Foreign relations of Cuba

Cuba's foreign policy has been highly dynamic depending on world events throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Cuban foreign policy is impacted by the various spheres of influence and economic development of neighboring countries. During the 1980s, its geopolitical alignment with the Soviet Union isolated Cuba on the international stage. The fall of the Soviet Union, end of the Cold War, and emergence of Russia as a key trading partner led to limited regional relations. Cuba began to establish bilateral relations with South American countries during the late-1990s, mainly with Venezuela and Bolivia. Cuba has a cold relationship with the United States, with a variety of bilateral issues due to historic conflict and divergent political ideologies. It has a similarly strained relationship with the European Union (EU) due to Cuba's human rights policies. Since the late-2010s, Cuba has developed closer ties to Venezuela, Russia, and China.

Cuba provided civilian assistance workers – principally medical – to more than 20 countries as medical diplomacy. More than one million exiles have escaped to foreign countries. Cuba is slated to be a part of the United Nations Human Rights Council from 2024 to 2026. It is a founding member of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a member of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Latin American Integration Association and the United Nations. Cuba is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and hosted its September 2006 summit. In addition as a member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Cuba was re-appointed as the chair of the special committee on transportation issues for the Caribbean region. Since November 2004, several leaders of South America have attempted to make Cuba either a full or associate member of the South American trade bloc known as Mercosur. Cuba's present foreign minister is Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.