Fidel Castro

The greatest obstacle the Cuban Revolution had to overcome was the active opposition and interference of the United States. Outraged that American citizens had lost millions of dollars' worth of investments in Cuba after Fidel Castro nationalized them, the U.S. government did everything in its power to prevent the revolution from succeeding. In 1961 it backed an invasion of the island at Playa Giron (the Bay of Pigs) by Cuban exiles. When this invasion was repulsed, the United States initiated the Alliance for Progress with other Latin American nations. The purpose of the alliance was to provide massive U.S. financial aid to these nations so that they could improve the living conditions of their citizens. One condition of the aid, however, was that recipient nations must cut all ties, diplomatic and commercial, with Cuba. By greatly reducing...