After Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar seized control of the Cuban
             government in 1952, Fidel Castro became a leader of an underground
             antigovernment fraction. A Year later he was jailed for having led the 26th
             uprising against Batista. In 1955 he was released and went into exile in the
             United States and Mexico. He returned to Cuba in 1956 and led a rebellion of
             Oriente Province. Soon, Castro won steadily increasing popular support, with
             his rebel forces; known as the 26th of July Movement. Few years later,
             Batista fled the country, and assuming power Castro took control on
             February 16th. Castros's position as a dictator transformed Cuba into
             According to the Book of Knowledge, Castro came to power as a
             nationalist, but soon he began to move toward communism. He opposed
             that the United States had extensive business interests in Cuba. Castro
             nationalized foreign companies, and signed trade agreements with the Soviet
             Union. The United States ended any relations with Cuba in 1961. The United
             States also backed up a group of Cuban exiles on an unsuccessful attempt to
             overthrow Castro at the Bay of Pigs.(133)
             Cuba as a communist country resulted in serious economic problems.
             "...He has been less than successful as an economic policymaker: Cuba
             remains a poor country in debt whose livelihood depends on sugar
             production and soviet economic aid. He nonetheless holds the system in
             (Academic American Encyclopedia 192)
             ...