The Relationship between Cuba and the United States regarding the Cold War - Essay Example

Analyze the relationship between Cuba and the United States regarding the Cold War. School Student Id Course Date Introduction A meeting was held by the president of United States and the president of Cuban to restore diplomatic relations between these two countries. This was the first session took place between these two nations where the Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro had a meeting. This session was held in Panama after the two presidents publicly announced that they intended to restore their diplomatic relations. This meeting, however, gave a chance to the president of U.S to pay a visit to Cuba. United State administration has the policy of economic sanctions on Cuba successful as well as the diplomatic isolation in this country. The subsequent change in term of relations between these two countries was initially seen through, the release of a jailed U.S subcontractor and the prisoner swap1. Also, through the diplomatic relations experts have pointed to have better prospects for both economies of Cuba, and that of U.S. However, the trade embargo of United States is possibly unlikely to be lifted any time soon. Thesis statement The relations that existed between Cuba and the US regarding cold war has affected the economic performance of the two countries as America imposed trade restrictions. The two countries have not been in a position to resolve the differences that have been in existence ever since leading to a continued grudge. Scope Cuba and the US had grudge for long considering that they are neighbors as Cuba is located around 100 miles from Florida. The two countries have failed to establish good relationship since the year 1961where Switzerland has been used as the mediator. The bad relations between Cuba and US has led to many trade restrictions affecting the economic relations between the two countries where different governments that have been coming into power failing to solve the differences. The US government came up with policies geared towards diplomatic and economic isolation between the two countries. However, the restrictions were reduced the moment President Obama entered into power where he allowed the people from Cuba to travel for religious and education purposes but under license2. The relationship between Cuba and the United States The warring relationship between the United States and Cuba grew its roots from the Cold War. During the Cold War, a particular group together with Fidel Castro seized power in Havana and therefore overthrowing Fulgencio Batista in the year 1959. Moreover, the political ideology that Fidel Castro had, the people of the United States substantially recognized his government too. However, during the regime of Fidel Castro, there was a rapid increase in trade which was usually conducted by the Soviet Union. He also nationalized all the properties in the United States which were owned by individuals. On the other side, Fidel Castro raised the taxes on imports of America thus leading to retaliation of U.S economy3. There on, after the sugar imports in Cuban was banned, then Washington went ahead to entirely ban all its exports to Cuba which later on turned to be the full economic embargo. However, in the year of 1961 the people in the United States diplomatically joined with Cuba and therefore decided to make an attempt of overthrowing the government of Fidel Castro. This attempt of toppling the regime of Castro was driven by the mistrust and nationalism of Cuban. The suspicion and nationalism against the government of Castro led the Soviet Union to agree on how to ensure they could construct a base for missile secretly an island. Unfortunately, the US government realized the plans of overthrowing the government and therefore Kennedy ordered that the missile base to be destructed with an immediate effect4. This crisis of destroying missile base came to an end when there was an agreement that to dismantle the sites, and then the United States should pledge that they will not invade Cuba. On the other hand, the U.S agreed to withdrawal nuclear missiles in a secret way from Turkey. During the reign of Fidel Castro, United States and Cuban engaged into bitter arguments and international crisis. These two countries had no diplomatic relations at all. Thus they usually involved Switzerland as their mediator whenever a crisis arises between them. When Barack Obama came into power, he permitted the Cuban Americans to be visiting and sending their remittances to their family. The president also made easy economic embargo on the island but failed to totally remove them. When the war between America and Spain ended, the defeat of Spain made it sign the rights to its territories. These territories included Cuba, Puerto Rico among others which contributed to the independence of Cuba. For a period, U.S and Cuba cooperated in that the United States helped to suppress rebellions and also to do investment in the economy of its neighbors. Later on, Cuban revolution rose up which led to changes regarding everything. However, the Cuban revolution took some years making their attempts to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista. Eventually, Fidel Castro with the support of guerrillas succeeded in their attempt to overthrow the government5. The people of United States offered full support to Castro through the imposition of the arms embargo against the government of Batista. The people of U.S immediately accepted the new regime even though it expressed a lot of misgivings over the execution of numerous supporters of the Batista. Thus the government of Castro practiced the communist tendencies. After Castro had come to power, he paid a visit to Washington monuments where he held a meeting with the vice president Richard Nixon. This was a rare time of alliance between the United States and Cuba. In 1960, Castro had already acquired ownership of private land and also a good number of private companies were now nationalized6. Besides, he imposed high taxes on the American products. On the other hand, United States responded to this through breaking all the diplomatic ties between her and Cuba. As a result of cutting this diplomatic ties, Cuba which heavily relied on the products of America started experiencing shortages of some products. As a result of the shortage, consumption of food decreased and also the electronic devices such as televisions and telephones were harder to acquire since there were no means to import from America. Therefore, Cuba faced the entire consequences of the poor governance of their president. The United States started their preparation in attempting to topple the government of Cuban. Thus, the Cuban exiles were well trained on the ground attack there after it was followed by an operation which was known as Mongoose. Numerous attempts to kill Castro was made, but unfortunately, this plan did not work since the soldiers of Cuba protected Castro from these attack. The crisis came to an end when Nikita Khrushchev admitted the secret proposal of Kennedy in which he suggested for the removal of United States missiles in Turkey under the condition that Cuba will de-arm. In the year 1980, there was a rise in the downtown of the economy which led to the several Cubans who were not satisfied to fly to the foreign countries in order to seek political asylum. However, any individual who was interested in leaving Cuba could do so through the only northwestern port, since President Castro had announced so. The announcement that was made by President Obama led to increasing in remittance and travel restrictions for the people with families still Cuba, even though it was a small issue, it made a significant change in the United States position towards the island. He also made an agreement with telecommunication companies to continue their businesses in the country. There were economic and diplomatic isolation policies which were enforced towards Cuba by the United States. These policies were even in continuation after the collapse of Soviet Union. The President of United States after he came into the office started engagement with Cuba. During the first term of his service, the President Barack Obama gave permission to the U.S telecommunications companies to render cellular and satellite services to Cuba. Also, the citizens of United States were allowed to be traveling to Cuba under license for various purposes such as educational purpose and religious purpose Moreover, both U.S and Cuba countries were seen to have an open engagement. However, another burning issue raised up between these two countries where Cuba`s designation by the United States as a state which usually sponsored the act of terrorism. Later on in 2013, the state Department`s annual report produced a report that there was no clear evidence thus Cuba did not provide any training nor weapons to the terrorists7. The obstacles to diplomacy between Cuba and US Cuba was accused of sponsoring terrorism where the rebels against Central America were said to be trained in Cuba. This heightened the differences between the two countries making the US impose more restrictions towards Cuba. Despite that no evidence concerning Cuba supporting terrorism, the obstacles to talks aiming at establishing diplomatic relations increased. Besides, human rights watch was accusing Cuba government of repress those individuals that were against the government through forced exile, detentions, beating and travel restrictions. The report from human rights had shown that there were more than 8,600 detentions in Cuba for the political activities in the country8. Many of the political activities that were running the harsh administration of Cuba many settled in Miami making the Cubans in Florida more than5% of the population of Florida9. These Cubans exile community in America were strong supporters of Republican making the government of America continue criticizing the acts of Cuba government. However, since the time Obama entered into power, there have been many changes suggesting that the diplomacy between Cuba and America are likely to be restored shortly. The American government has been against the political systems of Cuba that do not allow for reforms. The government has not been willing to engage in talks that can result in reforms in the political systems that have been in existence for a long duration. However, regional powers have been arguing against the Cuba-US relations where they urge the US to assist in improving the situation of the human rights instead of isolating and imposing trade restrictions. The government has been urged by various international bodies like civil society members to help Cuba gain political and economic reforms. For instance, Cuba participated in the summit was held in America in the year 2015 signaling a new dawn for the relations between Cuba and America10. The participation of Cuba in the summit was an indication that the long closed political system of Cuba can soon be open leading to many political reforms. The change of the political system can be associated with various reforms that led to the release of the political prisoners as Obama has been urging the government to change its political systems to welcome democracy in politics. Many political leaders do expect the American government to remove the trade restrictions. Conclusion The differences between Cuba and America had made America isolate Cuba until the moment Obama came into power and announced that a policy that could ensure economic and diplomatic engagement. The European Union had accused Cuba government of long violation of the rights of its citizens through unlawful detentions, and the American government has been against the oppressive political systems of Cuba. As a result, the government of Cuba has been using its foreign policy to ensure protection from the hostile US policies. For instance, Cuba organized revolutionaries aimed at creating Vietnams for confronting and weakening the US and its allies. The Cuba government has long been against the policy of US towards its neighbors where the American government has been said to try to prescribe the domestic economy and political environment. Cuba has been resisting to the US policies towards the immediate neighboring countries leading to long differences that have created poor relations between the two countries. However, despite the differences, the US has never made any attempt to invade Cuba perhaps because of the military capabilities of Cuba. References Bush, George W. The national security strategy of the United States of America. Executive office of the president Washington DC, 2002. Domínguez, Jorge I. "US‐Cuban Relations: From the Cold War to the Colder War." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 39, no. 3 (2007): 49-75. Dudziak, Mary L. Cold War civil rights: Race and the image of American democracy. Princeton University Press, 2011. Goldgeier, James M., and Michael McFaul. "A tale of two worlds: core and periphery in the post-cold war era." International Organization 46, no. 02 (2002): 467-491. Fearon, James D., and David D. Laitin. "Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war."American political science review 97, no. 01 (2003): 75-90. Kaplan, Amy. "Homeland insecurities: some reflections on language and space." Radical History Review 85, no. 1 (2003): 82-93. Levitt, Peggy, and Nina Glick Schiller. "Conceptualizing Simultaneity: A Transnational Social Field Perspective on Society1." International migration review 38, no. 3 (2004): 1002-1039. Pedraza-Bailey, Silvia. Political and economic migrants in America: Cubans and Mexicans. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005. Shohat, Ella. "Notes on the" Post-Colonial"." Social text 31/32 (2002): 99-113. Wanta, Wayne, Guy Golan, and Cheolhan Lee. "Agenda setting and international news: Media influence on public perceptions of foreign nations."Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 81, no. 2 (2004): 364-377. 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However, in the year of 1961 the people in the United States diplomatically joined with Cuba and therefore decided to make an attempt of overthrowing the government of Fidel Castro. This attempt of toppling the regime of Castro was driven by the mistrust and nationalism of Cuban. The suspicion and nationalism against the government of Castro led the Soviet Union to agree on how to ensure they could construct a base for missile secretly an island. Unfortunately, the US government realized the plans of overthrowing the government and therefore Kennedy ordered that the missile base to be destructed with an immediate effect4.

This crisis of destroying missile base came to an end when there was an agreement that to dismantle the sites, and then the United States should pledge that they will not invade Cuba. On the other hand, the U.S agreed to withdrawal nuclear missiles in a secret way from Turkey. During the reign of Fidel Castro, United States and Cuban engaged into bitter arguments and international crisis. These two countries had no diplomatic relations at all. Thus they usually involved Switzerland as their mediator whenever a crisis arises between them.

When Barack Obama came into power, he permitted the Cuban Americans to be visiting and sending their remittances to their family. The president also made easy economic embargo on the island but failed to totally remove them. When the war between America and Spain ended, the defeat of Spain made it sign the rights to its territories. These territories included Cuba, Puerto Rico among others which contributed to the independence of Cuba. For a period, U.S and Cuba cooperated in that the United States helped to suppress rebellions and also to do investment in the economy of its neighbors.

Later on, Cuban revolution rose up which led to changes regarding everything. However, the Cuban revolution took some years making their attempts to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista. Eventually, Fidel Castro with the support of guerrillas succeeded in their attempt to overthrow the government5. The people of United States offered full support to Castro through the imposition of the arms embargo against the government of Batista. The people of U.S immediately accepted the new regime even though it expressed a lot of misgivings over the execution of numerous supporters of the Batista.

Thus the government of Castro practiced the communist tendencies. After Castro had come to power, he paid a visit to Washington monuments where he held a meeting with the vice president Richard Nixon. This was a rare time of alliance between the United States and Cuba. In 1960, Castro had already acquired ownership of private land and also a good number of private companies were now nationalized6. Besides, he imposed high taxes on the American products. On the other hand, United States responded to this through breaking all the diplomatic ties between her and Cuba.

As a result of cutting this diplomatic ties, Cuba which heavily relied on the products of America started experiencing shortages of some products. As a result of the shortage, consumption of food decreased and also the electronic devices such as televisions and telephones were harder to acquire since there were no means to import from America. Therefore, Cuba faced the entire consequences of the poor governance of their president. The United States started their preparation in attempting to topple the government of Cuban.

Thus, the Cuban exiles were well trained on the ground attack there after it was followed by an operation which was known as Mongoose. Numerous attempts to kill Castro was made, but unfortunately, this plan did not work since the soldiers of Cuba protected Castro from these attack. The crisis came to an end when Nikita Khrushchev admitted the secret proposal of Kennedy in which he suggested for the removal of United States missiles in Turkey under the condition that Cuba will de-arm. In the year 1980, there was a rise in the downtown of the economy which led to the several Cubans who were not satisfied to fly to the foreign countries in order to seek political asylum.

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