In the more than 125 years since the United States helped liberate Cuba from Spanish rule, the relationship between the two countries has shifted from close economic and military ties to ideological hostility, economic sanctions, and isolation.
As Cuba faces one of its most severe crises in decades, questions about the island’s future and the possibility of a U.S.-backed regime change have once again come to the spotlight.
Here is a timeline of key moments that have shaped U.S.–Cuba relations since 1898.
Cuban Independence, 1902
In 1898, the United States intervened in Cuba’s war for independence against Spain, helping bring an end to more than four centuries of Spanish colonial rule on the island….