The Soviet Ambassador to Cuba, Alexander Alexiev

Stuart Novins: In 1959, the Soviet Union sent a cultural advisor to Havana. He says Alexander Alexiev's first observations upon arriving in Cuba were surprising. Castro told him that he desperately needed to import oil and export sugar; Alexiev related this to top diplomat. The Soviets had sent a few Warsaw-packed weapons in late 1959 as a little gesture, but that was it.