Castro is sworn in. On February 16, 1959, after six years of guerrilla warfare against dictator Fulgencio Batista, Fidel Castro is sworn in as Cuba’s prime minister. Although initially denying any communist affiliation, Castro launched a program of agrarian reform, nationalized American assets on the island, and proclaimed a Marxist government. After repelling the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, he strengthened ties with the Soviet Union, granting it missile bases on the island in 1962. The discovery of these bases by American spy planes triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis, which ended when the Soviets agreed to eliminate offensive weapons in exchange for the US’s commitment not to invade Cuba.
