1. By: Darren Delaney

2. The U.S originally accepted Cuba that seemed to be democratic. They had a military pact and everything until 1952 when Castro broke that pact, confiscated U.S. assets, and established Soviet-Style collective farms. CASTRO TURNS AGAINST THE U.S.

3. The U.S. was very upset with Cuba and broke off all relations in January of 1961. This caused Castro to form an alliance with the Soviet Union but the people didn’t like that and thousands fled the country. PACT WITH THE SOVIET UNION

4. In 1961 the U.S planned to invade Cuba with U.S-backed Cuban exiles. The invasion was ok’d by President Kennedy but he refused to supply air support. BAY OF PIGS

5. The invasion took place on April 17, 1961. However, it didn’t go as smooth as planned. This invasion was very chaotic. No Cubans supported them and they were repulsed by the military. CUBAN REACTION TO INVASION

6. The original plan was the Soviet would set up missiles in Cuba that would be able to reach targets in the U.S. This sparked a big crisis in 1962. However, Kennedy promised to not attack Cuba if the Soviets took down the missiles and they agreed. SOVIET-MISSILE CRISIS IDEA

7. There was a lot of back and forth between these two countries. In 1977 most things were very lenient as far as traveling back and forth and staying over there. However in 2004 the Bush administration tightened the embargo by limiting when people can leave and how much Americans can spend. Cuba responded by banning U.S. dollars. EMBARGO WITH CUBA

8. Castro originally said he would not be well enough to campaign in the 2008 election due to cancer. However it was then broadcasted that he was feeling fine. Come election time, him and his brother were reelected to the National Assembly with 614 unopposed candidates. CASTRO’S POOR HEALTH

9. In February of ’08, 81 year old Castro announced he was retiring after 49 years of power. He just wasn’t able to accept another term as president. This allowed his brother, Raul, to take power and become the next president. CASTRO RETIRES

10. In February of 2008, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque got the citizens some freedoms. They got some political and civil freedoms. They got the right to work, fair wages, social security, education, and high standards of physical and mental health. GAINING A LITTLE FREEDOM

11. In July of 2008, the government took away some of the land restrictions so they could boost the country's poor food production and reduce dependence on food imports. They also released 52 prisoners that were supposedly acting on behalf of the United States. OPENING UP

12. Cuba made a huge change to the leadership in April of 2011. For the first time in over 50 years they elected someone that wasn’t a Castro brother. Jose Ramon Machado filled the second-highest position in the Communist party. LEADER NOT NAMED CASTRO?

13. Raul Castro really started opening up after this. In October of 2011 he began allowing cars to be sold and purchased and allowed real estate to be sold and purchased in November. In October he also allowed people to go into businesses for themselves. NEW LAWS

14. For the first time in 14 years, the pope finally visited Cuba again. Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba in March of 2012 after years of tension between the church and Cuban government. He was there to push Cuba towards freedom. POPE VISITS CUBA

15. There were about 200,000 people that attended this mass. These people came from all over to see him. Some coming from as far as Miami. However, many people admitted to only attending because they were pressured by employers on members of the Communist Party. REASONS FOR SEEING THE POPE

16. Raul Castro announced in October of 2012 that people would soon be able to leave the country without an exit visa. He promised it would be early 2013 when they are able to leave freely. EXIT VISA REQUIREMENT IS DROPPED

17. This new policy was put in place on January 13, 2013. The policy allowed Cubans to leave the country for vacation or for good freely. Their only requirement is they must have a valid passport and a visa for their destination. The only thing that could stop them is “defense and national security” reasons. POLICY TAKES EFFECT

18. Alan Gross is a U.S aid contractor that was freed in December of 2014 after being locked up for 5 years. He was locked up after an effort to communicate outside of the Cuban government’s control. ALAN GROSS IS FREE

19. After Alan Gross was released from prison, Obama announced that U.S. would resume full diplomatic relations with Cuba. This was the first time since 1961. This also included opening an embassy in Havana. RESUMING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

20. The relationship between these two countries are definitely changing greatly. They went from having no interaction to now having a pretty lenient relationship. It’s changing and the U.S has lifted restrictions against visiting Cuba or communicating with them. This is definitely a good thing because it’s one less thing to worry about. Having a bad relationship with a country will do no good for the U.S. All it would do is cause problems. With this case of them having a good relationship, they don’t have to worry about immigrants or anybody spying. The U.S had arrested a few people because they were spying but they no longer have to worry about that. They can also freely exchange products between countries. The only problem was that not everyone was a fan of this idea. A lot of the older Cuban-Americans still believe that they have a brutal dictatorship. However, many Cuban-Americans in Miami strongly support the policy. Those are a few reasons why I believe that it’s a great thing they mended the relationship and have resumed diplomatic relations. RELATIONSHIP CHANGE BETWEEN CUBA AND THE U.S