The United States Breaks Diplomatic Relations with Cuba

Fulgencio Batista's overthrow in 1959 brought Fidel Castro to power in Cuba. [1]

Fidel Castro’s government gave the American embassy in Havana forty-eight hours to cut its staff to eleven people, counting employees of every nationality. Washington refused. On 3 January 1961, the United States ordered its diplomatic and consular personnel out of Cuba and broke relations. [2]

By then, the dispute reached well beyond embassy staffing. Castro’s government had expropriated American owned property and drawn closer to the Soviet Union, while Eisenhower had directed the CIA to plan an invasion to overthrow him. The Cuban deadline began at 1.20 that morning; at 8.30 that evening, an American note announcing the break reached the Cuban chargé d’affaires in Washington. [2] [1]

Switzerland agreed to protect American interests in Cuba, and Czechoslovakia took the corresponding role for Cuba in the United States, handling business that could no longer pass between the embassies. Interests sections eventually restored direct representation under third country protection. Full diplomatic relations resumed on 20 July 2015, more than fifty-four years after the break. [2] [3] [4]

In April 1961, the invasion force organized by the CIA landed at the Bay of Pigs and was defeated. Kennedy's subsequent covert campaign continued efforts to remove Castro. [1] [2]

Related Diplomats

1. Armando Florez-Ibarra [5]

Related Reading

• Cuba and the United States