Cuba was originally a Spanish colony. Then in 1823, Thomas Jefferson talked of annexing Cuba, but never acted upon it. Cuba gained their independence from Spain in December of 1898 . After the Spanish American War of 1898, the U.S. had extended rule to both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Under the Platt Amendment of 1901, the U.S. had many powers within the Cuban Constitution. The U.S. had the ability to intervene in Cuban affairs and to set up a naval base in Cuba. That base in Guantanomo Bay still exists to this day. Also, the amendment limited Cuba’s ability to run foreign policy. Although the U.S. held all of this power, Cuba was technically independent from the U.S. in 1902.

After 1950, things in Cuba began to escalate. Batista ruled as a dictator from 1952 until 1959. Under Ba

tista, Cuba was a regular vacation spot for American families. But, the mob had many strongholds in Cuba. In fact, many mob families had large hubs in Cuba. Within Cuba itself, there was much corruption and poverty. Batista’s brutal dictatorship allowed the rise of Fidel Castro.

There are many things I personally would have done differently if I had control over the situation in Cuba. First of all, I never would have executed the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Of course, that is easy for me to say forty years later, but none the less I wouldn’t try to overthrow a government with a few rebels and troops. Logistically, it doesn’t make sense. Or, if I was convinced I had to invade Cuba, I would send in a lot of troops for support with the rebels, and I would see to it there was air support. Basically, I would make sure that victory was the only option.

In the future, I can see the situation with Cuba either improving drastically, or getting drastically worse. It all depends on the future actions of the U.S. Also, there is a lot riding on what happens after Castro’s death. Either the isolation of Cuba with the embargo will continue, as will the communist government or the communist government will end, and the U.S. will become actively involved in Cuba. If the communist regime continues even after Castro’s death, I see no real change in the current situation, and expect illegal immigration to continue. If with Castro’s death the communist regime comes to an end, I think the rift between the two countries could more easily be alleviated. I wouldn’t be surprised if the embargo was lifted, there was a return in U.S. tourism in Cuba, and a generally better relationship between the two countries.

Some topics in this essay:
Bay Pigs, Pigs Invasion, Monroe Doctrine, Fidel Castro, Cold War, Guantanomo Bay, Cuba Florida, CUBA PAST, Crisis October, Batista Cuba, missiles removed, situation cuba, bay pigs, air support, fidel castro, castro’s death, people cuba, communist government, bay pigs invasion, rise communism, pigs invasion, controversial people cuba,