Cuba

Cuba, independent since 1902 after Spanish-American War, became the most consequential flashpoint of the Cold War in the Western Hemisphere following Fidel Castro's revolutionary victory in January 1959. Aligned with the Soviet Union from 1960 onwards, Cuba became the site of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 — the closest the Cold War came to nuclear war — and a platform for Soviet-backed revolutionary activity throughout Latin America and Africa. Despite the US trade embargo imposed in 1962 and repeated American attempts to destabilise or overthrow the Castro government (including the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961), Cuba maintained its communist government through the entire Cold War period and beyond.

• Existed: 1902 CE – present
• Type: Entity
• Government: Soviet-aligned single-party socialist republic
• Capital: Havana