Context of 'After 1959: US Covert Operations against Castro Begin'

Fidel Castro leads a force of 9,000 into the Cuban capital of Havana and overthrows the Batista dictatorship, which was being supported by the US at a cost of $16 million in military aid per year. [Perez, 1995; BBC, 12/14/2005]

The US carries out 40-plus years of clandestine military operations against Cuba, including numerous assassination attempts on Fidel Castro, the introduction of swine fever in 1971, and support for a anti-Castro militant organization blamed for the bombing of tourist hotels in 1997. [Newsday, 1/10/1977; Blum, 1995; Covert Action Quarterly, 1999]

While a US emissary is meeting with Fidel Castro to discuss the possibility of improved relations, a CIA official offers a poison pen to a Cuban, hoping that it will be used by Fidel Castro. [US Congress, 12/18/1975]

The World Health Organization (WHO) presents Cuban leader Fidel Castro with its “Health for All” award in recognition of Cuba reaching all the WHO health goals set for developing countries to achieve by 2000. [Z Magazine, 6/2003]