American Military History: Cuba during the Cold War

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Here's one good source from PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/e_coldwar.html

The Soviets backed Cuba since, without her help, Castro could not survive. This means that the USSR has a strong presence right on America's border (so to speak). This is the main issue.

Once Castro was firmly in the soviet orbit, military advisers, weapons and troops (about 25,000) appeared in Cuba. Also, nuclear missiles were exported to Cuba. This was intolerable to the US. The US through there would be nuclear war. Khrushchev's rhetoric seemed to confirm that. However, what JFK did was promise Moscow that US missiles would be pulled out of Turkey (NATO member and a country that borders the USSR) if Russian missiles were taken from Cuba. This was agreed, and the world stepped back from the brink.

Another significant role for Castro was as a conduit of Soviet assistance to rebel groups in Latin America. This ...