Question

How important was immigration in US-Cuba diplomatic relations during the Cold War? Could one argue it was the most essential aspect? Any sources on this question?

Answer 1

Colonial Rule: The history of Cuba began with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and the subsequent invasion of the island by the Spaniards. Aboriginal groups

Answer 2

Cuba has been of strategic interest to the United States at least since 1808, when President Thomas Jefferson called it "the key to the Gulf of Mexico." It was suddenly transformed in that century from an unimportant "ever-faithful isle" of Spain into the world's major sugar producer, attracting United States economic interests. Liberated from Spain by the United States in the Spanish-American War (1898), Cuba came under the tutelage of a new power. The United States granted the island independence and a degree of self-rule in 1902 but kept it dependent as a result of economic involvement and successive military interventions, as authorized by the Platt Amendment of 1901.

The corrupt and brutal dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar (president, 1940-44, 1952-59), during which there were 20,000 political killings, ended with its overthrow onJanuary 1, 1959, by a popularly supported guerrilla force led by Fidel Castro Ruz. Castro was an attractive and popular figure, and the United States had no real alternative but to support him initially when he came to power. The CIA station officers, many of whose casual contacts saw through the Castro democratic facade, were virtually unanimous in their opposition to Castro from the day he took power. The facade was convincing to many, however, because the ?rst revolutionary government was made up of some people with ostensibly impeccable liberal credentials. Castro did not take long before showing his true colors.

The single most important event accelerating Soviet military involvement in Cuba was the Bay of Pigs fiasco of April 17-19, 1961. The failure of the United States to act decisively against Castro gave the Soviets some illusions about United States determination and interest in Cuba. The Soviets moved swiftly. New trade and cultural agreements were signed, and increased economic and technical aid was sent to Cuba. By mid-1962 the Soviets had embarked on a dangerous gamble by surreptitiously introducing nuclear missiles and bombers into the island. On October 22,1962, President Kennedy publicly reacted to the Soviet challenge, instituting a naval blockade of the island and demanding the withdrawal of all offensive weapons from Cuba. For the next several days, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear holocaust.

No neighboring Latin American or Caribbean countries pose a military threat to Cuba. The only country with a history of military intervention in Cuba since the expulsion of Spain in 1898 is the United States, which maintains the U.S. naval base at Guant

Answer 3

CUBA, RELATIONS WITH

CUBA, RELATIONS WITH. As early as the late eighteenth century, the United States and Cuba became inextricably tied. When the Spanish Crown opened its empire to trade in 1778, American merchants made Havana and other Cuban ports major places of business and continued doing so until near the end of Spanish rule.

U.S. Acquisition Efforts

In the mid-nineteenth century Americans focused their attention on Cuba. Cuba retained slavery, and its agro-export economy strongly resembled that of the American South. Discontented with Spanish rule, Cuban exiles in New York City, New Orleans, and other cities made speeches, published newspapers, and lobbied Congress for Cuba's annexation to the United States. Allied with sympathetic Americans

Answer 4

In 1959 the United States was shaken when Fidel Castro