After the establishment of diplomatic ties with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
after the
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...
of 1959,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
became increasingly dependent on Soviet markets and military aid and was an ally of the Soviet Union during the
Cold War. In 1972 Cuba joined the
COMECON
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...
, an economic organization of states designed to create co-operation among the communist
planned economies
A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, par ...
, which was dominated by its largest economy, the Soviet Union.
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
kept in regular contact with
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. and shared varying close relations until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Cuba then entered an era of serious economic hardship, the
Special Period
The Special Period ( es, Período especial, link=no), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by ext ...
.
History
Relations before Cuban Revolution
The first diplomatic relations between the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
developed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
Maxim Litvinov
Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (; born Meir Henoch Wallach; 17 July 1876 – 31 December 1951) was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet statesman and diplomat.
A strong advocate of diplomatic agreements leading towards disarmament, Litvinov w ...
, the Soviet ambassador to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, set up the first Soviet embassy in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. in 1943, and Cuban diplomats under the auspices of President
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...
visited
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
the same year. The Soviets then made a number of contacts with the communist
Popular Socialist Party, who had a foothold in Batista's governing
Democratic Socialist Coalition. Litvinov's successor,
Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка; – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...
, became the ambassador to both the US and Cuba but never visited the latter during his tenure.
After the war, the governments of
Ramón Grau and
Carlos Prío Socarrás
Carlos Manuel Prío Socarrás (July 14, 1903 – April 5, 1977) was a Cuban politician. He served as the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new ele ...
sought to isolate the
Cuban Communist Party
The Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26 ...
, and relations with the Soviet Union were abandoned. Batista's return to power in a
1952 coup saw the closure of the embassy.
After the revolution
The
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...
propelled
Fidel Castro to power on January 1, 1959, but initially attracted little attention in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. Soviet planners, resigned to US dominance over the
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...
, were unprepared for the possibility of a future ally in the region. According to later testimonies from Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
, neither the
Soviet Communist Party
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
's
Central Committee nor
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
intelligence had any idea who Castro was or what he was fighting for. Khrushchev advised them to consult Cuban communists, who reported that Castro was a representative of the "
haute bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
" and working for the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
.
[The Cuban Missile Crisis as seen from the Kremlin](_blank)
American Heritage
In February 1960, Khrushchev sent his deputy,
Anastas Mikoyan, to Cuba to discover what motivated Castro, who had returned from failed trip to
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
, where he was refused a meeting with US President
Dwight Eisenhower. According to reports, Khrushchev's aides had initially tried to characterize Castro as an untrustworthy American agent.
Mikoyan returned from Cuba with the opinion that Castro's new administration should be helped economically and politically, but there was still talk of military assistance.
Washington's increasing
economic embargo led Cuba to seek new markets in a hurry to avert economic disaster. Castro asked for help from the Soviets, and in response, Khrushchev approved the temporary purchase of Cuban sugar in exchange for Soviet fuel. The deal was to play a part in sustaining the
Cuban economy for many years to come. It also would play a role in the
Soviet economy
The economy of the Soviet Union was based on state ownership of the means of production, collective farming, and industrial manufacturing. An administrative-command system managed a distinctive form of central planning. The Soviet economy was ...
, with Cuban sugar becoming widely available even during frequent shortages of other food products.
After the failed
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...
of 1961, Castro announced publicly that Cuba was to become a
socialist republic
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ec ...
. Khrushchev sent congratulations to Castro for repelling the invasion but privately believed that the Americans would soon bring the weight of their regular army to bear. The defense of Cuba became a matter of prestige for the Soviet Union, and Khrushchev believed that the Americans would block all access to the island by sea or by air.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev agreed on a deployment plan in May 1962, primarily in response to Castro's fears over yet another American invasion, and by late July, over 60 Soviet ships had been en route to Cuba, some of which were carrying military material. Khrushchev and Castro planned to secretly establish a
Soviet Armed Forces
The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...
presence on the island before announcing a
defense pact
A defense pact (or defence pact in Commonwealth spelling) is a type of treaty or military alliance in which the signatories promise to support each other militarily and to defend each other.Volker Krause, J. David Singer "Minor Powers, Allianc ...
once nuclear-armed
ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...
s were installed and targeted at the United States.
A
U-2 flight on the morning of October 14 photographed a series of
surface-to-air missile sites being constructed. In a televised address on October 22, US President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
announced the discovery of the installations and proclaimed that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union and would be responded to accordingly.
The Cuban Missile Crisis became the peak of Soviet-Cuban diplomatic friendship and military cooperation. The Castro brothers and
became popular figures among the Soviet public, who believed they were reminiscent of the leaders of the
Russian Revolution. However, Castro unnerved the
Soviet Politburo
The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (, abbreviated: ), or Politburo ( rus, Политбюро, p=pəlʲɪtbʲʊˈro) was the highest policy-making authority within the Communist Party of the ...
with his belligerent attitude towards the crisis, urging the Soviet Union to launch a
preemptive nuclear strike to annihilate the United States.
Khrushchev sent letters to Kennedy on October 23 and 24 that claimed the deterrent nature of the missiles in Cuba and the peaceful intentions of the Soviet Union. On October 26, the Soviets offered to withdraw the missiles in return for US guarantees to avoid carrying out or supporting an of invasion of Cuba and to remove all of the missiles in
southern Italy and in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. The deal was accepted, and the crisis abated.
The Cuban Missile Crisis had a significant impact on the countries involved. It led to a thaw in American-Soviet relations but strained Cuban-Soviet relations. Castro was not consulted throughout the Kennedy-Khrushchev negotiations and was angered by the unilateral Soviet withdrawal of the missiles and bombers. Also, the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
publicly criticized the outcome.
Lourdes SIGINT Station
In 1962, the Soviets created a
SIGINT
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of '' signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ...
facility in
Lourdes
Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Châ ...
, just south of Havana. The SIGINT facility at Lourdes was among the most significant intelligence collection capabilities targeting the United States. It allowed the Soviets to monitor all US military and civilian geosynchronous communications satellites.
The station was abandoned in 2002.
Castro's trip to Moscow
After the crisis, in June 1963 Castro made a historic visit to the Soviet Union, returning from Cuba to recall the construction projects he had seen, specifically the
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
n hydro power stations. Castro also spoke about the development of Soviet agriculture and repeatedly emphasized the necessity for using Soviet experience in solving internal tasks of socialist construction in Cuba. Castro asserted that the Soviet people "expressed by their deeds their love for and solidarity with Cuba."
On the trip, Castro and Khrushchev negotiated new sugar export deals and agricultural methods to solve the main problem in increasing the output of sugar.
Despite Soviet attempts to appease Castro, Cuban-Soviet relations were still marred by a number of difficulties. Castro increased contacts with China, exploited the growing
Sino-Soviet split
The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...
and proclaimed his intention to remain neutral and to maintain fraternal relations with all socialist states. The Sino-Soviet split also impacted on Castro's relationship with
, who took a more
Maoist
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
view after ideological conflict between the Soviet Communist Party and the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
. In 1966, Guevara left for
Bolivia in an
ill-fated attempt to stir up revolution against
René Barrientos
René Barrientos Ortuño (30 May 1919 – 27 April 1969) was a Bolivian military officer and politician who served as the 47th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1964 to 1966 and from 1966 to 1969. During much of his first term, ...
' U.S.-sponsored military junta
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
On 23 August 1968, Castro made a public gesture to the Soviet Union that reaffirmed his support. Two days after the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
to repress the
Prague Spring, Castro took to the airwaves and publicly denounced the
Czechoslovak
Czechoslovak may refer to:
*A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93)
**First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38)
**Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39)
**Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60)
**Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...
"rebellion." Castro warned the
Cuban people
Cubans ( es, Cubanos) are people born in Cuba and people with Cuban citizenship. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic, religious and national backgrounds.
Racial and ethnic groups
Census
The population of Cuba wa ...
about the Czechoslovak "counterrevolutionaries," who "were moving Czechoslovakia towards
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
and into the arms of
imperialists." He called the leaders of the rebellion "the agents of
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and
fascist reactionary rabble." In return for his public backing of the invasion while many Soviet allies deemed the invasion to be an infringement of Czechoslovak sovereignty, the Soviets bailed out the Cuban economy with extra loans and an immediate increase in oil exports.
Brezhnev's visit to Havana
Between 28 January and 3 February 1974, Soviet Premier
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
undertook a
state visit to Cuba and was the first Soviet leader to visit Cuba or any other country in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
. Foreign Affairs Minister
Andrey Gromyko
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка; – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...
, Chairman of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers on Foreign Relations
Ivan Arkhipov, and General Director of
TASS
The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...
Leonid Zamyatin were part of the Soviet delegation. Brezhnev arrived at
José Martí International Airport
José Martí International Airport , sometimes known by its former name Rancho Boyeros Airport, is an international airport located southwest of the centre of Havana, Cuba, and is a hub for Cubana de Aviación and Aerogaviota, and former Latin ...
and was met with a reception with full military honors from the
Ceremonial Unit of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. On 29 January, the Soviet delegation visited
Plaza de la Revolución
Plaza de la Revolución (), "Revolution Square", is a municipality (or borough) and a square in Havana, Cuba.
The municipality, one of the 15 forming the city, stretches from the square down to the sea at the Malecón and includes the Vedado d ...
and laid a wreath at the
José Martí Memorial before it held talks with Castro in the
Palace of the Revolution. More than a million Cubans took part in the Cuban-Soviet friendship rally, which was held on Revolution Square, in Havana. The next day, he held more talks with Castro, his brother Raul and President
Osvaldo Dorticos, and it was decided that the design and construction of high-voltage power lines in the east and the west of Cuba would be carried out. On 31 January, in the suburbs of Havana, both took part in the opening of the Lenin Secondary Special Boarding School. At the end of the visit, he was awarded the
Order of José Martí.
Gorbachev era
With Cuba's proximity to the United States, Castro and his regime became an important Cold War ally for the Soviets. The relationship was for the most part economic, with the Soviet Union providing military, economic, and political assistance to Cuba. In 1972, Cuba gained membership into the
Council of Mutual Economic Assistance
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...
(CMEA), which enhanced strong co-operation in the realm of national economic planning and increasingly gave Moscow economic control over Cuba.
From 1976 to 1980, the Soviets invested US$1.7 billion on the construction and remodeling of Cuban factories and industry. Between 1981 and 1984 Cuba also received approximately US$750 million a year in Soviet military assistance.
When
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in March 1985, the Soviets continued to consider Cuba as an important Cold War propaganda tool. Economic investment and trade in Cuba were at their highest. In 1985, trade with the Soviets accounted for over 70% of Cuba's entire trade. Both nations continued to collaborate on projects in the sciences, technology, sports, and education.
However, throughout the Gorbachev era diplomatic relations cooled until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 terminated Soviet-Cuban relations.
Heightened tensions best characterized diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union throughout the Gorbachev era. The introduction of his Soviet reforms of ''
perestroika'' and ''
glasnost'' and his "
new thinking" on the foreign policy set off an economic crisis in the Soviet Union, opened up the Soviets and their allies to increasing internal criticism from dissidents, and sparked an ideological conflict with the Cuban regime.
1985–1989
The Soviet Union faced a varying array of problems when Gorbachev took power after the death of General Secretary
Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko uk, Костянтин Устинович Черненко, translit=Kostiantyn Ustynovych Chernenko (24 September 1911 – 10 March 1985) was a Soviet politician and the seventh General Secretary of the Commu ...
in 1985. However, Gorbachev's attempts at reforms not only provoked the strengthening of a vocal opposition frustrated over the pace of reforms but also placed the Soviets at odds with Cuba. The transition during ''perestroika'' towards market reforms weakened the
Soviet ruble and resulted in a reduction of basic subsidies and widespread shortages of basic goods, a loss of jobs, and decreased productivity. The economic difficulties spread to other areas of Eastern Europe and other Soviet satellites, such as Cuba. In essence, ''perestroika'' progressively undermined the Soviet Union's ability to live up to its economic commitments to Cuba.
In 1986, Castro embarked on his own set of reforms, which was called the "rectification of errors" campaign. Castro intended for the reforms to forestall or to eradicate any reformist ideas spreading in Cuba prompted by radical political and economic reforms in the Soviet Union or elsewhere in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
.
The Cuban policies and ''perestroika'' were diametrically opposed and highlighted the unravelling of the Soviet-Cuban relationship.
The effects of ''glasnost'' on political criticism and discussion in the Soviet Union further strained the Cuban-Soviet alliance. After Castro bashed ''glasnost'' during a joint Soviet-Cuban conference in Havana in 1988, the Soviet elite became more critical of Soviet foreign policy towards Cuba, and critical articles in Soviet newspapers soon emerged. Although Havana could not afford to upset Moscow, its main ally, Castro in February 1989 led a small expulsion of Soviet diplomats at the Soviet embassy and banned the sale of Soviet publications and news outlets, He stated, "We could not hesitate to prevent the circulation of Soviet publications in Cuba."
In his visit to rekindle ties with Cuba in April 1989, Gorbachev attempted to convince Castro to take a more positive attitude towards the Soviet Union. Gorbachev was only the second Soviet leader to visit
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, and rather than resolve the increasing tensions between the two nations, the visit was mostly a symbolic gesture since Castro had declared the Soviet-Cuban alliance as void 24 hours before the visit. Despite Soviet Foreign Minister
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე}, romanized: ; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia fo ...
declaring the meeting to be a "milestone in Soviet-Cuban relations," relations rapidly declined after Gorbachev's return to Moscow.
1989–1991
By 1990, Moscow had found it increasingly difficult to meet its economic responsibilities to Havana. In 1985, it had paid over eleven times the world price for
Cuban sugar, but in 1989, it paid only three times the world price.
As the economy continued to decline, members of the Soviet elite grew more critical of the unequal terms of trade. For many, "it seemed contrary to the nature of ''perestroika'' to continue to prop up an inefficient Cuban economy while struggling to reform the Soviet economy."
That forced the Cuban government to search elsewhere for foreign investment and trade. In what was called a "zero-option approach," the Cuban government in 1990 and 1991 established tariff-free trading agreements to boost imports and exports, gave foreign entities more autonomy and generous tax incentives, and began to diversify the economy by focusing more on the pharmaceutical industry and tourism.
More fundamental change in Soviet-Cuba economic relations came with a new one-year trade agreement (as opposed to the previous five-year trade agreements), which was signed in late 1990.
The agreement set sugar at world market prices with the intent to reduce Cuban dependence on the Soviet Union. In June 1991, the Soviets disbanded the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), which had been a huge basis for the alliance. That further strained the Cuban economic situation.
In the international sphere, Gorbachev's "new thinking" attempted to remove Marxist ideology from east–west relations. His new foreign policy took on a new orientation that stressed international independence, non-offensive defence, multilateral co-operation, and the use of the political process to solve security issues. At first, Castro took a relatively positive outlook on "new thinking." He commented that "this was the first time since the appearance of these awesome
weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...
... that such a categorical, resolute and concrete proposal had been made." However, ideological divergences over disarmament, international conflicts in
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
and
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
, and the debt crisis in the
developing world quickly created irreconcilable differences between Castro and Gorbachev.
Demonstrative of the cooling of Cold War tensions and "new thinking" was the announcement by Gorbachev on September 11, 1991, that all Soviet troops would be removed from Cuba. That move symbolized Gorbachev's efforts to eliminate Marxism from Soviet foreign policy, which Castro believed undermined Cuba's struggle against
US imperialism
American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...
.
After a
Soviet coup attempt in August 1991, Cuban leaders felt that they had less to lose and began openly criticism of Soviet reforms. An editorial in ''
Granma'' several days after the coup wrote that "in the Soviet Union, politicians favour the process of
privatization
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
and the acceleration to the
market economy. These positions have resulted in the development of these events."
From 1985 to 1991, Soviet-Cuban relations continued, as Moscow wanted the relationship with Cuba to be reformed, not terminated, and Havana relied on continued Soviet investment and trade. ''Perestroika'' and Gorbachev's other reforms quickly eroded the economic and political alliance between the Cubans and the Soviets, as it became increasingly difficult for the Soviets to maintain their trade commitments to Cuba. After 1989, Castro publicly criticized Soviet reformism but hoped Soviet communism to survive ''perestroika''.
End of Soviet Union
The
end of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in December 1991 had an immediate and devastating effect on Cuba. Valuable aid and trading privileges ended for Cuba, with the Soviet Union no longer existing. Cuba soon entered a social and fiscal crisis, known as the
Special Period
The Special Period ( es, Período especial, link=no), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by ext ...
.
Since the 1990s, Cuba has maintained and started relationships with other Latin American neighbors and
non-aligned countries, but since it is the only Marxist nation in the Western Hemisphere, Cuba can no longer maintain its political status. After the shift to world market prices under the 1991 trade agreement and the dissolution of CMEA, which once accounted for almost 85% of Cuban trade, trade with the Soviet Union declined by more than 90%. The Soviet Union alone imported 80% of Cuban
sugar and 40% of Cuban
citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...
. Oil imports dropped from 13 million tons in 1989 to about 3 million tons in 1993 with
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
The
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
ended communism in Europe, and the end of the Soviet Union led to great isolation and economic hardship in Cuba.
List of Soviet ambassadors in Cuba
As per the Russian Embassy's site.
*
Maxim Litvinov
Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (; born Meir Henoch Wallach; 17 July 1876 – 31 December 1951) was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet statesman and diplomat.
A strong advocate of diplomatic agreements leading towards disarmament, Litvinov w ...
, 1942–1943
*
Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка; – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...
(stationed in Washington, D.C.), 1943–1946
* (no relations), 1946–1960
*
Sergei Mikhailovich Kudryavtsev (Кудрявцев, Сергей Михайлович), 1960–1962
*
Alexandr Ivanovich Alexeyev (
Алексеев, Александр Иванович), 1962–1968
*
Alexander Alexeyevich Soldatov (
Солдатов, Александр Алексеевич), 1968–1970
*
Nikita Pavlovich Tolubeyev (
Толубеев, Никита Павлович), 1970–1979
*
Vitaly Vorotnikov
Vitaly Ivanovich Vorotnikov (russian: Вита́лий Ива́нович Воротнико́в; 20 January 1926 – 19 February 2012) was a Soviet politician and diplomat who was the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Rus ...
, 1979–1982
*
Konstantin Fedorovich Katushev (
Катушев, Константин Фёдорович), 1982–1985
*
Alexandr Kapto, 1985–1989
*
Yury Vladimirovich Petrov 1989–1991
*
Arnold Ivanovich Kalinin (
Калинин, Арнольд Иванович), 1991–2000 (after the dissolution of the USSR, continued as Russia's ambassador)
See also
*
Foreign relations of Cuba
Cuba's foreign policy has been fluid throughout history depending on world events and other variables, including relations with the United States. Without massive Soviet subsidies and its primary trading partner, Cuba became increasingly isola ...
*
Soviet Empire
''Soviet Empire'' is a political term which is used in Sovietology to describe the actions and power of the Soviet Union, with an emphasis on its dominant role in other countries.
In the wider sense, the term refers to the country's foreign p ...
*
Cuba–Russia relations
*
Cuba–United States relations
References
Further reading
* Bain, Mervyn. "Havana and Moscow in the 1970s." in Emily J. Kirk and Anna Clayfield eds., ''Cuba's Forgotten Decade: How the 1970s Shaped the Revolution'' (2018): 23–40.
* Bain, Mervyn J. "Havana, Moscow, and Beijing: Looking to the Future in the Shadow of the Past." ''Social Research: An International Quarterly'' 84.2 (2017): 507–526
online* Clayfield, Anna. "Militarized by Moscow?." in Emily J. Kirk and Anna Clayfield eds., ''Cuba's Forgotten Decade: How the 1970s Shaped the Revolution'' (2018): 71–86.
* Gleijeses, Piero. "Moscow's Proxy? Cuba and Africa 1975–1988." ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 8.4 (2006): 98–146.
online* Gleijeses, Piero. ''Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976'' (U of North Carolina Press, 2002)
online
* Gleijeses, Piero. ''Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington, Pretoria and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1976-1991'' (U of North Carolina Press, 2013)
online
* Niederstrasser, R. O. "The Cuban Legacy in Africa." ''Washington Report on the Hemisphere,'' (November 30, 2017)
* Onslow, Sue. “The battle of Cuito Cuanavale: Media space and the end of the Cold War in Southern Africa" in Artemy M. Kalinovsky,
Sergey Radchenko. eds., ''The End of the Cold War and the Third World: New Perspectives on Regional Conflict'' (2011) pp 277–96 i
online
* Saney, Isaac, "African Stalingrad: The Cuban Revolution, Internationalism and the End of Apartheid," ''Latin American Perspectives'' 33#5 (2006): pp. 81–117.
External links
Russian Embassy in Cuba- official site; contains history information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuba-Soviet Union Relations
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Bilateral relations of the Soviet Union