On April 1959, Fidel Castro arrived in Washington for an 11 day tour around the US. In the airport, before meeting Richard Nixon, he was welcomed by more than 1500 fans. In every city, he was treated like a celebrity.

One year later, he had become the opposite of an icon. He had ordered the nationalisation of American companies in the island, he restricted free trade, he made friends with the USSR. In the US, he was not a celebrity anymore.

Spain leading newspaper El País analyzes the first Castro visit to the Unites States to understand how American politics tried to adjust to the first years of the Cold War. As reported today in El País. (In Spanish).