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The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) is founded. It is supported by the United States and China. From its base in Congo, it wages guerrilla warfare in Angola.
A group of armed guerillas known as the Sandinist National Liberation Front (FSLN) or Sandinista, organise themselves to overthrow the corrupt Somoza government. The founders are Marxists and are supported by Fidel Castro.
Read more on the
FSLN
The Organization of American States formally excludes Cuba from its council. By September 1964, all Latin American nations except Mexico had broken diplomatic and economic ties with Cuba.
U.S. Jupiter missiles in Turkey become operational. All positions are reported "ready and manned" by U.S. personnel.
A first-hand account of the
Jupiter Missiles.
In an attempt to safeguard itself from further US plans to attack it, Cuba seeks economic and military assistance from the Soviet Union. Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev decides to send missiles armed with nuclear weapons that are capable of hitting targets within the United States, to Cuba.
China openly condemns the Soviet Union for withdrawing its missiles from Communist Cuba and capitulating to pressure from the United States. Mao sees the following policy of "peaceful coexistence" between the Soviet Union and the United States as a betrayal to Communism.
Fighting breaks out between India and China. Indian forces are defeated. India appeals to the United States for help. The United States responds and Chinese forces soon retreat. This improves US-Indian ties.
Sino-Indian conflict.
 U.S. spy planes take photographs that reveal Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. President Kennedy responds by imposing a naval quarantine around Cuba.
Khrushchev is warned that any Soviet ships bringing missiles to Cuba would risk starting a nuclear war. President Kennedy demands that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba. This period is known as the Cuban Missiles Crisis. It lasts for 13 days with both the United States and the Soviets refusing to back down.
Read more on Cuban Missile Crisis.
Read about the series of letters between Kennedy and Khrushchev that covers the period of the Crisis.
Khrushchev recalls the ships and agrees to dismantle the missile sites. In return the United States agrees not to invade Cuba, and to remove U.S. missiles from sites in Turkey.
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