CJS(W) to CCOS, October 25th

The Canadian Joint Staff in Washington reported on the US Navy’s “quarantine” of Cuba: one Soviet tanker had been allowed to pass through, a Lebanese tanker would soon be boarded, and the “Soviet ships suspected of carrying prohibited cargoes all appear[ed] to have turned back” as a result of the quarantine. In other news, bad weather on October 24th had prevented any aerial surveillance over Cuba, and the US was preparing missile battalions in Florida and Guantanamo Bay.  

The cable ended with observation that American officers had been asking, both subtly and bluntly, what action Canada was taking: “Any information indicative of Canadian support would certainly help to secure our most favoured treatment in the Pentagon.”