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| 1959 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro |  |
| A variety of pacts were signed between Castro & Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, allowing Cuba to receive large amounts of economic & military aid |
| Between April 15th and 26th, Castro & a delegation of industrial & international representatives visit the USAas guests of the Press Club |
| Eisenhower reduces Cuba's sugar import quota by 7,000,000 tons, & in response, Cuba nationalizes $850 million worth of USAproperty & businesses |
| Eisenhower refuses to meet Castro during his visit to the US |
| Miami Over one million Cubans migrate to the US, forming a vocal anti-Castro community in Miami, Florida |
| The nationalization of private property and businesses to the tune of $25 billion and, particularly, USAowned companies (to an excess of 1960 value of USA$1.0 billions arouses immediate hostility within the Eisenhower administration |
| The USSR sends over one hundred mostly Spanish speaking advisors, including Enrique L¡ster Forj n, to organize the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution |
| USArefineries in Cuba refuse to process Cuban oil, they are expropriated, & the USAbreaks off diplomatic relations with the Castro government |
| Feb Cuba signs an agreement to buy oil from the USSR |
| Feb USArefineries in Cuba refuse to process Cuban oil, they are expropriated, & the USAbreaks off diplomatic relations with the Castro government |
| 16th Feb Mir¢ unexpectedly resigns & Castro is sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba |
| April Castro flies to Washington DC but was not met by President Eisenhower, who decides to attend a golf tournament rather than meet with the Cuban leader |
| April Summary executions of suspected Batista collaborators and members of the opposition through the "paredones" take place after show trials |
| 17th May Castro signs the First Agrarian Reform Law, which expropriates over 1,000 acres of farmlands & forbids foreign land ownership |
| 1960 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| Havana Nationalizes the property of wealthy Cubans, Americans & other foreigners |
| Havana The USA begins its embargo of Cuba after American wealth in Cuba is nationalized |
| 17th Mar Cochinos Bay The Eisenhower administration agrees to a recommendation from the CIA to equip and drill Cuban exiles for action against the new Castro government |
| 1961 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| 3rd Jan Eisenhower breaks off diplomatic relations with Cuba |
| 17th April Cochinos Bay 1,209 captured exiles are tried, a few executed and the rest sentenced to 30 yrs in prison for treason, after 20 months of negotiation with the USA, Cuba releases the exiles in exchange for dollars & medicine |
| 17th April Cochinos Bay Approximately 1,400 members of a CIA-trained Cuban exile force land at the Bay of Pigs, while the United States deny any involvement |
| 17th April Cochinos Bay Four 2,400-ton chartered transports (named the Houston, Rio Escondido, Caribe, and Atlantico) transport 1,511 Cuban exiles to the Bay of Pigs on the Southern coast of Cuba |
| 17th April Cochinos Bay Kennedy decides against giving the faltering invasion USAair support (though four USApilots were killed in Cuba during the invasion) because of his opposition to overt intervention |
| 17th April Cochinos Bay President Kennedy withdraws support for the invasion at the last minute by canceling several bombing sorties that could have crippled the entire Cuban Air Force |
| 17th April Cochinos Bay The CIA assumed that the invasion would spark a popular uprising against Castro, however by the time the invasion began, Castro had already executed some who were suspected of colluding with the American campaign |
| 20th April Cochinos Bay Castro succeeds in killing or capturing the Bay of Pigs invaders |
| 1st May As hundreds of thousands celebrate May Day, Castro announces Cuba is a socialist nation & abolishes elections |
| 1st May Castro forms a dictatorship & declares himself to be a Marxist-Leninist |
| 1962 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| Khrushchev wants to locate missiles in Cuba as a deterrent to a USAinvasion & justifies the move in response to USAmissile deployment in Turkey |
| The USAgovernment views the installation of Soviet nuclear weapons 90 miles south of Key West as an aggressive act & a threat to USAsecurity |
| 7th Feb The USAimposes an embargo against Cuba |
| Oct Khrushchev agrees to remove the missiles in exchange for a USAcommitment not to invade Cuba & that the USAwill remove American MRBMs targeting Russia from Turkey & Italy |
| Oct Soviet field commanders in Cuba are authorized to use tactical nuclear weapons if attacked by the United States |
| 22nd Oct The USAannounce its discovery of missile sites, & implements a quarantine around Cuba that woul intercept & search vessels heading for Cuba |
| 27th Oct Castro urges Khrushchev to launch a nuclear first strike against the United States if Cuba is invaded, but Khrushchev rejected any first strike response |
| 28th Oct Castro demands that the USA evacuate Cuba's Guantanamo naval base |
| 1963 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| The USAbroadens the embargo against Cuba, including a general travel ban for American tourists |
| 1971 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| 10th Nov Castro visits Chile |
| 1975 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| Sends 250 instructors to Angola for setting up camps & training the MPLA |
| 4th Nov Castro orders the deployment of Cuban troops to Angola in order to aid the Marxist MPLA-ruled government against the SouthAfrican-backed UNITA opposition forces |
| 1976 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| Appointed President of Cuba |
| Appointed President of the Council of Ministers |
| Appointed President of the Council of State |
| 31st Jan Following the enactment of the Socialist Constitution, adopted without following the procedures laid out in the Constitution of 1940, the Republic of Cuba is defined as a socialist state |
| 1980 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| Havana The embargo on emigration is temporarily lifted |
| April Mariel 125,000 migrant Cubans board USAbound vessels at Port Mariel |
| April Havana Dissidents occupy the Peruvian Embassy & Cuba allows a mass exodus from Port Mariel |
| 1984 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| Havana A new airfield is constructed which is viewed by the USAas being for military purposes |
| Dec Havana Cuba agrees to to take back criminals in exchange for Cuban political prisoners |
| 1987 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| 26th July Havana Announces Cuba will withdraw its troops from Angola "gradually & totally" |
| 1989 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| 10th Jan Cuba begins withdrawing its troops from Angola, more than 13 years after its first contingents arrived |
| 1991 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| After the collapse of the Soviet Union Cuba is left bankrupt & isolated by the disintegration of the Soviet bloc |
| 1992 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| Ascribes the role of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) to be the "leading force of society and of the state" |
| This constitution was replaced by a new Socialist Constitution, which claims to be guided by the ideas of Jos‚ Mart¡, and the political ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin |
| 1999 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| 4th Jan A new policy by the USA would let millions more dollars flow to Cubans and allow more direct flights, mail service, and trade |
| 2006 | Castro, Raul | |
| 1st Aug Castro hands over power to his brother Raul after undergoing intestinal surgery |
| 2006 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| 1st Aug Castro delegates his duties as President of the Council of state, President of the Council of Ministers, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party and the post of commander in chief of the armed forces to his brother and First Vice President, Ra£l |
| 1st Aug Castro hands over power to his brother Raul after undergoing intestinal surgery |
| 2nd Dec Too ill to attend the nationwide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Granma boat landing, which fueled speculations that Castro had stomach cancer, though Spanish doctor Dr. Garc¡a Sabrido stated that his illness is not terminal |
| 2006 | Castro Ruz, Raul | |
| 1st Aug Castro delegates his duties as President of the Council of state, President of the Council of Ministers, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party and the post of commander in chief of the armed forces to his brother and First Vice President, Ra£l |
| 2007 | Castro Ruz, Fidel Alejandro | |
| 31st Jan Footage of Castro meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Ch vez is broadcast, where, according to international media reports, Castro "appeared frail but stronger than three months ago" |
