Refresh my memory. When did we own it.
We defeated Spain but I don’t recall ever actually actually owning Cuba
.We got Cuba and the Philippines in that war.
We could have made it a territory of the US.
Here the snippet from Wikipedia.
The war ended after decisive naval victories for the United States in the Philippines and Cuba.
The Spanish-American War
Only 109 days after the outbreak of war, the Treaty of Paris, which ended the conflict, gave the United States ownership of the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam.
The Treaty of Paris provided that Cuba would become independent from Spain but the US congress made sure it would be under US control (Platt Amendment). Specifically, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over - and title to - Cuba.
We won and set the terms. Independence was what we decided to do.