 These perceived threats prompted Castro to further eliminate " counter @-@ revolutionaries " , and to utilize Guevara to drastically increase the speed of land reform . To implement this plan , a new government agency , the National Institute of Agrarian Reform ( INRA ) , was established to administer the new Agrarian Reform law . INRA quickly became the most important governing body in the nation , with Guevara serving as its head in his capacity as minister of industries . Under Guevara 's command , INRA established its own 100 @,@ 000 person militia , used first to help the government seize control of the expropriated land and supervise its distribution , and later to set up cooperative farms . The land confiscated included 480 @,@ 000 acres ( 190 @,@ 000 ha ) owned by United States corporations . Months later , as retaliation , U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sharply reduced United States imports of Cuban sugar ( Cuba 's main cash crop ) , thus leading Guevara on July 10 , 1960 , to address over 100 @,@ 000 workers in front of the Presidential Palace at a rally called to denounce United States " economic aggression " . Time magazine reporters who met with Guevara around this time , described him as " <unk> ( ing ) Cuba with icy calculation , vast competence , high intelligence , and a perceptive sense of humor . " 
