sm (Skidmore, 276). In the months that followed, Cuba became increasingly “Anti-American” (278). Accusations of a “Yankee-backed plot to restore Batista” into power were not only rumored, they were rooted in fact (278). Another source of antagonism between the U.S. and Cuba emerged when Castro discovered he could purchase crude oil form the Soviet Union at a lower cost (278). Consequently, Castro ordered the U.S. oil companies located in Cuba to refine the Russian crude oil (278). These U.S. oil companies were not only pressured by the U.S. government to refuse to process the oil, they were forced to refuse to sell oil to Cuba, as well (History, 1). A series of retaliations between Cuba and the U.S. when Cuba consfiscates U.S. oil company holdings for their refusal to refine or sell the crude oil (1). In response to these seizures, the U.S. Congress passes the “Sugar Act” to eliminate Cuba’s remaining sugar quota (1). In another act of retaliation, President Eisenhower approved a “covert action plan against Cuba (1).” This plan included the use of a powerful propaganda campaign to overthrow Castro’s regime (1). As a result, Cuba reacts by seizing all U.S. business and commercial property (1). As a counter action, the U.S. imposes a partial economic embargo on Cuba that excludes food and medicine (1). Castro, in return, passes an Urban Reform Law in Cuba to nationalize additional properties owned by American interest’s (1). On January 3, 1961, merely two years after Castro took office, the United States severed all diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba (1).3While it would appear that severing diplomatic ties would put an end to this cat and mouse form of politicking, it did not. In fact it fueled further covert actions, as in an attempt to inspire the Cuban population to rise up and overthrow Castro, the U.S. initiated a plan to destabilize the Castr...
