USA-Cuba back on half a century of mistrust

December 15, 2013, Barack Obama greets Raul Castro in Soweto, South Africa, during the ceremony of homage to Nelson Mandela. The handshake is historical, it heralds a new era after half a century of fighting more or less latent.

Castro's revolution

In 1959, the revolutionaries - led by Fidel Castro - hunt Fulgencio Batista and seized power in Cuba.

The island rocks in communism. Distrust settles with US and increases when Castro initiates the expropriation of American companies.

The fiasco of the Bay of Pigs

Two years later, Washington decided to overthrow Castro.

Then came, in 1961, the disastrous episode of the Bay of Pigs.

This April 17, 1500 Cuban exiles landed on the island. The operation was decided by Eisenhower, Kennedy and validated by orchestrated by the CIA, who is convinced to get on-site support for the Cuban opposition.

But Castro got wind of the operation, the landing is a fiasco. Appraisal: 118 dead, 1200 prisoners.

The missile crisis

Therefore, the mutual animosity becomes official. Cuba and the United States are enemies.

In February 1962, Kennedy imposed an embargo, still in force today.

In October of the same year, the missile crisis erupts. It will lead the two countries to the brink of nuclear war.

The United States discovered the existence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. The USSR agreed to withdraw them only if Washington promises not to attack Cuba, all under very high voltage.

During the Cold War, Havana is closer than ever to the Soviet Union.

With the collapse of the USSR, Cuba lost its main support in the 1990s.

The island must rebuild commercially and diplomatically, but the economic crisis is deep, living standards fall.

Candidates for the exile of more and more

At the turn of the century, the "rafters" are more likely to attempt to cross the Straits of Florida to the US coast.

The case of Elian Gonzalez - taken by his mother on the perilous waters of the American adventure and eventually returned to Cuba to join his father - became the emblem of diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Fifteen years later, on December 17, Havana and Washington announced the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, after months of secret negotiations.

Cubans now expect, if not the lifting of the embargo, at least its easing to see flower again the economy of the island.