The Eisenhower administration and revolutionary justice in Cuba: “Humanitarian” considerations?

Abstract

While the Eisenhower administration had observed the utmost discretion regarding the atrocities committed by the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba, it instead voiced its criticism when the new power led by President Manuel Urrutia decided to apply revolutionary justice during the first weeks of 1959 against those who were guilty of blood crimes. Washington's position triggered the first diplomatic crisis with Havana, which recalled the White House’s support for the military regime and called into question the sincerity of these accusations. The United States’ objective was different: to discredit the new Cuban authorities.