Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, (i/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital.Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Sony VAIO PCG-3B1M Battery
To the north of Cuba lies the United States (140 km or 90 mi away) and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and theDominican Republic are to the southeast.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1T Battery
Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. A fragile democracy, increasingly dominated by radical politics eventually evolved, solidified by theCuban Constitution of 1940, but was quashed in 1952 by former president Fulgencio Batista, Sony VAIO PCG-3D1M Battery
who intensified and catalyzed already rampant corruption, political repression and crippling economic regulations.Batista was ousted in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, and a new administration under Fidel Castro established, which had by 1965 evolved into a single-party state under the revived Communist Party of Cuba, which holds power to date. Sony VAIO PCG-3G2M Battery
Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous island nation in the Caribbean, as well as the largest by area. However, the population density is lower than in most Caribbean countries. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, such as the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves and its proximity to the United States. Sony VAIO PCG-5R1M Battery
Cuba has a 99.8% literacy rate,[3][15] an infant death rate lower than some developed countries,[16] and an averagelife expectancy of 77.64.[3] In 2006, Cuba was the only nation in the world which met the WWF's definition of sustainable development; having an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita and a Human Development Index of over 0.8 for 2007. Sony VAIO PCG-7141M Battery
The name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant (cubao),[18] or great place (coabana).[19] Authors who believe thatChristopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the ancient town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal. Sony VAIO PCG-7143M Battery
Cuba was inhabited by Native American people known as the Taíno, also called Arawak by the Spanish, and Guanajatabey and Ciboney people before the arrival of the Spanish. The ancestors of these Native Americans migrated from the mainland of North, Central and South America several centuries earlier.Sony VAIO PCG-7151M Battery
The native Taínos called the island Caobana.[23] The Taíno were farmers and the Ciboney were farmers, fishers and hunter-gatherers.
After first landing on an island then called Guanahani on October 12, 1492,Christopher Columbus landed on Cuba's northeastern coast near what is now Baracoa on October 27or 28. Sony VAIO PCG-7154M Battery
He claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain[27] and named Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias.[28] In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa; other towns soon followed including the future capital of San Cristobal de la Habana which was founded in 1515. Sony VAIO PCG-7162M Battery
The native Taínos were working under the encomienda system,[29] which resembled a feudal system in Medieval Europe.[30] Within a century the indigenous people were virtually wiped out due to multiple factors, including Eurasian infectious diseases aggravated in large part by a lack of natural resistance as well as privation stemming from repressive colonial subjugation.[31] Sony VAIO PCG-7181M Battery
In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of the natives who had previously survived smallpox.
On September 1, 1548, Dr. Gonzalo Perez de Angulo was appointed governor of Cuba. He arrived in Santiago, Cuba on November 4, 1549 and immediately declared the liberty of all natives. Sony VAIO PCG-41112M Battery
He became Cuba's first permanent governor who resided in Havana instead of Santiago, and he built Havana's first church made of masonry.[36] After the French took Havana in 1555, the governor's son, Francisco de Angulo, went to Mexico. Cuba remained a Spanish possession for almost 400 years (1511–1898), Sony VAIO PCG-7153M Battery
with an economy based onplantation agriculture, mining, and the export of sugar, coffee, and tobacco to Europe and later to North America. The work was done primarily by African slaves brought to the island.
The small land-owning elite of Spanish settlers held social and economic powers supported by a population of Spaniards born on the island (Criollos), other Europeans, and African-descended slaves. Sony VAIO PCG-71312M Battery
The population in 1817 was 630,980, of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 free black, and 224,268 black slaves.[38]
In the 1820s, when the rest of Spain's empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal. Although there was agitation for independence, the Spanish Crown gave Cuba the motto La Siempre Fidelísima Isla ("The Always Most Faithful Island").Sony VAIO PCG-7144M Battery
This loyalty was due partly to Cuban settlers' dependence on Spain for trade, their desire for protection from pirates and against a slave rebellion, and partly because they feared the rising power of the United States more than they disliked Spanish rule.
Independence from Spain was the motive for a rebellion in 1868 led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. Sony VAIO PCG-7191L Battery
De Céspedes, a sugar planter, freed his slaves to fight with him for a free Cuba. On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory but accepting it in practice and declaring free any slaves whose masters present them for military service.The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Years' War. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M Battery
Two thousand Cuban Chinese joined the rebels. There is a monument in Havana that honours the Cuban Chinese who fell in the war, on which is inscribed: There was not one Cuban Chinese deserter, not one Cuban Chinese traitor.[40]
The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M Battery
although many European and Latin American nations did so.[41] In 1878, the Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–1880, Cuban patriot Calixto García attempted to start another war known as the Little War but received little support.[42] Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M Battery
In Cuba, a sophisticated and prosperous sugar industry had employed chattel slavery until the final third of the 19th century. Cuba produced 720,250 metric tons of sugar in 1868, more than forty percent of cane sugar reaching the world market that year. Slavery had been maintained in Cuba, however, while abolition was underway elsewhere. Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M Battery
Abolition in Cuba began the final third of the 19th century, and was completed in the 1880s.[43][44]
An exiled dissident named José Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York in 1892. The aim of the party was to achieve Cuban independence from Spain.In January 1895 Martí traveled to Montecristi and Santo Domingo to join the efforts of Máximo Gómez. Sony VAIO PCG-8141M Battery
Martí recorded his political views in the Manifesto of Montecristi.[46] Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on24 February 1895, but Martí was unable to reach Cuba until 11 April 1895.[45] Martí was killed in the battle of Dos Rios on 19 May 1895.[45] His death immortalized him as Cuba's national hero.[46] Sony VAIO PCG-8161M Battery
Around 200,000 Spanish troops outnumbered the much smaller rebel army which relied mostly on guerrilla and sabotage tactics. The Spaniards began a campaign of suppression. General Valeriano Weyler, military governor of Cuba, herded the rural population into what he called reconcentrados, Sony VAIO PCG-3C2M Battery
described by international observers as "fortified towns". These are often considered the prototype for 20th-century concentration camps.[47] Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the camps, numbers verified by the Red Cross and United States Senator and former Secretary of War Redfield Proctor. Sony VAIO PCG-5N2M Battery
American and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.
The U.S. battleship Maine arrived in Havana on 25 January 1898 to offer protection to the 8,000 American residents on the island, but the Spanish saw this as intimidation. On the evening of 15 February 1898, the Maine blew up in the harbor, killing 252 crew. Sony VAIO PCG-5P1M Battery
Another eight crew members died of their wounds in hospital over the next few days.[49] A Naval Board of Inquiry headed by Captain William T. Sampson was appointed to investigate the cause of the explosion on the Maine. Having examined the wreck and taken testimony from eyewitnesses and experts, Sony VAIO PCG-5S1M Battery
the board reported on 21 March 1898 that the Maine had been destroyed by "a double magazine set off from the exterior of the ship, which could only have been produced by a mine."[49]
The facts remain disputed today, although an investigation by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover published in 1976 established that the blast was most likely a large internal explosion. Sony VAIO PCG-9Z1M Battery
Rickover believes the explosion was caused by a spontaneous combustion in inadequately ventilated bituminous coal which ignited gunpowder in an adjacent magazine.The original 1898 board was unable to fix the responsibility for the disaster, but a furious American populace, fueled by an active press—Sony VAIO PCG-7171M Battery
notably the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst— concluded that the Spanish were to blame and demanded action.[49] The U.S. Congress passed a resolution calling for intervention, and President William McKinley complied.[52] Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April. Sony VAIO PCG-7186M Battery
After the Spanish-American War, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898), by which Spain ceded Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States for the sum of $20 million. Under the same treaty, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over Cuba. Sony VAIO PCG-81112M Battery
Theodore Roosevelt, who had fought in the Spanish-American War and had some sympathies with the independence movement, succeeded McKinley as U.S. President in 1901 and abandoned the treaty. Cuba gained formal independence from the U.S. on May 20, 1902, as the Republic of Cuba. Under Cuba's new constitution, Sony VAIO PCG-31311M Battery
the U.S. retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment, the U.S. leased the Guantánamo Bay naval base from Cuba.
Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, Tomás Estrada Palma, faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces. Sony VAIO PCG-8152M Battery
The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named Charles Edward Magoon as Governor for three years. Cuban historians have attributed Magoon's governorship as having introduced political and social corruption. In 1908, self-government was restored when José Miguel Gómez was elected President, but the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. Sony VAIO PCG-31111M Battery
In 1912, the Partido Independiente de Color attempted to establish a separate black republic in Oriente Province,[56] but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed.
During World War I, Cuba exported considerable quantities of sugar to Britain. Cuba was able to avoid U-boat attacks by the subterfuge of shipping the sugar to Sweden. Sony VAIO PCG-61111M Battery
The Menocal government declared war on Germany very soon after the United States.
A constitutional government was maintained until 1930 when Gerardo Machado y Morales suspended the constitution. During Machado's tenure, a nationalistic economic program was pursued with several major national development projects which included the Carretera Central and El Capitolio. Sony VAIO PCG-51112M Battery
Machado's hold on power was weakened following a decline in demand for exported agricultural produce due to the Great Depression, attacks by independence war veterans, and attacks by covert terrorist organizations, principally the ABC.During a general strike in which the Communist Party sided with Machado,[57] the senior elements of the Cuban army forced Machado into exile. Sony VAIO PCG-51211M Battery
The Party then installed Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, son of Cuba's founding father (Carlos Manuel de Céspedes), as President. During 4–5 September 1933, a second coup overthrew Céspedes which led to the formation of the first Ramón Grau government. Notable events in this violent period include the separate sieges of Hotel Nacional de Cuba and Atares Castle.Sony VAIO PCG-51212M Battery
This government lasted 100 days but engineered radical socialist changes in Cuban society, including the abolishment of the Platt Amendment and instating of womens' suffrage in Cuba. In 1934, Grau was ousted in favor of Carlos Mendieta, the first in a series of puppet presidents subordinate to the army and its young chief of staff,Fulgencio Batista. Sony VAIO PCG-41111M Battery
Fulgencio Batista was democratically elected President in the elections of 1940, so far the only non-white Cuban endorsed for the nation's highest office.His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of the Communist Party held office under his administration and established numerous economic regulations and pro-union policies, Sony VAIO PCG-41111V Battery
as well as the Cuban Constitution of 1940, which engineered radical progressive ideas, including the right to labour and health care.[61] Batista's administration formally took Cuba to the Allies of World War II camp in World War II. Cuba declared war on Japan on December 9, 1941, then on Germany and Italy on December 11, 1941. Sony VAIO PCG-61412V Battery
Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II, although president Batista suggested a joint U.S.-Latin American assault on Francoist Spain in order to overthrow its authoritarian regime.Ramón Grau, who lost in 1940 to Batista, finally returned in the 1944 elections by defeating Batista's preferred successor,Carlos Saladrigas Zayas. Sony VAIO PCG-71112M Battery
In 1948, his Revolutionary Authentic Party won again when Carlos Prío Socarrás won, the last person elected to the presidency by free and fair elections. The two terms of the Auténtico Party saw an influx of investment fueled a boom which raised living standards for all segments of society and created a prosperous middle class in most urban areas. Sony VAIO PCG-81111V Battery
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 Fulgencio Batista, seeking a return to office, as a distant third. Both Agramonte and Hevia had decided to name Col. Ramón Barquín to head the Cuban armed forces after the elections. Sony VAIO PCG-81111V Battery
Barquín, then a diplomat in Washington, DC, was a top officer. He was respected by the professional army and had promised to eliminate corruption in the ranks. Batista feared that Barquín would oust him and his followers. When it became apparent that Batista had little chance of winning, he staged a coup on 10 March 1952. Sony VAIO PCG-81212M Battery
Batista held on to power with the backing of a nationalist section of the army as a "provisional president" for the next two years.
In March 1952 Justo Carrillo informed Barquín in Washington that the inner circles knew that Batista had plotted the coup. Sony VAIO PCG-81212V Battery
They immediately began to conspire to oust Batista and restore democracy and civilian government in what was later dubbed La Conspiracion de los Puros de 1956 (Agrupacion Montecristi). In 1954, Batista 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.Sony VAIO PCG-51111M Battery
In April 1956 Batista ordered Barquín to become General and chief of the army, but Barquín decided to move forward with his coup to secure total power. On 4 April 1956, a coup by hundreds of career officers led by Barquín was frustrated by Rios Morejon. The coup broke the back of the Cuban armed forces. Sony VAIO VPCS13X9E/B battery
The officers were sentenced to the maximum terms allowed by Cuban Martial Law. Barquín was sentenced to solitary confinement for eight years. La Conspiración de los Puros resulted in the imprisonment of the commanders of the armed forces and the closing of the military academies. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery
Cuba had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios, though about one third of the population was considered poor and enjoyed relatively little of this consumption.In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery
Cuba attracted more immigrants, primarily from Europe, as a percentage of population than the U.S. The United Nations noted Cuba for its large middle class.[citation needed] On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in Latin America, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. Sony VAIO VPCF13M8E/B battery
They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems.Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. Sony VAIO VPCF13Z0E/B battery
The middle class, which was comparable to the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions supported Batista until the very end.
On 2 December 1956 a party of 82 people on the yacht Granma landed in Cuba. They landed a week later, off course and under attack from Batista's forces, who had been anticipating their arrival. Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/L battery
Fewer than 20 of the men on the ship survived. Batista's men claimed to have killed Castro yet could not produce a body. Months later New York Times reporter Herbert Matthews would publish the first in a series of articles that proved Castro was very much alive and made him a legend: "Fidel Castro, the rebel leader of Cuba's youth, Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/W battery
is alive and fighting hard and successfully in the rugged, almost impenetrable fastness of the Sierra Maestra, at the southern tip of the island." [68] The party, led by Fidel Castro, had the intention of establishing an armed resistance movement in the Sierra Maestra. While facing armed resistance from Castro's rebel fighters in the mountains, Sony VAIO VPCF22M1E battery
Fulgencio Batista's regime was weakened and crippled by a United States arms embargo imposed on 14 March 1958. By late 1958, the rebels broke out of the Sierra Maestra and launched a general popular insurrection. After the fighters captured Santa Clara, Batista fled from Havana on 1 January 1959 to exile in Portugal. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H battery
Barquín negotiated the symbolic change of command between Camilo Cienfuegos, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, and his brother Fidel Castro after the Supreme Court decided that the Revolution was the source of law and its representatives should assume command.
Fidel Castro's forces entered the capital on 8 January 1959. Sony VAIO VPCF13M0E/B battery
Shortly afterward, a liberal lawyer, Dr Manuel Urrutia Lleó became president. He was backed by Castro's 26th of July Movement because they believed his appointment would be welcomed by the United States.Disagreements within the government culminated in Urrutia's resignation in July 1959. Sony VAIO VPCYB2M1E battery
He was replaced byOsvaldo Dorticós Torrado, who served as president until 1976. Castro became prime minister in February 1959, succeeding José Miró inhead of the state.
In its first year, the new revolutionary government expropriated private property with little or no compensation, nationalized public utilities, Sony VAIO VPCYB3V1E battery
tightened controls on the private sector, and closed down the mafia-controlled gambling industry. The CIA conspired with the Chicago mafia in 1960 and 1961 to assassinate Fidel Castro, according to documents declassified in 2007. Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E battery
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