Cuba–Mexico relations

After the Spanish–American War, the United States gained control of Cuba and slowly gave the country its independence in a limited form.[5] Under the Platt Amendment, the country was given independence with a few conditions.

After Cuban independence, Mexico became an important country that Cubans would flee to when escaping political persecution, including notable Cubans like Fidel Castro who fled to Mexico from the Batista regime.[6] Mexico would later become the site from which Castro, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and others started their trek back to Cuba to overthrow the Batista regime.[6] With Mexico as a location for Cubans to go to when they had problems with their native country, this created a Cuban population within Mexico, which made Mexico more involved in how it treated Cuba in the future.

Since Mexico became a refuge for Cubans exiled from Cuba, it also became a starting point for Cubans to revolt back home. After meeting in Mexico, Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara began to plan a guerilla war against the Batista regime in Cuba to take back Cuba for the people.[7] This movement became known as the "26th of July Movement," which began when Castro and Che entered Cuba in 1956 to overthrow dictator Batista, who ultimately fled the country in 1959.[6]^:2 Mexico was a prime launching point for their boat since it was much easier to successfully get to Cuba from Mexico than if they had started from another country. Mexico gave Castro the advantage to plan out and launch the movement without the backlash that other countries, who supported the Batista regime, may have given him. On a final note, the Cuban government was backed by the American government at the time, so any movement against Cuba was also against the US, starting the bad relations between the US and Cuba as soon as Castro was victorious, which also showed Mexico that they needed to understand the need to be cautious with their Cuban relations from now on.[8]

The Organization of American States (OAS) was an organization formed after World War II in 1948 to help "settle inter-American (hemisphere) disputes."[9] Following the Cuban Missile Crisis Cuba was expelled from the OAS.[10]

Mexico was the one of only two countries in the Americas to maintain diplomatic ties with Cuba throughout the Cuban missile crisis. This demonstrated Mexico's dedication to keeping ties with Cuba, even when they had to consider how the United States could react. "We have a problem when a foreign government calls our brothers the enemy of the hemisphere. We are not Haiti, Grenada, Bahamas or Jamaica; we are not a colony that will adhere to decisions under American pressure". Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos statement during the Cuban missile crisis that pit the United States on a brink of nuclear war in Cuba.

The Mexican government had to be cautious with how it conducted its foreign policy. Even though it was obvious that Mexico supported Cuba they also opposed Cuba's actions, to help maintain good relations with the US.[11] Mexico realized that supporting their biggest partner the United States publicly was important to their country however they were also interested in other foreign policies and relations. Mexico coined the term " Political Neutrality " this policy that Mexico followed during the Cold War is still being followed today with Mexico choosing to remain neutral in international disputes.

After the Cuban Revolution, there was an increase in "leftist revolutionary propaganda" in Mexico.[12] Some believed that the Cuban Revolution could be seen as a reflection of the Mexican Revolution decades earlier and they became intrigued by the situation in Cuba.[12] Although it would have been difficult for Mexico to outright support the revolution, because of the United States' reaction, many Mexican citizens showed their support through art, music, and other propaganda.[12] After the Cuban Revolution, some Mexicans felt more connected with the socialist country, seeing their struggles for freedom similar to what the Mexican people had endured earlier in the 20th century.

One of these groups in Mexico dedicated to portraying leftist propaganda was the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP).[13] The TGP was a collective of artists who expressed Mexican culture, especially dealing with social issues in Mexico from the Revolution and later on in the century, through various art forms, like murals and prints.[14] This group was seen as having some more radical opinions, especially with their aligning with the leftist views in Mexico.[13] They would portray how they viewed ideas like the Mexican Revolution and the current issues in Mexico, which was important to the Mexican people. The Mexican government had been trying to limit the amount of leftist public opinions in the country, so this artistic group was not something that the Mexican government would have favored. The TGP had to be careful so that the artists did not do something too extreme that would cause the government to get involved. Overall though, the TGP helped spread their views and displayed to Mexico, and countries abroad, that there were leftist political opinions in Mexico and that the Mexican people thought about their revolutionary ideals still, decades after the Mexican Revolution.

There was also a Mexican Communist Party that was allowed to operate during the Cold War. More likely to support causes in Cuba and the USSR, the Mexican government had to be careful with how they treated the party. Disbanding them could cause a backlash among Mexican citizens, but allowing it to grow could anger the United States. The Communist Party, therefore, was allowed "to operate, but (the Mexican government) harassed, surveilled, jailed, and disappeared its leaders."[11] Groups like the Communist Party in Mexico demonstrated open support for countries like Cuba within Mexican borders but the government's treatment of the party was chosen especially to show loyalty to the United States.[11]

In 1998, Cuban leader Fidel Castro made a comment that Mexican children recognize Mickey Mouse but do not know important individuals in Mexico's own history.[10] Mexico and Cuba had relatively good relations up until that point, but this comment offended the Mexican government enough that they withdrew their ambassador from Havana.[10] This event caused problems with the relations between Cuba and Mexico and would be the first in a line of events in recent years that would cause strains in their relationship.

Flag with the logo of the United Nations

Another diplomatic issue occurred in 2002 when Vicente Fox, Mexico's pro-American president, allegedly "forced (Fidel Castro) to leave a United Nations summit in Mexico so that he would not cross paths with (US) President Bush."[15] Fox also asked Castro not to say anything that could be seen as "criticiz[ing] the United States."[16] To prove that it was forced, Castro produced a recording of his and Fox's conversation.[17] This strain would continue between Cuba and Mexico since Fidel Castro believed Mexico was "too closely aligned with Washington," especially since the US still did not have diplomatic relations with Cuba.[17]

In 2002, Mexican President Fox, "instructed the Mexican delegation to vote in favor of the UN resolution to criticize Cuba's human right's situation."[18] This was a major shift from prior relations, where Mexico always supported Cuba or chose to abstain from voting. Also, Fox replaced the Cuban ambassador, which led to some distrust from Havana towards President Fox.[18]

In 2004, Mexico's vote on a similar resolution became the deciding vote in a 22–21 vote against Cuba and its human rights issues.[18] Castro criticized Mexico since the country also had human rights violations, calling Mexico and other Latin American countries, "'a herd of hypocrites.'"[18] Also in 2004, President Fox, "recalled the Mexican ambassador to Cuba" for a brief period of time, further straining relations.[19]

Mexican President Felipe Calderon visited Havana in 2012 to help improve relations with Cuba.[20] Calderon's visit with current Cuban leader Raul Castro, brother of Fidel Castro, helped improve relations since the recent issues in the Mexican–Cuban relationship.[20] For more details on this visit, watch this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yphv8zsV6L4 [21]

Mexican Foreign Minister José Antonio Meade visited Cuba in September 2013 to further the improvements in Mexican–Cuban relations.[19] Many topics, including "trade and investment, as well as matters such as "'tourism, migration, cooperation, education, culture, health [and] energy'" were discussed between officials from both countries.[19] Visits like this one and the President Calderon 2012 visit have been improving the problematic relations of the past few years.

In December 2018, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel paid a visit to Mexico to attend the inauguration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.[22] President Díaz-Canel returned to Mexico in July 2019 to hold bilateral discussions with President López Obrador.[23]