Cuba during World War II

Cuba during World War II
The American battleship USS Texas sailing into Havana Harbor in February 1940. Morro Castle can be seen in the background.
Location	Cuba
Date	1939–1945
Casualties	~100 killed
Events	The St. Louis Affair – June 1939 The Havana Conference – July 1940 Severing of relations – February 1941 Declaration of war – December 8–11, 1941 The Lüning Affair – August 1942 The sinking of U-176 – May 15, 1943 Pinar del Río Hurricane – October 17, 1944

The history of Cuba during World War II begins in 1939. Because of Cuba's geographical position at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, Havana's role as the principal trading port in the West Indies, and the country's natural resources, Cuba was an important participant in the American Theater of World War II, and subsequently one of the greatest beneficiaries of the United States' Lend-Lease program. Cuba declared war on the Axis powers in December 1941, making it one of the first Latin American countries to enter the conflict, and by the war's end in 1945 its military had developed a reputation as being the most efficient and cooperative of all the Caribbean nations.

Federico Laredo Brú was the President of Cuba when the war began in 1939. His one significant World War II-related crisis before leaving office in 1940 was the MS St. Louis affair. The MS St. Louis was a German ocean liner carrying over 900 Jewish refugees from Germany to Cuba. Upon arriving in Havana, the Cuban government refused to allow the refugees to land because they did not have proper permits and visas. After sailing north, the United States and Canadian governments also refused to accept the refugees, and so the St. Louis sailed back across the Atlantic, and dropped her passengers off in Europe. Some thenceforth went to Britain, but most went to Belgium and France, which were soon overrun by German forces. Ultimately, because of the refusal to take in the Jewish refugees, many were taken prisoner by the Germans and subsequently killed in concentration camps.