Embassy of Cuba in Ottawa

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The Embassy of Cuba in Ottawa
The Embassy of Cuba in Ottawa

The Embassy of Cuba in Ottawa is the Cuban embassy in Ottawa, Canada. It is located on Main Street in Old Ottawa South. Diplomatic relations between Canada and Cuba began in 1945, and were uninterrupted by the Cuban Revolution.

For many years the embassy was the target of repeated terrorist attacks by anti-Castro groups based in the United States. The first of these was an improvised bomb made out of bazooka shells that went off in 1966. It caused only minor damage to the embassy, then located on Chapel Street in Sandy Hill. The bomb blew out the embassy's windows, and those of many nearby homes and made a crater in the sidewalk. In 1968 the embassy moved into a stone manor at 700 Echo Drive in Old Ottawa South, which was the site of another unsuccessful attack in 1974. It moved to its present heavily fortified location in 1977.

This bombing campaign would continue until 1980 with the embassy and the Cuban consulate in Montreal being repeatedly attacked. Most of these attacks were small and badly planned and only one person was killed: Sergio PĂ©rez Castillo, who died when the consulate in Montreal was bombed in 1972.

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