3 January 1961 United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba. DDE adminstration.
17-19 April 1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion. The IKE/Nixon plan and JFK operation to overthrow Fidel Castro.
30 November 1961 – Presidential memorandum
“we will use our available assets
to…help Cuba overthrow the Castro regime.”
20 February 1962 Operation Mongoose plan to overthrow Fidel Castro submitted.
16-28 October 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis.
1962 through ??? Cuban Project
14 August 2015 US embassy in Cuba formally reopens
So, what was it all about? How many tens of millions of dollars were squandered for NOTHING other than to make Cuba a long-term enemy of the US. (Also to bring this country and Cuba to the brink of a nuclear exchange.)
(Note: the US embassy in Havana wasn’t physically abandoned, but Americans don’t pay much attention to such details. The symbolism was all they required to hate-hate-hate Cuba and Fidel Castro. Also, the US Ambassador’s residence was neither abandoned nor appropriated by the Cuban government. it was just called something else and kept even more secret from Americans than the US Interests Section in Havana. Disclosure: in the early 1990s I was privy to some information about the “Ambassador’s” residence. Only enough to become aware of its existence and was told to keep the information confidential.)
If Americans weren’t so nuts and didn’t cling so tightly to anti-whatever propaganda for generations, Jimmy Carter might have been able to re-open the Embassy thirty odd years ago.