Timeline of Important Events in Cuba-United States Relations

1895

--Private investments in Cuba by U.S. companies valued at $50 million.

1898

--Successfully prosecuting Spanish-American War, the U.S. drives Spain out of Cuba.

1898-1902

--U.S. military rules Cuba by right of conquest.

1902

--Cuba names its first president, Tomas Estrada Palma, but genuine self-rule does not yet exist.

1902

--Cuban assembly reluctantly adopts Platt Amendment, drafted by U.S. Senator Orville H. Platt. This amendment grants Cuba official right of self-governance, in exchange for Cuba's agreement to provide the U.S. with a naval base on Cuban territory, to promise to limit its foreign debt, and to promise never to sign treaties with foreign powers contrary to U.S. interests.

--The U.S. extends preferential tariffs on sugar to Cuba, but this merely leads Cuba to become subservient to a sugar-export economy.

--Industrial wealth of Cuba passes into foreign, especially American, ownership. Dependence on U.S. economy lasts until 1959.

1906

--Theodore Roosevelt administration intervenes in Cuba, putting the island under military rule for the next three years.

1917 and 1921

--President Wilson interferes in Cuban politics in both of these years, each time after a Cuban political party refuses to abide by election results after claims of electoral fraud.

1925

--U.S. private investments in Cuba have mushroomed from $50 million in 1895 to $1.5 billion thirty years later.

1925-1933

--American government recognizes and supports despotic regime of Gerardo Machado.

1933

--After widespread political violence and revolt against the Machado regime, the U.S. withdraws its support. The regime topples and the island plunges into economic and political turmoil.

1933-1934

--Franklin D. Roosevelt administration refuses to recognize the elected reformist administration of Ramon Grau San Martin, believing that the new Cuban government would not provide sufficient order and was vulnerable to communist influences.

1934

--Fulgencio Batista, an important figure in the Cuban army, helps opponent of Grau gain power and control the new government from behind the scenes. The Platt Amendment is abrogated by new Cuban-U.S. treaty that legalizes all concessions granted by Cuba during previous periods of U.S. military occupation.

1940

--Batista gains executive position in government.

1944

--Batista steps down after a favorite political candidate is defeated in elections.

1944-1952

--Civilian rule in Cuba is tainted by widespread rumors of graft and corruption.

1952

--Batista launches coup d'etat and comes into full power. Fidel Castro, a young agitator, dedicates himself to overthrowing Batista and restoring constitutional rule.

--Batista regime earns international notoriety for its human rights violations, corruption, and policies favoring foreign companies over Cuban citizens. Batista uses much of country's resouces to increase his own wealth, and Havana becomes a popular sanctuary for organized crime figures.

1953

--Castro organizes an attack on Moncada army barracks in Santiago; the attack fails, and Castro is captured, tried, imprisoned, and later released during an amnesty campaign directed by Batista, who is seeking to increase popularity for his rule.

1953-1959

--Castro, promising political and economic reform, leads a protracted and increasingly popular guerrilla struggle against the Batista dictatorship. Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara aids Castro. The revolt rapidly evolves from a local affair in the Sierra Maestra mountains to a country-wide revolution involving peasants, students, workers and intellectuals.

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