arily executed while leading a guerrilla group in Bolivia in 1967.Meanwhile, Cuba continued to depend heavily on economic aid from the SovietUnion and Soviet-bloc countries. In 1972 it signed several pacts with the USSRcovering financial aid, trade, and deferment of Cuban debt payments, and alsobecame a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON).The first congress of the Cuban Communist Party was held in late 1975. Thefollowing year a new national constitution was adopted. Among other provisions,it increased the number of provinces from 6 to 14 and created an indirectlyelected National Assembly. The assembly held its first session in December1976 and chose Castro as head of state and of government.International Role In the mid-1970s Cuba emerged from diplomatic isolation. At a meeting in SanJos, Costa Rica, in July 1975, the OAS passed a "freedom of action" resolutionthat in effect lifted the trade embargo and other sanctions imposed by theorganization against Cuba in 1964. Relations with the United States also beganto improve; U.S. travel restrictions were lifted, and in September 1977 the twonations opened offices in each other's capitals. The United States, however,warned Cuba that relations could not be normalized until U.S. claims fornationalized property had been settled and Cuba reduced or terminated itsactivites in Africa.Cuban presence in Africa had begun inconspicuously in the mid-1960s, whenCastro provided personal guards to such figures as President AlphonseMassamba-Dbat of the Congo. It was not until 1975, however, that Cubancombat forces were actively engaged on the continent, fighting for the Marxistfaction in Angola. Cuban troops later shored up the Marxist regime in Ethiopia,providing the winning edge in its war with Somalia over the Ogaden region. By1980 Cuban activities had expanded into the Middle East (Southern Yemen). Inboth regions the Cuban presence was generally seen by the West as thespearhe...
