 | |
 Cuba |
 United States |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Cuban Embassy, Washington, D.C. | United States Embassy, Havana |
| Envoy | |
| Ambassador Jessica Rodríguez | Chargée d'affaires Mara Tekach |
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Cuba–United States relations are bilateral relations between the Republic of Cuba and the United States of America. Cuba and the United States restored diplomatic relations on 20 July 2015, relations which had been severed in 1961 during the Cold War. U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the United States Embassy in Havana, and there is a similar Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. The United States, however, continues to maintain its commercial, economic, and financial embargo, making it illegal for U.S. corpo
Cuba–United States relations are bilateral relations between the Republic of Cuba and the United States of America. Cuba and the United States restored diplomatic relations on 20 July 2015, relations which had been severed in 1961 during the Cold War. U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the United States Embassy in Havana, and there is a similar Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. The United States, however, continues to maintain its commercial, economic, and financial embargo, making it illegal for U.S. corporations to do business with Cuba.
The hold of the Spanish Empire on possessions in the Americas was reduced in the 1820s as a result of the Spanish American wars of independence; only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule until the Spanish–American War (1898) that resulted from the Cuban War of Independence. Under the Treaty of Paris, Cuba became a U.S. protectorate from 1898–1902; the U.S. gained a position of economic and political dominance over the island, which persisted after it became formally independent in 1902.
Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, bilateral relations deteriorated substantially. In October 1960, the U.S. imposed and subsequently tightened a comprehensive set of restrictions and bans against the Cuban government, ostensibly in retaliation for the nationalization of U.S. corporations' property by Cuba. In 1961, the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with Cuba and engaged in a campaign of terrorist attacks and covert operations in an attempt to bring down the Cuban government.[7][8] The 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and American efforts to stand up to Fidel Castro's attempts to spread communism throughout Latin America and Africa, are main highlights of U.S. antagonism towards Cuba during the Cold War, although Nixon, Ford, Kennedy, and Johnson resorted to back-channel talks with the Cuban government during the Cold War.[9]
On 17 December 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced the beginning of a process of normalizing relations between Cuba and the U.S., which media sources have named "the Cuban Thaw". Negotiated in secret in Canada and the Vatican City[10] over several preceding months, and with the assistance of Pope Francis, the agreement led to the lifting of some U.S. travel restrictions, fewer restrictions on remittances, access to the Cuban financial system for U.S. banks,[11] and the establishment of a U.S. embassy in Havana, which closed after Cuba became closely allied with the USSR in 1961.[12][13] The countries' respective "interests sections" in one another's capitals were upgraded to embassies on 20 July 2015.[14] On 20 March 2016, President Barack Obama visited Cuba, becoming the first U.S. president in 88 years to visit the island.[15]
On 16 June 2017 President Donald Trump announced that he was suspending the policy for unconditional sanctions relief for Cuba, while also leaving the door open for a "better deal" between the U.S. and Cuba.[16][17] On 8 November 2017, it was announced that the business and travel restrictions which were loosened by the Obama administration would be reinstated[18] and they went into effect on 9 November.[19] On 4 June 2019, the Trump administration announced new restrictions on American travel to Cuba.[20]
On 22 October 2020, Cuba foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez has presented an annual report on Cuba's experience of the economic blockade with the U.S. to express its effects on Cuba and the Cuban people be
The hold of the Spanish Empire on possessions in the Americas was reduced in the 1820s as a result of the Spanish American wars of independence; only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule until the Spanish–American War (1898) that resulted from the Cuban War of Independence. Under the Treaty of Paris, Cuba became a U.S. protectorate from 1898–1902; the U.S. gained a position of economic and political dominance over the island, which persisted after it became formally independent in 1902.
Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, bilateral relations deteriorated substantially. In October 1960, the U.S. imposed and subsequently tightened a comprehensive set of restrictions and bans against the Cuban government, ostensibly in retaliation for the nationalization of U.S. corporations' property by Cuba. In 1961, the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with Cuba and engaged in a campaign of terrorist attacks and covert operations in an attempt to bring down the Cuban government.[7][8] The 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and American efforts to stand up to Fidel Castro's attempts to spread communism throughout Latin America and Africa, are main highlights of U.S. antagonism towards Cuba during the Cold War, although Nixon, Ford, Kennedy, and Johnson resorted to back-channel talks with the Cuban government during the Cold War.[9]
On 17 December 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced the beginning of a process of normalizing relations between Cuba and the U.S., which media sources have named "the Cuban Thaw". Negotiated in secret in Canada and the Vatican City[10] over several preceding months, and with the assistance of Pope Francis, the agreement led to the lifting of some U.S. travel restrictions, fewer restrictions on remittances, access to the Cuban financial system for U.S. banks,[11] and the establishment of a U.S. embassy in Havana, which closed after Cuba became closely allied with the USSR in 1961.[12][13] The countries' respective "interests sections" in one another's capitals were upgraded to embassies on 20 July 2015.[14] On 20 March 2016, President Barack Obama visited Cuba, becoming the first U.S. president in 88 years to visit the island.[15]
On 16 June 2017 President Donald Trump announced that he was suspending the policy for unconditional sanctions relief for Cuba, while also leaving the door open for a "better deal" between the U.S. and Cuba.[16][17] On 8 November 2017, it was announced that the business and travel restrictions which were loosened by the Obama administration would be reinstated[18] and they went into effect on 9 November.[19] On 4 June 2019, the Trump administration announced new restrictions on American travel to Cuba.[20]
On 22 October 2020, Cuba foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez has presented an annual report on Cuba's experience of the economic blockade with the U.S. to express its effects on Cuba and the Cuban people before the voting in meeting of UNGA, which will held in March 2021. The author criticized the blockade of the U.S. by calling it against the international laws that restrict the basic living of people and a question on humanity, "How any country put another country's social development under assault?".[21]
Relations between the Spanish colony of Cuba and polities on the North American mainland first established themselves in the early 18th century through illicit commercial contracts by the European colonies of the New World, trading to elude colonial taxes. As both legal and illegal trade increased, Cuba became a comparatively prosperous trading partner in the region, and a center of tobacco and sugar production. During this period Cuban merchants increasingly traveled to North American ports, establishing trade contracts that endured for many years.
The British capture and temporary occupation of Havana in 1762, which many Americans participated in, opened up trade with the colonies in North and South America, and the American Revolution in 1776 provided additional trade opportunities. Spain opened Cuban ports to North American commerce officially in November 1776 and the island became increasingly dependent on that trade.
19th century
After the opening of the island to world trade in 1818, trade agreements began to replace Spanish commercial connections. In 1820 Thomas Jefferson thought Cuba is "the most interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States" and told Secretary of War John C. Calhoun that the United States "ought, at the first possible opportunity, to take Cuba."[22] In a letter to the U.S. Minister to Spain Hugh Nelson, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams described the likelihood of U.S. "annexation of Cuba" within half a century despite obstacles: "But there are laws of political as well as of physical gravitation; and if an apple severed by the tempest from its native tree cannot choose but fall to the ground, Cuba, forcibly disjoined from its own unnatural connection with Spain, and incapable of self support, can gravitate only towards the North American Union, which by the same law of nature cannot cast her off from its bosom."[23]
In August 1851, 40 Americans who took part in Narciso López's filibustering expedition in Cuba, including William L. Crittenden, were executed by Spanish authorities in Havana.[24] In 1854, a secret proposal known as the Ostend Manifesto was devised by U.S. diplomats, interested in adding a slave state to the Union. The Manifesto proposed buying Cuba from Spain for $130 million. If Spain were to reject the offer, the Manifesto implied that, in the name of Manifest Destiny, war would be necessary. When the plans became public, because of one author's vocal enthusiasm for the plan,[25] the manifesto caused a scandal, and was rejected, in part because of objections from anti-slavery campaigners.[26]
The Cuban rebellion 1868–1878 against Spanish rule, called by historians the Ten Years' War, gained wide sympathy in the United States. Juntas based in New York raised money and smuggled men and munitions to Cuba while energetically spreading propaganda in American newspapers. The Grant administration turned a blind eye
The British capture and temporary occupation of Havana in 1762, which many Americans participated in, opened up trade with the colonies in North and South America, and the American Revolution in 1776 provided additional trade opportunities. Spain opened Cuban ports to North American commerce officially in November 1776 and the island became increasingly dependent on that trade.
After the opening of the island to world trade in 1818, trade agreements began to replace Spanish commercial connections. In 1820 Thomas Jefferson thought Cuba is "the most interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States" and told Secretary of War John C. Calhoun that the United States "ought, at the first possible opportunity, to take Cuba."[22] In a letter to the U.S. Minister to Spain Hugh Nelson, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams described the likelihood of U.S. "annexation of Cuba" within half a century despite obstacles: "But there are laws of political as well as of physical gravitation; and if an apple severed by the tempest from its native tree cannot choose but fall to the ground, Cuba, forcibly disjoined from its own unnatural connection with Spain, and incapable of self support, can gravitate only towards the North American Union, which by the same law of nature cannot cast her off from its bosom."[23]
In August 1851, 40 Americans who took part in Narciso López's filibustering expedition in Cuba, including William L. Crittenden, were executed by Spanish authorities in Havana.[24] In 1854, a secret proposal known as the Ostend Manifesto was devised by U.S. diplomats, interested in adding a slave state to the Union. The Manifesto proposed buying Cuba from Spain for $130 million. If Spain were to reject the offer, the Manifesto implied that, in the name of Manifest Destiny, war would be necessary. When the plans became public, because of one author's vocal enthusiasm for the plan,[25] the manifesto caused a scandal, and was rejected, in part because of objections from Narciso López's filibustering expedition in Cuba, including William L. Crittenden, were executed by Spanish authorities in Havana.[24] In 1854, a secret proposal known as the Ostend Manifesto was devised by U.S. diplomats, interested in adding a slave state to the Union. The Manifesto proposed buying Cuba from Spain for $130 million. If Spain were to reject the offer, the Manifesto implied that, in the name of Manifest Destiny, war would be necessary. When the plans became public, because of one author's vocal enthusiasm for the plan,[25] the manifesto caused a scandal, and was rejected, in part because of objections from anti-slavery campaigners.[26]
The Cuban rebellion 1868–1878 against Spanish rule, called by historians the Ten Years' War, gained wide sympathy in the United States. Juntas based in New York raised money and smuggled men and munitions to Cuba while energetically spreading propaganda in American newspapers. The Grant administration turned a blind eye to this violation of American neutrality.[27] In 1869, President Ulysses Grant was urged by popular opinion to support rebels in Cuba with military assistance and to give them U.S. diplomatic recognition. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish wanted stability and favored the Spanish government and did not publicly challenge the popular anti-Spanish American viewpoint. Grant and Fish gave lip service to Cuban independence, called for an end to slavery in Cuba, and quietly opposed American military intervention. Fish worked diligently against popular pressure, and was able to keep Grant from officially recognizing Cuban independence because it would have endangered negotiations with Britain over the Alabama Claims. Daniel Sickles, the American Minister to Madrid, made no headway. Grant and Fish successfully resisted popular pressures. Grant's message to Congress urged strict neutrality and no official recognition of the Cuban revolt.[28]
By 1877, Americans purchased 83 percent of Cuba's total exports. North Americans were also increasingly taking up residence on the island, and some districts on the northern shore were said to have more the character of America than Spanish settlements. Between 1878 and 1898 American investors took advantage of deteriorating economic conditions of the Ten Years' War to take over estates they had tried unsuccessfully to buy before while others acquired properties at very low prices.[29] Above all this presence facilitated the integration of the Cuban economy into the North American system and weakened Cuba's ties with Spain.
Ten Years' War to take over estates they had tried unsuccessfully to buy before while others acquired properties at very low prices.[29] Above all this presence facilitated the integration of the Cuban economy into the North American system and weakened Cuba's ties with Spain.
As Cuban resistance to Spanish rule grew, rebels fighting for independence attempted to get support from U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. Grant declined and the resistance was curtailed, though American interests in the region continued. U.S. Secretary of State James G. Blaine wrote in 1881 of Cuba, "that rich island, the key to the Gulf of Mexico, and the field for our most extended trade in the Western Hemisphere, is, though in the hands of Spain, a part of the American commercial system ... If ever ceasing to be Spanish, Cuba must necessarily become American and not fall under any other European domination."[30]
William McKinley offered to buy Cuba for $300 million.[31] Rejection of the offer, and an explosion that sank the American battleship USS Maine in Havana harbor, led to the Spanish–American War. In Cuba the war became known as "the U.S. intervention in Cuba's War of Independence".[23] On 10 December 1898 Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris and, in accordance with the treaty, Spain renounced all rights to Cuba. The treaty put an end to the Spanish Empire in the Americas and marked the beginning of United States expansion and long-term political dominance in the region. Immediately after the signing of the treaty, the U.S.-owned "Island of Cuba Real Estate Company" opened for business to sell Cuban land to Americans.[32] U.S. military rule of the island lasted until 1902 when Cuba was finally granted formal independence.
Relations 1900–1959
Under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Enhancement Act of 2000, exports from the United States to Cuba in the industries of food and medical products are permitted with the proper licensing and permissions from the U.S. Depart
Under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Enhancement Act of 2000, exports from the United States to Cuba in the industries of food and medical products are permitted with the proper licensing and permissions from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the United States Department of the Treasury.[68]
The Obama administration eased specific travel and other restrictions on Cuba in January 2011.[112] A delegation from the United States Congress called on Cuban president Raúl Castro on 24 February 2012 to discuss bilateral relations. The Congress delegation in
The Obama administration eased specific travel and other restrictions on Cuba in January 2011.[112] A delegation from the United States Congress called on Cuban president Raúl Castro on 24 February 2012 to discuss bilateral relations. The Congress delegation included Patrick Leahy, Democratic Senator from the state of Vermont and chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and Richard Shelby, Republican Senator from the state of Alabama and ranking member of the Committee of Banking, Housing and Urban Matters; they went to Cuba as part of a delegation of Senators and Representatives of the Congress of United States.[113]
Travel and import restrictions imposed by the United States were further relaxed by executive action in January 2015 as part of the Cuban Thaw.[98]
The U.S. continues to operate a naval base at Guantánamo Bay under a 1903 lease agreement "for the time required for the purposes of coaling and naval stations". The U.S. issues a check to Cuba annually for its lease, but since the revolution, Cuba has cashed only one payment.[114][115] The Cuban government opposes the treaty, arguing[citation needed] that it violates article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, titled "Coercion of a State by the threat or use of force".
The leasing of land like the Guantánamo Bay tract was one of the requirements of the Platt Amendment, conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba following the Spanish–American War.
U.S. public opinion on Cuba–United States relations
This section does not cite any Platt Amendment, conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba following the Spanish–American War.
Over time, the United States' laws and foreign policy regarding Cuba has changed drastically due to strained relationship. Beginning with opposition to the Castro led Independence Revolution in Cuba, the Spanish–American War, naval use of Guantanamo Bay, trade restrictions imposed by Nixon, and a trade embargo opened in the year 2000.
Since the 1990s, American public opinion of Cuba has overall become more favorable, and people became more supportive of ending the trade embargo as well as re-establishing diplomatic ties to Cuba. Gallup's poll that asked, "Is your overall opinion of Cuba very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable or very unfavorable?," began in 1997 with only 10% of people voting favorable, or mostly favorable and in 2015, Cuba's favorability reached 46%, almost half of the population believing Cuba to be very or mostly favorable, the highest percentage since the question has been asked. That question has had a constant rise in favorability, while asking whether or not Cuba was a serious threat had a constant decrease. According to the Roper Center, 68% of people in 1983 viewed Cuba as a serious or moderately serious threat to the United States, while in 2014 only 25% of the American population see Cuba as a threat. In a separate question by Gallup, "Do you favor or oppose re-establishing diplomatic relationships with Cuba?" this question has varied quite a bit over time, reaching its highest 71% in 1999 and most recently 51% in 2015. Data is likely to change more with higher favorability proceeding President Obama's 2016 actions to lift the Cold War embargo policy off of Cuba.
See also
William McKinley offered to buy Cuba for $300 million.[31] Rejection of the offer, and an explosion that sank the American battleship USS Maine in Havana harbor, led to the Spanish–American War. In Cuba the war became known as "the U.S. intervention in Cuba's War of Independence".[23] On 10 December 1898 Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris and, in accordance with the treaty, Spain renounced all rights to Cuba. The treaty put an end to the Spanish Empire in the Americas and marked the beginning of United States expansion and long-term political dominance in the region. Immediately after the signing of the treaty, the U.S.-owned "Island of Cuba Real Estate Company" opened for business to sell Cuban land to Americans.[32] U.S. military rule of the island lasted until 1902 when Cuba was finally granted formal independence.
Relations 1900–1959
Under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Enhancement Act of 2000, exports from the United States to Cuba in the industries of food and medical products are permitted with the proper licensing and permissions from the U.S. Depart
Under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Enhancement Act of 2000, exports from the United States to Cuba in the industries of food and medical products are permitted with the proper licensing and permissions from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the United States Department of the Treasury.[68]
The Obama administration eased specific travel and other restrictions on Cuba in January 2011.[112] A delegation from the United States Congress called on Cuban president Raúl Castro on 24 February 2012 to discuss bilateral relations. The Congress delegation in
The Obama administration eased specific travel and other restrictions on Cuba in January 2011.[112] A delegation from the United States Congress called on Cuban president Raúl Castro on 24 February 2012 to discuss bilateral relations. The Congress delegation included Patrick Leahy, Democratic Senator from the state of Vermont and chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and Richard Shelby, Republican Senator from the state of Alabama and ranking member of the Committee of Banking, Housing and Urban Matters; they went to Cuba as part of a delegation of Senators and Representatives of the Congress of United States.[113]
Travel and import restrictions imposed by the United States were further relaxed by executive action in January 2015 as part of the Cuban Thaw.[98]
The U.S. continues to operate a naval base at Guantánamo Bay under a 1903 lease agreement "for the time required for the purposes of coaling and naval stations". The U.S. issues a check to Cuba annually for its lease, but since the revolution, Cuba has cashed only one payment.[114][115] The Cuban government opposes the treaty, arguing[citation needed] that it violates article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, titled "Coercion of a State by the threat or use of force".
The leasing of land like the Guantánamo Bay tract was one of the requirements of the Platt Amendment, conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba following the Spanish–American War.
U.S. public opinion on Cuba–United States relations
 | This section does not cite any Platt Amendment, conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba following the Spanish–American War.
Over time, the United States' laws and foreign policy regarding Cuba has changed drastically due to strained relationship. Beginning with opposition to the Castro led Independence Revolution in Cuba, the Spanish–American War, naval use of Guantanamo Bay, trade restrictions imposed by Nixon, and a trade embargo opened in the year 2000. Since the 1990s, American public opinion of Cuba has overall become more favorable, and people became more supportive of ending the trade embargo as well as re-establishing diplomatic ties to Cuba. Gallup's poll that asked, "Is your overall opinion of Cuba very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable or very unfavorable?," began in 1997 with only 10% of people voting favorable, or mostly favorable and in 2015, Cuba's favorability reached 46%, almost half of the population believing Cuba to be very or mostly favorable, the highest percentage since the question has been asked. That question has had a constant rise in favorability, while asking whether or not Cuba was a serious threat had a constant decrease. According to the Roper Center, 68% of people in 1983 viewed Cuba as a serious or moderately serious threat to the United States, while in 2014 only 25% of the American population see Cuba as a threat. In a separate question by Gallup, "Do you favor or oppose re-establishing diplomatic relationships with Cuba?" this question has varied quite a bit over time, reaching its highest 71% in 1999 and most recently 51% in 2015. Data is likely to change more with higher favorability proceeding President Obama's 2016 actions to lift the Cold War embargo policy off of Cuba. See also |