Cuba: An American History

Histories of Cuba often reflect Cold War divisions. Many US accounts focus on the destructiveness of Fidel Castro’s communist policies, and some left-leaning narratives emphasize the harm caused by US interventions in Cuban sovereignty and economic embargos. In Cuba: An American History, Ana Ferrer takes a different approach: She situates US-Cuban relations within the context of a much longer history of American imperialism and Cuban resistance. This perspective sheds light on Cuban foreign policy, particularly following Castro’s rise to power in 1959.

After World War II, the United States was dedicated to fighting communism and containing Soviet influence around the world, sometimes at the expense of Latin American democracy. For instance, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed a coup in Guatemala in 1954 to overthrow the democratically elected President Jacobo Arbenz and install a military junta—partly because Arbenz sought to appropriate and redistribute land owned by the United Fruit Company. Since the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the US interests had dominated sugar production and other key industries in Cuba. The Cuban military dictator Fulgencio Batista supported this. In this context, revolutionaries in Cuba (like Castro) had two goals: overthrowing Batista’s dictatorship and challenging US economic and political control.

As Ferrer notes, revolutionary leaders, including Castro, varied in their commitment to Marxist doctrine. However, because the Cuban revolution took place during the Cold War, anti-American sentiment was instantly associated with communism, particularly in US political rhetoric. Castro capitalized on this association without fully committing himself to communism. After the 1959 Cuban revolution, the US imposed a trade embargo on Cuba; Castro then forged trade partnerships with the Soviet Union. However, in 1961, Cuba also joined the Non-Aligned Movement, a collection of colonized or formerly colonized countries that were not fully aligned with either the US or the Soviet Union. A key goal of these nations was the pursuit of anticolonial solidarity. It was within this context that Cuba provided military resources and medical aid to support anticolonial and liberation movements in Algeria, Angola, and elsewhere.

When the US expanded its trade embargo on Cuba in 1962, several US allies followed suit. However, Francoist Spain, which was officially “neutral” but effectively anticommunist, refused to embargo its former colony. This, along with Soviet support, allowed Cuba to survive economically. Since Cuba had the support of both capitalist and communist nations, it occupied a unique position in the world. Today, the US is the only country that has a trade embargo against Cuba; the United Nations continues to advocate for its abolition (Mishra, Vibhu. “General Assembly Renews Long-Standing Call for End to US Embargo Against Cuba.” UN News, 30 Oct. 2024).

The US still maintains a naval base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, located near the southeastern tip of the island. The land has been leased by the US since 1903, but since the Revolution of 1959, Cuba’s government has considered the US military presence there illegal. The US sends a check of about $4,000 every year for the lease, but the Cuban government refuses to accept the funds.