Cuban politics has long been defined by foreign relations. One of the accusations made by the revolutionary leaders Fidel Castro and Che Guevara against Fulgencio Batista was his support from the United States of America. Batista took part in a military coup in 1933 and himself became president by election in 1940. His party lost the next election in 1944, after which he lived in the United States, gaining allies. Upon his return to Cuba in 1952 he led a second coup to end the elections he was losing. His government was quickly recognized by the United States, giving it legitimacy, which resulted in an uncontested electoral victory in 1954. His regime was characterized by relationships with both the US government and the American mafia. He faced almost immediate opposition from communist revolutionaries, who fought a six-year guerrilla war starting in 1953. The war was one of many "proxy" wars between the United States and the Soviet Union, with the United States who supplied Batista with weapons including napalm. used brutally against the population. The guerrillas received aid from the USSR, managed to gain popular support, and eventually overthrew the Batista government in 1959. Despite the support they received from the USSR and the support the United States had given to their enemy, the revolutionary leaders were not blind given the importance of the United States to Cuba's economic vitality and military security. Cuba is only ninety miles from the coast of Florida, and at the time of the revolution most of the Cuban economy traded with the United States or served American tourists . For this reason, in an attempt to ease tensions with the United States, the more moderate Dr. Manuel Urrutia Lleó was appointed president for a short period. The communication was rejected and short-lived... half of the paper... ess. Continued oppression represents an obstacle to any attempt to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba. On February 23 of this year, this was clearly illustrated by the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo. A dissident sentenced to thirty-six years for "disobedience", considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, he died following a hunger strike and immediately became the symbol of the political repression that still exists in Cuba. In the United States, his death blocked the efforts to further ease sanctions. Will the Cuban government be able to rejoin the international community while maintaining political control through oppression? Whatever the answers to these questions, it is clear that Cuba's history and future will be defined by its foreign relations, both with its natural political allies and with the United States.