Mistrust Erodes Relations Between U.S. and Cuba

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/mistrust-erodes-relations-between-us-and-cuba.html

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The history of U.S.-Cuba relations since 1959 has been characterized by the animosity between Washington and Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuba’s Communist revolution. Mr. Castro, a long-time antagonist to 10 American presidents, first appeared in The New York Times on July 27, 1953, in a front-page story from Havana.

The Times correspondent in Havana, R. Hart Phillips, reported on rebel attacks on military posts in Bayamo and Santiago de Cuba, where an annual festival was being held.

“The group mingled with the carnival crowds and then, armed with machine guns, rifles and hand grenades, attacked the Moncada barracks early this morning,” Mr. Phillips wrote.

The Santiago rebellion marked the start of Mr. Castro’s successful campaign to overthrow the Batista government in 1959.

Here are six articles from The Times archive that illustrate Mr. Castro’s rise and the deterioration of relations between Cuba and the United States that led to the decades-long American embargo, including the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.