In the first several years following the take over, Castro gradually attempted to eliminate the remnants of the former capitalistic society. Batista’s army, as well as former political parties, and labor unions were gradually expended between 1959 and 1963; during this time, many new organizations arose. In 1959, the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematograficos (ICAIC) was founded followed by the Central Planning Board (1960), the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (1960), the National Association of Small Farmer (1961), and the Revolutionary Armed Forces (1961) to name a few
Knowing that not all of the Cuban people supported his ideals, Castro permitted any unhappy citizens of Cuba to leave in 1959. Since primarily only the wealthy could afford to leave, hundreds of thousands of the bourgeoisie fled Cuba heading to the United States, Spain, and several other countries. Relations between the US and Cuba grew increasingly more tense after Castro confiscated hundreds of millions of dollars of US property in Cuban territory. In 1960, as a retaliatory measure, the US cut off sugar purchases from Cuba, and shortly after, placed an embargo on exports (not including medicine and food). Growing desperate for military support and aid, Cuba reestablished diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1960
Due to the strong ties existing between Cuba and the Soviet Union, the United States regarded Cuba as a threat to the Americas and began planing an invasion in May of 1960. After John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States, the invasion that followed was firstly approved by the new administration. On April 15, 1961, Cuban pilots operating US-made airplanes bombed several Cuban air bases. Two days latter, Cuban troops, formally trained in the US and supplied with US equipment, landed at several locations on Cuban territory, primarily at the sight called the Bay of Pigs. Unable to hold off Castro’s forceful troops, 1,100 Cubans were captured and imprisoned by Castro by April 19
After many long debates between the US and Cuba regarding the release of the prisoners, the situation was finally resolved in December of 1962. The final settlement required the US paying Cuba fifty-three million dollars worth of food and medicine in order for all prisoners to be released and safety returned to the United States. By July of 1965, all survivors were returned
The disaster at the Bay of Pigs embarrassed the Kennedy administration greatly. Relations between the Soviet Union and the Unites States continued to worsen. In October 1962 the Soviets began to secretly place long-range missiles in Cuba which threatened the balance of nuclear power. The Cuban Missile Crisis, as it came to be called, was eventually resolved in the months that followed. Kennedy gradually improved international and inter-American relations by aiding Latin America with necessities