US interaction with Cuba - Research Paper Example

 The Interaction of the US with Cuba Introduction Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a revolutionary leader, established a socialist government in Cuba in the year 1959. He had ruled Cuba from 1959 till February 2008, as its sole dictator (Burkhart, 2007). The United States recognized the government established by him on January 7, 1959. In the past forty years, relations between these two nations were tense, with frequent clashes. Gradually, Cuba transformed into a communist nation and adopted a Marxist – Leninist government with a one-party system. This change served to further widen the gap between these two countries, which resulted in severed ties and deterioration of bilateral relations. In an unprecedented move the Cuban government confiscated all the properties owned by the US (Department of State). In retaliation to the expropriation by Cuba, the United States imposed trade and commerce embargo on Cuba, in October 1960. The following year the US rescinded all diplomatic ties with Cuba. In April 1961, Cuban exiles embarked on an invasion of Cuba, with the blessings and support of a large number of American citizens, in the Bay of Pigs, a place on the south coast of Cuba. This was followed by a missile crisis in October 1962, which was termed as the Cuban Missile Crisis (Department of State). All these events further intensified the confrontation between the governments of these two nations. In order to protect itself, Cuba moved closer towards the Soviet Union and established friendly relations with it. In the late 1960s, Cuba acted as a close ally of the Soviet Union in Africa and Latin America. It claimed itself to be a surrogate of the Soviet Union. In the 1970s, Cuba started intervening in the internal affairs of Angola and launched massive invasions to subjugate it. This put a permanent end to normalizing negotiations between the US and Cuba (Department of State). Immigration from Cuba became a major problem for the US in the 1980s. A large of Cubans attempted to enter the US, and this brought about a further deterioration in the relations between these countries. In addition, Cuba entered into agreements with countries inimical to the US, and this resulted in a further worsening of relations between them (Department of State). In April 1980, a large number of Cuban protesters staged a demonstration before the Peruvian embassy in Havana, the capital of Cuba. These demonstrators demanded political asylum in the US. To defuse the situation, and to curtail the growing unrest, Cuba agreed to allow 125,000 Cubans to emigrate to the US. This large – scale exodus was known as the Mariel boatlift. In this emigration, a large number of criminals and mentally disabled people reached the US (Department of State). The Regan Administration, attempted to restore better relations in 1981-82. However, the continued Cuban intervention in Latin America hindered those attempts. In 1983, the US and its Latin American allies pressurized Cuba to withdraw from Grenada. In the 1990s, Cuba permitted more than 30,000 Cubans to depart to the US. This move created yet another migration crisis. In order to resolve this migration crisis, the US and Cuba entered into agreements on migration issues in 1994 and in 1995. These accords were aimed at ensuring the cooperation of the nations for safe, legal and systematic migration (Department of State). However, on 24 February 1996, the Cuban military shot down two civilian aircrafts that were flying in international airspace. In this incident, three US citizens and one US resident were killed. As a result of this, the US Congress passed the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act. This legislation is also known as the Liberated Act. The US accorded legal sanction to its embargo on Cuba through this legislation. With this Act a number of additional trade sanctions were imposed on Cuba (Department of State). First interaction with Cuba The US has viewed Cuba as a threat since the 1960s. As such, Cuba occupied an important place in the international relations and foreign policies of the US. The 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro forced many Cubans to seek political asylum in the US. Many of these asylum seekers settled in the coastal areas of Florida. The Cubans living in exile in the US formed organizations that protested against Fidel Castro and his regime (Ogonowski, 1997). Subsequently, these anti – Castro groups achieved significant recognition, which enabled them to affect relations between Cuba and the US. The Castro regime enacted the Agrarian Reform Law on 17 May 1959, which imposed a ceiling on the amount of agricultural land owned. As such, it restricted the ownership of farms to 1000 acres. However, it exempted land that was used for sugarcane plantations and rice production (Ogonowski, 1997). This Act was like a thunder bolt to US interests in Cuba, since most of the land owned by the US and its citizens was over and above the newly specified land ceiling of 1000 acres. The enactment of this law resulted in a number of repercussions in the Wall Street where the price of Cuban sugar fell to the lowest ever price. The American media blamed Cuba’s new land ceiling law and criticized it as a move towards Communism (Ogonowski, 1997). In response to this American reaction, Cuba began to export sugar to the Soviet Union. In this manner it found an alternative market for its sugar exports. This move further distanced Cuba from the US, and resulted in the strengthening of relations between the Soviet Union and Cuba. These two nations entered into trade agreements in February 1961, and the Soviet Union agreed to supply crude oil to Cuba (Ogonowski, 1997). The United States and its ally the United Kingdom disapproved of the growing companionship of Cuba and Soviet Union. As a consequent, they refused to refine the Soviet Union’s crude oil that was shipped to Cuba. The US took stringent measures against Cuban trade and commerce. For instance, the Eisenhower Administration reduced the import of Cuban sugar by 700,000 tons. As a retaliatory measure to this American action, Castro’s regime confiscated the oil refineries held by the US in Cuba. At that time, the Soviet Union was headed by Nikita Khrushchev, who significantly increased the quantity of sugar being imported from Cuba. Moreover, Khrushchev promised to supply missiles to Cuba, in order to allow it to defend itself if the US launched any military attacks against it (Ogonowski, 1997). Guantanamo bay Guantanamo Bay is situated to the southwest of Cuba. In 1903, the US had established a naval base in Guantanamo Bay, which is situated at a strategic place and has an area of 45 square miles. The base served as a prison in the 1990s, and the US incarcerated a number of illegal immigrants and refugees from Cuba and Haiti in this prison. Subsequently, the US fortified the prison with sophisticated security measures and transformed it into a high-security detention camp. It was utilized as a detention center for housing Islamic terrorists, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks (Guantánamo Bay, 2008). The US launched the war on terror in 2001 against Afghanistan in retaliation to terrorist attacks against places in the US. Subsequently, the US detained terrorists belonging to the Taliban and al-Qaeda groups. Until April 2002, Guantanamo Bay was known as Camp X – Ray. Thereupon, the US constructed a permanent facility, which was named Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay (Guantánamo Bay, 2008). During the Cold War period, the US and the USSR, maintained substantial military and naval forces in third countries. The US had already established its base in Cuba, and the USSR was an ally of Cuba. In 1959, the Castro led Communist regime came into power in Cuba. This new government opposed the US naval base in its territory. As such, it refused to receive rent for this naval base from the US. This rent had been paid by the US for more than a hundred years. The US used to pay a rent of 2,000 gold coins to Cuba, which was equivalent to US $4,000 (Guantánamo Bay, 2008). The US referred to the persons detained in the Guantanamo Bay as illegal combatants. It refused to classify them as prisoners of war or POWs. It justified its classification on the grounds that those individuals did not comprise part of any formal army of any nation. The status of illegal combatants does not provide any rights to the prisoners as in the case of POWs. As such, the rights vouchsafed to POWs by the Geneva Convention do not apply to these persons (Guantánamo Bay, 2008). In 2003, the Guantanamo Bay had 680 Taliban militants and terrorists from al-Qaeda as detainees. These alleged terrorists had been arrested from forty – two countries. There were serious human rights violations in Guantanamo Bay. The persons detained in this place were treated and inhumanely by the prison authorities. Several human rights organizations decried the treatment meted out to these incarcerated persons. Most of them were subjected to torture like the use of hand and leg shackles, continued interrogation and detention in cells of wire frame that were exposed to the elements. Moreover, these individuals were tried in military courts. The US released four detainees in 2002, and in 2004, it released three children and sent them back to Afghanistan. In addition, five British detainees were released in 2004 (Guantánamo Bay, 2008). Cuba was dominated to a major extent by the US. The latter established a marine base in the Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, in order to safeguard its interests in Cuba. This was the situation until the revolution led by Fidel Castro. Till that time, people who campaigned for political independence were branded as rebels by the Cuban government. The US had provided a number of benefits to the nations that supported the US and its interests in Cuba (Central America and the Caribbean - 1945-1997, 1997). In that environment Fidel Castro led a successful revolution to obtain freedom from US control. However, this success resulted in the ill will of the US. The International Monetary Fund stopped assistance to Cuba. At that juncture, the Soviet Union extended a helping hand to the Cuban government. In 1961, there was a futile coup by disgruntled Cuban expatriates, at the Bay of Pigs. This unsuccessful coup had been supported by the US (Central America and the Caribbean - 1945-1997, 1997). In 1962, it was detected by the US air surveillance that Cuba had stationed a large number of Soviet Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles or IRBMs on the island. The range of these missiles was 2,000 miles. Thus, all the eastern states and a majority of the western states in the US were within the reach of these missiles. This created panic in the US government and President Kennedy, immediately ordered a blockade in the entire region (Central America and the Caribbean - 1945-1997, 1997). The US was apprehensive of an invasion by the combined Cuban and Soviet forces. It was also fearful of a nuclear war, as the Soviet Union, which had a stockpile of nuclear weapons, was aligned with Cuba. However, better sense prevailed and Khrushchev had all the missiles aimed at US targets removed from Cuba. This move defused the potentially volatile situation, and the threat of invasion was eliminated (Central America and the Caribbean - 1945-1997, 1997). With this incident the relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union were further strengthened. Castro’s influence grew in world politics, and he emerged as the first Caribbean leader in the region to promote Marxism Leninism in Africa. For this purpose, he deployed trained guerrilla fighters to nations in the African continent. Cuba was heavily dependent on the Soviet Union for the survival of its economy. However, after the disbanding of the USSR, Cuba was isolated in Latin America and its economy declined, on account of the growing sanctions by the US on its commerce and economy (Central America and the Caribbean - 1945-1997, 1997). Bay of Pigs The Bay of Pigs is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones, situated on the south coast of Cuba. In April 1961, an unsuccessful attempt was made by a group of Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and to overthrow the Fidel Castro regime. This attempt was planned and aided by the US. This group was able to establish a beachhead at that place. They had planned to gradually advance into the inland and bring about a revolt against Fidel Castro. However, the Cuban air force detected the advance of these rebels inland. Consequently, the Cuban air force launched heavy air borne attacks on the exiles, using bombs and machine guns. This caused the US supported exiles to surrender. This futile effort is popularly known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion (Freeman, July 2008). This fiasco brought considerable humiliation to the American administration headed by President Kennedy. This invasion exerted considerable influence on the relations between the USSR, US and Cuba. It was contended by some scholars that the CIA had failed to analyze the Cuban experience. It had achieved considerable success in such coups in other countries, and this had encouraged the US administration to launch the invasion (Freeman, July 2008). The previous Eisenhower administration, which had planned the Bay of Pigs invasion, had sought two different and contradictory goals out of the invasion. First, it had planned, funded and trained the exiles to invade Cuba; and second, it had wanted to maintain a semblance of remoteness from the entire episode. So that it could later on deny any involvement in the coup. The Kennedy administration, which succeeded the Eisenhower administration, executed the invasion plan. However, it refused to provide air support to the invaders (Freeman, July 2008). Cuban Missile Crisis During the Cuban Missile Crisis, there was considerable fear that the presence of Soviet IRBMs in Cuba could lead to a nuclear war. The US administration kept its armed forces in a state of high alert state, while the Soviet field commanders in Cuba performed military maneuvers with nuclear weapons. The Soviet military authorities conveyed the impression that they could effectively repulse any US military initiative in Cuba. In this manner, the US as well as the USSR kept their nuclear arsenals in readiness. This extremely dangerous situation was defused on account of the intervention of the American President John F. Kennedy and the Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev (An Overview of the Crisis). In 1962, there was strong competition for procuring arms between the US and the USSR. In that arms race, the US developed much more powerful IRBMs and missiles than those developed by the USSR. The range of the Soviet missiles was limited, and did not extend beyond the European countries, whereas the US had developed missiles that had a much greater range and power. These US missiles were capable of striking any place in the Soviet Union. In order to deter the potentiality of the US, the Khrushchev had IRBMs deployed in Cuba. It was hoped by the Soviets that this deployment would double their arsenal in Cuba and prevent the US from attacking them (An Overview of the Crisis). Fidel Castro strongly believed that the US would attack Cuba anytime, subsequent to its futile Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. He wanted to protect the island nation of Cuba from possible future attacks. Castro needed some guarantee of preventing an attack by the US. Hence, he accepted Khrushchev’s proposal and permitted the deployment of Soviet missiles on his territory (An Overview of the Crisis). On the 15th of October, 1962, US surveillance reconnaissance photographs revealed that Soviet forces were constructing missile installations on the islands of Cuba, which were aimed at US territory. The American intelligence sources informed President Kennedy of these developments on the following day, namely the 16th of October 1962. The US President convened a meeting of the twelve crisis handling experts cum advisors, and formed the EX-COMM (An Overview of the Crisis). There were extensive debates and meetings between the President and top officials of the administration for the next seven days. These meetings were conducted amidst tight security and secrecy. Afterwards, Kennedy imposed a naval blockade on Cuba. The objective of this blockade was to prevent further shipments of Soviet missiles and weapons to Cuba (An Overview of the Crisis). On the 22nd of October 1962, the President addressed the citizens of the US and made public the discovery of Soviet missile establishments in Cuba. He also, told them about the US initiative of imposing a naval blockade around Cuba. In his speech, Kennedy announced that any missile or nuclear weapon launched from Cuba would be construed as an attack by the Soviet Union against the US and its sovereignty. Thereupon, he called for the removal of the missiles from Cuba by the Soviet Union (An Overview of the Crisis). The Soviet Union had clandestinely established missile installations in Cuba, after obtaining the approval of the Cuban President Fidel Castro. In this endeavor, the Soviet Union moved with great haste. However, the US came to know about these missile establishments through its air surveillance reconnaissance photographs. Subsequently, the US administration took up the matter with the Soviet diplomats, who refused to acknowledge the presence of these missile installations in Cuba. On the 22nd of October 1962, Kennedy disclosed, in a television broadcast, the discovery of the Soviet Union’s missile establishments on Cuban soil, and blockaded Cuba (Library of Congress, 1996). During the Cuban missile crisis, both the US and the USSR indulged in heated exchanges. These communications were classified as formal communications and back channel communications. On the 23rd and 24th of October 1962, the Soviet Union’s Premier Nikita Khrushchev wrote letters to the US President Kennedy stating that the Soviet missiles in Cuba had been deployed, in order to deter the US from attacking Cuba (Library of Congress, 1996). Thus, he claimed that the Soviet Union’s initiatives were only for peaceful purposes. Thereafter, on the 26th of October 1962, Khrushchev dispatched another letter, in which he proposed that if the US gave its assurance that it would never attack Cuba, he would remove the missiles and military personnel from Cuba. Once again on the 27th of October 1962, Khrushchev wrote to Kennedy, stating that he would remove the missile installations from Cuba only if the US removed its missile installations from Turkey (Library of Congress, 1996). However, the US administration ignored these proposals of Khrushchev and refused to dismantle its missile installations in Turkey. However, it accepted the proposal in the letter of October 26, and assured Khrushchev that neither the US nor its allies would ever invade Cuba. On the basis of this US assurance, Khrushchev ordered the dismantling of the military installations in Cuba and their return to the Soviet Union, on the 28th of October (Library of Congress, 1996). Khrushchev announced that he had full trust in the assurance given by the US that the latter would not invade Cuba. Negotiations between the officials of the US and the Soviet Union continued and the US demanded of the Soviet Union to remove all of its light bombers from Cuba. These negotiations attempted to establish a precise formulation of the assurance given by the US that it would not attack Cuba (Library of Congress, 1996). October 1962 proved to be an important month in the international political scenario. The Cuban missile crisis had gripped the bipolar world. The two superpowers, the US and the USSR were on the verge of a possible nuclear war. Many feared that the crisis would end in Armageddon. The US military forces had drafted two plans to deal with the crisis. These plans had the capability to involve these two superpowers in direct combat. However, the Kennedy administration averted the war, by astutely blockading Cuba. Subsequently, the US resolved the crisis, by means of negotiations with their counterparts in the Soviet Union. Finally, the US succeeded in forcing the Soviet Union to remove its missiles from Cuba (Kamps, 2007). During the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the US President John Kennedy told the nation that war was inevitable. After that he instituted a naval blockade on Cuba, under the supervision of Captain Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr (Stillwell, 2007). The US media and the US government condemned the Soviet Union’s act of establishing missiles in Cuba as an act of hostility and belligerence. At home in the US, there was an attempt to remove Kennedy from the office of President, which was followed by a struggle for power among the Kennedy brothers. Kennedy was elected as the candidate for reelection, and his brothers wanted to deprive him of this position. It has been contended by some persons that these people had colluded with Castro to seek Soviet support for their cause (Kross, 2006). President Barak Obama and Cuba President Barak Obama has opposed some of the US policies, relating to Cuba. He supported the Cuban American Democrats in Florida by opposing the sanctions imposed in the year 2004, by the US against Cuba. Moreover, Obama, as Senator, had voted against the provision of aid to TV Marti by the US government. He had stressed that such funding was tantamount to squandering the taxpayers’ money (Erlich, 2008, P195). President Barak Obama is willing to remove the earlier restriction on travel to Cuba. This move would enable Cuban Americans to travel freely to Cuba and send money to their family members in Cuba. These relaxations would bring about the initiatives proposed by the Clinton administration. President Bush had rescinded the policies of the Clinton administration, with regard to Cuba (LaFranchi, December 15, 2008). In an interview during the campaign for the presidency, chief foreign policy adviser, Susan Rice stated that Barak Obama would not lift the Cuban embargo. She stated that Obama would utilize the embargo as a platform for negotiations with the Cuban government. According to her, the removal of prohibitions on trade and diplomatic relations would be the ultimate step as far as Obama was concerned (LaFranchi, December 15, 2008). Political analysts viewed Obama’s perceptions about the embargo as reflecting the views of the Cuban – Americans. These Cuban Americans oppose the Castro regime in Cuba. However, this community, particularly the younger generation is now having second thoughts regarding the embargo. They no longer support the embargo and demand that it should be lifted (LaFranchi, December 15, 2008). It is apparent that Barak Obama would not lift the embargo unilaterally. However, it is perceived that he would attempt to implement it in a novel manner by making minor changes to the provisions, such as initiating diplomatic negotiations on migration and exchange of people between the two nations. In the past, the Clinton administration had forayed into people-to-people exchange initiatives with Cuba (Obama brings hope to Cubans Obama brings hope to Cuba, January 10, 2009). Five Cuban agents had been captured and imprisoned in US jails. Cuba is worried about them and has demanded their release. In order to achieve the release of these agents, Cuba proposed a prisoner exchange offer. There are more than two hundred dissidents in Cuban jails. However, the offer of prisoner exchange was not given much importance by the US. In fact, the US is unwilling to exchange prisoners. During the campaign for elections, Barak Obama promised that he would lift the restrictions which were imposed by the Bush regime on the travel of Cuban Americans to their home country (Obama brings hope to Cubans Obama brings hope to Cuba, January 10, 2009). He also gave an assurance to the effect that he would relax the limitation on money transfer on Cubans in the US whose family members were in Cuba. Under the present system, Cuban Americans can visit Cuba once in a period of three years. Moreover, it permissible to do so only to visit with immediate family members. Such persons can send money once every three months and subject to a maximum of $300 (Obama brings hope to Cubans Obama brings hope to Cuba, January 10, 2009). According to Alfredo Balsera, a Cuban – American communications consultant, Barak Obama would resume the migration talks suspended by President Bush in the year 2004. He was also expected to take the initiative to remove the electronic display board that was erected in front of the US Interests Section in Havana. This electronic board displays messages that favor democracy. For Cuba, the electronic board constitutes deliberate provocation by the US government (Obama brings hope to Cubans Obama brings hope to Cuba, January 10, 2009). Obama proclaimed that the need for change should come from the island nation. In his opinion, Cubans should be less dependent on their government. Obama believes in change that should come from within the Cubans. He also believes that improved communication and relationships between Cuban families that live in Cuba and outside Cuba could make the change to happen. Therefore, Obama insists on increased visits by Cuban Americans to Cuba, as the increase in cash flow to Cuba would achieve that goal (Obama brings hope to Cubans Obama brings hope to Cuba, January 10, 2009). The US had imposed a trade embargo on Cuba, which several scholars, including Cuban experts and Latin American leaders, viewed as not having achieved the intended objective of transforming the attitude of Cuba towards the US. However, Obama has adopted a different view of the embargo. He was reported to have stated during his campaign for the presidency that the embargo was ‘an important inducement to change’. He also stated that he would remove the embargo only after Cuba established freedom and justice (LaFranchi, December 15, 2008). Cuba does not have a sound credit history, and allows American companies to establish business in Cuba at their own risk. This characteristic makes the relation between companies and the state to be unequal. Therefore, US companies avoid investments in Cuba. In the meanwhile, Cuba developed its own economic practices. However, this system does not guarantee reliable repayment, and lacks dependability. Cuba has to learn a lot to attract foreign companies by modifying its economic policies. It should come out of the age old communist dogma, in a manner similar to that of China, and invite foreign investors. This is because private investors require a sound economic system that permits transfer of ownership (Benjamin, October 10, 2008). List of References 1. An Overview of the Crisis. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/index.html 2. Benjamin, P. (October 10, 2008). A new look at Cuba. The Washington Times , A24. 3. Burkhart, F. (2007, May 29). Fidel Castro. Retrieved February 5, 2009, from The New York Times: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/c/fidel_castro/index.html 4. Central America and the Caribbean - 1945-1997. (1997). Retrieved February 3, 2009, from In Concise Atlas of World History, Andromeda: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/991417/. 5. Department of State. (n.d.). U.S.-Cuba Relations. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from http://www.state.gov/www/regions/wha/cuba/policy.html 6. Erlich, R. (2008, P195). Dateline Havana: The Real Story of US Policy and the Future of Cuba. PoliPoint Press. 7. Freeman, J. (July 2008). The Bay of Pigs. The Booklist, Chicago , Vol 104, Iss 21, P.29. 8. Guantánamo Bay. (2008). Retrieved February 3, 2009, from In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/7952493/ 9. Kamps, C. T. (2007). The Cuban Missile Crisis: Forty-Five Years in the Balance. Air & Space Power Journal , Vol. 21 Issue 3, P.88. 10. Kross, P. (2006). Inside the Cuban Missile Crisis. Military History , Vol. 23, Iss 8, Pp. 30-36. 11. LaFranchi, H. (December 15, 2008). Will Obama ease US policy toward Cuba? Christian Science Monitor , USA; Pg. 4. 12. Library of Congress. (1996). COLD WAR: CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. Retrieved February 5, 2009, from Revelations from the Russian Archives: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/colc.html 13. Obama brings hope to Cubans Obama brings hope to Cuba. (January 10, 2009). St.Petersburg Times (Florida) , P 1A. 14. Ogonowski, J. (1997). Background on the Conflict. Retrieved February 2, 2009, from http://www.earlham.edu/~pols/ps17971/weissdo/background1.html 15. Stillwell, P. (2007). Looking Back. Naval History , Vol. 21, Iss 5, P.2. Read More