the resulting debacle only helped castro consolidate power, and he dramatically improved health care and literacy, and also accepted soviet missiles. requiring a response upon the soviet union. until jfk s hard line and back channel diplomacy got the russians to pull back, and for 25 years moscow helped castro arm. with the end of the soviet union, cuba s economy emploweded, and thousands fled the regime. his legacy is a complicated one, but there s no forgetting how many cubans left the island under duress. and the ageing ruler court u.s. businessmen and he welcomed