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Cuba History Timeline | |
| 1933 | Batista overthrows the government of Gerardo Machado | |
| 1953 | Fidel Castro leads a rebellion against Batista but fails, and is imprisioned | |
| 1955 | Batista releases Castro | |
| 1958 | US withdraws military aid to Batista | |
| January, 1959 | Castro assumes power, Batista flees to the Dominican Republic | |
| March, 1960 | Eisenhower agrees to train Anti-Castro Exiles to overthrow Castro (1) | |
| 1961 | Castro declares Cuba Communist. Anti-Castro exiles attack Cuba in the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion. 200 rebels were killed and 1,197 were captured. | |
| 1962 | US begins the trade embargo on Cuba. On October 15, the Cuban Missile Crisis begins when a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft spots Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, and ends 14 days later when Cuba and the Soviet Union agree to stop the build up of arms on Cuba in exchange for an end to the US embargo. | |
| October 6, 1976 | A flight bound for Havana is bombed, killing 73 passangers. Four CIA trained Anti-Castro exiles were arrested in Venezuela. All were veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion(4). Former CIA employee Luis Paosada Carrites is tried for masterminding the explosion. | |
| 1980 | Mariel Boatlift begins migration of 125,000 Cubans to the US | |
| 1991 | Soviet Union dissolves. Cuba looses it's most important source of aid, and the economy suffers greatly. UN Commission on Human Rights finds no evidence of human rights abuse in Cuba. | |
| 1992 | Congress tightens US embargo. Embargo is condemned by the UN | |
| 1993 | Reforms in Cuba allow some private buisnesses. First popular elections held since the revolution. | |
| 1996 | The Helms-Burton law is declared a violation of international norms and law by Canada and the European Union (3) | |
| February 24, 1996 | Two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft are shot down over Cuba. The US passes the Helms-Burton Law, which punishes foreign companies that do buisness with Cuba. | |
| February 27, 1996 | The US secures a United Nations Security Council statement "strongly deploring" Cuba's attack on the Brothers to the Rescue planes(5). | |
| 1998 | Pope John Paul II visits Cuba. This represents a softening of Castro, who had previously outlawed religion in Cuba. Pope John Paul denounces the US embargo and calls on Castro to loosen political restrictions in Cuba. | |
| September 12, 1998 | The Cuban Five are arrested by US authorities | |
| October 2000 | US House approves the sale of food and medicine to Cuba | |
| June 8, 2001 | The Cuban Five are convicted of espionage. In addition, Gerardo Hernandez is convicted of murder. | |
| November 2001 | For the first time, the US exports food to Cuba, following Hurricane Michelle. | |
| December 2001 | The Cuban Five recieve sentences ranging from 15 years to two life sentences. | |
| May 2002 | State Department official John Bolton accuses Cuba of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Cuba is added to Washington's list of "axis of evil" countries. (2) | |
| October, 2003 | President George W. Bush announces new measures to hasten the end of Communism in Cuba. This encludes a tightening of the travel embargo, crackdown on illegal cash transfers, and a propoganda campaign aimed at Cuba (2). |
1. “Cuba: Timeline” Educator Guide to the Cold
War. Online. <http://www.turnerlearning.com/cnn/coldwar/cuba/cuba_tml.html > Online.
8 Dec. 2004.
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2. "US Cuba History of Relations Timeline” Havana
Journal. 26 Feb 2004. Online. < http://havanajournal.com/politics_comments/A1453_0_5_0_M/ > 10
Dec. 2004.
Back
3. Rohrbaugh, James. “Timeline of Important Events
in Cuba-United States Relations” Cuba and U.S. Relations: The Helms-Burton
Act and Its International Implications. 1997. Online. < http://www.earlham.edu/~pols/ps17971/weissdo/timeline2.html > 10
Dec. 2004.
Back
4. Dixon, Norm “Security Council challenged on another
bombing” Green
Left Weekly. Online. < http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/1992/55/55p21.htm > 10
Dec. 2004.
Back
5. "Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Crime of the
Committee on the Judiciary".
House of Representatives. One Hundred Sixth Congress. First Session. 15 July
1999.
Serial No. 36 Online. < http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju63608.000/hju63608_0.HTM#8 > 17
Dec.
2004
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