It is to be remembered that 1962 was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the trade embargo was imposed against Cuba (that remains in force as of this day in 2023) only a month prior to this strip’s publication. The U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged for a Soviet spy also a month before. It was a time of rather messy foreign relations for the US and its allies.
Non tam præclarum est scire Latine, quam turpe nescire.