U.S. and Cuba: Cold War enemies for half a century

The U.S. and Cuba are only about 150 kilometres apart, but few countries have had as distant a relationship over the last 50 years.

The announcement that the long-time foes would begin talks to normalize their relations is a major shift for two countries whose interaction has been defined since the1960s by an economic embargo and political isolation.

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The diplomaticstandoff between them began shortly after the Cuban Revolution, which triumphed on the first day of 1959.

The U.S. recognizedthe new government at the time, but relations began to sour as Americans criticized summary trials and executions of people loyal to ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista, who had been backed by the U.S.

Fidel Castros socialist governmentsoonnationalizedU.S.-owned businesses without compensation and raisedimport taxes. Within the year, Cuba and the Soviet Union began developing close ties.

U.S. presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy each enacted their own economic punishments. Eisenhower signed off on a plan to place embargoes on guns, oil and sugar, whicheventually led to a complete economic embargo, including travel restrictions, under Kennedy.

By January of 1961, the U.S. had closed its embassy in Havana and ended its recognition of the Cuban government.

Bay of Pigs invasion

In April of the same year, the U.S. launched the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion, a failed attempt to overthrow the Castrogovernment. A force of 1,400 Cuban exiles, trainedin Central America by the CIA, tried to land in southern Cubaand suffered a humiliating defeat within only three days.

But eventhe failed invasion, which only intensified the Cold War struggle, was not the low point oftheU.S.-Cubarelationship.

In 1962, U.S. spy plane photographs showedevidence of Russian missile sites in Cuba, leading to a two-week standoff known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.For 13 days in October, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war.

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The crisis ended with an agreement that the U.S. would notinvade Cuba while Russia agreed to remove its missiles from the country. In a secret concessionnot revealed until 1989, the U.S. also agreed to remove American missiles from Turkey.

Frozen in time

Since the missile crisis, the relationship between the two countries had been essentially frozen, even as the Soviet Union collapsedin 1991 and theCold War came to an end.

U.S. President Jimmy Carter triedto normalize relations shortly after taking office in 1977, by re-establishing diplomatic missions and negotiating the release of thousands of prisoners.

But conflicts over Cuba's military mission in Africa, tension caused by a flood of Cuban refugees in 1980 and and the election of Ronald Reagan ended the rapprochement.

The U.S. enacted laws tightening itsembargo several times, including the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which punished foreign companies, including Canadian ones, that did business with Cuba.

The U.S.-Cuba relationship softened slightly at the end of the Clinton administration for example, withrestrictions eased on sales of medicines to humanitarian organizations. But President George W. Bush kept a course of isolation through his two terms.

In 2008, the two leaders who made the landmarknormalizationannouncement Wednesday came to power:U.S. President Barack Obamaand Cuban leader Raul Castro, who formally took over from his long-ailing brother, Fidel.

Even before the announcement, both men had shown signs the relationship might change.

During his first term,Obama eased restrictions on travel to Cuba and on how much money Cuban-Americans could send to relatives there.

Castro, meanwhile, made movestoward the free market, allowing real-estate sales and more access to consumer goods. He also made travelling outside the country easier.

The two shook hands publicly at Nelson Mandelas memorial in 2013 at the time, an almost unprecedented moment between two deeply opposed neighbours.