Some of these measures were undertaken by Fidel Castro's government in the name of the program outlined in the Manifesto of the Sierra Maestra.The government nationalized private property totaling about USD $25 billion,[72] of which American property made up around USD $1 billion. Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B battery
From 1959 to 1966 Castros' troops fought a six-year rebellion in the Escambray Mountains by Cuban insurgents. The insurgency was eventually crushed by the governments use of vastly superior numbers. The rebellion lasted longer and involved more soldiers than the Cuban Revolution.
By the end of 1960, the coletilla made its appearance, and most newspapers in Cuba had been expropriated, Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B battery
taken over by the unions, or had been abandoned.All radio and television stations were in state control. Moderate teachers and professors were purged.In any year, about 20,000 dissenters were imprisoned. Some homosexuals, religious practitioners, and others were sent to labor camps where they were subject to political "re-education".Sony VAIO VPCYB3V1E/R Battery
The U.S. State Department estimates that 3,200 people were executed from 1959 to 1962. Other estimates for the total number political executions range from 4,000 to 33,000.
The Communist Party strengthened its one-party rule, with Castro as ultimate leader.[65] Fidel's brother, Raúl Castro, became the army chief. Sony VAIO VPCF23P1E Battery
Loyalty to Castro became the primary criterion for all appointments. In September 1960, the revolutionary government created a system known as Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), which provided neighborhood spying.
In the 1961 New Year's Day parade, the administration exhibited Soviet tanks and other weapons. Sony VAIO VPCF23N1E Battery
Eventually, Cuba built up the second largest armed forces in Latin America, second only to Brazil.[83] Cuba became a privileged client-state of the Soviet Union.
By 1961, hundreds of thousands of Cubans had left for the United States. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery
The 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion (La Batalla de Girón) was an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Cuban government by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles with U.S. military support. The plan was launched in April 1961, less than three months after John F. Kennedy became the U.S. President. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/G battery
The Cuban armed forces, trained and equipped by Eastern Bloc nations, defeated the exiles in three days. Cuban-American relations were exacerbated the following year by the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Kennedy administration demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba placed in response to U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey and the Middle East. Sony VAIO VPCF24M1E battery
The Soviets and Americans soon came to an agreement. The Soviets would remove Soviet missiles from Cuba and the Americans would remove missiles from Turkey and the Middle East. Kennedy also agreed not to invade Cuba in the future. Cuban exiles captured during the Bay of Pigs Invasion were exchanged for a shipment of supplies from America. Sony VAIO VGN-AW110J/H Battery
In January 1962, Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS), and later the same year the OAS started to impose sanctions against Cuba of similar nature to the US sanctions.By 1963, Cuba was moving towards a full-fledged Communist system modeled on the USSR. Sony VAIO VGN-AW11M/H Battery
The U.S. imposed a complete diplomatic and commercial embargo on Cuba and began Operation Mongoose, a program of covert CIA operations.
In 1965, Castro merged his revolutionary organizations with the Communist Party, of which he became First Secretary; Blas Roca was named Second Secretary. Sony VAIO VGN-AW11S/B Battery
Roca was succeeded by Raúl Castro, who, as Defense Minister and Fidel's closest confidant, became and remained the second most powerful figure in Cuba until his brother's retirement. Raúl's position was strengthened by the departure of Che Guevara to launch unsuccessful insurrections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then Bolivia, where he was killed in 1967. Sony VAIO VGN-AW11XU/Q Battery
During the 1970s, Fidel Castro dispatched tens of thousands of troops in support of Soviet-supported wars in Africa, particularly the MPLA in Angola and Mengistu Haile Mariam in Ethiopia.
The standard of living in 1970s was "extremely spartan" and discontent was rife. Fidel Castro admitted the failures of economic policies in a 1970 speech.By the mid-1970s, Castro started economic reforms.Sony VAIO VGN-AW11Z/B Battery
In 1975 the OAS lifted its sanctions against Cuba, with the approval of 16 member states, including the U.S. The U.S., however, maintained its own sanctions.
More than one million Cubans of all social classes have left the island to the United States,and to Spain, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, and other countries. Sony VAIO VGN-AW120J/H Battery
As of 2002, some 1.2 million Cubans (about 10% of the current population) left the island for the United States,[92] Many of them left the island for the United States, often by sea in small boats and fragile rafts. Between 30,000 and 80,000 Cubans are estimated to have died trying flee Cuba.On 6 April1980, 10,000 Cubans stormed the Peruvian embassy in Havana seeking political asylum. Sony VAIO VGN-AW150Y/H Battery
The following day, the Cuban government granted permission for the emigration of Cubans seeking refuge in the Peruvian embassy.On 16 April, 500 Cubans left the Peruvian Embassy for Costa Rica. On 21 April, many of those Cubans started arriving in Miami via private boats and were halted by the U.S. State Department, Sony VAIO VGN-AW160J/Q Battery
but the emigration continued, because Castro allowed anyone who desired to leave the country to do so through the port of Mariel. Over 125,000 Cubans emigrated to the U.S. before the flow of vessels ended on 15 June. Sony VAIO VGN-AW170Y/Q Battery
Castro's rule was severely tested in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse (known in Cuba as the Special Period), with effects such as food shortages.The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines, and cash until 1993.On 5 August 1994, state security dispersed protesters in a spontaneous protest in Havana. Sony VAIO VGN-AW180Y/Q Battery
Cuba has found a new source of aid and support in the People's Republic of China, and new allies in Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela and Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, both major oil and gas exporters. In 2003, the government arrested and imprisoned a large number of civil activists, a period known as the "Black Spring".Sony VAIO VGN-AW190JAH Battery
On July 31, 2006, Fidel Castro temporarily delegated his major duties to his brother, First Vice President, Raúl Castro, while Fidel recovered from surgery for an "acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding".On 2 December2006, Fidel was too ill to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Granma boat landing, Sony VAIO VGN-AW190NAB Battery
fuelling speculation that he had stomach cancer,although there was evidence his illness was a digestive problem and not terminal.In January 2007, footage was released of Fidel Castro meeting Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, in which Castro "appeared frail but stronger than three months ago".Sony VAIO VGN-AW190NBB Battery
In February 2008, Fidel Castro announced his resignation as President of Cuba,[102] and on 24 February Raúl was elected as the new President.[103] In his acceptance speech, Raúl promised that some of the restrictions that limit Cubans' daily lives would be removed.[104] InMarch 2009, Raúl Castro removed some of Fidel Castro's officials. Sony VAIO VGN-AW190NCB Battery
On 3 June 2009, the OAS adopted a resolution to end the 47-year ban on Cuban membership of the group. The meetings were contentious, with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walking out at one point. However, in the end, the U.S. delegation agreed with the other members and approved the resolution. Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YAB Battery
The resolution stated, however, that full membership would be delayed until Cuba was “in conformity with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS.”Cuban leaders have repeatedly announced they are not interested in rejoining the OAS, and Fidel Castro restated this after the OAS resolution had been announced. Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YBB Battery
The Cuban government has been accused of numerous human rights abuses including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial executions (also known as "El Paredón").The Human Rights Watch alleges the government "represses nearly all forms of political dissent" and that "Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YCB Battery
association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law".The European Union in 2003 accused the Cuban government of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms".[111] The United States continues anembargo against Cuba "so long as it continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights".Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YDB Battery
Cuba had the second-highest number of imprisoned journalists of any nation in 2008 (the People's Republic of China had the highest) according to various sources, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international NGO, and Human Rights Watch.As a result of ownership restrictions, computer ownership rates are among the world's lowest. Sony VAIO VGN-AW220J/B Battery
The right to use the Internet is granted only to selected locations and they may be monitored. Connecting to the Internet illegally can lead to a five-year prison sentence.Cuban dissidents who commit crimes face arrest and imprisonment. In the 1990s, Human Rights Watch reported that Cuba's extensive prison system, one of the largest in Latin America, Sony VAIO VGN-AW230J/H Battery
consists of some 40 maximum-security prisons, 30 minimum-security prisons, and over 200 work camps.[117] According to Human Rights Watch, political prisoners, along with the rest of Cuba's prison population, are confined to jails with substandard and unhealthy conditions. Sony VAIO VGN-AW235J/B Battery
Citizens cannot leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission in addition to their passport and the visa requirements of their destination.[110] The membership of Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Council has received criticism.
The Cuban state adheres to socialist principles in organizing its largely state-controlled planned economy. Sony VAIO VGN-AW290JFQ Battery
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 toward more private sector employment. By 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41JF Battery
Capital investment is restricted and requires approval by the government. The Cuban government sets most prices and rations goods. Any firm wishing to hire a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn will pay the employee in Cuban pesos.Cubans cannot change jobs without government permission. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41JF/H Battery
The average wage at the end of 2005 was 334 regular pesos per month ($16.70 per month) and the average pension was $9 per month.[121]
Cuba relied heavily on trade with the Soviet Union. From the late 1980s, Soviet subsidies for Cuban goods started to dry up. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41MF Battery
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba depended on Moscow for substantial aid and sheltered markets for its exports. The removal of these subsidies (for example the oil) sent the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as the Special Period. In 1992 the United States tightened the trade embargo, hoping to see democratisation of the sort that took place in Eastern Europe. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41MF/H Battery
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. These steps included allowing some self-employment in certain retail and light manufacturing sectors, Sony VAIO VGN-AW41XH Battery
the legalization of the use of the US dollar in business, and the encouragement of tourism. Cuba has developed a unique urban farm system (the organopónicos) to compensate for the end of food imports from the Soviet Union. In recent years, Cuba has rolled back some of the market oriented measures undertaken in the 1990s. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41XH/Q Battery
In 2004 Cuban officials publicly backed the Euro as a "global counter-balance to the US dollar", and eliminated U.S. currency from circulation in its stores and businesses.
Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as "enclave tourism" and "tourism apartheid".Sony VAIO VGN-AW41ZF Battery
Contacts between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were de facto illegal until 1997.[125] In 1996 tourism surpassed 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; as a result of significant investment in tourism infrastructure, this growth rate is predicted to continue. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41ZF/B Battery
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, and led to speculation about the emergence of a two-tier economy. Sony VAIO VGN-AW50DB/H Battery
The Medical tourism sector caters to thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian, and American consumers every year.The communist agricultural production system was ridiculed by Raúl Castro in 2008. Cuba now imports up to 80% of food used for rations.Before 1959, Cuba boasted as many cattle as people. Sony VAIO VGN-AW51JGB Battery
For some time, Cuba has been experiencing a housing shortage because of the state's failure to keep pace with increasing demand. The government instituted food rationing policies in 1962, which were exacerbated following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the U.S. embargo. Sony VAIO VGN-AW52JGB Battery
Studies have shown that, as late as 2001, 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. The variety and quantity of available rationed goods declined. Sony VAIO VGN-AW53FB Battery
Under Venezuela's Mission Barrio Adentro, Hugo Chávez has supplied Cuba with up to 80,000 barrels (13,000 m3) of oil per day in exchange for 30,000 doctors and teachers.
In 2005 Cuba had exports of $2.4 billion, ranking 114 of 226 world countries, and imports of $6.9 billion, ranking 87 of 226 countries. Sony VAIO VGN-AW70B/Q Battery
Its major export partners are China 27.5%, Canada 26.9%, Netherlands 11.1%, Spain 4.7% (2007).[6] Cuba's major exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, and coffee;[6] imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated to be $13 billion,[132] approximately 38% of GDP. Sony VAIO VGN-AW71JB Battery
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 that made Cuba less competitive on world markets. Sony VAIO VGN-AW72JB Battery
At one time, Cuba was the world's most important sugar producer and exporter. As a result of diversification, underinvestment, and natural disasters, Cuba's sugar production has seen a drastic decline. In 2002 more than half of Cuba's sugar mills were shut down. Cuba holds 6.4% of the global market for nickel,[ Sony VAIO VGN-AW73FB Battery
which constitutes about 25% of total Cuban exports.[137] A 2005 US Geological Survey report estimates that the North Cuba Basin could contain 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.[138]
In 2010, Cubans were allowed to build their own houses. Sony VAIO VGN-AW80NS Battery
According to Raul Castro, they will be able to improve their houses with this new permission, but the government will not endorse these new houses or improvements.[139]
On August 2, 2011, The New York Times reported Cuba as reaffirming their intent to legalize "buying and selling" of private property before the year ends. Sony VAIO VGN-AW80S Battery
According to experts, the private sale of property could "transform Cuba more than any of the economic reforms announced by President Raúl Castro’s government".[140] It will cut more than one million state jobs including party bureaucrats which resist the changes.
The Constitution of 1976, which defined Cuba as a socialist republic, was replaced by the Constitution of 1992, Sony VAIO VGN-AW80US Battery
which is "guided by the ideas of José Martí and the political and social ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin."The constitution describes the Communist Party of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state".The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba is concurrently President of the Council of Sony VAIO VGN-AW81DS Battery
State (President of Cuba) and President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes referred to as Premier of Cuba).[144] Members of both councils are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power.[143] The President of Cuba, who is also elected by the Assembly, serves for five years and there is no limit to the number of terms of office.Sony VAIO VGN-AW81JS Battery
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 against the decisions of provincial courts.
Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme organ of power; 609 members serve five-year terms. Sony VAIO VGN-AW81YS Battery
The assembly meets twice a year; between sessions legislative power is held by the 31 member Council of Ministers. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by public referendum. All Cuban citizens over 16 who have not been convicted of a criminal offense can vote. Article 131 of the Constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote".Sony VAIO VGN-AW82DS Battery
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".[143] Votes are cast by secret ballot and counted in public view. Nominees are chosen at local gatherings from multiple candidates before gaining approval from election committees. Sony VAIO VGN-AW82JS Battery
In the subsequent election, there is only 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, including the Communist Party. The Communist Party of Cuba has held six party congress meetings since 1975. Sony VAIO VGN-AW82YS Battery
In 2011, the party stated that there were 800,000 members, and representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by candidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity within Cuba by opposition groups is minimal. Sony VAIO VGN-AW83FS Battery
The country is subdivided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud). These 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 the Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence, Sony VAIO VGN-AW83GS Battery
when the most troublesome areas were subdivided. The provinces are divided into municipalities.
Cuba devoted 9–13% of its GDP to military expenditures.[when?][145] Under the leadership of Fidel Castro, Cuba built up one of the largest armed forces in Latin America, second only to that of Brazil.[83] From 1975 until the late 1980s, Sony VAIO VGN-AW83HS Battery
Soviet military assistance enabled Cuba to upgrade its military capabilities. Since the loss of Soviet subsidies, Cuba has scaled down the numbers of military personnel, from 235,000 in 1994 to about 60,000 in 2003.
From its inception, the Cuban Revolution defined itself as internationalist, joining Comecon in 1972. Sony VAIO VGN-AW90NS Battery
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