o government (CNN). On April 17, 1961, just three short months after severing its diplomatic ties, the C.I.A. supported a force of 1,300 Cuban exiles in an attempt to invade Cuba at a southern coastal area called the Bay of Pigs (CNN). It was a grave miscalculation on the U.S.’s part, as the Cuban population supported Castro and caused the invasion to fail in its effort (CNN).While the exiles were defeated by the Cuban army, the Bay of Pigs Invasion provoked Soviet leaders into making a greater commitment to Cuban independence by placing nuclear missiles in Cuba (History, 1). When the U.S. reconnaissance aircraft photographs the Soviet construction of missile sites in Cuba, President Kennedy responds to the Cuban Missile Crisis by demanding the with drawl of Soviet missiles and imposing a naval blockade (1). Within months of this crisis, the Kennedy administration prohibits travel to Cuba and makes financial as well as commercial transactions with Cuba illegal for U.S. citizens (1). Moreover, all Cuban-owned assets in the United States were frozen (1). Today, the relations between the U.S. and Cuba are still strained. The factors that influenced these frictions are merely symptoms to a greater underlying problem; one that is rooted in the United States as it emerged on the scene as the most powerful nation after World War II. To the south of this great power, on the other hand, remained a world of Latin America with a social, economic, and political status vastly different from that of the United States. While some Latin American countries looked to the U.S. as a model for its 4own prosperity, others criticized the United States for the strong economic control it held over many countries of Central and South America. One such opponent of the U.S. and its brand of imperialism exerted over Latin America was revolutionary, Fidel Castro (Castro, 1).In fact, during an interview, Castro revealed the underlying forces that fueled...
