Despite Soviet attempts to appease Castro, Cuban-Soviet relations were still marred by a number of difficulties. Castro increased contacts with China, exploited the growing Sino-Soviet split and proclaimed his intention to remain neutral and to maintain fraternal relations with all socialist states. The Sino-Soviet split also impacted on Castro's relationship with Che Guevara, who took a more Maoist view after ideological conflict between the Soviet Communist Party and the Chinese Communist Party. In 1966, Guevara left for Bolivia in an ill-fated attempt to stir up revolution against Alfredo Ovando Candía's U.S.-sponsored military junta