1. What were the causes of the crisis?
The origins of tension between the US and Castro’s regime can be traced back to the overthrow of the pro-US Cuban government of General Fulgencio Batista by Fidel Castro in 1959. Cuba lies only 145 kilometres (90 miles) from the coast of Florida and US had been involved in Cuba since it gained independence from Spain in 1898. The US considered the island of Cuba to be within its sphere of influence, and it was...