Clashing visions of non-alignment: the origins of the Cuban-Yugoslav conflict

Abstract

This article offers a contribution to the history of the conflict between Cuba and Yugoslavia over the definition of non-alignment, by going back to the first years of their bilateral relationship and to the early stages of what would eventually become the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Its analysis focusses on the period from the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in early 1959 to the aftermath of the Belgrade Conference of 1961. By relying on a broad collection of Yugoslav archival sources, the article examines the evolution of Cuba-Yugoslavia relations through the lens of Belgrade’s perceptions, shedding light on some of the factors that contributed to their split at a time when both the Cuban Revolution and the NAM were still much in the making. The article’s main claim is that Belgrade’s tensions with Havana were not only the result of the latter’s alignment with Moscow, but also the product of a broad number of disagreements stemming from their essentially different visions of domestic, regional, and global affairs, as well as from their increasingly incompatible needs in the context of the Global Cold War.