Cuba–United States relations

Modern diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States are cold, stemming from historic conflict and divergent political ideologies. The two nations restored diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015, after relations had been severed in 1961 during the Cold War. The U.S. has maintained a comprehensive trade embargo against Cuba since 1958. The embargo includes restrictions on all commercial, economic, and financial activity, making it illegal for U.S. corporations to do business with Cuba.

Early 19th century relations centered mainly on extensive trade, before manifest destiny increasingly led to an American desire to buy, conquer, or control Cuba. The U.S. attempted to purchase Cuba in 1848 and in 1854 from Spain. It successfully took over Cuba in 1898 as a U.S. territory within the Treaty of Paris. The U.S. position of economic and political dominance over the island persisted after Cuba became formally independent in 1902. Relations became closer still as the U.S. provided weapons, money, and its authority to the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista that ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1958. They deteriorated during the Cuban Revolution of 1959. The U.S. recruited operatives in Cuba to carry out a violent campaign of terrorism and sabotage on the island, killing civilians and causing economic damage.

The U.S. government terrorism campaign against Cuba was accelerated from early 1960. Later that year Cuba nationalized all U.S-owned on-shore oil refineries, seizing approximately $1.7 billion in U.S. oil assets. In 1961, the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with Cuba and attempted to invade the country; following its failure the U.S. engaged in a violent campaign of terrorist attacks to overthrow the Cuban government, killing a significant number of civilians. A year later, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuba permitted the Soviet Union to deploy nuclear missiles on the island, which led the U.S. government to blockade the island.

Relations briefly normalized from 2015 to 2017, under U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro, in an effort known as the Cuban thaw. Relations have since materially deteriorated due to stark differences on immigration, counterterrorism, civil and political rights, human rights on the island, electoral interference, disinformation campaigns, humanitarian aid, trade policy, financial claims, fugitive extradition and Cuban foreign policy. The U.S. designated Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism three times: from 1982 to 2015, 2021 to 2025, and since 2025. U.S. representation in Cuba is handled by the United States Embassy in Havana, and there is a similar Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C.