Sentence:  Hours after a parade of his new Soviet tanks and artillery , Dictator Fidel Castro suddenly <WSD>confronted</WSD> the U. S. with a blunt and drastic demand : within 48 hours , the U. S. had to reduce its embassy and consulate staffs in Cuba to a total of eleven persons ( the embassy staff alone totaled 87 U. S. citizens , plus 120 Cuban employees ) . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  oppose, as in hostility or a competition