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Back Channel to Cuba summary

Name: Back Channel to Cuba
Rating: 4.6 (22 reviews)
Author: William M. LeoGrande & Peter Kornbluh

William M. LeoGrande & Peter Kornbluh

The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana

4.6 (22 ratings)

32 mins

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Back Channel to Cuba
summarized in 14 key ideas

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What’s in it for me? Get insight into a complicated geopolitical relationship.

Most people have had an unsavory neighbor. But the enmity between the United States and Cuba, just 90 miles off the Florida coast, takes neighborly ill will to a whole other level. Over the last 50 years, their relationship has been cool at best and boiling toward war at worst. All the while, however, through all this turmoil, negotiations between the two countries have continued.

They’ve taken different forms during different US administrations. Sometimes negotiations took the form of direct discussions between the US president and Cuba’s president, Fidel Castro; more often than not, though, they’ve occurred through different back channels. So, let’s go back in history to see how it all started and what has happened since.

In these blinks, you’ll find out

how President John F. Kennedy used an ace negotiator to sustain relations with Cuba;
what the Freedom Flotilla is and how it affected the Carter administration; and
how one electorally important state influenced the Cuba policy during Clinton’s presidency.

Modern US-Cuban relations began with a revolution in 1959.

To understand the troubled relationship between Cuba and the United States, we have to go back about 50 years.

On January 1, 1959, a revolution, led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevera, sent the previous ruler, Fulgencio Batista, into exile. This event immediately put the United States on edge.

The US government had helped Batista take power in 1933, and even though the United States knew that he’d become a violent and corrupt ruler, he’d remained supportive of US financial interests in Cuba.

So, while Cubans cheered and welcomed Castro’s new government, the United States wasn’t sure what to make of this brash and unpredictable leader who had just overthrown their ally.

But, by all accounts, both Castro and the United States wanted to start off on good terms. In April of 1959, Castro embarked on a “goodwill tour” of the United States, where he greeted the press and met with US government officials.

The United States was ready to offer Cuba financial assistance, but, during his trip, Castro refused to ask anyone for money. He was intent on creating an independent Cuba, a nation that would govern itself and not be controlled by US interests.

Things began going sour when US President Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly snubbed Castro by going on a golfing trip during his visit. Castro was insulted that Eisenhower didn’t consider the new Cuban leader worthy of his time.

Relations became more strained upon Castro’s return to Cuba.

On May 17th, 1959, Castro began a socialist platform and nationalized all Cuban estates over 1,000 acres, upsetting US investors who owned many of Cuba’s large plantations. Soon afterward, Castro decided to consolidate the top levels of his government by kicking out the politically moderate members in favor of radical and communist-minded leaders.

By November of 1959, the United States had seen enough, and the CIA began initiating secret programs, looking for ways to overthrow Castro’s government.

By the end of the Eisenhower administration, formal diplomatic talks were no longer an option.

As Fidel Castro put together his new government, tensions between Cuba and the United States were already high, and things only got worse.

In February of 1960, Cuba and the Soviet Union agreed to a $100 million trade agreement, forming a relationship that would cause friction between Cuba and the United States for decades to come.

Despite escalating secret operations to take down Castro, John F. Kennedy maintained peaceful negotiations.

As John F. Kennedy stepped into the White House, Cuba was proving that it could be both politically independent and economically prosperous.

But the height of the Cold War was close at hand, and the United States was still intent on trying to overthrow Fidel Castro. Cuba’s troubling relationship with the Soviet Union was only made worse by the fact that, prior to the revolution, there had been more US investments in Cuba than anywhere else in Latin America.

Hopes for normalization were stalled by the Cuban Missile Crisis, but prisoner negotiations kept the door open.

After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the United States was faced with the issue of trying to peacefully negotiate the release of 1,200 prisoners.

For this, they turned to ace negotiator James B. Donovan who had just successfully handled the release of a US soldier from East Germany.

James Donovan and an ambitious news reporter kept the possibility of negotiations alive.

After the release of the Bay of Pigs prisoners, both Donovan and Castro were intent on keeping the conversation going. Through their talks, they were building a mutual friendship, and both felt that progress could continue to be made.

As 1963 began, Donovan and Castro continued to work together to release several dozen US citizens who’d been arrested during Castro’s revolution. In January, these prisoners were exchanged for four Cubans who’d been imprisoned in the United States.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the subsequent Johnson administration, impaired ongoing negotiations.

While Howard was making progress with her back channel, President Kennedy asked French journalist Jean Daniel to pass along a message of hope to Castro that relations could improve.

But just as Daniel was talking to Castro on November 22, 1963, Castro received a phone call informing him that Kennedy had just been assassinated.

Richard Nixon refused to negotiate with Cuba; Henry Kissinger had different ideas.

If Castro was displeased with the hard-line tactics of Lyndon Johnson, he was infuriated by the policies of Richard Nixon.

When Nixon took office in 1969, he disliked Castro extremely, informing his cabinet that, as long as he was president, there would be absolutely no change in policy regarding Cuba.

Henry Kissinger tried to keep back-channel talks going during the difficult times in Gerald Ford’s presidency.

After the Watergate scandal, and Nixon’s resignation, Vice President Gerald Ford took office. Kissinger remained secretary of state, and continued to approve secret meetings with Cuban officials throughout the mid-seventies.

Kissinger even approved US travel visas to Cuban representatives, allowing for the first face-to-face talks in many years.

President Jimmy Carter tried starting talks with Cuba, but another crisis ended Carter’s term on a bad note.

In 1977, when Jimmy Carter took office, the issues of Cuban exiles and Angola still loomed over negotiations. But the new president had a different agenda.

Carter believed the best way to bring about change in a communist regime was to open it up to trade and commerce. He also put an end to spy plane fly-overs and added an “Interest Section” in Havana, which was much like embassy but without official diplomatic status.

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush negotiated with Cuba only when forced to.

Ronald Reagan trounced Carter in the election of 1980. Reagan had a very aggressive policy when it came to Cuba; he was willing to tighten embargos and sanctions, and, if given the chance, even to order a military invasion.

Castro knew this and, hoping to maintain non-threatening relations with the new administration, he stopped sending support to guerrilla armies in Nicaragua and El Salvador.

For Bill Clinton, politics dictated dealings with Cuba.

By the 1990s, Florida was an important swing state for winning US elections, and it had a very large Cuban-American and anti-Castro population. Bill Clinton was well aware of this, so when he campaigned for the presidency, he ran on an aggressive policy toward Cuba.

Soon after he stepped into office in 1993, Clinton signed the Cuban Democracy Act into law. This act was designed by Florida’s anti-Castro lobbyists to tighten the embargo and support opportunities for internal revolt against the Castro government.

After a deadly incident, Clinton ended his presidency with improved relations between the United States and Cuba.

Castro held up his end of the bargain with Clinton, and by election time in September 1994, there were no migrants for the Coast Guard to pick up.

But just as Clinton began his second term, anti-Castro demonstrators started making things increasingly difficult.

George W. Bush kept the pressure on Cuba while Obama promoted a different plan.

Much like his father, George W. Bush had no intentions of trying to negotiate or improve relations with Cuba.

Instead, during his time in office, he passed two initiatives that continued to put pressure on Castro’s government.

While Obama’s first term fell short on improved relations, his second term began with positive signs.

Many, including the Cuban government, were hopeful about Obama’s announcements for a change of policy toward Cuba, but things didn’t exactly get off to a good start.

In the Obama administration's desire to improve telecommunications in Cuba was the seed of a covert cyber war.

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What is Back Channel to Cuba about?

With unprecedented access to declassified documents, Back Channel to Cuba (2014) reveals the long and bumpy road of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. Find out how 50 years of unsuccessful foreign policy have kept Cuba and the United States at odds despite the efforts of secret, back-channel negotiations that have been taking place since the Eisenhower administration.

Best quote from Back Channel to Cuba

Castro was firmly in power… so popular that everyone called him Fidel, even his enemies.

—William M. LeoGrande & Peter Kornbluh

Who should read Back Channel to Cuba?

History buffs interested in one of the longest US conflicts
Politicos wanting a behind-the-scenes look at foreign policy
Aspiring diplomats in search of the dos and don’ts of diplomacy

About the Author

William M. LeoGrande is an author and professor at the School of Public Affairs at American University. His other books include Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992.

Peter Kornbluh is the director of the National Security Archive’s Cuba Documentation Project. His other books include The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability.

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