Mismanagement and corruption resulted in major economic problems. By the end of the 1950s, the economy was deteriorating because of a combination of overspending on a festival to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the regime, overspending to purchase privately owned sugar mills and electricity plants, and a decision to make a major investment in state sugar production that proved economically unsuccessful. In 1956, Trujillo's agents in New York murdered Jesús María de Galíndez, a Basque exile who had worked for Trujillo but who later denounced the Trujillo regime and caused public opinion in the United States to turn against Trujillo. In June 1960, Dominican secret police agents in Caracas used a car bomb in a nearly successful attempt to kill President Rómulo Betancourt of Venezuela, who had become the leading voice in the anti-Trujillo chorus, burning him badly. Tracing the attack to Trujillo, the Organization of American States (OAS) imposed sanctions for the first time since its creation in 1946, cutting off shipments of oil, among other things, to the Dominican Republic. Refusing to back down, Trujillo lashed out at Catholic priests who read a pastoral letter from the pulpit asking for merciful treatment of political opponents. One of his last-ditch threats was to ally with the Soviet Union, as he had implied was an option in the past.