In 1901, the United States forced Cuba to accept the Platt Amendment as the price of ending American military occupation, embedding into Cuban law a series of provisions that gave Washington the right to intervene in Cuban affairs virtually at will. What was presented as a framework for Cuban independence was in practice a set of shackles that kept the island nation subordinate to American interests for over three decades, breeding resentment that would eventually fuel revolution and reshape the entire Cold War. The Platt Amendment emerged from the contradictions of the Spanish-American War. The United States had entered the conflict partly on the promise of Cuban liberation, and Congress had even passed the Teller Amendment explicitly disclaiming any intention to annex the island. But once Spain was defeated and American troops controlled Cuba, po ...