This essay on General Secretary Leonid Il’ich Brezhnev’s visit to Cuba from January 28 to February 3, 1974, examines the influence of détente on the Soviet-Cuban relationship using Brezhnev’s Cuban tour as a case study. I argue that Brezhnev, recognizing Cuba’s importance in maintaining détente with the United States, traveled to Cuba to ensure the success of this policy by strengthening the Soviet-Cuban alliance. Brezhnev consolidated détente by using his time in Cuba to allay Cuban fears that a thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations took precedent over Cuban security from American intervention. I show that Brezhnev succeeded in extracting a cautious public endorsement of détente from Havana and in doing so found the limits of Soviet influence on Cuban behavior. I also determine that the vicissitudes of détente ultimately served to reinforce the improvement in Soviet-Cuban relations that began in 1968.