w the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batistay Zaldivar. During the next two years, Castro would become increasingly hostile to the United States. When Castro began to proclaim his belief in Communism, Cuba became part of the Cold War, or struggle between the U. S. and its allies and the nations led by the USSR that involved intense economic and diplomatic battles.Many Cubans began to flee to the United States and during the Eisenhower administration the CIA had begun to train Cuban exiles secretly for an invasion of Cuba. In April 1961 more than "1000 Cuban exiles made an amphibious landing"5 in Cuba at a place called the Bay of Pigs. Their plan was to move inland and join with anti-Castro forces to stage a revolt simultaneously, but instead Castro’s forces were there to meet the invaders. The revolt in the interior did not materialize, and air support, promised by the CIA, never came. The exiles were defeated and the survivors were taken prisoner. Castro began to demand money for their release but Kennedy refused to negotiate with Castro. Kennedy did take steps to encourage both businesses and private citizens to reach an agreement with Castro and to contribute to the ransom. On December 25, 1962, "1113 prisoners were released in exchange for food and medical supplies valued at a total of approximately $53 million.On June 3, 1961, in Vienna, Austria, Kennedy and USSR leader Nikata Khrushchev met and reviewed relationships between the U. S. and the USSR, as well as other questions of interest to the two states. Two incidents contributed to hostility at the meeting, first being the shooting down of a U. S. spy plane in Soviet air space, and the second was the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in early 1961. The results of the conference made it clear that Khrushchev had construed Kennedy’s failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion as a sign of weakness. No agreements were reached on any important issues and the Soviet premi...
