In 1898 after the Spanish American war, Cuba was handed over to the United States along with Guam and Puerto Rico because of Spain's defeat. Despite this, the United States decided to grant Cuba independence with two conditions : US intervention when deemed necessary and a perpetual lease on naval base Guantanamo Bay. This began the precarious relationship the the US had with Cuba in which both countries were able to benefit. For example, the United States squashed rebellion and invested in the island while Cuba became a place for inspiration, as seen through Hemingway writing The Old Man and the Sea in Cuba. Ultimately, the United States and Cuba tolerated the restriction put in place as they realized the benefits that could be gained.
However, this wasn't to last long. The Cuban Revolution occurred, with the United States backing Fidel Castro and his guerrilla army in overthrowing the established government. After Castro's win, the United States recognized the regime and brought Castro to the Untied States, the last display of cooperation and strong ties between Cuba and the United States.
Ironically, the government that the United States backed during the Cuban Revolution turned their backs on American interests. Private property was seized, private companies were nationalized, and high tariffs on American goods decreased imports of American goods into Cuba. Naturally, America was infuriated, and trade restrictions were put in place, creating the idea of "Yankee Imperialism." This led Castro to look towards the Soviet Union to replace the trade lost with the United States. With that, the two countries cut all diplomatic relations and Switzerland became the messenger between the two.
Once the ties were cut, Cuba's economy began to spiral down, the reliance on the United States showing once Cuba no longer had access to American goods. Furthermore, the US sent in spies and planned attempts to assassinate Castro, ranging from crazy plans to ones that simply never worked out. This eventually led to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the animosity between the two nations boiling down to this tense situation. Eventually, the Soviet Union and the United States reached an agreement and the possibility of nuclear war was prevented. However, American anti-Cuba sentiment increased and Americans wouldn't forgive Cuba for the outrageous actions of allowing nuclear weapons to be placed so close to the United States for many decades to come.
From then on, America continued having a strained relationship with their neighboring island, accepting asylum seekers while strengthening embargo rules with the Helms-Burton act, all because two US civilian airplanes were shot down. Yet, once again, America helped Cubans after Hurricane Michelle, creating an agreement that allowed America to sell food to Cuba, eventually becoming Cuba's main supplier of food.
Even today, the relationship that America has with Cuba is still changing. Recently, the remittance and travel restrictions on Cuba have been lifted and Americans visited Cuba for the first time in decade. Yet, the relationship is still unstable, with the new administration looking towards a different way of dealing with the island.
Just like always, America's relationship with Cuba is not straightforward, and it goes to show how relationships between nations can be complicated. As America continues to move forward, it will be interesting to see just how much more our relationship with Cuba will change, and what that means for both American citizens and those of Cuba.
Sources :
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-cuba-policy/story?id=48058622
http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891359,00.html
Your post gave a very clear and insightful description of America's complicated history with Cuba. Building off of your discussion of complicated international relations, America also has a complicated relationship with China. The US is the current dominant economic power, while China is the rising power. The two countries have a complicated history of immigration restriction and lack of communication, with communications only being reopened during Nixon's presidency. Right now, the status of the economic relationship is mutually beneficial, but China wants to challenge US presence in parts of East Asia and is constantly challenging the freedom of navigation by their coasts. This complex and entangled relationship is similar to our diplomatic relations with Cuba.
ReplyDeletehttps://warontherocks.com/2016/02/america-and-china-its-complicated/
I find it interesting how Castro was initially backed by the American government during the Cuban Revolution, but later switched sides and supported the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Shortly after the revolution, Castro began courting the Soviet Union, as he knew that Cuba needed Soviet protection in order to survive. The Soviets embraced this opportunity, knowing that allying with Cuba would give them a foothold in the Western Hemisphere against the United States. Even after the Cold War died down, Cuba continued to assist the Soviets in their foreign affairs. However, once the Soviet Union disbanded, Castro's and Cuba's international significance began to decline. Losing out on millions of dollars in aid annually provided by the Soviets, Cuba's economy struggled severely, setting the country back many years in its development. As seen by its economic struggles during the 90s, Cuba would not have been nearly as prominent as it was during the 60s and 70s if not for Soviet assistance and protection.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting insight into how the Cuba relationship with America has fluxed over time. This also interests me into how different presidents foreign policy caused the flux. Like how JFK dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis and how that was a leading caused in our present relationship with them. I think cuban history also plays part into the relationship regarding their leaders and allies as well!
ReplyDeleteSophia, I like how you provided a lot of context for the Cuban-American relations exist throughout today. Today, there are significant setbacks that are hurting the relationship between these two nations. Cuba has only been open to being travelled to because of the Obama-era reforms to repair the relationship with our neighbors to the south. President Trump has only alienated Cubans even more, stating that the relationship was "one-sided," and not willing to acknowledge that Cubans can help our economy as well. There are agricultural opportunities that can help build the relationship for this country that have not been possible.
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-affect-us-cuban-relations-2016-11