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Cuba adopts new constitution
--`1976 Cuba adopts a new constitution that establishes the Communist Party as the leading authority in the government and society. -
Mariel Boat lift
1980 More than 125,000 Cubans move legally to the U.S. This event becomes known as the Mariel boat lift because the refugees leave from the Cuban port of Mariel. -
Cuba's economy
The Soviet Union and its Communist government are dissolved. Cuba loses its most important source of aid, and its economy suffers greatly. -
Cuba institutes economic reforms that allow some workers to start private businesses.
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Illegal Departures
After another large wave of immigration, Cuba and the U.S. reach an immigration agreement. The U.S. will admit at least 20,000 Cuban immigrants annually. In return, Cuba pledges to do more to prevent illegal departures. -
Pope visits Cuba
Pope John Paul II visits Cuba, an historic event because Castro's government outlawed religious freedom in the 1960s. -
Child is returned to Cuba
Elian Gonzalez, a six-year-old illegal immigrant, is rescued off the coast of Florida. The event sparks controversy about how the U.S. should handle Cuban exiles; Elian is returned to his father in Cuba in 2000. -
Venezuela Accord
Venezuela’s government said it resolved a dispute with Gold Reserve Inc., paving the way for $2 billion of investment by the Spokane, Washington-based company in a mining joint venture. -
Cuban 5 found guilty
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Presidential Handover to Raul Castro
The transfer of duties, which was announced on July 31, 2006, was in line with Article 94 of the Cuban Constitution, which states "In cases of the absence, illness or death of the president of the Council of State, the first vice president assumes the president's duties". -
Alan Gross Arrested
In December 2009 he was arrested in Cuba while working on a program funded under the 1996 Helms-Burton Act.[6] He was prosecuted in 2011 after being accused of crimes against the Cuban state for bringing satellite and computer equipment to members of Cuba’s Jewish community without the permit required under Cuban law.[7] After being accused of working for American intelligence services in January 2010, he was convicted for “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state" -
Cuba lifts Exit Visa Restrictions
Restrictions that have kept Cuban islanders landlocked for half a century have been mostly lifted according to a foreign ministry statement in the Central Committee's official newspaper, Granma. -
Cuba hosts CELAC Summit
On January 27 and 28, nearly all the presidents of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries will meet under the auspices of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños, CELAC) in Santiago, Chile. They will discuss regional integration, economic growth, and political issues, and they will issue a declaration at the end of the meeting. -
US & Cuba move to restore diplomatic ties
Following Fidel Castro’s ascent to power, U.S.-Cuba ties have endured a nuclear crisis, a long U.S. economic embargo, and political hostilities. The diplomatic relationship remained frozen well beyond the end of the Cold War but moved toward normalization in 2014. -
Cuba Removed from terrorism list
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday removed Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a crucial step in President Obama’s push to normalize ties between Washington and Havana. -
The US and Cuba Reopen Embassies
HAVANA — After more than a half-century of Cold War estrangement, the United States reopened its six-story embassy in Havana on Monday, and Cuba raised a flag outside its own stately embassy in Washington. -
Commercial flights restored
he United States has officially signed an agreement with Cuba to re-establish scheduled air services between the two countries.