ABSTRACT
Fidel Castro's victory and his nationalistic anti-Americanism soon had the US government mesmerized with the specter of spreading Castroism. The period from 1962 to 1968 was a time of intense growing pains in the Cuban-Soviet relationship. On February 4, 1962, Castro launched Cuba's transition from defensive consolidation to radical activism in its foreign policy by issuing the famous Second Declaration of Havana, a revolutionary call to arms for Latin America. Both governments fluctuated between attraction and aversion, the Fidelistas being the more erratic. US animosity toward Cuba was not immediatley matched by solidarity on the Kremlin's part. In fact, the Soviets at first had quite mixed feelings about the Revolution. The US mass media was filled with stories of Havana's determination to export its revolution and Washington cast about to find the best antibiotic for the "Cuban virus," the remedies ranging from the Bay of Pigs to the Alliance for Progress.
