The exchange of criticism that swept back and forth between Cuba and the United States early this year caught many people in both countries largely by surprise. The victorious rebel leaders and the Cuban people were disconcerted when even Americans who welcomed the overthrow of General Fulgencio Batista criticized harshly the rapid trials and executions of those who had been imprisoned as war criminals. And Americans were taken aback at the resentment with which their criticism was met, and often slightly bewildered to find that the resentment has been building up for years.

This mutual criticism, it becomes increasingly clear, marks a watershed between two views of Cuba: the definite but distorted picture presented to the United States when Batista was dictator, and the shape of present Cuba which is only gradually emerging Out of the successful revolution and which is yet to be sharply defined.