--- title: Cuba-United States History as Told by TIME Covers description: With appearances by Che Guevara and Pope John Paul II canonical: https://time.com/3638433/cuba-united-states-time-covers/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-17T19:27:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:26.655Z article:section: History og:title: See the History of U.S-Cuba Relations in 13 TIME Covers og:description: With appearances by Che Guevara and Pope John Paul II og:url: https://time.com/3638433/cuba-united-states-time-covers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7cc1f60c456dcbe1/69876f808e060128c84594ad/1101790917_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See the History of U.S-Cuba Relations in 13 TIME Covers twitter:description: With appearances by Che Guevara and Pope John Paul II twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7cc1f60c456dcbe1/69876f808e060128c84594ad/1101790917_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A History of Cuba-U.S. Relations in 13 TIME Covers  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 17, 2014 7:27 PM UTC  Fidel Castro and Cyrus Vance on the Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIME Fidel Castro and Cyrus Vance on the Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIMECover Credit: RODDEY E. MIMS; HIRES-GAMMA/LIAISON.  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 17, 2014 7:27 PM UTC As news emerges that [the United States and Cuba are planning to normalize diplomatic relations,](http://time.com/3637483/alan-gross-cuba-barack-obama/) take a look back at how portrayals of Cuba have changed over the years — from pre-Castro leader Batista, to the revolution, to the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.  Fulgencio Batista on the Apr. 26, 1937, cover of TIME TIME  Fidel Castro on the Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN  Che Guevara on the Aug. 8, 1960, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Jose Miro Cardona on the Apr. 28, 1961, cover of TIME TIME  Blas Roca on the Apr. 27, 1962, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Adm. George Anderson on the Nov. 2, 1962, cover of TIME Boris Chaliapin  Fidel Castro on the Oct. 8, 1965, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Fidel Castro (and others) on the Jun. 13, 1969, cover of TIME Cover Credit: KARSH, HARRY REDL, BEN MARTIN.  Fidel Castro and Cyrus Vance on the Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIME Cover Credit: RODDEY E. MIMS; HIRES-GAMMA/LIAISON.  Fidel Castro on the Dec. 6, 1993, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GIANFRANCO GORGONI  The Sept. 5, 1994, cover of TIME Cover Credit: PAUL DAVIS  Fidel Castro on the Feb. 20, 1995, cover of TIME Cover Credit: DAVID BURNETT  Fidel Castro and the Pope on the Jan. 26, 1998, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GERARD RANCINAN Cuba-United States History as Told by TIME Covers ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3638433/cuba-united-states-time-covers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3638433/cuba-united-states-time-covers/"},"headline":"A History of Cuba-U.S. Relations in 13 TIME Covers","datePublished":"2014-12-17T19:27:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:43:26.655Z","description":"With appearances by Che Guevara and Pope John Paul II","url":"https://time.com/3638433/cuba-united-states-time-covers/","keywords":["Media","photography","conflict","Cuba","Castro"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7cc1f60c456dcbe1/69876f808e060128c84594ad/1101790917_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7cc1f60c456dcbe1/69876f808e060128c84594ad/1101790917_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIME","caption":"The Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIME","creditText":"Cover Credit: RODDEY E. 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