During the Cold War, due to Spain's involvement inthe Western Bloc Franco had to adopt a pro-American policy and maintain an Executive Agreement from1953 with the US to justify and legitimise his regime at home and abroad. However, Franco's policy towards Latin America inthe 1950s was not based on anti-Communism but on countering the Anglo-Saxon sphere of influence through Catholicism and the ideology of 'Hispanidad'. As forCuba, following the 1959 Revolution led byCastro, the Franco regime maintained a diplomatic relationship inspite of the difference inideologies.

Thanks to Spain's economic development inthe 1960s, Franco's regime intended to
gradually modify the disadvantageous Agreement and tried to extend itsinfluence in Latin America. Trade with Cuba started to expand inthe 1960s as economic necessity coincided with the rise of the technocrats inthe Franco regime. Spain abandoned the mere display of the slogan 'Hispanidad' and started to attach more importance to economic relations. The US, meanwhile, could not press Spain harder to halt trade with Cuba because of itsneed to negotiate the Agreement, and so Spain started to undertake economic cooperation with Cuba inthe 1970s​

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Como citar: Hosoda, H. (2010). THE FRANCO REGIME’S INFLUENCE ON CUBA 1959-75. International Journal of Cuban Studies, 2(1/2), 50–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41945881