The mistakes made by the United States in terms of imprecise planning and overconfidence in the Bay of Pigs invasion increased the Cuban government's confidence in its own people and intelligence services and in tactics for future attacks. The Bay of Pigs debacle not only strengthened Fidel Castro's power, but also brought the Soviet Union firmly onto his side, thus increasing Castro's initiative to implement the ideals of communism in Cuba. This is evident in the strong relationship of Castro with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev between 1960 and 1962. The failure of the 1961 invasion served as motivation for Fidel Castro to begin planning a counterattack on the United States government. Soon after the invasion ended, Castro acted to further strengthen the nation for possible future conflicts. To facilitate this, he accordingly approved Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island, which immediately established a political alliance between the two communist leaders, convenient for both. Castro needed Soviet help to protect his regime...