Fifty-four years after the invasion that put US and Cuba’s relationship at rock bottom, Obama’s popularity is even higher than Fidel and Raúl Castro

As he has done every April for the past 53 years, Percy Gómez Darna will mark Sunday’s anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion by remembering his fallen comrades and celebrating what is known in Cuba as the first great Latin American victory over “US imperialism”.



The retired militiaman, who led a mortar brigade during the three-day conflict from 17 to 19 April 1961, has been fighting the United States ever since – both as a soldier and a fiery critic of Washington’s policy in the region.

Obama in historic talks with Castro but Cuban leader in no mood for a love-in Read more

But when Gómez and his fellow veterans gather for the usual commemorative activities this weekend, there will be an unusual note of optimism – and even amiability – in their speeches and reflections on the current resident of the White House.

Following a breakthrough meeting last Saturday between Barack Obama and the Cuban president, Raúl Castro, even such battle-hardened anti-imperialists as Gómez are starting to think the US may finally have a president who understands Latin America.

“We could never have imagined Raúl would shake hands with a US president. It was inconceivable during the invasion,” he said. “But as long as it means future generations will have a better life, we will support what our government and our party decides.

Fellow veteran Roberto Navarro Rodríguez agrees. “I thought I would die before such a thing could happen,” he said. “The only one over all these years who decided to make a change was Obama. I’ve read about him. He is a good man. He is progressive.”

The praise from this unlikeliest of fan bases comes after a giddy whirly of diplomacy between the cold war enemies that has raised hopes that – more than half a century after one of its most embarrassing failures – the US may at last be getting its Cuban policy right.

In the past 10 days, the leaders of the two nations have phoned each other twice, shaken hands and held their first hour-long meeting since the Eisenhower era. At the Summit of the Americas last week, Raúl Castro gave a personal endorsement of Obama, declaring him “an honest man”. Days later, the US president announced his intention to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

This has made Cubans even more enamoured of Obama, who was already popular as a result of his joint announcement with Castro on 17 December to normalise relations between the two neighbours.

Even before last week’s summit, an unauthorised poll by a Miami-based company suggested Obama enjoyed an 80% approval rating in Cuba, well above that of Fidel or Raúl Castro. As independent polling is prohibited in Cuba, it is hard to gauge the accuracy of that survey. But based on dozens of interviews by the Guardian over the past week, it is hard to dispute one of the key findings: Obama enjoys a level of popularity in Cuba than he could only dream of in the US.

That was evident on the three-hour drive from Havana to the Bay of Pigs, arguably the most iconic site of revolutionary resistance to the US. The turnoff towards this Caribbean inlet is marked with a giant propaganda billboard proclaiming: “This is the way that the Cuban people came to defend socialism.” The road to the coast is flanked with mangrove swamps, a crocodile farm and dozens of stone memorials, marking the points along the roadside where Cuban militiamen fell in the conflict.

Two successive US presidents – Dwight Eisenhower and John F Kennedy – approved the CIA-funded and organised amphibious assault on 17 April 1961 by 1,400 Cuban exiles, which aimed to overthrow the two-year-old government of Fidel Castro.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A group of Cuban counter-revolutionaries, members of Assault Brigade 2506, after their capture in the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Photograph: Miguel Vinas/AFP/Getty Images

The conflict was not so much a battle as a rout. The invading force were defeated in just 65 hours. The victors took more than a thousand prisoners, who were paraded in public trials. The US was humiliated. Castro, meanwhile, had the victory he needed to consolidate revolution on the island and export his ideals across Latin America. Survivors of the generation of rebels that followed have since taken power in Nicaragua, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela.

“It served as an example to the people of Latin America that they could fight for their freedom,” said Pedro Pérez, the guide at a museum on Girón beach where visitors can see the tanks, mortars and bullet-holed uniforms of the combatants. But he too said the political winds were changing as a result of the recent thaw, which he expected to bring in more US tourists and improve the Cuban economy. For this he credited Obama.

“I’m 27 years old and I have never seen a US president with this perspective. What he is doing will be good for us and good for them,” he said. “Obama is popular. Most people support what he has done.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A woman wearing an Obama T-shirt outside the hotel where the Summit of the Americas took place in 2009. Photograph: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

Expectations on the island are growing for an official visit by Obama before he leaves the White House at the end of next year. If such a trip goes ahead – and there are still many steps before that might be possible – he would be the first US president to visit since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.

“If Obama comes to Cuba he would get a great reception,” says bartender Danny Morejón, who works across the street from the museum at Girón. “He’s the first US president to understand Latin America. He really wants to help and everyone likes him. It’s a big change.”

There is a similar level of enthusiasm on the nearby beach, where invading troops landed 54 years ago. These days it is a somewhat-the-worse-for-wear tourist resort. Beatrice Bueno, who sells Panama hats and other souvenirs, grins at a mention of the US president.

“I like everything about Obama, even as a man. He’s friends with Raúl now. They shook hands so we should get more tourists in the future, which means more business.”

The one somewhat discordant voice came further along the coast at Playa Larga, the other of the two main landing sites. Ricardo Peña, a 78-year-old engineer, remembers hearing mortar shells exploding. One of his friends – a 16-year-old militiaman named Hiraldo Díaz – died in the fighting. Pointing across the street from his home, Peña says two local girls were killed in that spot by the invaders. As he prepared to remember their deaths on the anniversary, he has only faint praise for Obama. “He’s the best of the bad capitalists. I don’t trust him. He should never have won the Nobel peace prize. He has been good recently with Cuba, but elsewhere he is responsible for many killings.”

Such criticism among the revolutionary old guard may grow if Obama goes ahead with promises to push for more democracy on the island. But for now, the momentum is in favour of warmer ties. Castro needs support for an ailing economy and a fledgling reform program. Obama wants to end US isolation in Latin America and win over more domestic Hispanic voters.

His popularity on the island will no doubt face more tests in the months ahead, but this weekend, the anniversary of a low point in US-Cuba relations comes at a time of rising hopes for a new start.