U. S., Cuba put Switzerland out of a job

Neutral nation played referee between capitalists, communists

After 54 years playing go- between for the United States and Cuba in Havana, Switzerland is suddenly out of an ultra- challenging job that entailed everything from helping manage a crisis that nearly led to nuclear war to fending off efforts by Cuban protesters to seize Swiss diplomats.

Now that the United States and Cuba have resumed diplomatic relations, they don’t need to communicate through Switzerland, which first stepped in when the United States severed ties with Fidel Castro’s regime in January 1961. As American diplomats departed the island, President Eisenhower asked the Swiss to use their neutrality and noted diplomatic skills to be America’s “protecting power” in Cuba. ( Since 1980, Switzerland has also represented the United States in Iran.) “Our work for the USA was extensive and required an intense effort on our part,” the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs said this month as it prepared to end its intermediary role.

That may be an understatement. “Switzerland was faced with exceptional tasks previously unknown to Swiss diplomacy,” said Thomas Fischer, former lecturer at Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International Studies.

One such task occurred in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis — the nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Moscow’s shipment of missiles to Cuba.

The Swiss arranged transportation of the body of an American pilot, Maj. Rudolph Anderson Jr., who was shot down over Cuba. His casket, draped in a Swiss flag, was sent through diplomatic channels to Miami.

From 1965 to 1973, Switzer- land painstakingly organized “Freedom Flights,” which flew more than 260,000 Cubans opposed to Castro’s rule to Miami. The operation “required unusual commitment and resources,” Fischer said.

The most heroic efforts occurred in 1964, when Cubans attempted to seize the U. S. Embassy building and turn it into the Ministry of Fishing. The Swiss ambassador barred the door and shouted that it was diplomatic property and would be violated only if he were physically removed. The Cubans relented.

Another confrontation came during an embassy siege after the sinking of two Cuban fishing boats and seizure of their crews by a Cuban exile group on May 12, 1970. Tens of thousands of Cubans demonstrated in front of the U. S. Embassy building where Swiss officials worked, keeping them imprisoned for three days. Only the release of the kidnapped Cuban fishermen on May 18 put an end to the standoff.

Secretary of State John Kerry praised the Swiss role as “an inspiration to us all and a monument to patience in the service of peace.”

The Facebook account of the newly reopened Cuban Embassy in Washington showed the Swiss flag with the word “Gracias!”

“Switzerland was faced with exceptional tasks previously unknown to Swiss diplomacy.” Thomas Fischer, former lecturer at Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International Studies

MICHAEL KAPPELER, EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY The U. S. Embassy opened July 20 in Havana.