U.S. Policy Toward Cuba
1898-1988
[REFERENCE:
An Alternative U.S. Policy
Toward Cuba by PACCA, Washington DC. Pamphlet. No date but
possibly
printed after 1988 and before 1992.]
Chronology
1500s: Spanish colonize Cuba
1898: U.S. forces enter Cuban War of Independence; Spain
concedes defeat in three months; U.S. establishes military
government.
1901: "Platt Amendment" allowing U.S. intervention in Cuban
affairs incorporated in new Cuban constitution; U.S. forces
leave.
1906-1909: U.S. forces occupy Cuba to "restore order"
1912: U.S. forces intervene to "protect American interests"
1917-1922: U.S. forces stationed in Cuba to "protect
American interests"
1933-1934: Following overthrow of Machado dictatorship, U.S.
ambassador
Summer Welles forces the creation of a government acceptable
to
Washington, as U.S. naval forces sail near Havana.
1952: Fulgencio Batista takes power by military coup
July 26, 1953: Fidel Castro leads attack on Moncada
barracks, beginning armed opposition to Batista dictatorship
January 1959: Batista flees; revolutionary forces enter
Havana
May 1959: Agrarian reform law nationalizes one third of the
arable land in Cuba.
January 1960: Soviet Foreign Minister Anastas Mikoyan visits
Cuba and signs trade agreement
March 1960: Eisenhower approves planning for Bay of Pigs
invasion
June 1960: U.S. oil companies, urged by State Department,
refuse to
refine Soviet crude oil at Cuban refineries; Cuba
nationalizes
refineries
July 1960: Washington suspends Cuban sugar quota, blocking
80 percent
of Cuban exports to United States. Soviet Union agrees
to buy
Cuban sugar
August 1960: Cuba nationalizes $1 billion worth of private
U.S. investment; Washington imposes trade embargo
January 1961: Washington breaks diplomatic relations with
Cuba
April 1961: CIA-sponsored invasion force of 1200 exiles
lands at Bay of Pigs and is defeated within 72 hours
January 1962: OAS expels Cuba
October 1962: Soviets send nuclear missiles to Cuba,
Washington
threatens force to remove them, Soviets pull missiles out in
exchange
for U.S. pledge not to attack Cuba
1962-1968: CIA organizes paramilitary attacks against Cuba,
including assassination plots against Cuban leaders
July 1964: OAS votes to require all members to cut
diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba; only Mexico
refuses
October 1965: Boatlift from Camariorca [Camarioca] brings
3,000 Cubans to United States [NOTE: 3,000 is not correct]
September 1970: Washington warns Moscow to stop building
nuclear submarine base at Cienfuegos, Cuba.
July 1975: After a number of countries (Peru, Barbados,
Guyana,
Trinidad, Argentina, Panama, Chile, and Venezuela) broke the
1964 OAS
sanction and established relations with Cuba, and OAS
majority --
including United States -- votes to lift diplomatic and
economic
sanctions. Washington opts to retain its own trade
embargo, but
allows foreign subsidiaries of U.S. corporations to trade
with Cuba.
November 1975: At the request of the new Angolan government,
Cuba sends
combat troops to help Angola repulse an invasion by South
African
forces launched October 23, 1975; eventually 30,000 troops
are sent.
December 1975: U.S. President Gerald Ford says Cuban
involvement in
Angola precludes possibility of restoring relations and
breaks off
secret negotiations underway since 1974.
October 1976: Bomb on Cubana Airlines plane kills 73
people. Luis
Posada Carriles, Cuban exile and former CIA employee,
arrested for
bombing in Venezuela.
March 1977: Carter administration lifts ban on travel to
Cuba
December 1977: Cuban troops sent to Ethiopia at government's
request,
derailing process of normalizing relations begun by the
Carter
administration.
November-December 1978: Dialogue between members of the
Cuban-American
community an Cuban government leads to release of 3,600
political
prisoners and agreements on travel and emigration.
April 1979: Grenada restores diplomatic relations with Cuba;
subsequently establishes close political and economic ties.
July 1979: Revolutionary Nicaraguan government restores
relations with
Cuba; subsequently establishes political ties and receives
military
advice in war with U.S.-backed contras
April 1980: Cuba announces that anyone wishing to leave can
be picked
up at port of Mariel. Over five months 120,000 leave.
April 1982: Reagan administration re-imposes ban on travel
to Cuba.
January 1983: Bolivia restores diplomatic relations with
Cuba
October 1983: United States invades Grenada. There are
636 Cuban
construction workers and 43 military advisers; 24 are
killed, 57
wounded, and 642 captured.
December 1984: Washington and Havana reach agreement under
which Cuba
receives 2,746 "excludables" who arrived during Mariel
exodus, while
United States permits immigration of up to 20,000 Cubans
annually.
May 1985: United States begins anti-government propaganda
broadcasts to
Cuba over Radio Marti; Cuba suspends immigration agreement.
October 1985: Reagan administration bans travel by Cuban
officials to United States.
October 1985: Uruguay restores diplomatic relations with
Cuba.
June 1986: Brazil restores diplomatic relations with Cuba.
November 1987: Eight Latin American nations call for Cuban
readmission to OAS.
November 1987: Cuban-U.S. immigration agreement restored;
Cuban detainees in United States riot.
February 1988: Angola agrees to send all Cuban troops
home as
part of a comprehensive Southern Africa peace settlement
under
negotiation.
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