However, the U.S. doesn't stay out of Cuba for long. In 1906 the American military occupies Cuba again to put down a rebellion and governs the country until 1909. The U.S. continued to invest in the country and helped put down various rebellions in Cuba. American companies were present in Cuba and it was a vacation spot for many Americans. This cooperation didn't last long.
Fidel Casto and his followers overthrew the Cuban government in 1959. The United States had initially supported Castro and recognized him as the leader of Cuba, and Castro even came to the U.S. and visited Nixon at the start of his rule. Then things started to go downhill. Under Castro's rule, in 1960 all U.S. businesses in Cuba are nationalized without compensation. The U.S. responds with a partial trade embargo on the country, which is extended to a full embargo in 1962. U.S. diplomatic relations are severed with the country in 1961, and to this day, the countries communicate through Switzerland. The Cuban Missile Crisis, one of the most famous events of the Cold War, happens in October 1962. Despite the loss of diplomatic relations and travel between the countries, the United States continues to operate Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. base that houses around 4,000 members of the U.S. military in Cuba. The current state of relations between the U.S. and Cuba are unsteady. In 2016, President Obama lifted some restrictions on American travel to Cuba, which allowed U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba without permission from the U.S. government. This new freedom only lasted a few years, with President Trump adding restrictions on travel to Cuba. As of November 22, 2019 "Travel to Cuba for tourist activities remains prohibited, and U.S. federal regulations restrict travel to Cuba to licensed travelers engaged in certain specified activities. " (U.S. State Department)
Sources: http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891359,00.html
https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-cuba/
https://cri.fiu.edu/us-cuba/chronology-of-us-cuba-relations/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/us/politics/white-house-cuba-restrictions.html
I found it very interesting that the US and Cuba communicated through Switzerland during the Cold War. I know that Canada and the US often have similar politics and opinions of foreign nations, so after researching this, I found that JFK pressured Canada to take their side during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Still, Canada didn't succumb and still maintained normal, separate relations with Cuba. The Prime Minister of Canada at the time, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, even visited Castro during the war and supposedly formed a close relationship with him. Though American travel to Cuba is restricted today, Canadians can freely travel there for tourism purposes.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.opencanada.org/features/dark-days-canada-cuba-relations/
Castro was a very interesting leader. Although we know much of the Cuban Missile Crisis, this article made me interested in Cuba's current system of government. It turns out that Fidel Castro served as "President of Cuba" until 2008. In addition, they are a socialist state calling for a centralized control of the market in addition to free market and health care, which is vastly different from the U.S.. They have a one party system, and leaders are elected indirectly in which citizens vote for "deputies" or members of parliament who then vote for other government positions including the president.
ReplyDeletehttps://mronline.org/2018/05/06/five-questions-and-answers-concerning-the-presidential-elections-in-cuba/
https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/cuba/government