One might think that Camilla Cabello’s ‘Havana’ is the USA’s only link to Cuba, however, this is not the case.
“The United States seeks a stable, prosperous, and free country for the Cuban people.” Or at least this is what is stated on the official government page on U.S relations with Cuba. In reality, Cuba and the USA have managed to maintain a relationship that has spanned almost two centuries, although it was not smooth sailing at all times. In 1898, the US declared war on Spain, sparking the Spanish-American War over the independence of Cuba. The US and Cuban joint forces defeated Spain in the same year and Spain gave up all claims to Cuba. For the next four years, Cuba was placed under U.S military government control, as stated in the Treaty of Paris, until Cuba gained independence in 1902. Under the Platt Amendment in Cuba’s newly formed constitution, the island was under US protection and the US had the right to intervene in Cuban affairs. Diplomatic relations and the U.S. Legation in Havana were established on May 27, 1902. Through the years there was a lot of US interference such as their assistance in the ‘Negro Rebellion’ of 1912 and supervision in the 1909 elections. The US abandoned its right to intervene in Cuba’s internal affairs and the US and Cuba signed a treaty that went back on the Platt Amendment in 1934. The US also revised Cuba’s sugar quota and changed tariffs in order to favour Cuba. This gave way to the growth of international investments in Cuba during the 1940s and 1950s.
Cuba’s relations with the US began to deteriorate rapidly in 1959 beginning with the revolt, led Fidel Castro’s, which overthrew Batista’s government. Fidel Castro became the leader of Cuba. After Castro met with US Vice President Richard Nixon in an unofficial visit, Nixon wrote that the US had no choice but to “orient” the left-wing leader in the “right direction” (no pun intended). This set up the tone for Cuba’s relations with US for the next few years. In 1960, the US began to break off ties with the now Communist country of Cuba, who had allied with the USSR. In a response to Cuba nationalising all US businesses in Cuba without compensation, the US imposed a trade embargo which limited American businesses from conducting business with Cuban interests that remains in effect today. This makes it the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. It also became illegal for US citizens to travel to Cuba. The US sponsored the invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs and the CIA began to make plans to assassinate Castro as part of Operation Mongoose where at least five plans are drawn up between 1961 and 1963. The Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962 caused the US to panic as they were at risk of a nuclear war with the USSR. This issue of the USSR having planted missiles in Cuba was quickly resolved when a mutual removal of missiles in Turkey and Cuba was agreed by the US and USSR respectively.
In 1980 when Castro temporarily lifted the restrictions on allowing Cubans to leave the country with a permit, nearly 125,000 Cubans fled to the USA and it is often described as the “1980 Cuban Exodus”. Cuba accused the U.S. of tightening the economic embargo and depriving Cubans of medicine and other resources in October 1993 after Cuba faced economic troubles. After another large wave of immigration the following year, Cuba signed an agreement with the US which said that the US would allow 20,000 Cubans a year. Things turned sour again when Cuba shot down two US aircrafts forcing Congress to tighten the Cuban trade embargo further. An executive order from the Clinton administration in 1998 allowed sales of some food and agricultural products to Cuba and eased restrictions on sending money to relatives in Cuba. Controversy sparked in November of 1999, when a Cuban six-year-old Elian Gonzalez was picked up off of the coast of Florida after the boat he was travelling in with his mother capsized. An international custody battle begins between his uncle and relative in Miami and the Cuban government and his father. The question of how the US should Cuban exiles was brought up after this event. After a year, Elian was sent back to his father after a long and messy custody battle. In June 2001, five Cubans were convicted in Miami and given long sentences for spying for the Cuban government. The case of the Cuban Five becomes an important acclamation for the Havana government.
After devastation in the form of Hurricane Michelle struck the Cuban coast, the US exported food to Cuba for the first time in 40 years. In October 2003, US President George Bush announced new ways to speed up the end of communist rule in Cuba, including tightening the travel embargo to the island, hampering down on illegal cash transfers and a better information campaign aimed at Cuba. A new body, the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, was created. After Castro underwent surgery, his brother Raul Castro stepped up and indicated that he may be open to the idea of rebuilding relations with the USA, but only after the 2008 US presidential elections. A year after Barack Obama (the G.O.A.T) was elected as president, he eased restrictions on family travel to Cuba. Over the next year, there were many cultural exchanges between Cuba and the USA. In February 2014, an iconic handshake took place at the memorial service of Nelson Mandela. It was the second US-Cuban leader handshake to take place in the last five decades. Later, a poll found that most Americans are in favour of normalising relations with Cuba and on 16th December 2014 the United States and Cuba swapped prisoners. The United States restored diplomatic relations on 20 July 2015. Today, U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the United States Embassy in Havana, and likewise, there is the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. The United States, however, continues to maintain its commercial, economic, and financial embargo with Cuba. As with every relationship, Cuba and the USA have faced many up and downs and the question of whether the economic embargo will be lifted is still being asked to this day.
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