

As the result, much time was devoted by the media in the U.S. pondering that question. And this special edition of the weekly broadcast Radio Beat from CBS, devoted an hour to searching for answers.

Yes, our Foreign Policy was in a shambles, and it would only get worse as time went on. Bear in mind, Cuba would go through a dramatic upheaval less than a year later, ousting the Bautista regime in favor of Fidel Castro.

Here is that discussion, as broadcast on the night of May 16, 1958.

And the Cold War muddled on.

“Making A Step Toward A Peaceful World”: LBJ – April 26, 1964

Anticipating the sigh of relief.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: [https://pastdaily.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/news-for-april-26-1964.mp3]

Cause for cautious optimism, this April 26th in 1964. President Johnson announced a reduction in Nuclear arms, and Soviet Premier Khruschev announced the same. For the first time, the arms race had slowed to a crawl. LBJ hailed it as a “step toward a peaceful world”. Just how long that would last was anybody’s guess. But considering how the year eventually went (Gulf of Tonkin, the ouster of Khruschev by Kremlin hardliners), it seemed like a good idea at the time. And anything was cause for celebration where the Cold War was concerned.

Cuba however, was grumbling with threats of shooting down any reconnaissance  flights over their airspace by American pilots, and the Soviet Union chimed in with support of whatever action Fidel Castro chose to take.

Glass is half empty – glass is half full.

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge offered an upbeat assessment of the situation in South Vietnam, despite reports that the armies of General Khan were busy fending off attacks from Vietcong, rather than bolster confidence in the Khan government.

On the domestic front – LBJ did a tour of Appalachia and came back to Washington to press for economic aid to the depressed region.

Demonstrations and sit-ins greeted visitors and President Johnson to the New York World’s Fair that opened this week in 1964.

And to top it all off – it was Campaign season and LBJ was mixing foreign and domestic policy with campaigning.

That’s how it all rolled for the week ending on April 26th in 1964 as presented by ABC Radio and their Voices In The Headlines program.

The Subject Was Gitmo – February 7, 1964

Dean Rusk with LBJ – Of the many thorns, Cuba was the thorniest.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: Dean Rusk Press Conf. – Feb. 7, 1964

On a day where crises were popping up seemingly everywhere, the focus on this February 7th in 1964 was the flare-up of bad relations with Cuba and threats by the Castro regime against our military base at Guantanamo.

The flap began over the seizing of four Cuban fishing trawlers off the coast of Florida by the  Coast Guard. In what normally would have been a trivial situation (boats straying into territorial waters), quickly escalated into an International incident. Protests were lodged at the UN, claiming the U.S. was displaying Cold War aggression. The U.S. claimed two of the fishing boats crew requested asylum, with one saying the boats were intentionally sent into territorial waters by Cuba, while the Captains of the boats claimed high winds drove them towards shore.

As an act of retaliation, Castro shut off the water it had been supplying to the U.S.base at Guantanamo. The U.S. retaliated by ordering all the 3,000 Cuban workers it had employed at Guantanamo dismissed, and Castro demanded the U.S. abandon the base at Guantanamo.

This, hot on the heels of flare ups in Vietnam, a situation spiraling out of control in Cyprus, the on-going Berlin situation and a host of other hot-spots for this day in February, the imbroglio with Cuba seemed rather puny by comparison.

But the specter of The Cuban Missile Crisis reared its nostalgic head and that rattled everybody’s cage.

And so went this February 7th in 1964, as delivered by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and highlights of his Press Conference from The State Department broadcast by ABC Radio.

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October 11, 1979 – Castro Comes – Wall Street Goes, And Capitol Hill Haggles Over Abortion Forever.

The good old days, when a 48 point drop was cause for widespread freakouts.

Click on the link here for Audio Player:News for October 11, 1979

October, it would seem, is not historically without its surprises. On this day in 1979 New York City was turned upside down over a United Nations visit from Cuba‘s Fidel Castro, his first since 1959. Air Traffic was disrupted, street traffic was disrupted, and all told the biggest security nightmare the city had seen in a very long time.

But Cuba was in the news a lot over the previous months. A new cause-for-alarm was being considered by the U.S. over the renewed presence of Soviet troops on Cuban soil. So concerned was Washington that a detachment of some 1,800 Marines and other Military personnel were heading to Guantanamo for “exercises”.

But if New York didn’t have enough headaches with Fidel, it more than made up for them with headaches from Wall Street. News of a 48 point drop in the Dow triggered panic and a run on Valium. As of this day, everyone was holding their breath to see what was going to happen next.

Not exactly holding their breath, but actively engaged in tossing brickbats was Congress over a Funding Fight that included that perrennial, Abortion Funding and that incidental, Pay Raises. Seems the dilemma had to do with some members of Congress in favor of Abortion Funding and not in favor of a Pay Raise, while other members of Congress in favor of Pay Raises but not in favor of Abortion Funding. Seems both caveats were jammed into the same emptor.

But there was the World Series to think about. And while the rest of the world was quickly going to hell, Game 2 was getting ready to go that evening.

All that, and a bunch more, via Dallas Townsend and The CBS World News Roundup for October 11, 1979.

A Word From Che Guevara – 1964 – Past Daily Weekend Gallimaufry

Ernesto “Che” Guevara – Man of few words – fewer for the American press.

Click on the Link: Che Guevara – 1964

A lot has been written about and written by Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Photos of him have been turned into posters, T-shirts, paintings. He has come to symbolize the mythic-tragic Revolutionary figure of the 1960’s. But there are very few recordings of his voice. And this interview, done as part of the ABC News series Issues and Answers first broadcast on March 24, 1964, may very well be the only such interview Guevara did with mainstream U.S. Media.

Like much of the material I will be running in the future, this was originally run on my now-defunct Newstalgia site and it became a popular item among historians and the curious. So I’m offering it again now in case you missed it the first time.

Here is the complete interview.