Missiles, sanctions, and hostile rhetoric: Seven decades of disagreements between Cuba and the U.S.

Havana.- Relations between Havana and Washington, enemies since the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959, are experiencing their most tense moments in decades. The climate of tension has intensified since the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The fall of the leader, the end of the oil supply from Caracas, and the White House executive order signed this Thursday that threatens tariffs on countries that, directly or indirectly, sell or supply crude oil to Havana have led the island to an extreme situation.

Breakup and Cold War

January 1959: The armed rebellion led by Fidel Castro overthrows President Fulgencio Batista, who flees Cuba. Washington recognizes the new revolutionary government, but disagreements begin after the first reforms and expropriations of American companies.

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March 1960: The French freighter La Coubre explodes in the port of Havana. The event resulted in nearly 100 deaths. Castro blamed the United States and pronounced for the first time the motto “Homeland or death”.

October 1960: U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower (1953 – 1961) prohibits exports to Cuba in retaliation for nationalizations. This is the beginning of what is now known as the embargo or blockade.

January 1961: The United States formally breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba and closes its embassy in Havana.

April 1961: A brigade of Cuban exiles trained by the CIA lands at Playa Girón to overthrow Castro. The operation is a resounding failure.

February 1962: US President John F. Kennedy (1961 – 1963) signs the executive order to establish an embargo on Cuba.

October 1962: The world is on the brink of nuclear war when the U.S. discovers Soviet missiles in Cuba. After 13 days of global anxiety, Soviet Union President Nikita Khrushchev (1953 – 1964) withdraws the missiles in exchange for Washington doing the same in Turkey.

Tensions, Détentes, and Exodus

October 1976: The Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 explodes in mid-air off the coast of Barbados, killing 73 people. The attack was planned by exile figures, including Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch.

September 1977: Under the administration of U.S. President Jimmy Carter, there is a brief thaw. Interests Sections are opened in Washington and Havana.

April 1980: After a group of Cubans stormed the Peruvian embassy in Havana demanding political asylum, Castro opens the port of Mariel and nearly 125,000 "balseros" (rafters) set sail for Florida (USA).

1992 and 1996: The United States tightens sanctions. The Torricelli Act prohibits subsidiaries of U.S. companies from trading with Cuba. While the Helms-Burton Act codifies the embargo into law, removing the president's power to lift it.

August 1994: Following a protest on the seawall in Havana, Cuba allows a new mass exodus of people. The migratory wave leads to the signing of bilateral agreements, in which Washington commits to granting 20,000 annual visas and establishes the "wet feet, dry feet" policy.

February 1996: The Cuban Air Force shoots down two planes from the organization Brothers to the Rescue in international waters, causing the death of four people (three of them Americans). Cuba argued that the aircraft violated its airspace.

September 1997: A series of explosions hit different hotels in Cuba. Investigations and a confession in an interview of Luis Posada Carriles with the New York Times linked these attacks to exile groups in Florida.

September 1998: In response to the bombings in the hotels, Cuba infiltrated spies into Florida. The FBI arrested 10 people, of whom five were sentenced to long prison terms. Cuba argued that the mission of the "Wasp Network" was to prevent terrorism against the island.

November 1999: The dispute over the custody of the balsero boy Elián González becomes a political symbol for Havana and the cause of a new clash. The U.S. Government of President Bill Clinton (1993 – 2001) finally orders the boy to be returned to his father in Cuba.

Thawing and Cooling

December 2009: The Cuban government detains USAID subcontractor Alan Gross for distributing satellite equipment. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

December 2014: US and Cuban presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro announce the beginning of the normalization of bilateral relations. Prisoners are exchanged (including Gross and the "Wasp Network") and direct communication is re-established.

July 2015: The United States and Cuba reopen their embassies.

August 2017: U.S. President Donald Trump tightens travel and remittance restrictions to Cuba following reports of alleged sonic attacks on its diplomatic personnel on the island.

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January 2021: In his final days of his first term, Trump puts Cuba back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. His successor, Joe Biden, would briefly remove the island from the list, but Trump, already in his second term, included it again.

January 2026: Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the flow of Venezuelan oil to Cuba ceases immediately. Trump warns Havana that it is "about to fall." Weeks later, he announces tariffs on countries that sell or supply oil to the island.