[4] In Latin America, Cuba supported numerous rebel movements, including in Nicaragua, and in Bolivia where Che Guevara attempted to foment an insurgency.

[3] Cuba also intervened militarily in the Arab world including in Yemen, Algeria, Iraq,[5] and in support of Syria during the October 1973 War.

[2] It publicly justified its interventions into foreign conflicts for a number of reasons; to spread their revolutionary ideas, aid "liberation movements" fighting for independence,[2] and to protect the territorial sovereignty of allied nations.

[3] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and facing the economic difficulties during the Special Period, Cuba continued to maintain a presence in Africa, including the service of many doctors.

[4] During the Cold War, Cuba often positioned itself internationally by providing direct military assistance to those who shared the same ideology and to resistance movements[8] with at least 200,000 members of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) serving in foreign territories during the period.

[11] Informally, Cuba's ambitions of foreign military intervention began shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, though it was officially adopted and pronounced in 1966 by Fidel Castro at the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

[12] Cuba often received military and logistical assistance from the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations when participating in interventionist initiatives throughout Africa and Latin America.

Dominican Air Force pilots fired rockets from their British-made Vampire jets into the approaching launches, killing most of the invaders.

[19] Castro sought to keep the operation covert in order to avoid international backlash, with many Cuban troops participating in the conflict wearing Algerian uniforms.

[19] Apparently the Cubans did not actively participate in combat, and they were eventually withdrawn by the end of the year after providing training to Algerians in the use of military hardware.

[21] In July 1964, the Organization of American States sanctioned Cuba after a cache of weapons destined for the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional was discovered on Venezuela's shores.

[23] During the Congo Crisis, Cuba intervened between April and November of 1965 and provided hundreds of personnel to assist the Conseil National de Liberation (CNL), also known as the Simbas, with overthrowing the Congolese government.

[25] In December 1964, just prior to his time in the Congo, Che Guevara gave a speech speaking out against western imperialism in front of the UN General Assembly.

[26] Soon after, Castro decided to send Guevara along with Víctor Dreke and 137 other Cuban soldiers to support the CNL, revolutionary followers of the deceased Patrice Lumumba.

In October, the Organization for African Unity met in Accra, Ghana, and demanded the exit of all foreign military presence in the Congo, including the Cubans.

Some families and close relatives of CNL members also moved to Cuba leading to the development of a shared Cuban and Congolese identity and community.

During the meeting, Castro promised doctors, military instructors and mechanics to Cabral, and a couple months later Cuba began distributing large amounts of aid.

The average Cuban volunteer stayed 18 months and faced difficult conditions including malaria, parasites and a limited food supply.

[32] A failed attack on the strategically important camp in Madina de Boé led Castro to assign Víctor Dreke to lead the military effort.

[40] In late-1974, Cuba sent Major Alfonso Perez Morales and Carlos Cadelo to assess the situation in Angola after receiving requests for military aid.

On 25 November 1975, as the FLNA/SADF crossed a bridge, MPLA/Cubans hidden along the banks of the river attacked, destroying seven armored cars and killing upwards of 90 enemy soldiers.

[47] In mid-January 1976, the South Africans withdrew from Cela and Santa Comba in Angola, moving to a position north of the Angolan-Namibian border.

The crisis began in 1987 with an assault by Soviet-equipped MPLA troops (People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA)) against the pro-Western rebel movement UNITA in the country's south.

Acting independently from Moscow, Havana reinforced its African ally, increasing its deployed number to 55,000 troops, tanks, artillery and MiG-23s, prompting Pretoria to call up 140,000 reservists.

Cuba sent armored cars, artillery, T-62 tanks, and MiGs to assist the Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia (Derg).

[55] During the Nicaraguan Revolution, Cuba supplied military aid and logistics to Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) guerrillas.

When Cuba began to enter its Special Period which saw domestic economic collapse, it once again became motivated to take control of Venezuela's oil wealth.

[67] Venezuelan intelligence had also later discovered that Cuban Dirección de Inteligencia agents remained in Venezuela following the second inauguration of Carlos Andrés Pérez and eventually escalated political tensions during the Caracazo riots in 1989.

[64] Still suffering from the effects of Cuba's Special Period, Castro built a relationship with emerging political figure Hugo Chávez.

[70] Chávez would go on to visit Cuba the same year on 14 December, during the Special Period, where he was personally received by Castro with head of state honors.