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March 17. President Eisenhower approves a covert action plan against Cuba that includes the use of a "powerful propaganda campaign" designed to overthrow Castro. The plan includes the termination of sugar purchases, the end of oil deliveries, continuation of the arms embargo in effect since mid-1958, and the organization of a paramilitary force of Cuban exiles to invade the island.
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U.S. imposes a partial economic embargo on Cuba that excludes food and medicine.
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The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 passes in the U.S. Congress. It prohibits aid to Cuba and authorizes the President to create a "total embargo upon all trade" with Cuba.
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The Kennedy administration prohibits travel to Cuba and makes financial and commercial transactions with Cuba illegal for U.S. citizens.
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U.S. President Carter drops the ban on travel to Cuba and on U.S. citizens spending dollars in Cuba.
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The Carter Administration relaxes laws to allow U.S. residents to send money to relatives in Cuba.
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Cuban-Americans are permitted to visit their families in Cuba. More than 100,000 visit in the coming year.
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U.S. President Reagan bans travel to the U.S. by Cuban government or Communist Party officials or their representatives. It also bars most students, scholars, and artists.
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U.S. Congress passes the Cuban Democracy Act, which prohibits foreign-based subsidiaries of U.S. companies from trading with Cuba, travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens, and family remittances to Cuba.
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The United Nations General Assembly votes heavily in favor of a measure introduced by Cuba asking for an end to the U.S. Embargo. The vote is 59 in favor, 3 against (the U.S., Israel and Romania), and 79 abstentions.
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After returning home from a visit to Cuba, ex world boxing champ Muhammad Ali calls for an end to the trade embargo against Cuba.
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The Clinton administration announces changes to the embargo, which include sales of some food and agricultural products to private individuals and non-governmental organizations, an increase in the number of charter flights to Cuba, Aalows anyone (not just Cuban-Americans) to send up to $1,200 per year, and increases the amount of money a U.S. visitor can spend on the island from $100 per day to $185 per day.
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US President G.W. Bush approves $80 million to be used for "boosting democracy in Cuba."
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For the 15th straight year in a row, the UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly on a resolution to demand an end of the US embargo against Cuba. 183 coutries want to end the embargo and 4 still want it.
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U.S. Senate Micheal B. Enzi said "If you keep on doing what you have always been doing," he says, "you are going to wind up getting what you already got. …We are not hurting the Cuban government; we are hurting the Cuban people. …It is time for a different policy."
