Cigar Diplomacy

(Cigar Aficionado) ... But Cuban Cohibas, Montecristos and Romeo y Juliets have also played a positive role in bridging the ideological chasm between Washington and Havana.  During secret attempts at reconciliation, an untold story compiled in a new book, Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana, Fidel Castro’s government made active and astute use of its famous cigars as creative diplomatic tools. Indeed, throughout the more than half a century of acrimony, hostility and aggression in U.S.–Cuban relations, Cuba has repeatedly practiced the art of “cigar diplomacy,” providing its world-class tobacco products—more often than not Fidel’s favorite Cohiba Lanceros—as a peace offering to open dialogue toward more normal ties with the United States. Continued