Relations with Cuba
History: KS3, topic 20.1.15
Soviet and US Relations With Cuba
Before the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the USA's relationship with Cuba was strained.
The Cuban Revolution
- In 1959 there was a revolution in Cuba and the country became communist.
- The USA refused to recognise the new leader Castro and his new government.
- Cuba began to build economic links with the USSR instead of the USA.
- It began to trade Cuban Sugar for Soviet oil.
Assassination
- The USA did not like having a communist country so close to them.
- They refused to recognise the government of Fidel Castro (the revolutionary who took power in 1959).
- The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him.
- The CIA convinced American President JF Kennedy, that they needed to invade Cuba for national security.
The Bay of Pigs
- At the Bay of Pigs on the 17th April 1961, America invaded Cuba.
- The CIA told Kennedy that the invasion would look like a Cuban revolt.
- It would be carried out by trained Cuban exiles and old-style, disguised US planes.
- The USA believed Castro’s control of the island was weak.
The invasion
- The 1,400 US-backed soldiers were met by an army of 20,000 Cubans.
- The US-backed Cuban exiles surrendered.
- Castro had found out about the invasion in advance and the planes were recognised as American from photographs.
Consequences
- The incident ended the chances of a good relationship between Cuba and the USA.
- Fidel Castro’s communist rule of Cuba was there to stay.
- The USA was totally discredited because it had supported illegal acts (an armed rebellion against a country’s government).
- Kennedy was embarrassed and his position was weakened.
Test yourself on Relations with Cuba
Soviet and US Relations with Cuba
When was the revolution in Cuba?
With which country did Cuba form close economic ties after Castro took power?