The year is 1959 and the place is Cuba. It is January 1st and Batista, the president of Cuba has just fled the country fearing Fidel Castro, a Cuban revolutionary who mounted a rebel force called the 26th of July Movement against Batista. Castro assumes power on the 16th of February and establishes a dictatorship.Communist Rule In CubaSo far, the Soviet leader, Khrushchev is in question of what political track Castro is deciding to take. Russia themselves have only one connection with Fidel which is his brother Raul who is no doubt a full communist. The Communist Party of Cuba at this time has no contacts with Castro quite yet. Unfortunately, Raul never showed his true feelings for communism to his brother, Fidel. This causes quite a predicament for the Soviet Union to make them seen and heard by Cuba. Smartly, Russia sends Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan, who held business contacts in the US, to the states as a guest of the Russian ambassador. Fidel hears of Mikoyans arrival in the US and invites him to visit Cuba. Although Mikoyan is traveling throughout the island, looking things over, Castro still has not identified himself as a Communist quite yet. In May of 1960, diplomatic relations between Russia and Cuba are established following Mikoyans visit to the island. One reason why Cuba has turned to Russia is because the US had cut off their oil supplies and imposed an economic embargo on the island because of the naturalization of US owned companies and citizens by the Cuban government. This calls for a massive oil shipment from the Soviets but unfortunately, Russia was unable to handle such a demand because of their limited overseas shipping capabilities. Subsequently, Russia puts an order for extra oil tankers from Italy, a capitalist country. When Italy agrees to the business proposition, the US is infuriated that another capitalist country was willing to help a communist country. Italy saw it as nothing more than an opportunity to m...
