U. S. Ambassador Philip Bonsal addressing ASTA conventionSt. George, Andrew, 1924-20011959 October 2engThe photographs document U.S. Ambassador Philip W. Bonsal addressing a convention of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) delegates in Habana’s Blanquita Theatre on October 21, 1959. The convention was sponsored entirely by the revolutionary government that hoped to ignite Americans’ interest in traveling to Cuba. The revolutionary government also wanted to thwart U.S. press and governmental caricatured depictions of the Revolution as “Communist,” a charge consistently levied since January 1959 in an effort to discredit all changes in Cuba that would negatively impact U.S. business interests.