Description
The modern, troubled relationship between the United States and Cuba began on January 1, 1959, when a revolution led by Fidel Castro overthrew the American-backed ruler, Fulgencio Batista. While Cubans celebrated, the U.S. government was wary of this new, unpredictable leader. Initially, both sides seemed open to building a positive relationship. Castro even went on a “goodwill tour” of the U.S. in April 1959. However, he was determined to create an independent Cuba, free from American financial control, and refused to ask for aid. The relationship began to break down when President Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly snubbed Castro by going on a golf trip during his visit. Feeling insulted, Castro returned to Cuba and implemented socialist reforms, nationalizing large estates, many of which were owned by U.S. investors. When he filled his government with radical and communist-leaning leaders, the U.S. became alarmed, and the CIA began to secretly plan for his overthrow.
Tensions escalated dramatically in 1960. Cuba signed a major trade agreement with the Soviet Union, solidifying an alliance that would define its foreign relations for decades. The breaking point came when a ship carrying munitions exploded in Havana’s harbor. Castro was convinced the CIA was behind it and publicly accused the United States of sabotage. In response, Eisenhower authorized covert operations to remove Castro from power. The U.S. applied financial pressure by refusing to buy Cuban sugar, a primary export. Castro retaliated by nationalizing all remaining U.S.-owned businesses. Russia then stepped in to buy Cuba’s sugar, and as Eisenhower’s presidency ended, the United States officially closed its embassy in Havana, cutting off formal diplomatic ties.
When John F. Kennedy became president, the Cold War was intensifying. The U.S. was determined to oust Castro, whose government was thriving both politically and economically. In April 1961, Kennedy approved the Bay of Pigs Invasion, a CIA-backed operation where 1,500 Cuban exiles attempted to overthrow Castro. The invasion was a complete failure; Castro’s forces quickly defeated the invaders and took over 1,200 prisoners. Humiliated, Kennedy imposed a full economic embargo on Cuba. Secretly, however, he pursued a dual strategy. He launched Operation Mongoose, a plan to destabilize Cuba and even considered assassination plots, while also creating a secret “rapprochement track” to negotiate with Castro. These secret talks were kept alive through unconventional means, including a prisoner exchange negotiated by lawyer James B. Donovan. The discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962 led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, a standoff that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Even during this intense period, secret back-channel communications continued, ultimately leading to the removal of the missiles and the release of the Bay of Pigs prisoners.
After Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, any hope for normalizing relations vanished. The new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, took a much harder line, viewing Cuba’s support for revolutionary movements in Latin America as a sign of bad faith. He tightened the embargo and travel ban, prompting Castro to open a port that allowed thousands of Cubans to flee to the U.S. in what became the Cuban Refugee Airlift. The next president, Richard Nixon, was openly hostile to Castro and refused any form of negotiation, even when a wave of plane hijackings created a shared problem. However, his pragmatic Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, saw the policy as ineffective. While Nixon was consumed by the Watergate scandal, Kissinger initiated his own secret talks with Cuba. These discussions continued under President Gerald Ford but ultimately stalled. Cuba demanded that the U.S. lift its embargo before serious talks could begin, while the U.S. insisted that Cuba first sever its ties with the Soviet Union and end its military involvement in countries like Angola.
President Jimmy Carter entered office in 1977 with a new approach, believing that opening Cuba to trade and commerce was the best way to bring about change. He took steps to ease tensions, but negotiations once again hit the familiar wall of disagreement over foreign policy. The relationship deteriorated further in 1980 with the Mariel boatlift. Castro, frustrated that the U.S. welcomed Cubans who hijacked boats to flee, opened the port of Mariel, allowing 80,000 Cubans, including criminals, to head for Florida. This crisis, dubbed the “Freedom Flotilla,” severely damaged Carter’s reputation and contributed to his election loss to Ronald Reagan.
The Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations returned to an aggressive, hardline policy. Reagan tightened the embargo and launched Radio Marti, a propaganda station aimed at undermining Castro. Still, practical matters, like dealing with the thousands of criminals who had arrived during the Mariel boatlift, forced the two governments to negotiate an agreement. As the Cold War came to an end in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Bush administration believed it was only a matter of time before Castro’s government, deprived of Soviet support, would collapse on its own.
Domestic politics heavily influenced President Bill Clinton’s approach. To win the crucial state of Florida with its large anti-Castro Cuban-American population, he signed laws to tighten the embargo. Yet, his administration quietly used loopholes to allow for cultural exchanges and loosen travel restrictions. Another immigration crisis in 1994, the Balsero Crisis, forced more back-channel talks, leading to a deal where Castro would stop the flow of refugees. Progress was shattered, however, when Cuban forces shot down two planes flown by a Miami-based exile group, prompting Congress to pass a bill that took away the president’s power to lift the embargo. The end of Clinton’s term saw a rare moment of cooperation during the international custody battle over a young boy, Elian Gonzalez.
President George W. Bush maintained a strict anti-Castro policy, but the election of Barack Obama signaled a significant shift. Obama argued that the 50-year-old policy of isolation had failed. His administration took steps to ease restrictions on travel and cultural exchange. While a U.S. cyber-warfare program and the arrest of an American operative in Cuba created new setbacks, the signs of change grew stronger in Obama’s second term. The two countries resumed talks on migration, and postal service was restored. The most symbolic moment came in 2013 at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, where President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shook hands in public. For a relationship that had survived for half a century on secret talks and back-channel dealings, this simple public gesture was a monumental step forward, signaling that a new chapter might finally be beginning.
