Key milestones in Cuba-US relations

The relationship between the United States and Cuba has been intertwined for many years. Since 1960, the U.S. has maintained an economic embargo against Cuba. Here are some key milestones in the relationship between the two countries:

1898: The United States declared war on Spain.

1898: The United States defeated Spain. Spain relinquished all claims of sovereignty over Cuba and ceded the island to the United States.

1902: Cuba became an independent nation, with Tomas Estrada Palma becoming its president. However, the Platt Amendment kept the island under American protection and granted the United States the right to intervene in Cuban affairs.

1906-1909: Estrada resigned and the United States occupied Cuba after a rebellion led by Jose Miguel Gomez.

1909: Jose Miguel Gomez became president after elections supervised by the United States, but his image was quickly tarnished by corruption.

1912: American forces returned to Cuba to assist in suppressing Black protests against apartheid.

1933: Gerardo Machado was overthrown in a coup led by Fulgencio Batista.

1934: The United States lifted its right to interfere in Cuba's internal affairs, reviewed Cuba's sugar quotas, and changed tariffs in a way that benefited Cuba.

Fidel Castro (left) and Che Guevara (photo: AP)

1953: Fidel Castro led an unsuccessful uprising to overthrow the Batista regime.

1956: From Mexico, Castro landed in eastern Cuba and descended into the Sierra Maestra mountains. There, with the support of Che Guevara, he launched a guerrilla war.

1958: The US withdrew military aid to Batista.

1959: Castro led a guerrilla army of 9,000 members into Havana, forcing dictator Batista to flee. Castro became prime minister.

April 1959: Castro met with U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon during an unofficial visit to Washington. Nixon later wrote that the U.S. had no choice but to try to steer this left-wing leader in the "right" direction.

1960: All American businesses in Cuba were nationalized without compensation. The U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Havana and imposed a trade embargo in response to reforms undertaken by Castro.

1961: The US backed an invasion by Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs. Castro declared Cuba a socialist state and began allying himself with the Soviet Union.

1961: The CIA began planning the assassination of Castro as part of Operation Mongoose. Between 1961 and 1963, at least five assassination plots against the Cuban leader were drawn up.

Fidel shakes hands with Nixon during his visit to Washington in 1959 (photo: UPI)

1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis erupted when Castro, fearing a US invasion, agreed to allow the Soviet Union to deploy nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island nation. The US released photographs of Soviet nuclear missile caches on Cuban territory, creating a crisis that brought the two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union, to the brink of nuclear war.

The issue was later resolved when the Soviet Union agreed to dismantle the missiles in exchange for the United States withdrawing its nuclear missiles from Türkiye.

1980: Approximately 125,000 Cubans fled to the United States when Castro temporarily lifted travel restrictions.

1993: The U.S. tightened its embargo against Cuba, which at the time began implementing a number of market reforms aimed at stemming its economic decline. These reforms included legalizing the U.S. dollar, converting many state-owned farms into semi-autonomous cooperatives, and legalizing small-scale private businesses.

1994: Cuba signed an agreement with the United States under which the U.S. agreed to accept 20,000 Cuban citizens annually in exchange for Cuba blocking the flow of immigrants to the U.S.

Cuban exile soldiers captured by Cuban authorities in 1961 (photo: Three Lions)

1996: The U.S. trade embargo against Cuba was extended in duration in response to Cuba shooting down two U.S. planes piloted by Cuban exiles in Miami.

1998: The U.S. eased restrictions on remittances sent to relatives by Cuban Americans.

November 1999: Elian Gonzalez was rescued off the coast of Florida after a boat carrying his mother, stepfather, and others attempting to flee to the United States capsized. Cuban exiles in Miami launched a major campaign to prevent Elian from returning to his father in Cuba and to keep him with relatives in Miami.

June 2000: Elian was allowed to reunite with his father in Cuba after a protracted legal battle.

June 2001: Five Cubans were convicted in Miami and sentenced to years in prison for spying for the Cuban government. The case of these five Cubans became a rallying cry for the Havana government.

November 2001: The United States exported food to Cuba for the first time in more than 40 years after the Cuban government requested assistance in recovering from Hurricane Michelle.

January 2002: Prisoners captured by the U.S. during the war in Afghanistan were flown to Guantanamo Bay for questioning as suspected al-Qaeda members.

May 2002: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Bolton accused Cuba of attempting to develop biological weapons, placing the country on Washington's list of nations belonging to the "axis of evil."

May 2002: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter made a historic goodwill visit to Cuba. The visit included tours of scientific centers in response to U.S. allegations of biological weapons use.

October 2003: U.S. President George Bush announced new measures to accelerate the end of socialism in Cuba, including tightening the trade embargo against the island, cracking down on illegal money transfers, and a more intense propaganda campaign targeting Cuba. The U.S. created a new agency called the Committee for Assistance to a Free Cuba.

August 2006: In his first comments after Cuban President Castro underwent surgery and handed over power to his brother Raul, U.S. President George W. Bush urged Cubans to strive toward "democratization."

December 2006: The largest delegation from the U.S. Congress visited Cuba since the 1959 revolution. Jeff Flake, a Republican congressman leading the delegation, said he wanted to usher in “a new era in U.S.-Cuba relations.”

July 2007: Acting leader Raul Castro signaled that he might welcome warming relations with the United States. He offered to participate in talks, but only after the 2008 US presidential election.

February 2008: Raul Castro officially assumed the presidency of Cuba. Washington called for free and fair elections and announced that its embargo would continue.

November 2008: Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.

December 2008: A new poll showed that a majority of Cuban Americans living in Miami wanted an end to the embargo against Cuba.

April 2009: President Obama lifted restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba.

December 2009: American citizen Alan Gross was arrested in Cuba on charges of spying for Washington.

November 2010: The Ballet Theatre visited Cuba for the first time in 50 years – the latest in a series of cultural exchanges.

October 2011: Cuban spy Rene Gonzalez was released from a Florida prison. Gonzalez was a member of the Cuban "Five" group – who were sentenced to years in prison in 2001 in the U.S. after being convicted of espionage. Havana has repeatedly called for their release.

December 2011: The U.S. once again called for the release of Alan Gross, an American serving a 15-year prison sentence in Cuba for bringing internet equipment into the country. Cuba's refusal to release him had frozen bilateral relations for months.

September 2012: Cuba indicated its willingness to negotiate with Washington on finding a solution to the Gross case.

December 2014: President Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba.

According to VOV