Cuba and the armed conflicts (1956-1989): Local actor or caught between bipolar and patterns of politics

Résumé

Since the 16th century, when the geographically small island served
as a military base for the devastation of the Aztec empire by the Spanish
conquerors, Cuba has always played a strategic role for the empires
of the world. Although Cuba’s economic performance depended in
general on its integration in the economic structures of the prevailing
empires, during the last centuries the cosmopolitan elites of Havana
always had some influence on the imperial officials in Madrid, Washington
or Moscow.