CHANGE IN CUBAN RELATIONSHIP

By: Darren Delaney

CASTRO TURNS AGAINST THE U.S.

The U.S originally accepted Cuba that seemed to be democratic. They had a military pact and everything
until 1952 when Castro broke that pact, confiscated U.S. assets, and established Soviet-Style collective
farms.

PACT WITH THE SOVIET UNION

The U.S. was very upset with Cuba and broke off all relations in January of 1961. This caused Castro to
form an alliance with the Soviet Union but the people didnt like that and thousands fled the country.

BAY OF PIGS

In 1961 the U.S planned to invade Cuba with U.S-backed Cuban exiles. The invasion was okd by
President Kennedy but he refused to supply air support.

CUBAN REACTION TO INVASION

The invasion took place on April 17, 1961. However, it didnt go as smooth as planned. This invasion was
very chaotic. No Cubans supported them and they were repulsed by the military.

SOVIET-MISSILE CRISIS IDEA

The original plan was the Soviet would set up missiles in Cuba that would be able to reach targets in the
U.S. This sparked a big crisis in 1962. However, Kennedy promised to not attack Cuba if the Soviets took
down the missiles and they agreed.

EMBARGO WITH CUBA

There was a lot of back and forth between these two countries. In 1977 most things were very lenient as
far as traveling back and forth and staying over there. However in 2004 the Bush administration tightened
the embargo by limiting when people can leave and how much Americans can spend. Cuba responded by
banning U.S. dollars.

CASTROS POOR HEALTH

Castro originally said he would not be well enough to campaign in the 2008 election due to cancer.
However it was then broadcasted that he was feeling fine. Come election time, him and his brother were
reelected to the National Assembly with 614 unopposed candidates.

CASTRO RETIRES

In February of 08, 81 year old Castro announced he was retiring after 49 years of power. He just wasnt
able to accept another term as president. This allowed his brother, Raul, to take power and become the
next president.

GAINING A LITTLE FREEDOM

In February of 2008, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque got the citizens some freedoms. They got
some political and civil freedoms. They got the right to work, fair wages, social security, education, and
high standards of physical and mental health.

OPENING UP

In July of 2008, the government took away some of the land restrictions so they could boost the
country's poor food production and reduce dependence on food imports. They also released 52 prisoners
that were supposedly acting on behalf of the United States.

LEADER NOT NAMED CASTRO?

Cuba made a huge change to the leadership in April of 2011. For the first time in over 50 years they
elected someone that wasnt a Castro brother. Jose Ramon Machado filled the second-highest position in
the Communist party.

NEW LAWS

Raul Castro really started opening up after this. In October of 2011 he began allowing cars to be sold
and purchased and allowed real estate to be sold and purchased in November. In October he also allowed
people to go into businesses for themselves.

POPE VISITS CUBA

For the first time in 14 years, the pope finally visited Cuba again. Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba in
March of 2012 after years of tension between the church and Cuban government. He was there to push
Cuba towards freedom.

REASONS FOR SEEING THE POPE

There were about 200,000 people that attended this mass. These people came from all over to see him.
Some coming from as far as Miami. However, many people admitted to only attending because they were
pressured by employers on members of the Communist Party.

EXIT VISA REQUIREMENT IS DROPPED

Raul Castro announced in October of 2012 that people would soon be able to leave the country without
an exit visa. He promised it would be early 2013 when they are able to leave freely.

POLICY TAKES EFFECT

This new policy was put in place on January 13, 2013. The policy allowed Cubans to leave the country for
vacation or for good freely. Their only requirement is they must have a valid passport and a visa for their
destination. The only thing that could stop them is defense and national security reasons.

ALAN GROSS IS FREE

Alan Gross is a U.S aid contractor that was freed in December of 2014 after being locked up for 5 years.
He was locked up after an effort to communicate outside of the Cuban governments control.

RESUMING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

After Alan Gross was released from prison, Obama announced that U.S. would resume full diplomatic
relations with Cuba. This was the first time since 1961. This also included opening an embassy in
Havana.

RELATIONSHIP CHANGE BETWEEN CUBA

AND THE U.S

The relationship between these two countries are definitely changing greatly. They went from
having no interaction to now having a pretty lenient relationship. Its changing and the U.S has
lifted restrictions against visiting Cuba or communicating with them. This is definitely a good
thing because its one less thing to worry about. Having a bad relationship with a country will do
no good for the U.S. All it would do is cause problems. With this case of them having a good
relationship, they dont have to worry about immigrants or anybody spying. The U.S had
arrested a few people because they were spying but they no longer have to worry about that.
They can also freely exchange products between countries. The only problem was that not
everyone was a fan of this idea. A lot of the older Cuban-Americans still believe that they have
a brutal dictatorship. However, many Cuban-Americans in Miami strongly support the policy.
Those are a few reasons why I believe that its a great thing they mended the relationship and
have resumed diplomatic relations.