Credit for banner image above: Photo by Franklin Reyes, AP, 2015.
Relations between the United States and Cuba date back to the late 1700s. Such relations were initially based on proximity and trade, as well as growing U.S. interest in annexing the island as part of its territorial expansion. Throughout the nineteenth century, the U.S. government repeatedly attempted to purchase the island from the Spanish government. During the first third of the twentieth century, U.S. armed forces intervened in Cuba several times to protect U.S. interests on the island. Relations between the United States and Cuba quickly deteriorated after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The United States has maintained a trade embargo of the island since 1960 and broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961, which were restored in 2015.
Click on the menu for links to the history of U.S.-Cuba ties, U.S. legislation on Cuba, various resources on U.S. Cuba policy, and key players from the State Department, Congress, and U.S. and Cuban embassies.