IB History Castro: How Was Authoritarian Rule Challenged? Key Definitions

A failed CIA-backed invasion of Cuba in April 1961 by Cuban exiles attempting to overthrow Castro. Its failure strengthened Castro's position domestically and pushed Cuba closer to the Soviet Union.

A 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the US and Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba. It ended with the Soviets withdrawing the missiles in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba.

An anti-Castro guerrilla insurgency in the Escambray Mountains of central Cuba (1960-1965), involving former revolutionaries, peasants, and CIA-supported fighters. It was crushed by the Cuban military.

A mass emigration of around 125,000 Cubans to the United States in 1980 after Castro temporarily permitted departures from the port of Mariel.

An early United States restriction on exports to Cuba, tightening in response to Castro's nationalisation of American-owned property, which marked the start of the long-term US economic embargo.

The trial and execution of General Arnaldo Ochoa, a senior and popular military commander, on drug-trafficking charges in 1989, widely viewed as Castro eliminating a potential internal rival.

The arrest, forced public self-criticism, and censorship of Cuban poet Heberto Padilla in 1971, which alienated many international intellectuals who had previously supported the Cuban Revolution.

The comprehensive set of trade and financial sanctions imposed by the United States on Cuba beginning in the early 1960s, tightened by later measures such as the 1996 Helms-Burton Act.