Relationships between the United States and Cuba

International information In January 1959, under the leadership of Castro, the Cuban people overthrew the Batista dictatorship and established a revolutionary government. After the victory of the Cuban revolution, the U.S. government has always adopted a hostile attitude towards this new regime. Especially after the Cuban government successfully defeated the invasion of American mercenaries in 1961, the United States and Cuba severed diplomatic relations. For more than 40 years since then, the U.S. government has imposed a long-term economic, financial and trade blockade on Cuba, causing huge losses to the Cuban people.

In October 1960, the United States announced an economic embargo on Cuba except for food and medicine. In April 1961, the United States supported Cuban exiles in their invasion of Cuba from the Bay of Pigs. In October 1962, the Cuban missile crisis broke out. In February 1963, the Kennedy administration banned U.S. citizens from traveling to or trading with Cuba. In July 1975, members of the Organization of American States voted in favor of lifting sanctions against Cuba. The U.S. government welcomed the move and announced its intention to have serious discussions with Cuba on normalizing relations. In September 1977, President Carter decided that the United States and Cuba would open an "interests care office" in each other's capital. In May 1995, Cuba and the United States re-signed the immigration agreement. In February 1996, Cuba shot down two planes belonging to the Cuban-American exile organization. In March 1996, President Clinton signed the Helms-Burton Act, which was designed to strengthen the economic blockade against Cuba and restrict other countries' trade with Cuba. In January 1999, the Clinton administration announced the easing of the blockade and sanctions against Cuba, and relaxed restrictions on people-to-people exchanges between the United States and Cuba. In July 2000, a delegation of U.S. senators visited Cuba. In October 2000, the U.S. Senate voted to pass a bill allowing the sale of food and medicine to Cuba. In May 2002, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Cuba at the invitation of President Castro of the Cuban State Council.