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| 1960, Feb. 13 |
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| Premier Castro signed an agreement in Havana for the Soviet purchase of 5 million tons of sugar and for $100 million of Soviet credit to Cuba. | 1 |
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| March 17 |
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| The Eisenhower administration approved plans for a future invasion of Cuba. | 2 |
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| June 23 |
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| After American-owned oil companies (on the advice of the U.S. State Department) refused to process Soviet crude oil, Castro seized the refineries. | 3 |
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| July 6 |
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| In retaliation for the oil refinery incident, Pres. Eisenhower cut Cuba's sugar quota by 95 percent. Eisenhower declared economic war on Cuba, stating that the U.S. would never allow a regime “dominated by international Communism” in the Western Hemisphere. Following this, the CUBAN GOVERNMENT BEGAN EXPROPRIATING ALL U.S.-OWNED PROPERTY in Cuba, without compensation. | 4 |
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| July 9 |
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| Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, in a Moscow address, threatened Soviet use of rockets if the U.S. intervened militarily in Cuba. | 5 |
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| Sept. 28 |
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| After a right-wing bomb attack on a Castroite rally in Havana, Castro announced the creation of Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, local groups armed and prepared against attack and invasion. By the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion, there were 8,000 such committees. These groups, along with organizations such as the Cuban Federation of Women, founded in 1960 by Vilma Espín (wife of Raúl Castro), also became important foci for grassroots political organization. | 6 |
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| Oct. 14 |
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| The Cuban government nationalized all banks and all large enterprises. | 7 |
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| Oct. 19 |
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| The U.S. imposed an embargo on all exports to Cuba except for medical supplies and most foodstuffs. | 8 |
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