History Of U.s. And Cuba

The Cuban Revolution was touchy topic for the United States and Cuba. America’s alienation of Cuba didn’t help when communism from the USSR was brewing over the revolution. When the revolution gained Castro as its leader, the worry and hatred from the United States was unbearable, especially when the Soviet Union landed in Cuba to interest Castro in its aid. The US’s fear of communism, Fidel Castro, and aid from the Soviet Union was significant because it changed the US’s political role in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution.

During the Cold War, relations between Cuba and the United States were icy. Cuba was allied with the USSR, America’s enemy, and was well within their sphere of influence. With events like the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis happening on their soil, Cuba was at the center of the Cold War. Between ideological differences and their alliance with Russia, Cuba became an enemy of America as well. It took the efforts of ten American presidents, six Popes, and countless other actors, but Cuba and America are finally in the process of normalizing relations. There is still work to be done, but the path is clear and the time is right. However, one cannot simply ignore the last fifty years. In that time, millions of lives were affected by the lack of social, economic, and political ties between the U.S. and Cuba. In this paper, I will analyze the last fifty years of U.S. - Cuban relations by looking at the involved actors, their means, and their values and interests through the lenses of two paradigms, realism and constructivism.

The Cuba Policy came into effect to end all relations between the United States and Cuba. The U.S. policy toward Cuba is controlled by the embargo, which contains economic agreements and restrictions on travel to Cuba. The effect of this policy is to minimize commercial, political and resident relations between the United States and Cuba. The State Department indicated that the purpose of the embargo was to have a nonviolent transition to a secure, democratic form of government and respect for human rights in Cuba.

Cuba is a nation that formed from a history of colonial and imperial domination. Formal colonial status under Spain ended during the invasion by the United States in 1898, when military and corporate interests made the island a de facto colony of the United States. However, Cuba and the United States have had a long history of both political and military ties; both good and bad. Nevertheless, these ties have played a vital role in the current relationship the United States maintains with Cuba. In the recent years, both countries have continued to work toward a better diplomatic relationship; possibly enhancing the overall success of both Cuba and the United States.

The U.S. and Cuban controversies have been around since 1962. The president has decided that isolating Cuba has not worked and recently loosened travel restrictions and exports restrictions. Although this is a huge step to right directions economically, cultural effects so far have been minimal for both the U.S. and Cuba. Politically, Cuba is a socialist country, however, has been taking steps to democracy. For example, reforms breaking up government owned lands and authorizing self employment in many occupations. With the embargo lifted, it is expected that Cuba takes more steps in the right direction. On the economic side of things, Cuba still has strict control on foreign investment, but it is expected with time that investors will be

The fight against communism became less important. The United States faced bigger issues when the Cold War ended. As a result to the Cold War present President Obama lifted problems with Cuba. By lifting these problems he made 1 billion dollars in income. Obama felt that such out dated thinking was irrelevant and didn’t make since on rebuilding a democracy in Cuba.

Cuba’s colorful history can be documented to before the days of the American Revolution in 1776, but today, American policy directly affects many Cubans’ lifestyles because of a nearly 45-year-old trade embargo that has been placed on the island nation. It is crucial to analyze the development of Cuba and its neighboring island nations in order to discern the reasons for Cuba’s current political situation with the United States. The following paper will discuss the events that shaped Cuba and larger Caribbean nations like Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica; next, a detailed description of Cuba’s turbulent history will help in explaining the Cuban transformation into a

The U.S.’s relationship with Cuba has been arduous and stained with mutual suspicion and obstinateness, and the repeated U.S. interventions. The Platt agreement and Castro’s rise to power, served to introduce the years of difficulty to come, while, the embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, enforced the harsh feelings. The two major events that caused the most problems were the Bays of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.

Cuba and the United States are two very different countries. Although they are only nearly 90 miles away from each other it has been over 50 years since both countries have had any real relationship towards each other, other than the hatred that seems to shown by the two countries’ politicians. In October 1960 the United States began to impose its first round of embargoes towards the small island when Cuba decided to nationalize all of the American Oil on its county after the United States without properly compensating the United States. The embargo that was put in place October 1960 limited the on exports to Cuba except for food and medicine. Then in February of 1962 the United States expanded on its embargo from 1960 to include imports as well, but not before John F Kennedy could get his hands on some more of the finest Cigars that Cuba had to offer. There are many reasons for why the United States has placed embargos on the island of Cuba. Some will argue that they should have never placed any embargo against Cuba and some will argue that the embargo should have been lifted a long time ago, but as long as the country remains communist and the Cuban people don’t get an equal opportunity to prosper then lifting or not lifting the embargoes on Cuba will have no real impact on Cuba and its people.

US-Cuban relations have not been the friendliest since the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Only recently during President Barack Obama’s second term in office did the US really try to resolve the Cuban issue and only then did it become such a priority. US-Cuban relations have always been a mixed bag of plenty of good and evil deeds. The US needs all the allies it can get and it needs to refocus in Latin America. Cuba is no real challenge to American power but Cuba represents a sore spot for American foreign policy. The US must work as one with Cuba in order to normalize relations with Cuba and bring Cubans into the 21st century. There are plenty of Cuban-Americans who want desperately to see family and friends on the island and the US must work together with Cuba to achieve these goals. Cuba has been a hot topic of debate ever since the Cuban Revolution and it continues to be one which is why there is no better time to study Cuba. Cuba has a long cultural history which makes it interesting to study and now that the US is finally working with the Cuban government on normalizing relations, more scholars will be traveling to Cuba. More information about Cuba and the Cuban culture will become available as the US moves to being better neighbors. This is important for researchers and others to gain new insights on Cuba which have not been available for the past fifty to sixty years. The renewed Cuban-American relations and the so-called, “Cuban Thaw”, is the right approach by President

“Change is hard in our own lives and in the lives of nations” President Obama said "Change is even harder when we carry the heavy weight of history on our shoulders. But today we are making these changes because it is the right thing to do"(cnn.com). The poor relations with Cuba and the United States have been like this since the cold war. Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959 by removing from power Fulgencio Batista who was in charge at the time. Castro taxed the United States hard on their imports. Which lead President Kennedy into a full economic embargo that included stringent travel restrictions that are still in effect today.

On February 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed an embargo on Cuba due to their Communist threat. Recently, the 50th anniversary of this same embargo, marked the continuing relationship upheld by The United States and Cuba. The United States created the embargo, in hopes that it would pressure the Cubans into adopting their Democratic policies. This embargo has not only failed, but has detracted from it’s goal of spreading democracy in Cuba. Additionally, it has hurt the American economy, costing the United States roughly $5 billion annually in lost exports. Many have recognized that it is through free trade not isolation, that democracy can be promoted within Cuba. The exposure cultural freedoms found in free trade would lead to economic

The United States and Cuba have been in bad relations since the past four decades. There are various reasons that could be behind this situation. One of the main reasons is the economic sanctions and embargo placed on Cuba by the United States. The embargo states that the United States are prohibited from doing any sort of trading with Cuba and to eliminate all business relations. This includes all the imports and exports Cuba receives and sends to America. Even further any sort of tourism from America to the Cuba and vice versa are completely banned. There are many reasons for placing an embargo on Cuba, the main being that the United States wanted Cuba to follow the free market economy and have a democratic leadership. However, the question

The Cuban people have been under the harsh dictatorship of both Felgenico Batista and Fidel Castro. They both had very strict policies and gave the Cuban people limited or no freedom at all. Batista and Castro were similar but yet different. One major difference that they had was that Batista was friendly with the United States and he had respect for American interest. On the other hand Fidel Castro hasn’t been as friendly with the United States, so the U.S has a trade embargo that restricts and American company to do business with Cuba and also U.S citizens are prohibited from traveling to Cuba unless for special circumstances.

The United States and Cuba officially cut diplomatic ties in the 1960’s. After the relationship between the two nations deteriorated as a result of the Cold War, the United States enforced an embargo that restricted trade to the Caribbean island (Rothman, Why Did the U.S. and Cuba Sever Diplomatic Ties in the First Place?). Eventually, traveling to Cuba was also prohibited by the United States, which further affected the island’s economy in which American tourism decreased. However, after months of negotiations, the United States and Cuba have finally decided to restore their diplomatic relations. The reestablishing of the Cuban embassy and probable embargo lift will promote Cuba’s economic growth due