In January 1960, President Eisenhower cut the Cuban sugar quota, and in February Fidel Castro signed a trade agreement with the USSR to exchange sugar for petroleum and other products at prices beneficial to Cuba. Standard Oil of New Jersey, Shell, and Texaco refused to refine Soviet petroleum, and in July the Cuban government nationalized them without compensation. The corporations, headed by Standard Oil, began a blockade, first boycotting qualified personnel, then machinery replacement parts, then transportation. The conflict was a test of sovereignty and Cuba emerged with flying colors. It
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