Cuba

and its past and present relations

with the United States
By: Sean Sehn
December 22, 2014

Cuba
Summary

Geography of Cuba
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean

In comparison to the United States, Cuba is

about the size of Pennsylvania

Cuba is West of Haiti and South of Florida

Cuba is covered by mountains in the

southern area and is flat and hilly

everywhere else

Cubas History
Cuba was discovered by Columbus in 1492
Since the early 1800s Cubas largest industry

was sugar cane

In 1899 Cuba signed a treaty making them an

independent republic under the United States

In 1993, Cuba army officers overthrew the

President and making Batista the corrupt,

dictatorial, president

The U.S. ended military aid to Cuba in 1958

The next year Batista fled and Castro took

power

Fidel Castro Breaking

Ties With the United
States and Becoming
Allies With the Soviet
Union

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro established the first communist nation in

the Western Hemisphere

Took power by overthrowing a corrupt president

named Batista

Ruled Cuba for almost 50 years

Became big enemies with the United States

Caused the U.S. to create a trade embargo with

Cuba in 1960

Handed off power to his brother Ral Castro in 2008

Breaking ties
Initially, the United States were content with

Cuba as they began their newly democratic

government

However, instead of democracy, Castro formed

a communist state infuriating the United States

and making them instant enemies

The military pact between Cuba and the U.S.

ended in 1952

On January 3rd of 1961, all relations were broken

between the United States and Cuba

As a replacement, Cuba created close relations

with the Soviet Union

BAY
of
PIGS

Summary
On April 17th, 1961, around 1,200 Cuban

escapees became part of an attempted

invasion

This invasion was financed and planned by

the CIA

Eisenhower initiated and began the plans of

attack and Kennedy ordered the actual

botched attack

The troops entered from the Bay of Pigs which

is located on the Southern coast of Cuba

The objective was to create a rally point and

then overthrow Castros government

Aftermath
Right from the start the plan was torn apart

because the troops were confronted by a

defensive attack

During the attack over 100 people died and the

remaining 1,100 troops were captured by Cuba

The U.S. did not use their air support and

therefore had no support as Cubas tiny air

force destroyed all of their vehicles and boats

Overall the plan was a complete fail causing the

Castro to gain even more power and causing

American citizens to be disappointed

Soviet-Missile Crisis

How it Began
In 1962 the Cuban missile crisis began when the

Soviet Union installed mid-range missiles capable

of hitting the United States

Kennedy promised a blockade that would stop

the missiles from doing damage to the United

States

Six days after the Soviet Union assembled the

missiles in Cuba Nikita Khrushchev ordered the

missile sites to be taken down

Return the United States had to promise that

they would not attack Cuba

Was the problem

resolved?
Although the Cuban missile crisis was resolved,

United States and Cuba were still enemies

Diplomatic ties were then established with Cuba

in 1977 which made it easier for people to travel

to and from Cuba

Castro opened the port of Mariel allowing

around 125,000 Cubans to flee to Florida

Later, it was discovered that the group of

Cubans were all unwanted by the Cuban

government

Castros Retirement
Announcement

Castro Announces Retirement

Due to Poor Health
In January of 2008, Castro announced that

his health was too poor to campaign in his

upcoming elections

Castro was 81 and had just recovered from

an intestinal surgery

However, during a national television

broadcast Castro told the Brazilian president

he felt very well

The Handoff of Power

In January of 2008, Fidel along with Ral

Castro were reelected for the National

Assembly

After 49 years of power though, the 81 year

old Fidel refused to serve another term

Fidel handed off power to his younger

brother Raul whom became the 21st

president of Cuba on February 24th of 2008

Cubans Begin to Win

Small Freedoms

The Small Changes for

the People
In February of 2008, the Prime Minister Felipe

Perez Roque signed the International

Covenant at the UN

The treaty helped with Economic, Cultural,

and Social rights

With the new treaty, the people of Cuba

were ensured political and civil freedom

Workers rights, fair wages, social security,

education, and mental and physical health

standards came with the freedoms

Cubas
Changes
In 2009, Roque also announced that the

Human Rights Council would be allowed to

examine Cuba at any time

To combat against hunger and slow food

production the Cuban government relaxed

the land restrictions

In July of 2010 when Castro announced that

he would be releasing 52 political prisoners

that had consisted of activist journalists

Cuba Takes Possible Steps

Toward a New Leader
That is Not in the Castro
Family

Early Steps
The biggest change in over 50 years

occurred when Jose Machado was

appointed to fill the second highest
communist position

This was the first time since 1959 that

someone other than a Castro filled the

position

This caused the government to become less

private

Resulting Changes
A big changed occurred when buying and

selling cars became legal in October 2011

Castro also began allowing Cubans to start

their own businesses

One month later real estate began to be

purchased and sold making it the first time

since the revolution

More than 2,900 prisoners have

been released

The Pope Visits Cuba

Long-Anticipated Visit
Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba on March

26, 2012

The popes visit came after many years of

tension between the church and the Cuban

government

Pope Benedict gave Cuba words of

encouragement pushing them towards

freedom

The Mass in Santiago

About 200,000 Cubans from all over

attended the Mass in Santiago de Cuba

Many only attended however because they

felt pressured from employers and the

government

During the enormous gathering, one man

was removed by security for yelling negative

things about the government

Exit
Visa

Is
Dropped

Exit Visa Dropped

An exit visa is a document that gives

permission for someone to leave a certain

country

On October 16, 2012, it was announced that

Cubans would no longer be required to

have an exit visa to leave the country

This policy was a response to the demands

of change that Castro needed to meet

New Policy
The new policy which began January 13,

2013 allowed Cubans to leave the country if

they desired

The new policy also allowed Cubans to stay

abroad for up to two years without losing

their citizenship

However, Cubans can be forced to in Cuba

for security and defense reasons

Cuba Resumes
Diplomatic
Relations With the
U.S.

Resuming Relations
On December 17, 2014 the U.S. prisoner,

Alan Gross, was released

Alan Gross attempted to create a way to

communicate outside of the Cuban

governments control

He was caught in 2011 and was sentenced

to 15 years in prison

Alans Release
Obama responded to the release of Gross

by announcing that the U.S. would resume

all diplomatic relations with Cuba

The first step was opening an embassy in

Havana

Previous to 2014 there had been no relations

between the United States and Cuba

How might the relationship

between Cuba and the U.S.
be changing?
In your opinion is this good or
bad?

Changing Relations
For nearly 60 years U.S.s relations with Cuba

were non existent

Six decades later the entire world was very

surprised when Obama announced that the U.S.

would begin relations with Cuba

Obama announced that it was time to break a

negative policy that was made before most

people were born

With the new policy a U.S. will send an

ambassador to Cuba which will hopefully

end the embargo in the future

Reactions
When the news came out many Cubans

and Americans were ecstatic

In Cuba, celebrations broke out as the news

spread

Many Cuban-Americans were still not

satisfied because they had risked their life

escaping Cuba and still believe there is not
much freedom there

Ric Herrero stated Theses changes are

going to do more to help empower the

Cuban people than 50 years of
embargo accomplished

In your opinion is this

good or bad?

I think that the new relations will have a lot

of benefits for both countries. When trade

begins again between the United States
and Cuba, the economy will benefit on
both sides. Another huge benefit will be
tourism. For the past six decades Americans
have been forbidden to visit Cuba by their
own government. Once the tension settles
completely thousands of Americans will be
relying on Cuba for a great beautiful and
unique vacation.