US Foreign Policy towards Cuba: Historical Roots, Traditional Explanations and Alternative Perspectives

Notes

1. The Moncada Programme became the platform of the movement 26th of July (M-26–7) that is named after the military garrison that was attacked on 26 July 1953 by a group led by Fidel Castro. The Programme, which became basically the platform of the new government, was profoundly nationalistic. The 1940 Constitution was reinstated and amended, the telephone phone company was nationalised as early as March 1959 and on 17 May 1959, the Agrarian Reform Law was enacted. For an excellent compilation of the text of the new laws and their impact, see José Bell Lara, Tania Caram and Delia Luisa López, Documentos de la Revolución Cubana 1959 (La Habana: Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 2008).

2. Samuel Farber, Cuba since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2011), p. 96.

3. Jefferson to Madison, 27 April 1809 quoted in D.S. Whittlesey, ‘Geographic Factors in the Relations of the United States and Cuba’, Geographical Review 12 (2) April 1992: 241–56.

4. Robert H. Holden and Eric Zolov, Latin America and the United States: A Documentary History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 9.

5. John Quincy Adams to Hugh Nelson, April 28, 1823, in Worthington C. Ford, ed., The Writings of John Quincy Adams , 7 vols. (New York, 1913–17), 7: 372–9.

6. The full quote appears in Louis Pérez Jr, Cuba between Empires 1878–1902 (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983), p. 57. Other authors have later rephrased references to it. See Fareed Zakaria, From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (Princeton: Princeton University Press), p. 70; Amy S. Greenberg, Manifest Manhood and the Antebellum American Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 69.

7. Louis Pérez Jr, The War of 1898: The United States and Cuba in History and Historiography (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), p. 7.

8. During the 1840s, the idea of purchasing Cuba with the consent of Cuban annexationists gained momentum. John O'Sullivan an American columnist, who coined the phrase Manifest Destiny, visited Cuba in 1847. Upon his return, he campaigned strongly in favour of purchasing Cuba. He appealed to Secretary of State James Buchanan, expansionist Senator Stephen Douglas and President Polk himself. It was President Polk who offered 100 million to Spain on 30 May 1848. There were other attempts to purchase Cuba, most notable during the Franklin Pierce administration. These efforts were spearheaded by Jefferson Davis, then secretary of war and future president of the Confederacy after the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Michael E. Byrnes, James K Polk: A Biographical Companion (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Biographical Companion, 2001), pp. 47–8.

9. Three American diplomats Pierre Soule, James Mason and James Buchanan – US ambassadors to France, Spain and Great Britain – and all pro-slavery democrats held a meeting in Ostend, Belgium, on 9–11 October 1854, where they drew up a manifesto. For a good study of the context, see Sidney Webster, ‘Mr. Marcy, the Cuban Question and the Ostend Manifesto’, Political Science Quarterly 8, no. 1 (March 1893): 1–32. The actual document can be found at House Executive Documents 33 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. X, pp. 127–36.

10. Richard B. Kimball, Cuba, and the Cubans: Comprising a History of the Island of Cuba, Its Present Social, Political, and Domestic Condition: Also, Its Relation to England and the United States (New York: S. Hueston, 1850).

11. Alexander Jones, Cuba in 1851: Containing Authentic Statistics of the Population Agriculture and Commerce of the Island for a Series of Years with Official and Other Documents in Relation to the Revolutionary Movements of 1850 and 1851 (New York: Stringer & Townsend, 1851).

12. David Saville Muzzey, James Blaine: A Political Idol of Other Days (New York, 1935). Quoted in Walter Lafeber, The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion 1860–1898 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998).

13. Jules R. Benjamin, ‘The Origins of Hegemony 1880–1902’, in Jules R. Benjamin (ed.) The United States and Cuba: Hegemony and Dependent Development, 1880–1934 (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1974), pp. 3–12.

14. Francisco Figueras, Cuba y su Evolución Colonial (La Habana: Imprenta Avisador Comercial, 1907), p. 167.

15. Louis Perez Jr, Cuba and the United States: Ties of Singular Intimacy (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1997), p. 56.

16. Julio Le Riverend, Historia Económica de Cuba (La Habana: Editorial Pueblo y Educación, 1974), p. 509.

17. Jules Benjamin, United States and Cuba: Hegemony and Dependent Development (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1977), pp. 3–12.

18. See, for example, Christopher A. Vaughan, ‘Cartoon Cuba: Race, Gender and Political Opinion Leadership in Judge 1898’, African Journalism Studies 24, no. 2 (2003): 195–217; Louis A. Pérez Jr, ‘Fear and Loathing of Fidel Castro: Sources of US Policy toward Cuba’, Journal of Latin American Studies 34 (2002): 227–54; Louis A. Pérez Jr, Cuba in the American Imagination: Metaphor and the Imperial Ethos (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008); Lars Schoultz, ‘Blessings of Liberty: The United States and the Promotion of Democracy in Cuba’, Journal of Latin American Studies 34 (2002): 397–425.

19. Greg Jones, Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dream (New York: New American Library, 2012), p. 93.

20. Robert H. Holden and Eric Zolov, Latin America and the United States: A Documentary History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 73.

21. Lars Schoultz, The United States and the Cuban Revolution: That Infernal Little Republic (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009), p. 24.

22. Robert H. Holden and Eric Zolov, Latin America and the United States: A Documentary History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 9.

23. Theodore Roosevelt, ‘Annual Message to Congress’, 6 December 1904, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws?pid=29545. (Accessed 16 April 2015.)

24. Ibid.

25. The Colonial Policy of the United States, ‘An Address Delivered at Christiania, Norway, May 5, 1910’, in African and European Addresses (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1910), p. 89.

26. Theodore Roosevelt, ‘“The Expansion of the White Races', Address at the celebration of the African Diamond Jubilee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C., January 18, 1909’, in American Problems (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926).

27. This was the second occupation of Cuba by US marines. It started on 28 September 1906 as Marines landed in Cuba after a political crisis. This time the occupation lasted 3 years under Charles Magoon, former governor of the Panama Canal Zone. David A. Lockmiller, Magoon in Cuba: A History of the Second Intervention, 1906–1909 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1938); Allen R. Millet, The Politics of Intervention: The Military Occupation of Cuba, 1906–1909 (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1968), p. 267.

28. Lars Schoultz, The United States and the Cuban Revolution: That Infernal Little Republic (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009), p. 33.

29. Gordon Connel-Smith, The Inter-American System (London: Oxford University Press, 1966), pp. 190–8. For a critical perspective on the role of the US in the construction of the Inter-American system, see Humberto Vázquez García, De Chapultepec a la OEA, apogeo y crisis del panamericanismo (La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2001); Luis Suarez Salazar and Tania García Lorenzo, Las Relaciones Interamericanas: continuidad y cambio (Buenos Aires: CLACSO, 2008), Capítulo 6, p. 89.

30. United States Objectives and Courses of Action With Respect to Latin America, Statement of Policy by the National Security Council, Washington, March 18, 1953. Top Secret NSC 144/1 S/S-NSC files, lot 63 D 351, NSC 144 series.

31. Max Paul Friedman, Rethinking Anti-Americanism: The History of an Exceptional Concept in American Foreign Relations (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 123.

32. Morris Morley, ‘The U.S. Imperial State in Cuba 1952–1958: Policy Making and Capitalist Interests’, Journal of Latin American Studies 14 (1) May 1982: 143–70.

33. Theotonio Dos Santos, ‘The Structure of Dependence’, American Economic Review 60 (2), Papers and proceedings of the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, May 1970, pp. 231–6.

34. The movement that emerged from the Moncada Barracks's attack took the name of 26th of July and was made up of the most radical elements of the orthodox youth without any commitment to the political past who saw armed struggle as the only option. The creation of a ‘movement’ instead of a ‘party’ reveals the disillusion and disgust with tradition politics in Cuba. The formation of the Rebel Army later on became its most important contribution to the revolutionary process. The international position of the movement was declared in its 1955 manifesto. With regard to the specific matter of the relations between Cuba and the United States, the 26th of July Movement formulates a doctrine of constructive friendship. By this we mean mutual respect, particularly in the economic and cultural areas. Fortunately, such a situation can be overcome without damage to any legitimate interest. Through constructive friendship, Cuba can truly become, as is indicated by a multitude of geographical, economic, and even political factors, a loyal ally of the great country to the north, yet at the same time preserve its ability to control its own destiny. Through new and just agreements, without unnecessary sacrifices or humiliating sellouts, it can multiply the advantages that are derived from our neighborhood. (Manifiesto del Movimiento 26 de Julio, 8 de Agosto de 1955, Dirección Política de las FAR. De Tuxpan a la Plata. Editorial Orbe, La Habana, 1979, pp. 129–34)

35. John F. Kennedy, ‘Preliminary Formulations of the Alliance for Progress’, 13 March 1961, Department of State Bulletin XLIV, no. 1136 (3 April 1961): 471–4.

36. John F. Kennedy, ‘Address on the First Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress’, 13 March 1962, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9100. (Accessed 16 April 2015.)

37. I.F. Stone, ‘What if Khrushchev Hadn't Backed Down?’, in I.F. Stone (ed.) In a Time of Torment (New York: Vintage, 1967).

38. Operation Mongoose started to be organised in late 1961, just 6 months after the events at Bay of Pigs; it was a comprehensive plan to create the conditions for a second invasion of Cuba and the ultimate removal of the Cuban. Rubén G. Jiménez Gómez, Octubre de 1962: la mayor crisis de la era nuclear (La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2003); Tomás Diez Acosta, Octubre de 1962: a un paso del holocausto: una mirada cubana a la Crisis de los Misiles (La Habana: Editora Política, 2008).

39. National Security Archives, www.gwu.edu/∼nsarchiv/. (Accessed 16 April 2015.)

40. These variables are discussed in depth in Julia E. Sweig, Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 77–8.

41. Memorandum from the Secretary of State to the President, Washington, November 5, 1959, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Volume VI, Cuba, Document 387, Department of State, Central Files, 611.37/11–559. Secret, No drafting or clearance information is given on the source text, also published in Declassified Documents, 1981 , 356C.

42. Morris Morley and Chris McGillion, Unfinished Business: America and Cuba after the Cold War, 1989–2001 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 17.