ABSTRACT
Cuba achieved its independence from Spain in 1898 in a war that Americans call the Spanish-American War but that Cubans refer to as their War of Independence. The amendment granted the United States (US) the right to oversee Cuban international commitments and government finances, establish a naval base at Guantanamo Bay, and intervene to preserve Cuban independence or maintain political stability and "adequate" government. The US response to the apparent weakening of the Batista government reflected policymakers' shared conceptions of the constellation of events surrounding the Cuban case. Despite misgivings about the new regime, the State Department informed the president that US interests in Cuba would best be protected by establishing productive relations with new government. President Dwight Eisenhower's top advisers exhibited only limited concern that the rebel victory might have significant negative consequences for US-Cuban relations. Anxious about the quality of US relations with the rebel government, the officials concluded that the new regime posed no imminent strategic threat.
