Cuba 20 historic events By redlem76 Jan 1, 1934 U.S. abandons its rights to intervene in Cuba's internal affairs Period: Jan 1, 1934 to Jan 1, 2003 20 historic Cuban events Jan 1, 1953 Fidel Castro, a dissident, leads an unsuccessful coup against Fulgencio Batista Jan 1, 1958 The U.S. withdraws military aid to Batista Feb 1, 1959 Batista flees and is overthrown by Fidel Castro Jan 1, 1960 The U.S. breaks off diplomatic relations Apr 1, 1961 The U.S. sponsors the invasion at the Bay of Pigs Jan 1, 1965 Cuba's sole political party renamed Cuban Communist Party Jan 1, 1972 Cuba becomes full member of the Moscow-based Council for Mutual Economic Assistance Dec 2, 1976 Fidel Castro elected President by new socialist constitution Jan 1, 1980 Around 125,000 Cubans, many released convicts, flee to U.S. Jan 28, 1988 Cuba agrees to withdraw troops from Angola, in South Africa Dec 25, 1991 Soviet troops withdraw from Cuba with the fall of the USSR Jan 1, 1994 U.S. agrees to admit 20,000 Cubans a year if Cuba halts exodus of refugees Mar 1, 1996 U.S. trade embargo made permanent Jan 1, 1998 U.S. eases restrictions on the sending of money to relatives by Cuban Americans Jan 21, 1998 Pope John Paul II visits Cuba Nov 1, 1999 Elian Gonzalez is center of immigration dispute Jan 1, 2000 After 40 yr. economic embargo, U.S. allows export of food and medicine to Cuba Oct 26, 2002 Al-Qaeda prisoners are taken to Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. held base in Cuba Jan 1, 2003 President Bush tightens U.S. travel embargo