ABSTRACT
Considering the world during the Cold War, we tend to divide it by the East–West dichotomy without considering a third alignment. But this narrow view fails to account for some important realities. Despite the difference of ideologies during the Cold War, some spiritual ties through Galicia might have kept Cuba and Spain close.
Another reason the diplomatic relationship could be maintained was the existence of pragmatic commercial policy. Insisting on the spiritual bilateral tie, they kept the trade relationship because both were in a peripheral position or removed from the international economic system, with the U.S. at its center. Under the U.S. blockade, both increased the amount of trade to the other. Spain was moved by the notion of Hispanidad, infused with Catholicism, and a sense of honor in resisting the U.S. Cuba was moved rather by economic necessity. It took advantage of the Spanish approach, through the sugar agreements for example, while Spain was more naïve.
The winners write history and tell a story of old survivors. However, actually, in Spain, the revision that Francoist history has been undergoing is drastic. The ultimate evaluation of the Cuba–Spanish relationship and their “achievements” depends on us and on later generations.
