Cuban politics have long been defined by foreign relations. One of the accusations made by revolutionary leaders Fidel Castro and Che Guevara against Fulgencio Batista was his support of the United States of America. Batista participated in a military coup in 1933 and became president himself in the 1940 elections. His party lost the next elections 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 an election he was losing. His government was quickly recognized by the United States, giving him legitimacy, which he parlayed into an unopposed electoral victory in 1954. His regime was characterized by his relationships with both the American government and the American Mafia. He faced almost immediate opposition from communist revolutionaries, who waged a six-year guerrilla war beginning in 1953. This war was one of several proxy wars between the United States and the Soviet Union , the United States providing Batista with weapons, including napalm, which he used brutally against the population. The guerrillas received help from the USSR, managed to gain popular support and finally overthrew the Batista government in 1959. Despite the support they received from the USSR and that which the United States gave to their enemy, revolutionary leaders were not blind to the problem. the importance of the United States to Cuba's economic viability and military security. Cuba is only ninety miles from the coast of Florida, and at the time of the revolution, the majority of the Cuban economy was either trading with the United States or catering to American tourists. For this reason, the more moderate Dr. Manuel Urrutia Lleó was briefly appointed president in an attempt to ease tensions with the United States. Awareness was postponed and short-lived...... middle of paper......ess. Continued oppression poses an obstacle to any attempt to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba. On February 23, the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo was a striking illustration of this. Dissident sentenced to thirty-six years in prison for “disobedience”, considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, he died following a hunger strike and instantly became a symbol of the political repression that exists still in Cuba. In the United States, his death blocked efforts to further ease sanctions. Will the Cuban government be able to reintegrate into 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..