Love him or hate him, the young revolutionary Fidel Castro could not be forgotten. The son of a Cuban plantation owner, he joined the Cuban People’s Party at 21 and from exile helped to organize the movement that would eventually establish a socialist government on the island. In September of 1960, Castro travelled to New York to attend a United Nations conference, where he would get to address the General Assembly.

On this day, September 26, in 1960, Fidel Castro made his address to the United Nations, criticizing the United States of imperialism and militarism.

Castro began by complaining about the perceived unfair official treatment of the Cuban delegation: restriction of movement and tight security around them did not allow for them to go past Manhattan. He then turned to a litany of charges against the U.S., citing official documents: the U.S. armed Batista loyalists which Castro opposed. The U.S. tried to exert economic control over Cuba. And worst of all, the U.S. was making secret preparations for military attacks on Cuba (which turned out to be true, as not a year later, the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion took place).