What made the island of cuba important to the united states

Cuba is very important because it occupies a very strategic position. It is near the USA but at the same time kind of very far away of the ideals o democracy and free elections that is the policy of America. Cuba took an important role in the American - Spanish war which ended up in its complete independence in 1902. It became once more really important when there was a world crisis when Russia wanted to put missiles in Cuba and Kennedy stablished a blockade in 1962. Fortunatelly there was no a nuclear war. Cuba became important to the USA in a negative way since it has been a destabilizing factor to the region since Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1958 and made Cuba a communist country with no democracy.