U.S.-Cuba Relations Timeline
Chronology of Events — 1959 to Present
1959 — Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro and a group of guerilla fighters overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro becomes prime minister, his brother Raul becomes his deputy. 1960 — Castro nationalizes all foreign assets in Cuba, raises taxes on American imports, and establishes trade deals with the Soviet Union. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower retaliates by lowering the import quota for Cuban sugar, freezing Cuban assets in America, and imposing a near-full trade embargo. 1961 — U.S. President John F. Kennedy breaks off all diplomatic relations with Havana. Later that year, he sends a brigade of CIA-sponsored Cuban exiles to…
