Timeline of Important Events in Cuba-United States Relations

1959

--Castro and his forces capture Havana. Batista flees the country, leaving power in the hands of the revolutionaries, who enjoy enthusiastic support in Cuba as well as across the world.

Castro, the new prime minister, soon falls out of favor in the U.S. government after foreign companies in Cuba complain of harsh treatment, and reports circulate of vengeful revolutionary executions of former Batista associates.

--Later in the year Castro nationalizes foreign-owned companies, stating that the property belongs to the Cuban people.

1960

--U.S. President Eisenhower issues statement asserting that while the U.S. does not intend to meddle in Cuban politics, Americans have the right to "assert and defend, in exercise of their own sovereignty, their legitimate interests" in Cuba.

--Cuba announces a large trade deal with the Soviet Union.

1961

--After the Cuban revolutionaries demand that the size of the staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana be reduced to eleven people, the U.S. severs all diplomatic relations with Cuba. Diplomatic relations in 1997 are still nonexistant, with the Swiss government continuing to relay necessary communications between the two countries.

--Cuban U.N. delegate Raul Roa gives speech to Assembly declaring that Cuba has "ceased forever to be a satellite of American imperialism," and accuses the U.S. of planning a military attack on the island.

--Close Cuban-Soviet relations are established, without Cuba necessarily declaring itself communist.

--A force of Cuban exiles, armed and trained by the United States, attempts to invade Cuba in the Bay of Pigs fiasco. The attempt fails as almost every exile is killed or captured. The Soviet Union forcefully denounces the actions, vowing to defend the Republic of Cuba from foreign invasions by any means necessary.

--Castro declares that Marxism-Leninism is the official philosophy and policy of Cuba.

1962

--The United States instigates successful effort to expel Cuba from the Organization of American States, offering cooperating members hefty loans.

--American spy plane discovers presence of Soviet-made nuclear missiles on the island. President Kennedy demands immediate and unconditional withdrawal of missiles, blockades the island and implies possibility of nuclear war. U.S.S.R. eventually agrees to remove the missiles in exchange for vague U.S. promise to never invade Cuba, bringing the Cold War's most dangerous crisis to an end.

1964

--U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk says of Castro government: "We regard that regime as temporary."

1976

--Fidel Castro changes position from Cuban Prime Minister to president of the Council of State and Council of Ministers.

1980

--Cubans seeking asylum invade Peruvian embassy in Havana. The resulting wave of refugees to the United States is known as the Mariel boatlift.

--New U.S. President Ronald Reagan is strongly anti-communist and pledges to fight spread of communism in Central and South America. U.S. government in 1980s later sets up Radio Marti, which broadcasts anti-communist propaganda to the island.

1983

--U.S. invades Grenada to destroy Cuban-aided Marxist government.

1991

--U.S.S.R collapses, leaving a Soviet-dependant Cuban economy in a state of crisis. Cuban economy shrinks by more than 60%.

Castro pledges Socialism or Death, after which the number of Cubans attempting to flee the island increases vastly.

1994

--A boat carrying fleeing Cubans bound for the U.S. is attacked by the Cuban coast guard. Several people drown.

1996

--Two planes belonging to anti-Castro exile group Brothers to the Rescue are shot down over international waters by Cuban air force.

--President Bill Clinton vows to support the Helms-Burton Law, which strengthens the blockade on Cuba by punishing foreign companies that do business with Cuba.

--The Helms-Burton Law is declared by Canada, members of the European Union, and other countries to be in violation of international norms and law.

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Copyright ©1997, James Rohrbaugh