he Batista government. His movement grew to 800 men, and scored victory after victory. A defeated Batista fled the country on New Year's Day 1959, and Castro's force made a victorious entry into Havana. The United States recognized the new government on January 7, 1959. Castro assumed the position of premier in February. Soon, however, friction occurred between Castro and the United States when the new Cuban government began expropriating American-owned properties for inadequate compensation. In February 1960, Cuba became friendly with the USSR, and made an agreement to buy Russian oil. After Cuba had seized nearly all U.S.-owned properties in Cuba and made further agreements with other communist governments, the United States broke diplomatic relations with the Castro government. Cuba and the United States were brought into confrontation on two occasions soon after Castro had taken power. The United States made an unsuccessful attempt to destabilize the Castro government. On April 17, 1961, a force of 1,300 Cuban exiles, supported by the CIA, made an unsuccessful attempt to invade Cuba at a southern coastal area called the Bay of Pigs. The assumption was that the invasion would inspire the Cuban population to rise up and overthrow Castro. It was a U.S. miscalculation; the Cuban population supported him. In October, 1962 the so-called Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the U.S. government discovered the Soviet Union was setting up long-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. These were perceived by the United States as a threat. President Kennedy instituted a naval blockade of Cuba that lasted until Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles. Thereafter, U.S.-Cuban relations remained mutually hostile. Castro became a committed Marxist-Leninist who nationalized industry, confiscated property owned by non-Cubans, collectivized agriculture, and enacted policies to benefit laborers and peasants. Many of the middle class fled the country, some estab...
