US-Cuba relations — beyond the Cold War animosities

Shihab Sarkar | Published: April 17, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

The United States was opposed to the 1959 revolution in Cuba. Since a debilitating embargo the US imposed on Cuba in the early sixties, the relations between the two were very bitter. The hostility kept increasing after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, with the then USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) backing the Latin American nation. During the greater part of the time in the six-decade Soviet era, Cuba had reached its peak of success -- economically and geo-politically. The country turned to socialism not overnight. Freedom-seeking people under the leadership of Fidel Castro fought a fierce guerrilla war against Batista dictatorship to become, finally, a socialist state in the backyard of the capitalist giant US.
The whole period of the 60s - going through 70s to the 1990s - has stood witness to Cuba's resistance to US hostilities. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1993, the Cuban economy and its global status started bogging down.
President Obama began the process of restoring US diplomatic relations with Cuba in December last. With the US and Cuba engaged in thrashing out ways for normalisation of their ties after a 50-year standoff, the whole Latin American region was looking to the recently held 7th Summit of the Americas in Panama City in Panama. Beginning on April 10, the two-day summit mainly focused on the often-uneasy relations between the USA and the countries in Latin America. But at the 35-nation summit, it was President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro who stole the show. The meeting  between them on the sidelines of the summit was a watershed event. Obama and Raul Castro declared that they wanted to put an end to the Cold War animosities.
"This is obviously an historic meeting", President Obama said at the beginning of the meeting. Neither the Cubans nor the US citizens had been benefited by the decades of strain, he added. Obama thanked Raul Castro for his 'spirit of openness'. Raul Castro said, "We need to be patient, very patient. We might disagree on something today on which we can agree tomorrow."
 A number of conciliatory issues were discussed in detail at a 'US-Cuba meet' held at another venue alongside the summit. It was participated by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Cuban counterpart Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez. It was the highest-level official talks between the two sides since the early days of the Cuban revolution 56 years back. Mainly centred on restoration of all-encompassing ties, the Panama City meeting was permeated by the two countries' desire to reopen embassies in each other's country. A few irritants were also discussed. Those included Cuba's demand for dropping its name from the US list of terror-sponsoring countries. Back home from Panama, Obama notified the US Congress of his decision to drop Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.
One of the main stumbling blocks in restoring the US-Cuba ties is, undoubtedly, the American embargo or blockade on the economically sliding nation -- once looked after by the USSR. In its run-up to the normalisation of ties, Cuba wants to see all the US disincentives to its economic survival gone.
The process of restoring diplomatic ties between the two countries was announced on last December 17. But its groundwork had been in the making at secret negotiations that continued for 18 months. After the historic surprise announcement of the US shift in its Cuban policy, a few low-key official trips to the island-nation took place. The American overtures were greeted by the Cubans with spontaneous outpouring of warmth.
In the once-potential Latin American region friendly to socialism for long, rightist military coups, allegedly engineered by the USA, have posed a constant threat. However, the 'spectre of communist revolution' has almost been exorcised in the continent. The void has been filled by left-leaning governments like the one brought to power by Venezuela's late leader Hugo Chavez.
A brief chronicle of the events involving US-Cuba ties after the ouster of Fulgencio Batista will show the extent of hostility between the two countries in the last 56 years. In 1959 the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro overthrows dictator Batista. The event is followed by: 1960 - Cuba nationalises US-owned businesses in the country; 1961 (January) - the two countries severe diplomatic ties; 1961 (April) - CIA-engineered botched invasion, with Cuban exiles, in the Bay of Pigs; 1962 - John F Kennedy slaps trade embargo on Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis takes place; 1977 - Jimmy Carter opens US 'interest section' at Swiss embassy in Havana; 1980 - Cubans numbering 1,25,000 land in the USA; 1993 - Cuba gripped by severe economic crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union; 2001 - President George W. Bush strengthens US economic sanctions on Cuba; 2006 - President Fidel Castro hands over reins of power to brother Raul Castro; 2014 (December) - the US and Cuba announce willingness to restore severed ties.    
The US has definite reasons to cajole the defiant Latin American nations into returning to its sphere of influence. Among them, the country that has stood out in the recent times is Venezuela. Upon winning over a weakened Cuba, the US may go for cutting the other seemingly unwieldy nations of the region down to size. After all, we are living in a world, where America calls the shots.
But it also is true that socialism has miserably failed to live up to its lofty pledges. Complacent and straightjacketed by dogmas, the Soviet-modelled socialism had been caught unawares when its dormant rot one day surfaced. Finally, secretiveness beat a retreat. 'Openness' came out the winner.
Digressive though it may appear, it is pertinent to remember that Bangladesh is indebted to Cuba for its recognition of the independent state in January, 1972. The Latin American country was one of the earliest to recognise Bangladesh. During the Liberation War, Cuba, along with other socialist countries led by the Soviet Union, had provided diplomatic and moral support to the emerging nation.
shihabskr@ymail.com