Editing History of Cuba (section)

===Escalante affair===
{{Main|Escalante affair}}
In July 1961, the [[Integrated Revolutionary Organizations]] (IRO) was formed, merging Fidel Castro's [[26th of July Movement]] with [[Blas Roca]]'s [[Popular Socialist Party (Cuba)|Popular Socialist Party]] and Faure Chomón's Revolutionary Directory 13 March. Later, on 26 March 1962, the IRO became the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC), which, in turn, became the [[Communist Party of Cuba|Communist Party]] on 3 October 1965, with Castro as [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba|First Secretary]].<ref>Nohlen, p. 197</ref> The constitution secured the Communist Party's central role in governing Cuba, but kept party affiliation out of the election process.<ref>[http://sshl.ucsd.edu/collections/las/cuba/1990.html "Cuba: Elections and Events 1991–2001"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301123039/http://sshl.ucsd.edu/collections/las/cuba/1990.html |date=1 March 2007}}. UCSD Latin American Election Statistics Home. 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2014.</ref>

The creation of the ORI was entrusted to PSP executive secretary [[Anibal Escalante]], who used this opportunity to place PSP executives in positions of power and then purge the army of old guerrilla leaders, and speed up agrarian reforms which caused an economic decline. These actions were unpopular in the country causing Fidel Castro to condemn the ORI and order for its restructuring.<ref name="modern">{{cite book |last=Seblin |first=Eric |date=2018 |title=Modern Latin American Revolutions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AvZKDwAAQBAJ&dq=escalante+affair&pg=PT73 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=9780429974595}}</ref> At the end of the affair, Castro dismissed Escalante and his compatriots from the IRO.<ref>{{cite book |last=Artaraz |first=K |title=Cuba and Western Intellectuals since 1959 |date=5 January 2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OafFAAAAQBAJ&dq=escalante+affair&pg=PA32 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=32 |isbn=9780230618299 }}</ref>

The affair alarmed the Soviet leadership who feared a loss of good relations with Cuba. Soviet leadership was also growing to fear a possible U.S. invasion of Cuba. In this crisis of international relations the Soviet Union sent more SA-2 anti-aircraft missiles in April as well as a regiment of regular soviet troops.<ref name="Kennedy"/>