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Political and Diplomatic Relations between the United States and Cuba in the
decade After the Cuban Revolution.
After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, which had overthrown the Batista government, relations
between the United States and Cuba deteriorated rapidly. The U.S. government became
increasingly concerned about their investments in Cuba and as a result, the United States began
to impose gradual trade restrictions on the island.
United States was prepared to take extreme measures to oppose Castros regime.
The United States felt threatened by the close relations of FIDEL Castro with the
Soviet Union. Castros government was too anti-American to be trusted, and they
feared that he might lead Cuba into the communist bloc. As state intervention and take-
over of privately owned businesses by Cubans continued, trade restrictions on Cuba increased.
The U.S. stopped buying Cuban sugar and refused to supply its former trading partner with
important supplies, for example much needed oil, leading to devastating effect on the island's
economy. Therefore, Cuba had to turn to their newfound trading partner the Soviet Union for
petroleum. Consequently, Cuba began to consolidate trade relations with the USSR, leading the
U.S. to break off all remaining official diplomatic relations. The United States stood for
democratic societies whereas the USSR stood for socialist societies. Due to the opposing
ideologies of the two powers the United States drew strict restrictions against Cuba, eventually
cutting off all diplomatic relations, withdrawing all American investments. They no longer
intervened in the islands politics as before.
In less than a year, U.S President ordered the CIA to begin arming and training a group of Cuban
exiles to attack Cuba which was later known as the Bay of Pigs invasion.
In October of 1962 U.S. spy planes discovered evidence that the Soviet Union was building
missile bases in Cuba. U.S President at the time, Kennedy learned of the threat and for the next
12 days the U.S. and Russia were in silent battle, the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis ended
only when Nikita Khrushchev a prominent member of the Soviet Union, accepted Kennedy's
proposal to remove U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for the de-arming of Cuba. The Soviet
missiles were gone, but it would take a long time for America to forgive the nation that allowed
the Soviet Union to be placed so close to the American mainland.
The friction created by the Cold war caused the United States to break all ties with Cuba and
they strengthened their embargo against the island.
In Mexico he also trained men then sailed to the tip of Cuba on the Grandma where he landed
with around a dozen men. Using guerrilla tactics, he took over one town after another. Castro
eventually assumed power in January 1, 1959 after Batista Fled the island because he had lost
popular support. Neither the Cuban people nor the Americans supported him.
When Castro assumed the position as President of Cuba, the island lacked a functioning
government system. The army had collapsed, and the police had disappeared. Old political
leaders scurried away while labour unions had been disrepute by their alliances with a series of
corrupt governments. Castro had the strong support of the military and so coupled with the
corrupted government system he was able to assume and maintain presidency in Cuba.
Castro had no intention of returning to the democratic constitution which was set by Batista. His
goal was a totalitarian government that would control every aspect of Cuban society and life.