   #copyright

Cuba

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Central & South American
Countries; Countries

                             República de Cuba
   Republic of Cuba

   Flag of Cuba Coat of arms of Cuba
   Flag         Coat of arms
   Motto: Patria o Muerte  (Spanish)
   "Homeland or Death" ^a
   Anthem: La Bayamesa  ("The Bayamo Song")
   Location of Cuba
   Capital
   (and largest city)   Havana
                        23°8′N 82°23′W
    Official languages  Spanish
   Government           Socialist republic^b
    - President of the
       Council of State Fidel Castro
                        Raúl Castro (acting)
       Independence     from Spain
    - Declared^c        October 10, 1868
    - Republic declared May 20, 1902
    - Castro
      enters Havana
                        January 1, 1959
                                    Area
    - Total             110,861 km² ( 105th)
                        42,803 sq mi
    - Water (%)         negligible
                                 Population
    - 2006 estimate     11,382,820 ( 73rd)
    - 2002 census       11,177,743
    - Density           102/km² ( 97th)
                        264/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)      2005 estimate
    - Total             $39.17 billion ( not ranked)
    - Per capita        $3,500 ( not ranked)
       HDI  (2006)      0.826 (high) ( 50th)
         Currency       Peso ( CUP)
                        Convertible peso ^d ( CUC)
        Time zone       EST ( UTC-5)
    - Summer ( DST)     (Starts April 1; end date varies) ( UTC-4)
       Internet TLD     .cu
       Calling code     +53
   ^a As shown on the obverse of the coins; see this photo of a 1992 coin.
   Retrieved on 2006- 09-26.. (Note that the Spanish word "Patria" is
   better translated into English as "Homeland" rather than "Fatherland"
   or "Motherland".)
   ^b The Cuban constitution states that "Cuba is an independent and
   sovereign socialist state [Article 1]... the name of the Cuban state is
   Republic of Cuba [Article 2]". The usage "socialist republic" to
   describe the style of government of Cuba is nearly uniform, though
   forms of government have no universally agreed typology. For example,
   Atlapedia describes it as "Unitary Socialist Republic"; Encyclopedia
   Britannica omits the word "unitary", as do most sources.
   ^c At the start of the Ten Years' War.
   ^c From 1993 to 2004, the U.S. dollar was used in addition to the peso
   until the dollar was replaced by the convertible peso.

   Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba (Spanish: Cuba or República de
   Cuba, IPA: [re'puβlika ðe ˈkuβa]), consists of the island of Cuba (the
   largest of the Greater Antilles), the Isle of Youth and adjacent small
   islands. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean at the confluence of
   the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba is
   south of the eastern United States and the Bahamas, west of the Turks
   and Caicos Islands and Haiti and east of Mexico. The Cayman Islands and
   Jamaica are to the south.

   Cuba is the most populous country in the Caribbean. Its culture and
   customs draw from several sources including the period of Spanish
   colonialism, the introduction of African slaves, and to a lesser
   extent, its proximity to the United States. The island has a tropical
   climate that is moderated by the surrounding waters; the warm currents
   of the Caribbean Sea and its location between water bodies also make
   Cuba prone to frequent hurricanes.

History

   The recorded history of Cuba began on 24 October 1492, when Christopher
   Columbus sighted the island during his first voyage of discovery and
   claimed it for Spain. The island had been inhabited by Amerindian
   peoples known as the Taíno and Ciboney whose ancestors had come from
   South America several centuries before. The Taíno were farmers and the
   Ciboney were hunter-gatherers. The name Cuba is derived from the Taíno
   word cubanacán, meaning "a central place".

   The coast of Cuba was fully mapped by Sebastián de Ocampo in 1511, and
   in that year Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar founded the first Spanish
   settlement at Baracoa. Other towns, including Havana (founded in 1515),
   soon followed. The Spanish, as they did throughout the Americas,
   oppressed and enslaved the approximately 100,000 indigenous people on
   the island. Within a century they had all but disappeared as a result
   of the combined effects of disease, forced labor and genocide. The
   settlers then introduced African slaves, with more resistance to the
   diseases from the old world, and who soon made up a significant
   proportion of the inhabitants.

Colonial Cuba

   Cuba was a Spanish possession for 388 years, ruled by a governor in
   Havana, with an economy based on plantation agriculture and the export
   of sugar, coffee and tobacco to Europe and later to North America. It
   was seized by the British in 1762, but restored to Spain the following
   year. The Spanish population was boosted by settlers leaving Haiti when
   that territory was ceded to France. As in other parts of the Spanish
   Empire, a small land-owning elite of Spanish-descended settlers held
   social and economic power, served by a mixed-race population of small
   farmers, laborers and slaves.

   In the 1820s, when the other parts of Spain’s empire in Latin America
   rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal, although
   there was some agitation for independence. This was partly because the
   prosperity of the Cuban settlers depended on their export trade to
   Europe, partly through fears of a slave rebellion (as had happened in
   Haiti) if the Spanish withdrew and partly because the Cubans feared the
   rising power of the United States more than they disliked Spanish
   colonial rule.

   Cuba’s proximity to the U.S. has been a powerful influence on its
   history. Throughout the 19th century, Southern politicians in the U.S.
   plotted the island’s annexation as a means of strengthening the
   pro-slavery forces in the U.S., and there was usually a party in Cuba
   which supported such a policy. In 1848, a pro-annexationist rebellion
   was defeated and there were several attempts by annexationist forces to
   invade the island from Florida. There were also regular proposals in
   the U.S. to buy Cuba from Spain. During the summer of 1848, President
   James Knox Polk quietly authorized his ambassador to Spain, Romulus
   Mitchell Saunders, to negotiate the purchase of Cuba and offer Spain up
   to $100 million, an astonishing sum of money at the time for one
   territory. Spain, however, refused to consider ceding one of its last
   possessions in the Americas.
   Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro (Morro Castle (fortress),
   built in 1589 to guard the eastern entrance to Havana bay.
   Enlarge
   Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro (Morro Castle (fortress),
   built in 1589 to guard the eastern entrance to Havana bay.

   After the American Civil War apparently ended the threat of pro-slavery
   annexationism, agitation for Cuban independence from Spain revived,
   leading to a rebellion in 1868. This resulted in a prolonged conflict
   known as the Ten Years' War between pro-independence forces and the
   Spanish, allied with their local supporters. There was much sympathy in
   the U.S. for the independence cause, and some unofficial aid was sent,
   but the U.S. declined to intervene militarily. In 1878, the Peace of
   Zanjon ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to
   Cuba.

   The island was exhausted after this long conflict and pro-independence
   agitation temporarily died down. There was also a prevalent fear that
   if the Spanish withdrew or if there was further civil strife, the
   increasingly expansionist U.S. would step in and annex the island.
   Partly in response to U.S. pressure, slavery was abolished in 1886,
   although the African-descended minority remained socially and
   economically oppressed, despite formal civic equality granted in 1893.
   During this period, rural poverty in Spain led to a substantial Spanish
   emigration to Cuba—among those arriving were the parents of Fidel
   Castro.

   During the 1890s, pro-independence agitation revived, fueled by
   resentment of the restrictions imposed on Cuban trade by Spain and
   hostility to Spain’s increasingly oppressive and incompetent
   administration of Cuba. In April 1895, rebellion broke out led by the
   poet José Martí and Tomás Estrada Palma who proclaimed Cuba an
   independent republic—Martí was killed shortly thereafter and has become
   Cuba’s undisputed national hero. The Spanish retaliated with a campaign
   of suppression, herding the rural population into what were described
   by international observers as "fortified towns". Estimates that between
   200,000 and 400,000 Cubans died from emaciation and disease during this
   period. These numbers were verified by both the Red Cross and the U.S.
   Senator, and former War Secretary, Redfield Proctor. U.S. and European
   protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.

   In 1897, fearing U.S. intervention, Spain moved to a more conciliatory
   policy, promising home rule with an elected legislature. The rebels
   rejected this offer and the war for independence continued. Shortly
   afterwards, on 15 February 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine was
   mysteriously blown up in Havana harbour, killing 266 men. Forces in the
   U.S. favoring intervention in Cuba seized on this incident to accuse
   Spain of blowing up the ship (although Spain had no motive for doing so
   and there was no evidence of Spanish culpability). Swept along on a
   wave of nationalist sentiment, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution
   calling for intervention and President William McKinley was quick to
   comply.

   The result was the Spanish-American War, in which U.S. forces landed in
   Cuba in June 1898 and quickly overcame Spanish resistance. In August a
   peace treaty was signed under which Spain agreed to withdraw from Cuba.
   Some advocates in the U.S. supported Cuban independence, while others
   argued for outright annexation. As a compromise, the McKinley
   administration placed Cuba under a 20-year U.S. trusteeship. The Cuban
   independence movement bitterly opposed this arrangement, but unlike the
   Philippines, where events had followed a similar course, there was no
   outbreak of armed resistance.

Independence

   Theodore Roosevelt, who had fought in the Spanish-American War and had
   some sympathies with the independence movement, succeeded McKinley as
   President of the United States in 1901 and abandoned the 20-year
   trusteeship proposal. Instead, the Republic of Cuba gained formal
   independence on 20 May 1902, with the independence leader Tomás Estrada
   Palma becoming the country’s first president. Under the new Cuban
   constitution, however, the U.S. retained the right to intervene in
   Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations.
   Under the Platt Amendment, Cuba also agreed to lease to the U.S. the
   naval base at Guantánamo Bay.

   Independent Cuba soon ran into difficulties as a result of factional
   disputes and corruption among the small educated elite and the failure
   of the government to deal with the deep social problems left behind by
   the Spanish. In 1906, following disputed elections to choose Estrada
   Palma’s successor, an armed revolt broke out and the U.S. exercised its
   right of intervention. The country was placed under U.S. occupation and
   a U.S. governor took charge for three years. In 1908 self-government
   was restored when José Miguel Gómez was elected President, but the U.S.
   retained its supervision of Cuban affairs. Despite frequent outbreaks
   of disorder, however, constitutional government was maintained until
   1925, when Gerardo Machado y Morales, having been elected President,
   suspended the constitution.

   Machado was a Cuban nationalist and his regime had considerable local
   support despite its violent suppression of critics. During his tenure,
   Cubans gained greater control over their own economy and some important
   national development projects were undertaken. His hold on power was
   weakened by the Great Depression, which drove down the price of Cuba’s
   agricultural exports and caused widespread poverty. In August 1933,
   elements of the Cuban army staged a coup which deposed Machado and
   installed Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (whose father was instrumental in
   initiating the Ten Years War of independence) as President. In
   September, however, a second coup led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista
   overthrew Céspedes leading to the formation of the first Ramón Grau San
   Martín government. This government lasted just 100 days, but engineered
   radical liberal changes in Cuban society and a rejection of the Platt
   amendment.
   Grand Theater of Havana (Teatro Garcia Lorca)
   Enlarge
   Grand Theatre of Havana (Teatro Garcia Lorca)

   In 1934, Batista and the army, who were the real centre of power in
   Cuba, replaced Grau with Carlos Mendieta y Montefur. In 1940, Batista
   decided to run for President himself. The leader of the constitutional
   liberals Ramón Grau San Martín refused to support him, so he turned
   instead to the Communist Party of Cuba, which had grown in size and
   influence during the 1930s.

   With the support of the Communist-controlled labor unions, Batista was
   elected President and his administration carried out major social
   reforms and introduced a new progressive constitution. Several members
   of the Communist Party held office under his administration. Batista's
   administration formally took Cuba into World War II as a U.S. ally,
   declaring war on Japan on Dec 9, 1941, then on Germany/Italy on Dec 11,
   1941; Cuba, however, did not significantly participate militarily in
   World War II hostilities. At the end of his term in 1944, in accordance
   with the constitution, Batista stood down and Ramón Grau was elected to
   succeed him. Grau initiated increased government spending on health,
   education and housing. But Grau’s liberals were bitter enemies of the
   Communists and Batista opposed most of Grau’s program.

   In 1948, Grau was succeeded by Carlos Prío Socarrás, who had been
   Grau’s minister of labor and was particularly hated by the Communists.
   Prío was a less principled liberal than Grau and, under his
   administration, corruption increased. This was partly a result of the
   postwar revival of U.S. wealth and the consequent influx of gambling
   money into Havana, which became a centre of mafia operations.
   Nevertheless Prío carried out major reforms such as founding a National
   Bank and stabilizing the Cuban currency. The influx of North American
   money fueled a boom which did much to raise living standards, although
   the gap between rich and poor became wider and more obvious.

From Batista to Castro

   Bullet ridden truck used in the attack on the Presidential Palace in
   Havana by the Directorio Revolucionario and the Organizacion Autentica
   in 1957
   Enlarge
   Bullet ridden truck used in the attack on the Presidential Palace in
   Havana by the Directorio Revolucionario and the Organizacion Autentica
   in 1957

   The 1952 election was a three-way race. Roberto Agramonte of the
   Ortodoxos party led in all the polls, followed by Dr. Aurelio Hevia of
   the Auténtico party, and running a distant third was Batista, who was
   seeking a return to office. When it became apparent that Batista had no
   chance of winning, he staged a coup on 10 March 1952 and held power
   with the backing of a nationalist section of the army and of the
   Communists, as a “provisional president” for the next two years. In
   1954, under pressure from the U.S., he agreed to elections. The Partido
   Auténtico put forward ex-President Grau as their candidate, but he
   withdrew amid allegations that Batista was rigging the elections in
   advance. Batista could now claim to be an elected President. His regime
   was marked by severe corruption and poverty. Batista's police force was
   well-known for their harsh tactics and violence against the population.

   This changed in 1956, when a party of rebels, mostly idealistic young
   nationalists, including Fidel Castro, landed in a boat from Mexico and
   tried to start a resistance movement in the Sierra Maestra Mountains
   (Castro had gone to Mexico after being released from prison, where he
   was serving a sentence for his part in a 1953 rebel attack on the
   Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba). Batista’s forces killed most of
   the rebels, but enough survived to maintain a low-level insurgency in
   the mountains. In response, Batista made the mistake of launching a
   campaign of repression against the opposition, which only served to
   increase support for the insurgency.
   Presidential Palace in Havana, now the Museum of the Revolution
   Enlarge
   Presidential Palace in Havana, now the Museum of the Revolution

   Through 1957 and 1958, opposition to Batista grew, among the middle
   class and the students, in the Catholic Church and in the rural areas.
   The United States government imposed an arms embargo on the Cuban
   government on March 14, 1958. The urban trade unions, however, were
   under the control of either Communists or the mafia, both strong
   supporters (for different reasons) of Batista’s regime and attempts to
   organise general strikes against Batista always failed. By late 1958,
   the rebels had succeeded in breaking out of the Sierra Maestra and
   launched a general insurrection, joined by hundreds of students and
   others fleeing Batista’s crackdown on dissent in the cities. When the
   rebels captured Santa Clara, east of Havana, Batista decided the
   struggle was futile and fled the country to exile in Portugal and,
   later, Spain. Castro’s rebel forces entered the capital on 1 January
   1959.

Cuba Following Revolution

   Fidel Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba, in February 1959, and has
   held effective power in the country until he temporarily handed over
   power to his brother for medical reasons in July 2006. (As of 2006 he
   is the world’s longest-ruling current head of government.) He was a
   constitutional liberal and nationalist, even if a radical one and his
   victory was generally welcomed both in Cuba and in the U.S., although
   the summary execution of about 500 police officers and others accused
   of being agents of the Batista regime, aroused immediate disquiet.
   During 1959, Castro’s government carried out popular measures such as
   land reform, the nationalization of public utilities and the ruthless
   suppression of corruption, including closing down the gambling industry
   and evicting the American mafiosi.

   Unbeknown to most outsiders, however, was the powerful influence within
   Castro’s government of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentinian Marxist
   and one of Castro’s closest advisers. Guevara formed an alliance with
   Castro’s ambitious brother, Raúl to persuade Fidel Castro to align
   himself with the Communists and thus with the Soviet Union. Guevara
   also played the key role in persuading the Cuban Communist leader Blas
   Roca Calderío to abandon his hostility to Castro and work instead to
   gain control of the revolutionary government from within. Roca was
   persuaded and he informed the Soviet leadership of the possibility of
   winning Castro over. The Soviets at once seized the chance of gaining a
   political foothold in the Americas and promised unlimited aid and
   support if Castro declared himself for Communism.

   Meanwhile, attitudes towards the Cuban revolution in the U.S. were
   changing rapidly. While the Eisenhower administration had initially
   welcomed Batista’s fall, the nationalization of U.S. owned companies
   (to an estimated value of US$1 billion) and the expulsion of many
   political conservatives with influential friends in the U.S., aroused
   immediate hostility and the Cuban exiles soon became the powerful lobby
   group in the U.S. that they have been ever since. Although Castro
   himself was not believed to be a Communist, the U.S. was well informed
   about the role of Guevara and the rapid warming of relations between
   Castro and the Cuban Communists. Thus, the U.S. became increasingly
   hostile to Castro during 1959. This, in turn, served to drive Castro
   away from the liberal elements of his revolutionary movement and into
   the arms of the Communists.

   In October 1959, Castro declared himself to be friendly towards
   Communism, though not yet a Communist himself, and the liberal and
   other anti-Communist elements of the government were purged, with many
   who had initially supported the revolution fleeing the country to join
   the growing exile community in Miami. In March 1960, the first aid
   agreements were signed with the Soviet Union. In the context of the
   Cold War, the U.S. saw the establishment of a Soviet base of influence
   in the Americas as intolerable and plans were approved to remove Castro
   from power (see The Cuban Project). In late 1960, a trade embargo was
   imposed, which naturally drove Castro further towards the Soviet
   alliance. At the same time, the administration authorized plans for an
   invasion of Cuba by Florida-based exiles, timed to coincide with an
   anti-Castro rising. The result was the Bay of Pigs Invasion of April
   1961—the rising did not take place and the invasion force was routed.
   This prompted Castro to clearly declare Cuba a socialist republic, and
   himself a Marxist-Leninist, which he did in May 1961.

Marxist-Leninist Cuba

   A so-called 'yank tank', one of the many remaining US cars in Cuba,
   imported prior to the United States embargo against Cuba.
   Enlarge
   A so-called ' yank tank', one of the many remaining US cars in Cuba,
   imported prior to the United States embargo against Cuba.

   The immediate result of the Cuban-Soviet alliance was the Soviet
   decision to place intermediate range ballistic missiles in Cuba, which
   precipitated the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, during which President
   John F. Kennedy threatened the Soviet Union with nuclear war unless the
   missiles were withdrawn. Castro urged the Soviets to take an aggressive
   stance. Eventually the Soviets backed down. In the aftermath of this,
   there was a resumption of contacts between the U.S. and Castro,
   resulting in the release of the anti-Castro fighters captured at the
   Bay of Pigs in exchange for a package of aid. But during 1963,
   relations deteriorated again as Castro moved Cuba towards a
   fully-fledged Communist system modeled on the Soviet Union. The U.S.
   imposed a complete diplomatic and commercial embargo on Cuba. At this
   time U.S. influence in Latin America was strong enough to make the
   embargo very effective and Cuba was forced to direct virtually all its
   trade to the Soviet Union and its allies.

   In 1965, Castro merged his revolutionary organizations with the
   Communist Party, of which he became First Secretary, with Blas Roca as
   Second Secretary—later to be succeeded by Raúl Castro, who as Defense
   Minister and Fidel’s closest confidant became and has remained the
   second most powerful figure in the government. Raúl Castro’s position
   was strengthened by the departure of Che Guevara to launch an
   unsuccessful attempt at an insurrectionary movement in Bolivia, where
   he was killed in 1967. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, President of Cuba from
   1959 to 1976, was a figurehead of little importance. Castro introduced
   a new constitution in 1976 under which he became President himself,
   while remaining chairman of the Council of Ministers.

   During the 1970s, Castro moved onto the world stage as a leading
   spokesperson for Third World “anti-imperialist” governments. On a more
   concrete level, he provided invaluable military assistance to
   pro-Soviet forces in Angola, Ethiopia, Yemen and other African and
   Middle Eastern trouble spots. Cuban forces were decisive in helping the
   MPLA forces win the Angolan Civil War in 1975. Although the bills for
   these expeditionary forces were paid by the Soviets, they placed a
   considerable strain on Cuba’s economy and manpower resources. Cuba was
   also hampered by its continuing dependency on sugar exports. The
   Soviets were forced to provide further economic assistance by buying
   the entire Cuban sugar crop, even though the Soviet Union grew enough
   sugar beet to meet its own needs. In exchange the Soviets had to supply
   Cuba with all its fuel, since it could not import oil from any other
   source.

   Cuba’s economic dependence on the Soviet Union was deepened by Castro’s
   determination to build his vision of a socialist society in Cuba. This
   entailed the provision of free health care and education for the entire
   population. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviets were prepared to
   subsidise all this in exchange for the strategic asset of an ally under
   the noses of the United States and the undoubted propaganda value of
   Castro’s considerable prestige in the developing world.
   Fidel Castro and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau join together
   in song, January 1976.
   Enlarge
   Fidel Castro and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau join together
   in song, January 1976.

   By the 1970s, the ability of the U.S. to keep Cuba isolated was
   declining. Cuba had been expelled from the Organization of American
   States in 1962 and the OAS had cooperated with the U.S. trade boycott
   for the next decade, but, in 1975, the OAS lifted all sanctions against
   Cuba and both Mexico and Canada defied the U.S. by developing closer
   relations with Cuba. Both countries said that they hoped to foster
   liberalization in Cuba by allowing trade, cultural and diplomatic
   contacts to resume—in this they were disappointed, since there was no
   appreciable easing of repression against domestic opposition. Castro
   did stop openly supporting insurrectionary movements against Latin
   American governments, although pro-Castro groups continued to fight the
   military dictatorships which then controlled most Latin American
   countries.

   The Cuban exile community in the U.S. grew in size, wealth and power
   and politicized elements effectively opposed liberalization of U.S.
   policy towards Cuba. However, the efforts of the exiles to foment an
   anti-Castro movement inside Cuba, let alone a revolution there, met
   limited success. On Sunday, April 6, 1980, 7,000 Cubans stormed the
   Peruvian embassy in Havana seeking political asylum. On Monday, April
   7, Fidel Castro granted permission for the emigration of Cubans seeking
   refuge in the Peruvian embassy. On April 16 500 Cuban citizens left the
   Peruvian Embassy for Costa Rica. On April 21 many of those Cubans
   started arriving in Miami via private boats and were halted by the
   State Department on April 23. The boat lift continued, however, since
   Castro allowed anyone who desired to leave the country to do so through
   the port of Mariel and this emigration became known as the Mariel
   boatlift. In all, over 125,000 Cubans emigrated to the United States
   before the flow of vessels ended on June 15.

Post-Cold War Cuba

   The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 dealt Cuba a giant economic blow.
   It led to another unregulated exodus of asylum seekers to the United
   States in 1994, but was eventually slowed to a trickle of a few
   thousand a year by the U.S.-Cuban accords. It has again increased in
   2004-06 although at a far slower rate than before. Castro’s popularity
   was severely tested by the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, which led
   to a cutoff in aid, the loss of a guaranteed export market for Cuban
   sugar and the loss of a source of cheap imported oil. It also caused,
   as in all Communist countries, a crisis in confidence for those who
   believed that the Soviet Union was successfully “building socialism”
   and providing a model that other countries should follow. In Cuba,
   however, these events were not sufficient to persuade Cuban Communists
   that they should voluntarily give up power.

   By the later 1990s the situation in the country had stabilized. By then
   Cuba had more or less normal economic relations with most Latin
   American countries and had improved relations with the European Union,
   which began providing aid and loans to the island. China also emerged
   as a new source of aid and support, even though Cuba had sided with the
   Soviets during the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s. Cuba also found new
   allies in President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Evo Morales
   of Bolivia, major oil and gas exporters.

Temporary transfer of duties

   On July 31 2006, Fidel Castro delegated his duties as President of the
   Council of state, President of the Council of Ministers, First
   Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party and the post of commander in
   chief of the armed forces to his brother Raúl Castro. This transfer of
   duties has been described as temporary while Fidel recovers from
   surgery he underwent due to an "acute intestinal crisis with sustained
   bleeding".

Culture

   The courtyard of one of the free museums in Havana, the 'Casa de Simón
   Bolívar'
   Enlarge
   The courtyard of one of the free museums in Havana, the 'Casa de Simón
   Bolívar'

   Cuban culture is much influenced by the fact that it is a melting pot
   of cultures, primarily from Spain and Africa. It has produced more than
   its fair share of literature, including the output of non-Cubans
   Stephen Crane, and Ernest Hemingway.

   Sport is Cuba's national passion. Due to historical associations with
   the United States, many Cubans participate in sports which share
   popularity in North America, rather than sports traditionally promoted
   in other Latin American nations. Baseball in Cuba is by far the most
   popular; other sports and pastimes in Cuba include basketball,
   volleyball and athletics. Cuba is the dominant force in amateur boxing,
   consistently achieving high gold medal tallies in major international
   competitions.

   Cuban music is very rich and is the most commonly known expression of
   culture. The "central form" of this music is Son, which has been the
   basis of many other musical styles like samba, salsa, rumba and mambo
   and a slower derivation of mambo, the cha-cha-cha. Rumba music
   originated in early Afro-Cuban culture. The Tres was also invented in
   Cuba, but other traditional Cuban instruments are of African and/or
   Taíno origin such as the maracas, güiro, marímba and various wooden
   drums including the mayohuacan. Popular Cuban music of all styles has
   been enjoyed and praised widely across the world. Cuban classical
   music, which includes music with strong African and European
   influences, and features symphonic works as well as music for soloists,
   has also received international acclaim thanks to composers like
   Ernesto Lecuona.

   Literature in Cuba began to find its voice in the early 19th century.
   Dominant themes of independence and freedom were exemplified by José
   Martí, who led the Modernist movement in Cuban literature. Writers such
   as Nicolás Guillén and Jose Z. Tallet focused on literature as social
   protest. The poetry and novels of José Lezama Lima have also been
   influential. Writers such as Reinaldo Arenas, Guillermo Cabrera
   Infante, Leonardo Padura Fuentes, and Ronaldo Menedez have earned
   international recognition in the postrevolutionary era, though many
   writers have felt compelled to continue their work in exile due to
   perceived censorship by the Cuban authorities.

   Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish and Caribbean cuisines. Cuban
   recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish cooking, with some
   Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. A traditional Cuban meal would
   not be served in courses; rather all food items would be served at the
   same time. The typical meal could consist of plantains, black beans and
   rice, ropa vieja ( beef), cuban bread, pork with onions, and tropical
   fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to as moros y cristianos (or
   moros for short), and plantains are staples of the Cuban diet. Many of
   the meat dishes are cooked slowly with light sauces. Garlic, cumin,
   oregano and bay leaves are the dominant spices.

Government and politics

   Revolution Square: José Martí Monument designed by Enrique Luis Varela,
   sculpture by Juan José Sicre and finished in 1958.
   Enlarge
   Revolution Square: José Martí Monument designed by Enrique Luis Varela,
   sculpture by Juan José Sicre and finished in 1958.

   The Republic of Cuba is constitutionally defined as a " socialist state
   guided by the principles of José Martí, and the political ideas of
   Marx, Engels and Lenin". The present constitution also ascribes the
   role of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) to be the "leading force of
   society and of the state". The first secretary of the Communist Party,
   Fidel Castro, is concurrently President of the Council of State (
   President of Cuba) and President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes
   referred to as Prime Minister of Cuba). Members of both councils are
   chosen by the National Assembly of People’s Power. The President of
   Cuba serves for a five-year term and there is no limit to the number of
   terms of office. Castro has been President since the adoption of the
   current Constitution in 1976 when he replaced Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.
   The Supreme Court of Cuba serves as the nation's highest judicial
   branch of government. It is also the court of last resort for all
   appeals from convictions in provincial courts.

   Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power
   (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), has 609 members who serve
   five-year terms. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by public
   referendum. All Cuban citizens over sixteen years of age who have not
   been found guilty of a criminal offense can vote. Article 131 of the
   Constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and
   secret vote". Article 136 states: "In order for deputies or delegates
   to be considered elected they must get more than half the number of
   valid votes cast in the electoral districts". Votes are cast by secret
   ballot and are counted in public view. Individual vote totals, which
   are invariably high, are not verified by non-partisan, independent, or
   non-state organs and observers. Nominees are chosen at local gatherings
   from multiple candidates before gaining approval from election
   committees. In the subsequent election, there is just one candidate for
   each seat, who must gain a majority to be elected.

   No political party is permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on
   the island, though the Communist Party of Cuba has held five party
   congress meetings since 1975. In 1997, the party claimed 780,000
   members, and representatives generally constitute at least half of the
   Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions
   are filled by candidates without party affiliation. Other political
   parties campaign and raise finances internationally, whilst activity
   within Cuba by oppositional groups is minimal and mostly illegal. While
   the Cuban constitution has language pertaining to freedom of speech,
   rights are limited by Article 62, which states that "None of the
   freedoms which are recognized for citizens can be exercised contrary
   to... the existence and objectives of the socialist state, or contrary
   to the decision of the Cuban people to build socialism and communism.
   Violations of this principle can be punished by law". Almost all adult
   Cubans participate in the community-based Committees for the Defense of
   the Revolution, which play a central role in daily life. These groups
   are designed to coordinate public projects, protect and ensure
   socialist ideology among the citizenry, and act as a neighbourhood
   watchdog against " counter-revolutionary" activity.

   Since Cuba became a declared socialist republic in 1961, the United
   States Government has initiated various policy measures against Cuba
   which have had a considerable political and economic effect on the
   island; these have variously been designed to remove the leadership and
   to encourage Cuba to undertake political change towards a multi-party
   electoral process. The most significant of these measures is the United
   States embargo against Cuba and the subsequent Helms-Burton Act of
   1996. Many believe the Cuban government does not meet minimal standards
   of a democracy, especially in lacking multi-party contests for seats.
   The Cuban government, its supporters and other observers within and
   outside Cuba argue that Cuba has a form of democracy citing the
   extensive participation in the nomination process at national and
   municipal level.

Human rights

   The Cuban government has been accused of numerous human rights abuses,
   including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and
   extra-judicial executions. Dissidents complain of harassment and
   torture. While the Cuban Government placed a moratorium on capital
   punishment in 2001, it made an exception for perpetrators of an armed
   hijacking 2 years later. Groups like Amnesty International and Human
   Rights Watch have issued reports on Cuban prisoners of conscience. The
   Cuban government denies the International Committee of the Red Cross
   access to its prisons and many human rights groups including Amnesty
   International are denied entry to Cuba.

Trade unions

   There are nineteen trade unions in Cuba, with a membership totalling
   98% of the island's workforce. Unions do not register with any state
   agency, and are self financed from monthly membership dues. Their
   supporters claim that union officers are elected on an open basis, and
   differing political views are found within each of the unions. However,
   all unions are part of an organization called the Confederación de
   Trabajadores Cubanos (Confederation of Cuban Workers, CTC), which does
   maintain close ties with the state and the Communist Party. Supporters
   claim that the CTC allows workers to have their voice heard in
   government; opponents claim that the government uses it to control the
   trade unions and appoint their leaders. The freedom of workers to
   express independent opinions is also a subject of debate. Supporters of
   the system argue that workers' opinions have in fact shaped government
   policy on several occasions, as in a 1993 proposal for tax reform,
   while opponents, citing studies by international labor organizations,
   point out that workers are required to pledge alliegeance to the ideals
   of the Communist Party, and argue that the government systematically
   harasses and detains labor activists, while prohibiting the creation of
   independent (non-CTC affiliated) trade unions, that the leaders of
   attempted independent unions have been imprisoned, and that the the
   right to strike in recognized in the law.

Provinces

   Fourteen provinces and one special municipality (the Isla de la
   Juventud) now comprise Cuba. These in turn were formerly part of six
   larger historical provinces: Pinar del Río, Habana, Matanzas, Las
   Villas, Camagüey and Oriente. The present subdivisions closely resemble
   those of Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of
   Independence, when the most troublesome areas were subdivided.

                        Image:CubaSubdivisions.png
           1         Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth)
           2           Pinar del Río            9  Ciego de Ávila
           3        La Habana (Havana)         10     Camagüey
           4 Ciudad de la Habana (Havana City) 11    Las Tunas
           5             Matanzas              12      Granma
           6            Cienfuegos             13     Holguín
           7            Villa Clara            14 Santiago de Cuba
           8          Sancti Spíritus          15    Guantánamo

Geography

   Map of Cuba
   Enlarge
   Map of Cuba

   Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the Caribbean Sea, with
   the geographic coordinates 21°3N, 80°00W. Cuba is the principal island,
   which is surrounded by four main groups of islands. These are the
   Colorados, the Camagüey, the Jardines de la Reina and the Canarreos.
   The main island of Cuba constitutes most of the nation's land area
   (105,006 km² or 40,543 square miles) and is the seventeenth-largest
   island in the world by land area. The second largest island in Cuba is
   the Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) in the southwest, with an area
   of 3056 km² (1180 square miles). Cuba has a total land area of 110,860
   km².

   The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains. At the
   southeastern end is the Sierra Maestra, a range of steep mountains
   whose highest point is the Pico Real del Turquino at 2,005 metres
   (6,578 ft). The local climate is tropical, though moderated by trade
   winds. In general (with local variations), there is a drier season from
   November to April, and a rainier season from May to October. The
   average temperature is 21 °C in January and 27 °C in July. Cuba lies in
   the path of hurricanes, and these destructive storms are most common in
   September and October. Havana is the largest city and capital; other
   major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. Better known
   smaller towns include Baracoa which was the first Spanish settlement on
   Cuba, Trinidad, a UNESCO world heritage site, and Bayamo.

Society

Education

   School children playing jump-rope in between classes at an elementary
   school in the Cuban countryside
   Enlarge
   School children playing jump-rope in between classes at an elementary
   school in the Cuban countryside

   Historically, Cuba has had some of the highest rates of education and
   literacy in Latin America, both before and after the revolution. All
   education is free to Cuban citizens including university education.
   Private educational institutions are not permitted. School attendance
   is compulsory from ages six to sixteen and all students, regardless of
   age or gender, wear school uniforms with the colour denoting grade
   level. Primary education lasts for six years, secondary education is
   divided into basic and pre-university education. Higher education is
   provided by universities, higher institutes, higher pedagogical
   institutes, and higher polytechnic institutes. The Cuban Ministry of
   Higher Education also operates a scheme of Distance Education which
   provides regular afternoon and evening courses in rural areas for
   agricultural workers. The University of Havana was founded in 1728 and
   there are a number of other well established colleges and universities.

Public health

   The Cuban government operates a national health system and assumes full
   fiscal and administrative responsibility for the health care of its
   citizens. Historically, Cuba has long ranked high in numbers of medical
   personnel and has made significant contributions to world health since
   the 19th century. According to World Health Organization statistics,
   life expectancy and infant mortality rates in Cuba have been comparable
   to Western industrialized countries since such information was first
   gathered in 1957, including before the revolution.

Demographics

   According to the CIA's World Factbook, Cuba is 51% mulatto (mixed white
   and black), 37% white, 11% black, and 1% Chinese. DNA studies have
   suggested that the contribution of indigenous neo-Taíno Nations to the
   general population may be more significant than formerly believed. The
   Chinese population in Cuba is descended mostly from laborers who
   arrived in the 19th century to build railroads and work in mines. Most
   stayed in Cuba, as they could not afford return passage to China.

   The Cuban government controls the movement of people into Havana on the
   grounds that the Havana metropolitan area (home to nearly 20% of the
   country's population) is overstretched in terms of land use, water,
   electricity, transportation, and other elements of the urban
   infrastructure. There is a population of internal migrants to Havana
   nicknamed "Palestinos" (Palestinians); these mostly hail from the
   eastern region of Oriente. Cuba also shelters a population of
   non-Cubans of unknown size. There is a population of several thousand
   North African teen and pre-teen refugees undergoing military training.

   Cuba's birth rate (11.6 births per thousand population in 2003) is one
   of the lowest in the Western Hemisphere. Its overall population has
   increased continuously from around 7 million in 1961 to over 11 million
   now, but the rate of increase has slowed in the last decades. The
   decrease in fertility rate - from 3.2 children per woman in 1970 to 1.5
   in 1992 - is the third greatest in the Western Hemisphere, with only
   Guadeloupe and Jamaica showing larger decreases. Cuba, which has
   unrestricted access to legal abortion, has an abortion rate of 58.6 per
   1000 pregnancies in 1996 compared to a Caribbean average of 35, a Latin
   American average of 27 (the latter mostly illegally performed), and a
   European average of 48. Additionally, contraceptive use is estimated at
   79% (in the upper third of countries in the Western Hemisphere).

   Immigration and emigration have had noticeable effects on the
   demographic profile of Cuba during the 20th century. Between 1900 and
   1930, close to a million Spaniards arrived from Spain. Since 1959, over
   a million Cubans have left the island, primarily to Miami, Florida,
   where a vocal, well-educated and economically successful exile
   community exists ( Cuban-American lobby). The emigration that occurred
   immediately after the Cuban Revolution was primarily of the upper and
   middle classes that were predominantly white, thus contributing to a
   demographic shift along with changes in birth rates and racial
   identifications among the various ethnic groups. Seeking to normalize
   migration between the two countries - particularly after the chaos that
   accompanied the Mariel boatlift - Cuba and the United States in 1994
   agreed (in what is commonly called the 1994 Clinton-Castro accords) to
   limit emigration to the United States. Under this, the United States
   grants a specific number of visas to those wishing to emigrate (20,000
   since 1994) while those Cubans picked up at sea trying to emigrate
   without a visa are returned to Cuba. U.S. law gives the Attorney
   General the discretion to grant permanent residence to Cuban natives or
   citizens seeking adjustment of status if they have been present in the
   United States for at least 1 year after admission or parole and are
   admissible as immigrants; these escapes are often daring and most
   ingenious. The number of Cubans who leave by sea is still about 2,000 a
   year, but the trend is upward at present. In 2005 an additional 7,610
   Cuban emigrants from Cuba entered through the "southern border in the
   fiscal year that ended Sept. 30". According to the Miami Herald,
   "Unlike most countries, Cuba requires its citizens to obtain exit
   permits when leaving the country; there are 533 Cubans with valid U.S.
   visas not allowed to leave". Human Rights Watch has criticized the
   Cuban restrictions on emigration and its alleged keeping of children as
   "hostages" in order to prevent defection by Cubans traveling abroad.

Religion

   Catedral de San Cristóbal de la Habana (Cathedral of Saint Christopher
   of Havana)
   Enlarge
   Catedral de San Cristóbal de la Habana (Cathedral of Saint Christopher
   of Havana)

   Cuba has a multitude of faiths reflecting the island’s diverse cultural
   elements. Catholicism, which was brought to the island by Spanish
   colonialists at the beginning of the 16th century, is the most
   prevalent professed faith. After the revolution, Cuba became an
   officially atheistic state and restricted religious practice. Since
   1991, restrictions have been eased and direct challenges by state
   institutions to the right to religion have all but disappeared. Though
   the church still faces restrictions of written and electronic
   communication, and can only accept donations from state-approved
   funding sources. The Roman Catholic Church is made up of the Cuban
   Catholic Bishops' Conference (COCC), led by Jaime Lucas Ortega y
   Alamino, Cardinal Archbishop of Havana. It has eleven dioceses, 56
   orders of nuns and 24 orders of priests. In January 1998, Pope John
   Paul II paid a historic visit to the island, invited by the Cuban
   government and Catholic Church.

   The religious landscape of Cuba is also strongly marked by syncretisms
   of various kinds. This diversity derives from West and Central Africans
   who were transported to Cuba, and in effect reinvented their African
   religions. They did so by combining them with elements of the Catholic
   belief system. Catholicism is often practised in tandem with Santería,
   a mixture of Catholicism and other, mainly African, faiths that include
   a number of cult religions. Cuba’s patron saint, La Virgen de la
   Caridad del Cobre (the Virgin of Cobre) is a syncretism with the
   Santería goddess Ochún. The important religious festival "La Virgen de
   la Caridad del Cobre" is celebrated by Cubans annually on 8 September.
   Other religions practised are Palo Monte, and Abakuá, which have large
   parts of their liturgy in African languages.

   Protestantism, introduced from the United States in the 18th century,
   has seen a steady increase in popularity. 300,000 Cubans belong to the
   island’s 54 Protestant denominations. Pentecostalism has grown rapidly
   in recent years, and the Assemblies of God alone claims a membership of
   over 100,000 people. The Episcopal Church of Cuba claims 10,000
   adherents. Cuba has small communities of Jews, Muslims and members of
   the Bahá'í faith. Havana has three active synagogues and one mosque.
   Most Jewish Cubans are descendants of Polish and Russian Jews who fled
   pogroms at the beginning of the 20th century. There is, however, a
   sizeable number of Sephardic Jews in Cuba, who trace their origin to
   Turkey (primarily Istanbul and Tarakya). Most of these Sephardic Jews
   live in the provinces, although they do maintain a synagogue in Havana.
   In the 1960s, almost 8,000 Jews left for Miami. In the 1990s,
   approximately 400 Jewish Cubans relocated to Israel in a co-ordinated
   exodus using visas provided by nations sympathetic to their desire to
   move to Israel.

Economy

   A Cuban state hotel
   Enlarge
   A Cuban state hotel

   The Cuban Government adheres to socialist principles in organizing its
   largely state-controlled planned economy. Most of the means of
   production are owned and run by the government and most of the labor
   force is employed by the state. Recent years have seen a trend towards
   more private sector employment. By the year 2000, public sector
   employment was 77.5% and the private sector at 22.5% compared to the
   1981 ratio of 91.8% to 8.2%. Capital investment is restricted and
   requires approval by the government. The Cuban government sets most
   prices and rations goods to citizens.

   In the early 1990s, the end of Communist rule in Eastern Europe meant
   the end of Soviet subsidies for Cuba's state-run economy. Before the
   collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba depended on Moscow for sheltered
   markets for its exports and substantial aid. The Soviets had been
   paying above-market prices for Cuban sugar, while providing Cuba with
   petroleum at below-market prices. The removal of these subsidies sent
   the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as the Special
   Period. In 1992, the United States tightened the trade embargo
   contributing to a drop in Cuban living standards which approached
   crisis point within a year.

   Like some other Communist and post-Communist states following the
   collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba took limited free market-oriented
   measures to alleviate severe shortages of food, consumer goods, and
   services to make up for the ending of Soviet subsidies. These steps
   included allowing some self-employment in certain retail and light
   manufacturing sectors, the legalization of the use of the U.S. dollar
   in business, and the encouragement of tourism. In 1996 tourism supassed
   the sugar industry as the largest source of hard currency for Cuba.
   Cuba has tripled its market share of Caribbean tourism in the last
   decade, with large investment in tourism infrastructure this growth
   rate is predicted to continue. 1.9 million tourists visited Cuba in
   2003 predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating
   revenue of $2.1 billion. The rapid growth of tourism during the Special
   Period had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba. This
   has led to speculation of the emergence of a two-tier economy and the
   fostering of a state of tourist apartheid on the island.

   At one time, Cuba was the world’s most important sugar producer and
   exporter. Production has fallen due to a series of hurricanes and
   droughts, which have devastated its crop area. In addition, a lack of
   investment in infrastructure has forced the closing of many mills.

   In recent years, since the rise of Venezuela's democratic socialist
   President Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan economic aid has enabled Cuba to
   improve economically. Venezuela's assistance of the Cuban economy comes
   chiefly through its supply of up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day in
   exchange for professional services and agricultural products. In the
   last several years, Cuba has rolled back some of the market oriented
   measures undertaken in the 1990s. In 2004, Cuban officials publicly
   backed the Euro as a "global counter-balance to the U.S. dollar", and
   eliminated the US currency from circulation in its stores and
   businesses. Increased US government restrictions on travel by
   Cuban-Americans and on the numbers of dollars they could transport to
   Cuba strengthened Cuban government control over dollars circulating in
   the economy. In the last decade, Cubans had received between US$600
   million and US$1 billion annually, mostly from family members in the
   U.S.

   As late as 2001, studies have shown that the average Cuban's standard
   of living was lower than before the downturn of the post-Soviet period.
   Paramount issues have been state salaries failing to meet personal
   needs under the state rationing system chronically plagued with
   shortages. As the variety and amount of rationed goods available
   declined, Cubans increasingly turned to the black market to obtain
   basic food, clothing, household, and health amenities. In addition,
   petty corruption in state industries, such as the pilferage of state
   assets to sell on the black market, is still common.
   Cuba, the largest of the Caribbean holiday islands, is becoming an
   increasingly popular tourist destination
   Enlarge
   Cuba, the largest of the Caribbean holiday islands, is becoming an
   increasingly popular tourist destination

   In 2005 Cuba exported $2.4 billion, ranking 114 of 226 world countries,
   and imported $6.9 billion, ranking 87 of 226 countries. Its major
   export partners are the Netherlands, Canada and China; major import
   partners are Venezuela, Spain and the United States. Cuba's major
   exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus,
   coffee and skilled labor; imports include food, fuel, clothing, and
   machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated to be $13
   billion, approximately 38% of GDP. According to the Heritage
   Foundation, Cuba is dependent on credit accounts that rotate from
   country to country. Cuba's prior 35% supply of the world's export
   market for sugar has declined to 10% due to a variety of factors,
   including a global sugar commodity price drop making Cuba less
   competitive on world markets. Cuba holds 6.4% of the global market for
   nickel which constitutes about 25% of total Cuban exports. Recently,
   large reserves of oil were found in the North Cuba Basin leading US
   congress members Jeff Flake and Larry Craig to call for a repeal of the
   US embargo of Cuba.

Military

   Under Fidel Castro, Cuba became a highly militarized society. From 1975
   until the late 1980s, massive Soviet military assistance enabled Cuba
   to upgrade its military capabilities. Since the loss of Soviet
   subsidies Cuba has dramatically scaled down the numbers of military
   personnel, from 235,000 in 1994 to about 60,000 in 2003. The government
   now spends roughly 1.8% of GDP on military expenditures. The present
   Minister for the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) is Raúl Castro.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
