View source

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

for Cuba

Jump to: navigation, search

This page is currently semi-protected and can be edited only by established registered users. Why is the page protected? While most articles can be edited by anyone, semi-protection is sometimes necessary to prevent vandalism to popular pages. The reason for protection can be found in the protection log. If there are no relevant entries in the protection log, the page may have been moved after being protected. What can I do? If you have a user account, log in first. If you do not yet have an account, you may create one; after 4 days and 10 edits, you will be able to edit semi-protected pages. Discuss this page with others. Request unprotection of the page. If you have noticed an error or have a suggestion for a simple change, you can submit an edit request by clicking the link below and following the instructions. An established user may then make the change on your behalf. Please check the article's discussion page first, in case the issue is already being discussed. Submit an edit request

Page notice

You can view and copy the source of this page:

{{About|the country}} {{pp-semi|small=yes}} {{Infobox Country |native_name={{lang|es|''República de Cuba''}}{{Spaces|2}}<small>{{es icon}}</small> |conventional_long_name=Republic of Cuba |common_name=Cuba |image_flag=Flag of Cuba.svg |alt_flag=Five horizontal stripes: three blue and two white. A red equilateral triangle at the left of the flag, partly covering the stripes, with a white five pointed star in the centre of the triangle. |image_coat=Coat of Arms of Cuba.svg |symbol_type=Coat of arms |alt_coat=A shield in front of a fasces crowned by the Phrygian Cap, all supported by an oak branch and a laurel wreath |image_map= Cuba (orthographic projection).svg |alt_map=Political map of the Caribbean region with Cuba in red. An inset shows a world map with the main map's edges outlined. |national_motto=''Patria o Muerte''<small>{{es icon}}<br/>"Homeland or Death"</small><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bc.gov.cu/English/cuban_bills.asp|title=Cuban Peso Bills|publisher=Central Bank of Cuba|accessdate=2009-09-07}}</ref> |national_anthem=''[[La Bayamesa]]''{{nbsp|2}}<small>("The Bayamo Song")</small><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mipais.cuba.cu/cat_en.php?idcat=91&idpadre=83&nivel=2|title=National symbols|publisher=Government of Cuba|accessdate=2009-09-07}}</ref> |official_languages=[[Spanish language|Spanish]] |demonym=Cuban |ethnic_groups=65.05% [[White Latin American|White]] ([[Spaniards|Spanish]], others), 10.08% [[Afro-Cuban|African]] ([[Igbo people|Igbo]], other), 23.84% [[Mulatto]] and [[Mestizo]]<ref name=census/> |capital=[[Havana]] |latd=23|latm=8|latNS=N|longd=82|longm=23|longEW=W |largest_city=capital |government_type=[[Socialist State]] of workers, organized as a [[People's Republic|united and democratic republic]]<ref name=constitution/><br/>[[Communist state]]<ref>[http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/gov_gov_typ-government-type&ob=ws Government type (most recent) by country ], Nationmaster.com</ref> |leader_title1=[[President of Cuba|President]] |leader_name1=[[Raúl Castro]] |leader_title2= First Vice President |leader_name2= [[José Ramón Machado Ventura|J. R. M. Ventura]] |leader_title3= [[Communist Party of Cuba|First Secretary of PCC]] |leader_name3= [[Fidel Castro]] |area_km2=109,886 |area_sq_mi=42,427<!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]--> |area_magnitude=1_E11 |area_rank=105th |percent_water=negligible<ref name="cubaarea">[http://www.one.cu/aec2008/esp/01_tabla_cuadro.htm Anuario Estadístico de Cuba 2008. Edición 2009], Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, República de Cuba. Accessed on May 19, 2010.</ref> |population_estimate=11,236,444<ref name="cubapop">[http://www.one.cu/aec2008/esp/03_tabla_cuadro.htm Anuario Estadístico de Cuba 2008. Edición 2009], Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, República de Cuba. Accessed on May 19, 2010.</ref> |population_estimate_year=2008 |population_estimate_rank=75th |population_census=11,177,743<ref name="cubapop"/> |population_census_year=2002 |population_density_km2=102 |population_density_sq_mi=265<!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]--> |population_density_rank=97th |GDP_PPP_year=2009 |GDP_PPP=$111.1 billion<ref name=factbook/> |GDP_PPP_rank=62nd |GDP_PPP_per_capita=$9,700 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank=86th |GDP_nominal_year=2008 |GDP_nominal=$65.67 billion<ref name="cubagdp">[http://www.one.cu/aec2008/esp/05_tabla_cuadro.htm Anuario Estadístico de Cuba 2008. Edición 2009], Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, República de Cuba. Accessed on May 19, 2010. Note: An exchange rate of 1 CUC to 1.08 USD was used to convert GDP.[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html]</ref> |GDP_nominal_rank = 63rd |GDP_nominal_per_capita=$5,844 |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 80th |HDI_year=2007 <!-- Please use the year in which the HDI data refers to and not the publication --> |HDI=<!--{{increase}}no prior report--> 0.863<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_CUB.html |title=Human Development Report 2009: Cuba|publisher=United Nations Development Programme|year=2007/2008|accessdate=2009-10-09}}</ref> |HDI_rank=51st<!--Please see talk page before adding the reference again--> |HDI_category=<font color="#009900">high</font> |sovereignty_type=[[Independence]] |sovereignty_note=from Spain |established_event1=[[Ten Years' War|Declared]] |established_event2=Republic declared |established_event3=[[Cuban Revolution]] |established_date1=October 10, 1868 |established_date2=May 20, 1902<br /> from United States |established_date3=January 1, 1959 |currency=[[Cuban peso]]<!--kludge to deal with fact that template expects only one currency per country:-->(<code>[[ISO 4217|CUP]]</code>)<br/>[[Cuban convertible peso]]<ref>From 1993 to 2004 the [[United States dollar]] was used alongside the peso until the dollar was replaced by the convertible peso</ref> |currency_code=CUC |time_zone= |utc_offset=-5 |time_zone_DST=(March 11 to November 4) |utc_offset_DST=-4 |drives_on=right |cctld=[[.cu]] |calling_code=[[+53]] |footnotes= }} The '''Republic of Cuba''' ({{pron-en|ˈkjuːbə|En-us-Cuba.ogg}}; {{lang-es|República de Cuba}}, {{IPA-es|reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa|pron|RCUB.ogg}}) 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|title=Cuba; the Pursuit of Freedom|date=March 1971|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York|isbn=0060142596|authorlink=Hugh Thomas}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|title=The slave trade : the story of the Atlantic slave trade, 1440–1870|year=1997|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York, NY}}</ref> Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous [[island]] nation in the Caribbean. Its [[Cubans|people]], [[Culture of Cuba|culture]], and customs draw from diverse sources, including: the aboriginal [[Taíno]] and [[Ciboney]] peoples; the period of [[Spanish Empire|Spanish colonialism]]; the introduction of [[Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies|African slaves]]; and its proximity to the [[United States]]. ==Etymology== The name "Cuba" comes from the [[Taíno]] language. Though the exact meaning is unclear, it may be translated either as "where fertile land is abundant" (cubao),<ref>Alfred Carrada, ''[http://www.alfredcarrada.org/notes8.html The Dictionary of the Taino Language (plate 8)]''{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> or as "great place" (coabana).<ref>[http://members.dandy.net/~orocobix/terms1.htm Dictionary – Taino indigenous peoples of the Caribbean Dictionary --]{{Verify credibility|date=June 2009}}</ref> Another claim states that the name "Cuba" was given by Columbus after the [[Cuba (Portugal)|ancient town of Cuba]] in the district of [[Beja (Portugal)|Beja]] in [[Portugal]].<ref>da Silva, Manuel L. and Silvia Jorge da Silva. (2008). ''Christopher Columbus was Portuguese'', Express Printing, 396pp. ISBN 9781607028246.</ref> ==History== <!--Please keep this section as a summary and consider making additions to the main History of Cuba article--> {{Main|History of Cuba|Timeline of Cuban history}} ===Pre-Columbian era=== [[File:Arowak woman by John Gabriel Stedman.jpg|thumb|left|Sketch of an [[Arawak]] woman; the Arawaks, including the Ciboneys and Taínos, were the original inhabitants of Cuba]] Cuba was inhabited by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] people known as the [[Taíno]] and [[Ciboney]] before the arrival of the Spanish. The ancestors of these Native Americans migrated from the mainland of [[North America|North]], [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]] several centuries earlier.<ref>{{cite book|title=Art and archaeology of pre-Columbian Cuba|page=22|year=1996|author=Ramón Dacal Moure, Manuel Rivero de la Calle|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|isbn=082293955X|url=http://books.google.com/?id=PEE9oipDYksC&pg=PA22}}</ref> The native Tainos called the island '''Caobana'''.<ref>http://www.indio.net/taino/main/language/Tisland.htm</ref> The Taíno were farmers and the Ciboney were farmers and [[hunter-gatherer]]s. ===Spanish colonization=== [[File:DiegoVelazquezCuellar.jpg|thumb|right|Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, [[conquistador]] of Cuba]] On October 12, 1492, [[Christopher Columbus]] landed near what is now [[Baracoa]]. He claimed the island for the new Kingdom of [[Spain]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Cuba : a new history|last=Gott|first=Richard|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven, Conn.|year=2004|page=13}}</ref> and named ''Isla Juana'' after [[Juan, Prince of Asturias]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Alfred J.|last=Andrea|coauthor=Overfield, James H.|title=The Human Record|volume=1|chapter=Letter by Christopher Columbus concerning recently discovered islands|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|year=2005|page=8|isbn=0618370404}}</ref> In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by [[Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar]] at Baracoa; other towns soon followed including the future capital, [[Havana|San Cristobal de la Habana]] which was founded in 1515. The Spanish enslaved the approximately 100,000 indigenous people who resisted conversion to [[Christianity]], setting them primarily to the task of searching for [[gold]]. Within a century the indigenous people were virtually wiped out due to multiple factors. Among them were Eurasian [[infectious disease]]s aggravated in large part by a lack of natural resistance as well as privation stemming from repressive colonial subjugation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9968/9968.ch01.php|title=Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge|last=Koplow|first=David A.|chapter=1|publisher=University of California Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Guns, germs, and steel : the fates of human societies|last=Diamond|first=Jared M.|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.|location=New York, NY|year=1998|url=http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html}}</ref> Cuba remained a Spanish possession for almost 400 years (1511–1898), with an economy based on [[Agriculture of Cuba|plantation agriculture]], [[mining]] and the export of [[sugar]], [[coffee]] and [[tobacco]] to Europe and later to North America. The work was done primarily by [[African slave trade|African slaves]] brought to the island when [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] owned it in 1762. The small land-owning elite of Spanish settlers held social and economic powers. These powers were supported by a population of Spaniards born on the island ([[Criollo (people)|Criollos]]), other Europeans, and African-descended slaves. The population in 1817 was 630,980, of which 291,021 individuals were white: 115,691 free black; and 224,268 black slaves.<ref>"''[http://books.google.com/books?id=o-OVsN5SwPIC&pg=PA352&dq&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false Latin America's Wars: The age of the caudillo, 1791-1899]''". Robert L. Scheina (2003). p.352. ISBN 1574884506</ref> ===Independence wars=== In the 1820s, when the rest of Spain's empire in [[Latin America]] rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal. Although there were agitation for independence, the Spanish Crown gave Cuba the motto "''La Siempre Fidelísima Isla''" ("The Always Most Faithful Island"). This loyalty was due partly to Cuban settlers' dependence on Spain for trade, protection from [[pirate]]s, protection against a [[slave rebellion]], and partly because they feared the rising power of the United States more than they disliked Spanish rule.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} ==== Ten Years' War==== Independence from Spain was the motive for a rebellion in 1868 led by [[Carlos Manuel de Céspedes]]. The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the [[Ten Years' War]]. The U.S. declined to recognize the new Cuban government although many European and Latin American nations recognized the new nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cubagenweb.org/mil/e-war-hist.htm|title=Historia de las Guerras de Liberación de Cuba}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> In 1878, the [[Pact of Zanjón]] ended the conflict with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–1880, Cuban patriot, [[Calixto Garcia]], attempted to start another war known as the [[Little War (Cuba)|Little War]] but received little support.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/lilwar.htm|title=The Little War (La Guerra Chiquita)}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> ==== Period between wars==== Slavery was abolished in 1886 in spite of African-descended minority remaining socially and economically oppressed.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009|reason=were they oppressed or poor?}} During this period, rural poverty in Spain, provoked by the [[Spanish Revolution of 1868]] and its aftermath, led to an increase of Spanish emigration to Cuba.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Pro-independence agitation was revived in part by resentment of the restrictions imposed on Cuban trade by Spain during the 1890s. This caused hostility to Spain's increasingly oppressive and incompetent administration of Cuba.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Few of Spain's promises for economic reform in the Pact of Zanjón were kept.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} ==== War of 1895==== An exiled dissident named [[José Martí]] founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in [[New York]] in 1892. The aim of the Cuban Revolutionary Party was to achieve Cuban independence from Spain.<ref name=sandler>{{cite book|title=Ground warfare: an international encyclopedia|volume=Part 25, Volume 1|page=549|year=2002|editor=Stanley Sandler|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=1576073440|url=http://books.google.com/?id=L_xxOM85bD8C&pg=PP1|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> Martí traveled, in January 1895, to [[San Fernando de Monte Cristi|Montecristi]] and [[Santo Domingo]] to join the efforts of [[Máximo Gómez]].<ref name=sandler/> Martí wrote down his political views in the ''[[Manifesto of Montecristi]]''.<ref name=arias>{{cite book|title=Spanish-americans: Lives And Faces|page=171|author=David Arias|url=http://books.google.com/?id=7AlqghmzQVUC&pg=PA171|year=2005|isbn=141204717X|publisher=Trafford Publishing|location=Victoria, BC, Canada|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 24 February 1895, but Martí was unable to reach Cuba until 11 April 1895.<ref name=sandler/> Martí was killed in the battle of Dos Rios on 19 May 1895.<ref name=sandler/> His death immortalized him and he has become Cuba's national hero.<ref name=arias/> 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'', described by international observers as "fortified towns". These are often considered the prototype for 20th-century [[concentration camp]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Of planting and planning: the making of British colonial cities|publisher=Chapman and Hall|author=Robert K. Home|year=1997|isbn=0419202307|page=195|url=http://books.google.com/?id=1ovC4TylXNkC&pg=PA195|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the camps, numbers verified by the [[Red Cross]] and U.S. Senator, and former [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]], [[Redfield Proctor]]. U.S. and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spanamwar.com/proctorspeech.htm|title=Cuban Reconcentration Policy and its Effects|author=The Spanish-American War|authorlink=Spanish-American War|accessdate=2007-01-29}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> ==== Spanish-American War==== The U.S. battleship [[USS Maine (ACR-1)|''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 that night. Another 8 crew members died of their wounds in hospital over the next few days.<ref name=morison>{{cite book|title=The American Battleship|url=http://books.google.com/?id=SYurkGIlgLMC&pg=PA18|page=18|first=Samuel Loring|last=Morison|coauthor=Morison, Samuel Eliot; Polmar, Norman Polmar|year=2003|location=St. Paul, Minn.|publisher=MBI Publishing Company|isbn=0760309892|accessdate=2009-09-15}}</ref> A [[Naval Board of Inquiry]], headed by Captain William Sampson, was appointed to investigate the cause of the explosion on the ''Maine''. Having examined the wreck and taken testimony from eyewitnesses and experts, 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."<ref name=morison/> The facts remain disputed today although an investigation by Admiral [[Hyman G. Rickover]] in 1976 established that the blast was most likely a large internal explosion. Mr. Rickover belives the explosion was caused by a spontaneous combustion in a inadequately ventilated [[bituminous coal]] which ignited [[gunpowder]] in an adjacent magazine.<ref>{{cite book|title=How the battleship Maine was destroyed|first=Hyman George|last=Rickover|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Md.|year=1994|isbn=1557507171}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sea power: a naval history|first=Elmer Belmont|last=Potter|coauthors=Fredland, Roger; Adams, Henry Hitch|url=http://books.google.com/?id=zql2rWh6QAsC&pg=PA176|page=176|publisher=United States Naval Institute|location=Annapolis, Md.|year=1981|isbn=0870216074|accessdate=2009-09-15}}</ref> The original 1898 board was unable to fix the responsibility for the disaster, but a furious American populace, fueled by an active press—notably the newspapers of [[William Randolph Hearst]]—concluded that the Spanish were to blame and demanded action.<ref name=morison/> The [[U.S. Congress]] passed a resolution calling for intervention, and President [[William McKinley]] complied.<ref>{{cite book|title=Documentary source book of American history, 1606–1898|page=597|last=Macdonald|first=William|publisher=Macmillan Co.|location=New York, NY|year=1908|url=http://books.google.com/?id=zaUmd7uAuFsC&pg=PA597|accessdate=2009-09-14|isbn=9781406763454}}</ref> Spain and the U.S. declared war on each other in late April. === Early 20th century === 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 U.S. for the sum of $20 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp|title=Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain|date=December 10, 1898|work=The Avalon Project|publisher=Yale Law School}}</ref> Under the same treaty, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over the title to Cuba. [[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 20-year treaty proposal. Instead, Cuba gained formal independence from the U.S. on May 20, 1902 as the Republic of Cuba. But under Cuba's new constitution, 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. In 1906, following disputed elections, the first president, [[Tomás Estrada Palma]], faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces.<ref>{{cite book|title=Corruption in Cuba: Castro and beyond|page=63|first=Sergio|last=Diaz-Briquets|coauthor=Jorge F Pérez-López|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin|year=2006|isbn=0292713215|url=http://books.google.com/?id=Fiquofr8LSoC&pg=PA63|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named [[Charles Edward Magoon]] as Governor for three years. For many years afterwards, Cuban historians attributed Magoon's governorship as having introduced political and social corruption.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|title=Cuba; the Pursuit of Freedom|date=March 1971|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York|isbn=0060142596|pages=283–287}}</ref> In 1908, self-government was restored when [[José Miguel Gómez]] was elected President, but the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. In 1912, the [[Partido Independiente de Color]] attempted to establish a separate black republic in Oriente Province,<ref>{{cite book|title=The War of 1898, and U.S. interventions, 1898–1934: an encyclopedia|editor=Benjamin Beede|page=134|year=1994|publisher=Garland|location=New York|isbn=0824056248|url=http://books.google.com/?id=48g116X9IIwC&pg=PA134|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed. [[File:TeatroGarciaLorca.jpg|thumb|The Gran Teatro (''left'') and Hotel Inglaterra, on the Prado, facing Parque Central in Havana]] During [[World War I]], Cuba shipped considerable quantities of sugar to Britain. Cuba was able to avoid [[U-boat]] attacks by the subterfuge of shipping sugar to [[Sweden]]. The [[Mario García Menocal|Menocal]] government declared war on Germany very soon after the U.S. did. 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 [[Infrastructure of Cuba|national development projects]] which include the [[Carretera Central (Cuba)|Carretera Central]] and [[El Capitolio]]. 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.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} During a general strike in which the Communist Party sided with Machado,<ref>{{cite book|title=Fulgencio Batista|volume=1|page=50|last=Argote-Freyre|first=Frank|publisher=Rutgers University Press|location=New Brunswick, N.J.|year=2006|isbn=0813537010}}</ref> the senior elements of the Cuban army forced Machado into exile. The Party then installed [[Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada]], son of Cuba's founding father (Carlos Manuel de Céspedes), as President. During September 4–5, 1933, a second coup overthrew Céspedes which lead 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 [[Blas Hernández|Atares Castle]]. This government lasted 100 days but engineered radical socialist changes in Cuban society and a rejection of the Platt Amendment. In 1934, [[Fulgencio Batista]] and the army replaced Grau with [[Carlos Mendieta]]. Fulgencio Batista was elected as President democratically in the elections of 1940 <ref name=bethell>{{cite book|title=Cuba|first=Leslie|last=Bethell|isbn=0521436823|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Inside the Cuban Revolution|author=Julia E. Sweig|isbn=0674016125|year=2004|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Mass.}}</ref><ref name=horowitz>{{cite book|title=Cuban communism|page=662|last=Horowitz|first=Irving Louis|authorlink=Irving Louis Horowitz|publisher=Transaction Books|location=New Brunswick, N.J.|year=1988|isbn=0887386725|url=http://books.google.com/?id=hx2_y7Vu-PUC&pg=PA463}}</ref> and his administration carried out major social reforms. Several members of the Communist Party held office under his administration<ref name="Sweig-Inside">{{cite book|title=Inside the Cuban Revolution|author=Julia E. Sweig|isbn=9780674016125|year=2004|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|location=Cambridge, Mass.}}</ref> and established numerous economic regulations and pro-union policies.<ref name="Dominquez-Cuba">{{cite book|title=Cuba|author=Jorge I. Domínguez}}</ref> 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. Cuba armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II, although president Batista suggested a joint US-Latin American assault on [[Spanish State|Francoist Spain]] in order to overthrow its [[authoritarian]] regime.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802544,00.html "Batista's Boost"], ''TIME'', January 18, 1943, Retrieved March 2, 2010</ref> [[File:cuba yank tank.jpg|thumb|Many so-called [[yank tank]]s remain in use from pre-revolutionary days. The balcony above belongs to a [[casa particular]].]] [[Ramón Grau]] won the 1944 elections and four years later, in 1948, [[Carlos Prío Socarrás]] wins the elections. The influx of investment fueled a boom which did much to raise living standards across the board and create a prosperous middle class in most urban areas. It is also important to note the gap between rich and poor became wider and more obvious.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cuba's Agricultural Sector|url=http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FE/FE48000.pdf|chapter=Cuban Agriculture Before 1959: The Social Situation|author=José Alvarez|publisher=University Press of Florida|year=2004|isbn=0813027543|accessdate=2008-01-08}}</ref> 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. 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 March 10, 1952. Batista held on to power with the backing of a [[nationalist]] section of the army as a "provisional president" for the next two years. [[Justo Carrillo]] informed Barquín in Washington, in March 1952, that the inner circles knew that Batista had aimed the coup at him. 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. 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 April 4, 1956, a coup by hundreds of career officers led by Barquín was frustrated by [[Rios Morejon]]. The coup broke the backbone of the Cuban armed forces. 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. Cuba had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios.<ref name=lewis>{{cite book|title=Authoritarian regimes in Latin America|url=http://books.google.com/?id=LAvw-YXm4TsC&pg=PA186|author=Paul H. Lewis|page=186|publisher=Rowman and Littlefield|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=0742537390|accessdate=2009-09-14|year=2006}}</ref> In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country, certainly by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards.<ref name=asce>{{cite journal|title=Renaissance and decay: A comparison of socioeconomic indicators in pre-Castro and current-day Cuba|first=Kirby|last=Smith|coauthor=Llorens, Hugo|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/ca/cuba/asce/cuba8/30smith.pdf|journal=Cuba in Transition|volume=8|publisher=Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, University of Texas at Austin|location=Miami, Florida|date=6–8 August 1998|accessdate=2009-09-14}}</ref> Cuban workers enjoyed some of the highest wages in the world. Cuba attracted more immigrants, primarily from Europe, as a percentage of population than the US. The United Nations noted Cuba for its large middle class. On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in Latin America, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Cuba on the eve of the socialist transition: A reassessment of the backwardness-stagnation thesis|author=Eric N. Baklanoff|journal=Cuba in Transition|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/ca/cuba/asce/cuba8/31baklanoff.pdf}}</ref> Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems.<ref name=horowitz/><ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|title=Cuba; the Pursuit of Freedom|date=March 1971|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York|isbn=0060142596|page=1173}}</ref> Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs.<ref name=horowitz/> The middle class, which was comparable to the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with the unemployment.The labor unions supported Batista until the very end.<ref name=bethell/><ref name=horowitz/> === Revolution === {{Main|Cuban Revolution}} [[File:Yate Granma from cubagob-cu.jpg|thumb|The Granma yacht in which the Cuban revolutionaries traveled from Mexico to Cuba to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista on 02 December 1956. The 60-foot (18-meter) diesel-powered Granma was built in 1942.]] December 2, 1956, a party of 82 people in a yacht, named [[Granma (yacht)|Granma]], landed on the shore of Cuba. The party was led by [[Fidel Castro]] with the intention of establishing an armed resistance movement in the [[Sierra Maestra]]. While facing armed resistance from Castro's rebel fighters in the mountains, Fulgencio Batista's regime was weakened and crippled by a United States [[arms embargo]] imposed on March 14, 1958. By late 1958, the rebels broke out of the Sierra Maestra and launched a general, popular insurrection. After the fighters captured [[Santa Clara, Cuba|Santa Clara]], Batista dramatically fled from Havana on January 1, 1959 to exile in [[Portugal]]. 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 representative should assume command. Fidel Castro's forces entered the capital on January 8, 1959. 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.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} Disagreements within the government culminated in Urrutia's resignation in July 1959. He was replaced by Osvaldo Dorticós who served as president until 1976. Castro became prime minister in February 1959, succeeding [[Jos&eacute; Miró Cardona|Jos&eacute; Miró]] in that post. [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0614-040, Berlin, Fidel Castro an der Grenze.jpg|thumb|Fidel Castro and members of the [[East Germany|East German]] [[Politburo]] in 1972]] In its first year, the new revolutionary government [[expropriated]] [[private property]] with little or no compensation, nationalized public utilities, tightened controls on the [[private sector]], and closed down the [[mafia]]-controlled [[gambling]] industry. The [[CIA]] conspired with the [[Chicago Outfit|Chicago mafia]] in 1960 and 1961 to [[Fidel_Castro#Assassination_attempts|assassinate Fidel Castro]], according to documents declassified in 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/cuba/story/0,,2112303,00.html|title=CIA conspired with mafia to kill Castro|date=27 June 2007|publisher=Guardian News and Media|accessdate=2009-09-07 | location=London | first=Simon | last=Tisdall}}</ref><ref>Batista gave mafia boss [[Meyer Lansky]] a monopoly on gambling in Havana in return for half the profits. [http://www.carpenoctem.tv/mafia/lansky.html Meyer Lansky]{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> 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]],<ref>[http://www.chibas.org/raul_chibas_manifiesto.php Familia Chibás > Raul Antonio Chibás > Manifiesto Sierra Maestra]{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> while in the Sierra Maestra. The government nationalized private property totaling about $25 billion US dollars,<ref name=lazo>{{cite book|first=Mario|last=Lazo|title=American Policy Failures in Cuba—Dagger in the Heart|year=1970|publisher=Twin Circle Publishing|location=New York, NY|pages=198–200, 240}}</ref> of which American property made up only over US $1.0 billions.<ref name=lazo/><ref>Faria, Miguel A. ''Cuba in Revolution—Escape from a Lost Paradise'', 2002, Hacienda Publishing, Macon, Georgia, pp.105,182,248</ref> By the end of 1960, all opposition newspapers in Cuba had been closed down, and all radio and [[television station]]s were in state control.<ref name=lewis/> Moderates, teachers and professors were purged.<ref name=lewis/> In any year, about 20,000 dissenters were imprisoned.<ref name=lewis/> Some [[homosexuality|homosexuals]], religious practitioners, and others were sent to labor camps where they were subject to medical-political "[[Brainwashing|re-education]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=Health, politics, and revolution in Cuba since 1898|author=Katherine Hirschfeld}}</ref> One estimate is that 15,000 to 17,000 people were executed.<ref>Black Book of Communism. p. 664.</ref> The [[Communist]] Party strengthened its one-party rule, with Castro as maximum leader.<ref name=lewis/> Fidel's brother, Raúl Castro, became the army chief.<ref name=lewis/> Loyalty to Castro became the primary criterion for all appointments.<ref name=staten>{{cite book|title=The history of Cuba|author=Clifford L. Staten}}</ref> In September 1960, the revolutionary government created a system known as [[Committees for the Defense of the Revolution]] (CDR), which provided neighborhood spying.<ref name=lewis/> In the 1961 New Year's Day parade, the administration exhibited [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[tank]]s and other weapons.<ref name=staten/> Eventually, the tiny island nation built up the second largest armed forces in Latin America, second only to [[Brazil]].<ref name=military>{{cite web|url=http://www.disam.dsca.mil/pubs/Vol%205-2/Cuban.pdf|title=Cuban armed forces and the Soviet military presence}}</ref> Cuba became a [[Soviet Empire|privileged client-state]] of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2004/RAND_MG111.pdf|title=Cuba After Castro: Legacies, Challenges, and Impediments|author=Edward Gonzalez, Kevin F. McCarthy|year=2004}}</ref> By 1961, hundreds of thousands of Cubans had left for the United States.<ref>{{cite book|title=Cuba|author=Ted Henken}}</ref> 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 exile]]s 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. The Cuban armed forces, trained and equipped by [[Eastern Bloc]] nations, defeated the exiles in three days. The bad [[Cuban-American relations]] were exacerbated the following year by the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], when the Kennedy administration demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet missiles placed in Cuba, which was a response to U.S. nuclear missiles in [[Turkey]] and the [[Middle East]]. 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.<ref name=bethell/> By 1963, Cuba was moving towards a full-fledged Communist system modeled on the USSR.<ref>Faria, Miguel A. ''Cuba in Revolution – Escape From a Lost Paradise'', 2002, Hacienda Publishing, Inc., Macon, Georgia, pp. 163–228</ref> The U.S. imposed a complete diplomatic and commercial embargo on Cuba and began [[Cuban Project|Operation Mongoose]]. In 1965, Castro merged his revolutionary organizations with the Communist Party, of which he became First Secretary, and [[Blas Roca]] became Second Secretary. Roca was succeeded by Raúl Castro, who, as Defense Minister and Fidel's closest confidant, became and has remained the second most powerful figure in Cuba. Raúl's position was strengthened by the departure of Che Guevara to launch an unsuccessful insurrections in the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], and then [[Bolivia]], where he was killed in 1967. During the 1970s, Fidel Castro dispatched tens of thousands troops in support of Soviet-supported wars in Africa, particularly the [[Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola|MPLA]] in [[Angola]] and [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]] in [[Ethiopia]].<ref>{{cite book|title=To make a world safe for revolution|author=Jorge I. Domínguez, Harvard University. Center for International Affairs}}</ref> The standard of living in 1970s was "extremely spartan" and discontent was rife.<ref name=cambridge>{{cite book|title=The Cambridge History of Latin America|author=Bethell,Leslie}}</ref> Fidel Castro admitted the failures of economic policies in a 1970 speech.<ref name=cambridge/> By the mid-1970s, Castro started economic reforms. Cuba was suspended from the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS) in 1962 in support of the U.S. embargo, but in 1975 the OAS lifted all sanctions against Cuba, with approval of 16 countries, including the US.<ref>[http://www.petersoninstitute.org/research/topics/sanctions/cuba2.cfm Case Studies in Sanctions and Terrorism : Case 60-3, US v. Cuba], Peterson Institute for International Economics.</ref> On 3 June 2009, the OAS adopted a resolution to end the 47-year exclusion of Cuba. 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. Cuban leaders have repeatedly announced they are not interested in rejoining the OAS.<ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11485277.htm Cuba's Fidel Castro calls OAS a "U.S. Trojan horse"], China View, June 4, 2009.</ref> === Recent affairs === As of 2002, some 1.2 million persons of Cuban background (about 10% of the current population of Cuba) reside in the U.S.,<ref>[http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-81.html Census 2000 Paints Statistical Portrait of the Nation's Hispanic Population], U.S. Census Bureau, May 10, 2001.</ref><ref>[http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/000797.html Hispanic Heritage Month 2002], U.S. Census Bureau, September 3, 2002.</ref> Many of them left the island for the U.S., often by sea in small boats and fragile rafts. On 6 April 1980, 10,000 Cubans stormed the [[Peru]]vian embassy in Havana seeking political asylum. The following day, the Cuban government granted permission for the emigration of Cubans seeking refuge in the Peruvian embassy.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} 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{{Clarify|date=June 2010}} the U.S. State Department, but the emigration continued, because Castro allowed anyone who desired to leave the country to do so through the [[Mariel boatlift|port of Mariel]]. Over 125,000 Cubans emigrated to the U.S. before the flow of vessels ended on 15 June.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} [[File:Dmitry Medvedev in Cuba 28 November 2008-4.jpg|thumb|Raúl Castro and President [[Dmitry Medvedev|Medvedev]] of Russia]] 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.<ref name=cmaj>{{cite web|url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2474886|title=Health consequences of Cuba's Special Period|publisher=Canadian Medical Association Journal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/cuba/CubaSituation0308.pdf|title=Cuba’s Food & Agriculture Situation Report}}</ref> The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines and cash until 1993.<ref name=cmaj/> On 5 August 1994, state security dispersed protesters in a [[Maleconazo uprising|spontaneous protest]] in Havana.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/gratis/Gutierrez-20-1.pdf|title=Can Cuba Change?|author=Carl Gershman and Orlando Gutierrez|journal=Journal of Democracy January 2009, Volume 20, Number 1}}</ref> 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 (Cuba)|"Black Spring"]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.php|title=Cuba's Long Black Spring|author=Carlos Lauria, Monica Campbell, and María Salazar|publisher=The Committee to Protect Journalists|date=March 18, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Cuba_report.pdf|title=Cuba – No surrender by independent journalists, five years on from “black spring”|publisher=Reporters Without Borders|date=March 2008}}</ref> 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".{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} On 2 December 2006, Fidel was too ill to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration of the [[Granma (yacht)|Granma]] boat landing, fuelling speculation that he had [[stomach cancer]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6188591.stm|title=Castro not dying, US envoys told|publisher=BBC News|date=18 December 2006|accessdate=2009-09-07}}</ref> although there was evidence his illness was a digestive problem and not terminal.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2519372,00.html|title=Castro does not have cancer, says Spanish doctor|publisher=Times Online|accessdate=2006-12-26 | location=London | date=2006-12-26}}</ref> In January 2007, footage was released of Fidel meeting Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, in which Castro "appeared frail but stronger than three months ago".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6315783.stm |title=Cuban TV shows 'stronger' Castro |date=31 January 2007 |work=BBC NEWS |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |accessdate=3 July 2010}}</ref> In February 2008, Fidel announced his resignation as President of Cuba,<ref>{{cite web|title=Castro resigns as Cuban president: official media|publisher=Agence France-Presse|url=http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/newsmlmmd.fce074e0275fae2a0c16383ec4973c96.191.html|date=2008-02-19|accessdate=2008-02-19}}</ref> and on 24 February Raúl was elected as the new President.<ref>{{cite news|title=Raul Castro named Cuban president|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261204.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=2008-02-24|accessdate=2008-02-24}}</ref> In his acceptance speech, Raúl promised that some of the restrictions that limit Cubans' daily lives would be removed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Byte by byte|publisher=The Economist|url=http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10881009|date=2008-03-19|accessdate=2008-04-04}}</ref> In March 2009, Raúl Castro removed some of [[2009 Cuban government dismissals|Fidel's officials]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/02/raul-castro-fidel-cuba-officials|title=Raúl Castro replaces top Cuban officials|date=2 March 2009|publisher=Guardian News and Media|accessdate=2009-09-15 | location=London}}</ref> ==Human rights== {{Main|Human rights in Cuba|Censorship in Cuba|Cuban dissidents}} [[File:02.Trinidad (59).JPG|thumb|[[Trinidad, Cuba]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] since 1988]] The Cuban government has been accused of numerous [[human rights abuse]]s including [[torture]], arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial executions (a.k.a. ''"El Paredón"'').<ref>{{cite web|year=1967|month=April 7|url=http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Cuba67sp/indice.htm|title=Information about human rights in Cuba|publisher=Comision Interamericana de Derechos Humanos|language=español|accessdate=2006-07-09 }}</ref> The [[Human Rights Watch]] alleges that the government "represses nearly all forms of political dissent" and that "Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law".<ref name=hrw2006>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/cuba12207.htm|title=Cuba|publisher=Human Rights Watch|year=2006}}</ref> Cuba was the second biggest prison in the world for journalists in 2008, second only to the People's Republic of China, according to the [[Committee to Protect Journalists]] (CPJ), an international [[NGO]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cpj.org/reports/2008/12/cpjs-2008-prison-census-online-and-in-jail.php|title=CPJ's 2008 prison census: Online and in jail|publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists}}</ref> As a result of [[computer]] ownership bans, computer ownership rates are among the world's lowest.<ref name=online>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/rapport_gb_md_1.pdf|title=Going online in Cuba: Internet under surveillance|publisher=Reporters Without Borders|year=2006}}</ref> Right to use Internet is granted only to selected people and these selected people are monitored.<ref name=online/><ref name=rsf>{{cite web|url=http://arabia.reporters-sans-frontieres.org/article.php3?id_article=10611|title=Internet in Cuba|publisher=Reporters Without Borders}}</ref> Connecting to the Internet illegally can lead to a five-year prison sentence. [[Cuban dissidents]] face arrests and imprisonment. In the 1990s, Human Rights reported that Cuba's extensive prison system, one of the largest in Latin America, consists of some 40 maximum-security prisons, 30 minimum-security prisons, and over 200 work camps.<ref name=hrw1999>{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-05.htm|title=Cuba's Repressive Machinery: Human Rights Forty Years After the Revolution|chapter=V. General Prison Conditions|publisher=Human Rights Watch|accessdate=2007-12-18}}</ref> 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.<ref name=hrw1999/> Citizens cannot leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission.<ref name=hrw2006/> ==Economy== {{Main|Economy of Cuba|Tourism in Cuba|Rationing in Cuba|Sociolismo}} [[Image:Cuba006.jpg|thumb|right|270px|[[Tobacco]] plantation, [[Pinar del Río]].]] The Cuban state 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 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/research_reports/art3670.html/OA-Cuba_Social_Policy_at_Crossroads-en.pdf|title=Social Policy at the crossroads|format=PDF|publisher=oxfamamerica.org|accessdate=2009-02-05}}</ref> Capital investment is restricted and requires approval by the government. The Cuban government sets most prices and rations goods. Moreover, any firm wishing to hire a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn will pay the company's employee in Cuban pesos according to Human Rights Watch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-01.htm#P392_35421|title=Cuba's repressive machinery: Summary and recommendations|publisher=Human Rights Watch|year=1999}}</ref> Cubans can not change jobs without government permission.<ref name=horowitz/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/public-administration/national-security-international/3974438-1.html|title=The end of rationing?|author=Mesa-Lago, Carmelo|date=September 22, 2006}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> Cuba relied heavily on trade with the Soviet Union. From the late 1980s, Soviet subsidies for Cuba started to dry up. Before the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]], Cuba depended on [[Moscow]] for sheltered markets for its exports and substantial aid. 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]], hoping to see democratization of the sort that took place in Eastern Europe. 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, the legalization of the use of the [[US dollar]] in business, and the encouragement of [[Tourism in Cuba|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. In 2004 Cuban officials publicly backed the [[Euro]] as a "global counter-balance to the US dollar", and eliminated the US currency from circulation in its stores and businesses.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as "enclave tourism" and "tourism apartheid".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Cuban Tourism During the Special Period|first=María Dolores|last=Espino|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/asce/cuba10/espino.pdf|journal=Cuba in Transition|volume=10|publisher=Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, University of Texas at Austin|location=Miami, Florida|date=3–5 August 2000|accessdate=2009-09-14}}</ref> Contacts between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were ''de facto'' illegal until 1997.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/1396643/Cuba-apartheid-as-Castro-pulls-in-the-tourists.html|author=[[David Rennie (columnist)|David Rennie]]|title=Cuba 'apartheid' as Castro pulls in the tourists|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=8 June 2002 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=This Is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives|first=Ben|last=Corbett|year=2004|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=0813338263|page=33}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Cuban tourism in 2007: economic impact|first=Nicolás|last=Crespo|coauthor=Negrón, Santos|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/asce/cuba7/crespo.pdf|journal=Cuba in Transition|volume=7|publisher=Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, University of Texas at Austin|location=Miami, Florida|date=7–9 August 1997|accessdate=2009-09-14}}</ref> 1.9 million tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of $2.1 billion.<ref>{{cite web|date=December 2005|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm|title=Background Note: Cuba|publisher=U.S. Department of State|accessdate=2006-07-09}}</ref> The rapid growth of tourism during the ''Special Period'' had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba, and led to speculation of the emergence of a two-tier economy<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/conferences/cuba/TLCP/Volume%201/Facio.pdf|title=Tourism in Cuba During the Special Period|first=Elisa|last=Facio|coauthor=Maura Toro-Morn, and Anne R. Roschelle|publisher=University of Iowa College of Law|work=Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems|volume=14|page=119|date=Spring 2004}}</ref>. [[Medical tourism]] sector caters to thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian and American consumers every year. The [[Agriculture in Cuba|communist agricultural production system]] was ridiculed by Raúl Castro in 2008.<ref name=food>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/16/cuba.farming/index.html|title=Cuban leader looks to boost food production|publisher=CNN|date=17 April 2008|accessdate=2009-09-14}}</ref> Cuba now imports up to 80% of its food.<ref name=food/> Before 1959, Cuba boasted as many cattle as people. For some time, Cuba has been experiencing a housing shortage because of the state's failure to keep pace with increasing demand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/FOCUS_Web/Issue59.htm|title=Deteriorating living conditions in Cuba|work=Focus on Cuba|issue=59|date=14 October 2004|author=Eric Driggs|publisher=Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami|accessdate=2009-09-13}}</ref> Moreover, the government instituted food rationing policies in 1962, which were exacerbated following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the US embargo. 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 in Cuba|rationing]] system chronically plagued with shortages. As the variety and quantity of available rationed goods declined. Under Venezuela's [[Mission Barrio Adentro]], Hugo Chávez has supplied Cuba up to {{convert|80000|oilbbl|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.<ref>{{cite web|year=2006|month=June 29|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html|title=Rank Order Exports|work=The World Factbook|publisher=CIA|accessdate=2006-07-09}}</ref> Its major export partners are [[China]] 27.5%, Canada 26.9%, [[Netherlands]] 11.1%, Spain 4.7% (2007).<ref name=factbook>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html|title=Cuba|work=The World Factbook|publisher=CIA|accessdate=2009-04-06}}</ref> Cuba's major [[export]]s are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, and coffee;<ref name=factbook/> imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated to be $13 billion,<ref>{{cite web|last=Calzon|first=Frank|date=13 March 2005|url=http://www.cubacenter.org/media/calzon/cuba_makes_poor_trade.html|title=Cuba makes poor trade partner for Louisiana|publisher=Center for a Free Cuba|accessdate=2009-09-07}}</ref> approximately 38% of GDP.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html|title=Rank Order – GDP (purchasing power parity)|publisher=CIA Fact Book|accessdate=2006-07-09}}</ref> According to the [[Heritage Foundation]], Cuba is dependent on credit accounts that rotate from country to country.<ref name=catholic/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|date=6 December 2001|url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/highlights/2001/IATR/cubaiatr.pdf|title=Cuba's Sugar Industry and the Impact of Hurricane Michele|publisher=International Agricultural Trade Report|accessdate=2006-07-09}}</ref> At one time, Cuba was the world's most important sugar producer and exporter. As a result of diversification, underinvestment and natural disasters, however, 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<ref>{{cite web|year=2002|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060823090044/http://www.em.csiro.au/em/commodities/nickel/nickel_production/images/global_mine_prod.gif|title=Global Nickel Mine Production 2002|accessdate=2006-08-23}}</ref> which constitutes about 25% of total Cuban exports.<ref>{{cite web|last=Frank|first=Marc|year=2002|month=December 18|url=http://www.ciponline.org/cuba/cubainthenews/newsarticles/rt121802frank.htm|title=Cuba's 2002 nickel exports top 70,000 tonnes|publisher=Center for International Policy|accessdate=2006-07-09}}</ref> Recently, large reserves of [[oil]] have been found in the North Cuba Basin.<ref>{{cite news|date=11 September 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5321594.stm|title=Cuba oil prospects cloud US horizon|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2006-12-09}}</ref> {{As of|2010|alt=In 2010}}, Cubans were allowed to build their own houses, 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.<ref>[http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/152868/gobierno-de-castro-otorga-a-cubanos-permiso-para-construir-viviendas-por-esfuerzo-propio/]</ref> ==Government and politics== {{Main|Politics of Cuba|Provinces of Cuba|Municipalities of Cuba}} [[File:Revolution square.jpg|thumb|upright|Revolution Square: José Martí Monument designed by Enrique Luis Varela, sculpture by [[Juan José Sicre]] and finished in 1958.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.latam.ufl.edu/News/content/fall2006.pdf|title=José Martí and Juan José Sicre: The Model and the Artist|journal=The LatinAmericanist|publisher=University of Florida, Center for Latin American Studies|volume=37|issue=2|date=Fall/Winter 2006|accessdate=2009-09-13}}</ref>]] The Constitution of 1976, which defined Cuba as a [[socialist republic]], was replaced by the Constitution of 1992, which is guided by the ideas of [[José Martí]], [[Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]] and [[Lenin]].<ref name=constitution>{{cite web|url=http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/ingles/constitution.html|title=The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba|publisher=National Assembly of People's Power|accessdate=2007-01-29}}</ref> The constitution describes the Communist Party of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state".<ref name=constitution/> The first secretary of the Communist Party, is concurrently President of the Council of State ([[President of Cuba]]) and President of the [[Council of Ministers of Cuba|Council of Ministers]] (sometimes referred to as [[Prime Minister of Cuba]]).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1203299.stm|title=Country profile: Cuba|publisher=BBC News|date=20 August 2009|accessdate=2009-09-07}}</ref> Members of both councils are elected by the [[National Assembly of People's Power]].<ref name=constitution/> 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.<ref name=constitution/> 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.<ref name=constitution/> 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".<ref name=constitution/> 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".<ref name=constitution/> 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. In the subsequent election, there is only one candidate for each seat, who must gain a majority to be elected. No [[List of political parties in Cuba|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 nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity within Cuba by [[opposition to Fidel Castro|opposition groups]] is minimal and illegal. The country is subdivided into 14 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 Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence, when the most troublesome areas were subdivided. The provinces are divided into municipalities. {|class="background:transparent" |style="padding-right:1em;"| <ol> <li>[[Isla de la Juventud]]</li> <li>[[Pinar del Río Province|Pinar del Río]]</li> <li>[[Havana Province]]</li> <li>[[Havana|Havana City]]</li> <li>[[Matanzas Province|Matanzas]]</li> <li>[[Cienfuegos Province|Cienfuegos]]</li> <li>[[Villa Clara Province|Villa Clara]]</li> <li>[[Sancti Spíritus Province|Sancti Spíritus]]</li> |</ol> <ol start="9"> <li>[[Ciego de Ávila Province|Ciego de Ávila]]</li> <li>[[Camagüey Province|Camagüey]]</li> <li>[[Las Tunas Province|Las Tunas]]</li> <li>[[Granma Province|Granma]]</li> <li>[[Holguín Province|Holguín]]</li> <li>[[Santiago de Cuba Province|Santiago de Cuba]]</li> <li>[[Guantánamo Province|Guantánamo]]</li> </ol> |[[File:CubaSubdivisions.png|400px]] |} ===Military=== {{Main|Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces}} [[File:Cuban mig29.jpg|thumb|Cuban [[MiG-29]]UB]] Castro's Cuba had a high degree of militarization{{POV-statement|date=August 2009}} and devoted a large share{{Clarify|date=August 2009}} of its national resources to support its military establishment and activities.<ref name=expenditure>{{cite web|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/asce/cuba6/23perlopez.fm.pdf|title=Cuban Military Expenditures: Concepts, Data and Burden Measures}}</ref> Castro built up the second largest armed forces in [[Latin America]]; only Brazil's were larger.<ref name=military/> From 1975 until the late 1980s, 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.<ref>[http://www.redorbit.com/news/general/618165/cuban_army_called_key_in_any_postcastro_scenario/index.html Cuban army called key in any post-Castro scenario Anthony Boadle] Reuters 2006{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> Cuba is secretive about its military spending.<ref name=expenditure/> The military has long been the most powerful, influential, and competent official institution in Cuba, and high-ranking generals are believed to play crucial roles in all conceivable succession scenarios.{{POV-statement|date=August 2009}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/Research_Studies/BLatell.pdf|title=The Cuban military and transition dynamics}}</ref> ===Foreign relations=== <!--Please keep this section as a summary and consider making additions to the main Foreign relations of Cuba article--> {{Main|Foreign relations of Cuba}} From its inception, the Cuban Revolution defined itself as [[internationalism (politics)|internationalist]], joining [[Comecon]] in 1972. Cuba was a major contributor to Soviet-supported wars in Africa, Central America and Asia. In Africa, the largest war was in [[Cuban intervention in Angola|Angola]], where Cuba sent tens of thousands of troops. Cuba was a friend of the Ethiopian leader [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/?id=5cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA207&lpg=PA207|title=Superpower diplomacy in the Horn of Africa|page=207|year=1987|author=Samuel M. Makinda|publisher=Croom Helm Ltd|location=Beckenham, Kent|isbn=0709946627|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> In Africa, Cuba supported 17 leftist governments. In some countries it suffered setbacks, such as in eastern [[Simba Rebellion|Zaire]], but in others Cuba had significant success. Major engagements took place in [[Algeria]], Zaire, [[Yemen]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Ramazani, Rouhollah K.|year=1975|title=The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz|volume=3|publisher=Sijthoff & Noordhoof|location=Netherlands|isbn=9028600698}}</ref> Ethiopia, [[Guinea-Bissau]] and [[Mozambique]]. The Cuban government's military involvement in Latin America—mostly with the aim of overthrowing U.S. backed right wing regimes, many of them dictatorial—has been extensive. One of the earliest interventions was the Marxist militia led by Che Guevara in Bolivia in 1967, though a modicum of funds and troops were sent. Lesser known actions include the 1959 missions to the [[Dominican Republic]]<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Waterloo Daily Courier|date=1959-06-24|location=Waterloo, Iowa|title=AP 1950 Invasion Wiped Out Says Trujillo|page=7}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> and [[Panama]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} In the former, the Cuban government provided military assistance to a group of Dominican exiles with the intention of overthrowing the tyrannical dictator [[Rafael Trujillo]]. Although the expedition failed and most of its members were murdered by the government, today they are recognized as heroes and a prominent monument was erected in their memory in [[Santo Domingo]] by the Dominican government. The Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana ("Memorial Museum of the Dominican Resistance,") where the heroes of 1959 feature prominently, is being built by the Dominican Government.<ref>http://www.museodelaresistencia.org/museo/federaciones/cmh.html</ref> The [[Sandinista National Liberation Front|socialist government]] in [[Nicaragua]] was openly supported by Cuba and can be considered its greatest success in Latin America.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} Cuba is a founding member of the [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas]]. More than 30,000 Cuban doctors currently work abroad, in countries such as Venezuela and [[Zimbabwe]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Moon Cuba|page=636|author=Christopher P. Baker|publisher=Avalon Travel Publishing|year=2006}}</ref> The membership of Cuba in the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] has received criticism.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/03/world/americas/03iht-rights.html|title=Human Rights Council is now on UN agenda|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2009-09-06 | first=Warren | last=Hoge | date=2006-02-03}}</ref> The [[European Union]] in 2003 accused the Cuban government of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2004:076E:0384:0386:EN:PDF|title=EU-Cuba relations|date=2003-09-04|publisher=European Communities|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> In 2008, the EU and Cuba agreed to resume full relations and cooperation activities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EU-Cuba-Joint%20declaration-261108_EN.pdf|title=Joint declarations concerning areas and modalities provisionally identified for cooperation|date=2008-11-26|publisher=European Commission|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> The United States continues an [[United States embargo against Cuba|embargo]] against Cuba "so long as it continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/www/regions/wha/cuba/democ_act_1992.html|title=Cuban Democracy Act|year=1992|publisher=U.S. Department of State|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> United States President [[Barack Obama]] stated on April 17, 2009 in [[Trinidad and Tobago]] that "the United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/April/20090421102201dmslahrellek0.4116632.html?CP.rss=true|title=Obama Says U.S., Cuba Taking Critical Steps Toward a New Day|date=2009-04-21|publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> and reversed the [[George W. Bush|Bush Administration]]'s prohibition on travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans from the United States to Cuba.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/April/20090413170610eaifas0.2033502.html|title=U.S. Administration Announcement on U.S. Policy Toward Cuba|date=2009-04-13|publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> ==Geography== {{Main|Geography of Cuba}} [[File:Alejandro de Humboldt National Park.jpg|thumb|[[Alejandro de Humboldt National Park]] in eastern Cuba]] Cuba is an [[archipelago]] of islands located in the northern [[Caribbean Sea]] at the confluence with the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. The United States lies to the north-west, [[the Bahamas]] to the north, [[Haiti]] to the east, [[Jamaica]] and the [[Cayman Islands]] to the south, and [[Mexico]] to the west. Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four smaller groups of islands: the [[Colorados Archipelago]] on the northwestern coast, the [[Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago]] on the north-central Atlantic coast, the [[Jardines de la Reina]] on the south-central coast and the [[Canarreos Archipelago]] on the southwestern coast. The main island is {{convert|1199|km|abbr=on}} long, constituting most of the nation's land area ({{convert|105006|km2|abbr=on|0}}) and is the [[List of islands by area|16th-largest island]] in the world by land area. The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains apart from the [[Sierra Maestra]] mountains in the southeast, whose highest point is [[Pico Turquino]] ({{convert|1975|m|abbr=on}}). The second-largest island is [[Isla de la Juventud]] (Isle of Youth) in the Canarreos archipelago, with an area of {{convert|3056|km2|abbr=on|0}}. Cuba has a total land area of {{convert|110860|km2|abbr=on|0}}. === Climate === {{Main|Climate of Cuba}} [[File:Cayol3.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Beach on [[Cayo Largo del Sur]] in the Canarreos archipelago]] The local climate is tropical, though moderated by northeasterly trade winds that blow year-round. 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 {{convert|21|°C|1}} in January and {{convert|27|°C|1}} in July. The warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that Cuba sits across the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico combine to make the country prone to frequent [[Tropical cyclone|hurricanes]]. These are most common in September and October. === Resources === The most important mineral resource is [[nickel]], of which Cuba has the world's second largest reserves after Russia.<ref name=torres>{{cite web|url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/1997/9509097.pdf|title=The Mineral Industry of Cuba|author=Ivette E. Torres|year=1997|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> A [[Sherritt International|Canadian energy company]] operates a large nickel mining facility in [[Moa, Cuba|Moa]]. Cuba is also the world's fifth-largest producer of refined [[cobalt]], a byproduct of nickel mining operations.<ref name=torres/> Recent oil exploration has revealed that the [[North Cuba Basin]] could produce approximately {{convert|4.6|Goilbbl|m3}} to {{convert|9.3|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil. In 2006, Cuba started to test-drill these locations for possible exploitation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1936186,00.html|author=Wayne S. Smith|title=After 46 years of failure, we must change course on Cuba|publisher=Guardian News and Media|date=1 November 2006|accessdate=2009-09-06 | location=London}}</ref> ==Demographics== {{Main|Demographics of Cuba|Religion in Cuba|Spanish immigration to Cuba}} {| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" |+ <font size="-1"> |----- !colspan=9| '''Official 1899–2002 Cuba Census''' <ref name=census>{{cite web|url=http://www.cubagob.cu/otras_info/censo/tablas_html/ii_3.htm|title=Census of population and homes|publisher=Government of Cuba|date=16 September 2002|language=Spanish|accessdate=2009-09-07}}</ref><ref name=unstats>[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybsets/1956%20DYB.pdf Cuba 1953 UN Statistics; Ethnic composition. Page: 260.May take time to load page]</ref><ref name=pedraza>{{cite book|title=Political disaffection in Cuba's revolution and exodus|last=Pedraza|first=Silvia|url=http://books.google.com/?id=QCSJ61F4j34C&pg=PA156|page=156|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=9780521867870|accessdate=2009-09-14|year=2007}}</ref></font> |----- ! style="background:#efefef;"|Race % ! style="background:#efefef;"|1899 ! style="background:#efefef;"|1907 ! style="background:#efefef;"|1919 ! style="background:#efefef;"|1931 ! style="background:#efefef;"|1943 ! style="background:#efefef;"|1953 ! style="background:#efefef;"|1981 ! style="background:#efefef;"|2002 |----- |'''[[White people|White]]'''||66.9||69.7||72.2||72.1||74.3||72.8||66.0||65.05 |----- |'''[[Afro Cuban|Black]]'''||14.9||13.4||11.2||11.0||9.7||12.4||12.0||10.08 |----- |'''[[Mulatto]]'''||17.2||16.3||16.0||16.2||15.6||14.5||21.9||24.86 |----- |'''[[Chinese Cuban|Asian]]'''||1.0||0.6||0.6||0.7||0.4||0.3||0.1|| ? |----- |} ===Immigration to Cuba=== Between 1882 and 1898, a total of 508,455 people left Spain, and more than 750,000 Spanish immigrants left for Cuba between 1899 and 1923, with many returning back to Spain.<ref>[http://www.tau.ac.il/eial/IV_2/bejarano.htm La inmigración entre 1902 y 1920]</ref> ===Current demographics=== According to the census of 2002, the population was 11,177,743,<ref name=census/> including 5,597,233 men and 5,580,510 women. The racial make-up was 7,271,926 whites, 1,126,894 blacks and 2,778,923 mulattoes (or mestizos).<ref>{{cite web|last=DePalma|first=Anthony|year=1998|month=July 5|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/41/310.html|title=Cuban Site Casts Light on an Extinct People|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2006-07-09}}</ref> The population of Cuba has very complex origins and intermarriage between diverse groups is general. There is disagreement about racial statistics. The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami says that 62% is black<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/part4/index.html|title=A barrier for Cuba's blacks|publisher=Miami Herald}}</ref>, whereas statistics from the Cuban census state that 65.05% of the population was white in 2002. The [[Minority Rights Group International]] says that "An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution. Estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9 per cent to 62 per cent".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49749d342c.html|title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Cuba : Afro-Cubans}}</ref> [[File:Sancristobalcathedral.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Cathedral of Havana|Cathedral of Saint Christopher]] in Havana]] Immigration and emigration have played a prominent part in the demographic profile of Cuba during the 20th century. During the 18th, 19th and early part of the 20th century large waves of [[Canarian people|Canarian]], [[Catalan people|Catalan]], [[Andalusian people|Andalusian]], [[Galician people|Galician]] and other Spanish people immigrated to Cuba. Between 1900 and 1930 close to a million Spaniards arrived from Spain. Other foreign immigrants include: French<ref>[http://www.cubagenweb.org/french/index.htm#refugees Etat des propriétés rurales appartenant à des Français dans l'île de Cuba] from http://www.cubagenweb.org Cuban Genealogy Center]</ref>, [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]], [[Italian people|Italian]], [[Russians|Russian]], [[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[Greeks|Greek]], [[British people|British]], [[Irish people|Irish]], and other ethnic groups, including a small number of descendants of U.S. citizens who arrived in Cuba in the late 19th/early 20th century. Cuba has a sizable number of [[Asian people]] who comprise 1% of the population. They are primarily of Chinese descent (see [[Chinese Cubans]]), followed by [[Japanese-Cuban|Japanese]], [[Filipinos|Filipino]], [[Koreans]] and [[Vietnamese people]]. They are descendants of farm laborers brought into the island by Spanish and American contractors during the 19th and early 20th century.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} [[Afro-Cubans]] are descended primarily from the [[Kongo people]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2009|reason=Unreliable source removed: joshuaproject.net}}, as well as several thousand [[North Africa]]n refugees, most notably the [[Sahrawi people|Sahrawi Arabs]] of [[Western Sahara]] under [[Morocco|Moroccan]] occupation since 1976.<ref>{{cite web|date=31 March 2006|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20061125161820/http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=2&id=13816|title=Sahrawi children inhumanely treated in Cuba, former Cuban official|publisher=MoroccoTimes.com|accessdate=2006-07-09}} (archived from [http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=2&id=13816 the original] on 2006-11-25)</ref> Cuba's [[birth rate]] (9.88 births per thousand population in 2006)<ref>[http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Americas&month=May2007&file=World_News2007051741913.xml thepeninsulaqatar.com]</ref> 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 increase has stopped in the last few decades, and a decrease began in 2006, with a fertility rate of 1.43 children per woman.<ref>[http://www.periodico26.cu/english/features/june2008/cuba-population060508.html Population Decrease Must be Reverted]</ref> This drop in fertility is among the largest in the Western Hemisphere.<ref>{{cite web|year=1997|url=http://www.un.org/esa/population/pubsarchive/fer/ffer.htm|title=United Nations World Fertility Patterns 1997|publisher=United Nations|accessdate=2006-07-09}}</ref> Cuba has unrestricted access to legal abortion and an [[abortion]] rate of 58.6 per 1000 pregnancies in 1996, compared to an average of 35 in the Caribbean, 27 in Latin America overall, and 48 in Europe. Contraceptive use is estimated at 79% (in the upper third of countries in the Western Hemisphere).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/25s3099.html|title=The Incidence of Abortion Worldwide|author=Stanley K. Henshaw, Susheela Singh and Taylor Haas|work=International Family Planning Perspectives, 1999, 25(Supplement):S30 – S38|accessdate=May 11, 2006}}</ref> Cuba is officially a secular state (after having long maintained that churches were fronts for subversive political activity, the government reversed course in 1992, amending the constitution to characterize the state as secular instead of atheist){{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}; however, it has many faiths representing the widely varying culture. [[Roman Catholicism]] was a largest religion and was brought to the island by the Spanish and remains the dominant faith,<ref name=catholic>{{cite web|url=http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2006a/033106/033106o.php|title=Catholic church in Cuba strives to re-establish the faith|author=David Einhorn|publisher=National Catholic Reporter|date=31 March 2006|accessdate=2009-09-07}}</ref> with 11 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. Catholicism is often practiced in tandem with [[Santería]], a mixture of Catholicism and other, mainly African, faiths that include a number of cults. La Virgen de la [[Caridad del Cobre]] (the Virgin of ''Cobre'') is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and a symbol of Cuban culture. In Santería, She has been syncretized with the goddess [[Oshun]]. {| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" |+ <font size="-1"> |----- !colspan=6|'''Official Cuban migration to the U.S''' <ref name=unstats/><ref name=pedraza/></font> |----- ! style="background:#efefef;"|Year of<br />Immigration ! style="background:#efefef;"|White ! style="background:#efefef;"|Black ! style="background:#efefef;"|[[Other]] ! style="background:#efefef;"|Asian ! style="background:#efefef;"|Number |----- |'''1959–64'''||93.3||1.2||5.3||0.2||144,732 |----- |'''1965–74'''||87.7||2.0||9.1||0.2||247,726 |----- |'''1975–79'''||82.6||4.0||13.3||0.1||29,508 |----- |'''1980'''||80.9||5.3||13.7||0.1||94,095 |----- |'''1981–89'''||85.7||3.1||10.9||0.3||77,835 |----- |'''1990–93'''||84.7||3.2||11.9||0.2||60,244 |----- |'''1994–2000'''||85.8||3.7||10.4||0.7||174,437 |----- |'''Total'''||87.2||2.9||10.7||0.2||'''828,577''' |----- |} Three hundred thousand 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. Cuba has small communities of Jews, Muslims and members of the Bahá'í Faith.<ref>{{cite web|year=2005|month=June 13|url=http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=377|title=Government officials visit Baha'i center|publisher=Baha'iWorldNewsService.com}}</ref> Most Jewish Cubans are descendants of Polish and Russian Ashkenazi 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. Most of these Sephardic Jews live in the provinces, although they maintain a synagogue in Havana. ===Cuban migration=== In the last half-century, several hundred thousand Cubans of all social classes have [[Cuban exile|emigrated]] to [[Cuban migration to Miami|the United States]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Political disaffection in Cuba's revolution and exodus|last=Pedraza|first=Silvia|url=http://books.google.com/?id=QCSJ61F4j34C&pg=PA5|page=5|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=9780521867870|accessdate=2009-09-14|year=2007}}</ref> Spain, [[Cubans in the United Kingdom|the United Kingdom]], Canada, Mexico and other countries. On 9 September 1994, the U.S. and Cuban governments agreed that the U.S. would grant at least 20,000 visas annually in exchange for Cuba’s pledge to prevent further unlawful departures by rafters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gao.gov/archive/1995/ns95211.pdf|title=CUBA: U.S. Response to the 1994 Cuban Migration Crisis|publisher=U.S. General Accounting Office|date=September 1995|accessdate=2009-09-14}}</ref> ==Education== {{Main|Education in Cuba}} [[File:Università de La Habana.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[University of Havana]], founded in 1728.]] Cuba has a long history in education. The [[University of Havana]] was founded in 1728 and there are a number of other well-established colleges and universities. In 1957, just before Castro came to power, the literacy was fourth in the region at almost 80% according to the United Nations, higher than in [[Spain]].<ref name=asce/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/125095.html|title=Still Stuck on Castro – How the press handled a tyrant's farewell}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> Castro created an entirely state-operated system and banned non-Communist institutions. School attendance is compulsory from ages six to the end of basic secondary education (normally at age 15), and all students, regardless of age or gender, wear school uniforms with the color denoting grade level. Primary education lasts for six years, secondary education is divided into basic and pre-university education.<ref>[http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/547664-1099080026826/The_Cuban_education_system_lessonsEn00.pdf The Cuban Education System: Lessons and Dilemmas. Human Development Network Education. World Bank.]</ref> 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. Education has a strong political and ideological emphasis, and students progressing to higher education are expected to have a commitment to the goals of the Cuban government.<ref>[http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/547664-1099080026826/The_Cuban_education_system_lessonsEn00.pdf The Cuban Education System: Lessons and Dilemmas. Human Development Network Education. World Bank.]</ref> Cuba has also provided state subsidized education to a limited number of foreign nationals at the [[Latin American School of Medicine (Cuba)|Latin American School of Medicine]].<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19942866/ Students graduate from Cuban school – Americas – MSNBC.com]</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6914265.stm|title=Cuba-trained US doctors graduate|date=25 July 2007|accessdate=2009-09-07 | work=BBC News}}</ref> Internet access is limited.<ref>Resolución 120 del 2007 del Ministro del MIC la cual está vigente desde el ·0 de Septiembre de 2007</ref> The sale of computer equipment is strictly regulated, Internet access is controlled, and e-mail is closely monitored.<ref name=rsf/> Strong ideological content is present. Educational and cultural policy is based on Marxist ideology. A file is kept on children's "revolutionary integration" and it accompanies the child for life.<ref name=capmag>{{cite web|url=http://capmag.com/article.asp?ID=563|title=A Firsthand Account Of Child Abuse, Castro Style|author=Armando Valladares}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> A person's university options depend on how well the person is integrated to Marxist ideology<ref name=capmag/> as well as a permission from the "Committee for the Defense of the Revolution".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cubaverdad.net/cdr.htm|title=Vigilancia y Orden Público|publisher=cubaverdad.net|accessdate=2008-01-08}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> ''The Code for Children, Youth and Family'' states that a parent who teaches ideas contrary to communism can be sentenced to three years in prison.<ref name=capmag/> ==Health== {{Main|Healthcare in Cuba}} Historically, Cuba has ranked high in numbers of medical personnel and has made significant contributions to world health since the 19th century.<ref name=asce/> Today, Cuba has universal free health care and although shortages of medical supplies persist, there is no shortage of medical personnel.<ref name=whiteford>{{cite book|title=Primary health care in Cuba: the other revolution|page=2|url=http://books.google.com/?id=lJe7uc7X3pYC&pg=PA2|first=Linda M.|last=Whiteford|coauthor=Branch, Laurence G.|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2008|isbn=0742559947|accessdate=2009-09-14}}</ref> Primary care is available throughout the island and infant and maternal mortality rates compare favorably with those in developed nations.<ref name=whiteford/> Post-Revolution Cuba initially experienced an overall worsening in terms of disease and infant mortality rates in the 1960s when half its 6,000 doctors left the country.<ref>Cuba: A Different America, By Wilber A. Chaffee, Gary Prevost, Rowland and Littlefield, 1992, p. 106</ref> Recovery occurred by the 1980s.<ref name=bethell/> The Communist government asserted that universal healthcare was to become a priority of state planning and progress was made in rural areas.<ref>Lundy, Karen Saucier. ''Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public's Health''. Jones and Bartlett: 2005, p. 377.</ref> Like the rest of the [[Economy of Cuba|Cuban economy]], Cuban medical care suffered from severe material shortages following the end of [[Soviet]] subsidies in 1991 followed by a tightening of the U.S. embargo in 1992.<ref>{{cite book|title=Global health policy, local realities: the fallacy of the level playing field|page=69|url=http://books.google.com/?id=gYc_LgzsRDMC&pg=PA69|editor-last=Whiteford|editor-first=Linda M.|editor2-last=Manderson|editor2-first=Lenore|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|location=Boulder, Col.|year=2000|isbn=1555878741|accessdate=2009-09-14}}</ref> Challenges include low pay of doctors (only 15 dollars a month<ref>{{cite web|title=Castro’s Doctors Plot|author=Jacob Laksin|url=http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=C2F78A4B-8F88-4E8C-97CE-16C9CFE35473}}{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref>), poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and frequent absence of essential drugs.<ref>[http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmhealth/30/30ap91.htm Cuban Health Care Systems and its implications for the NHS Plan]. Select Committee on Health.</ref> Nevertheless, Cuba has the highest doctor-to-population ratio in the world and has sent thousands of doctors to more than 40 countries around the world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Doctors in a Divided Society: The Profession and Education of Medical Practitioners in South Africa|author1=Mignonne Breier|author2=Angelique Wildschut|coauthor=Education, Science and Skills Development Research Programme|publisher=HSRC Press|year=2007|isbn=9780796921536|pages=16, 81|url=http://books.google.com/?id=WtuiTYThR7sC&pg=PP1}}</ref> According to the UN, the life expectancy in Cuba is 78.3 years (76.2 for males and 80.4 for females). This ranks Cuba 37th in the world and 3rd in the Americas, behind only Canada and Chile, and just ahead of the United States. Infant mortality in Cuba declined from 32 (infant deaths per 1,000 live births) in 1957, to 10 in 1990–95 <ref>[http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf World population Prospects : The 2006 Revision : Highlights], United Nations.</ref>. Infant mortality in 2000–2005 was 6.1 per 1,000 live births (compared to 6.8 in the USA). ==Culture== {{Main|Culture of Cuba|Sport in Cuba|Music of Cuba|Cuban literature|Cuban cuisine}} [[File:Casa de la Trova Santiago Cuba.jpg|thumb|A local musical house, Casa de la Trova in Santiago de Cuba]] [[File:Cubanfood.jpg|thumb|A traditional meal of ropa vieja (shredded flank steak in a tomato sauce base), black beans, yellow rice, plantains and fried yuca with beer]] Cuban culture is much influenced by its melting pot of cultures, primarily those of Spain and Africa. Sport is Cuba's national passion. Due to historical associations with the United States, many Cubans participate in sports which are popular in North America, rather than sports traditionally promoted in other Spanish-speaking nations. [[Baseball in Cuba|Baseball]] is by far the most popular; other sports and pastimes include [[basketball]], [[volleyball]], [[cricket]], and [[track and field athletics|athletics]]. Cuba is a dominant force in [[amateur boxing]], consistently achieving high 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 (music)|Son]], which has been the basis of many other musical styles like [[Salsa music|salsa]], [[Cuban Rumba|rumba]] and [[Mambo (music)|mambo]] and an upbeat derivation of the rumba, the [[Cha-cha-cha (music)|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 [[Neo-Taíno nations|Taíno]] origin such as the [[maraca]]s, [[güiro]], [[marimba]] 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]]. Havana was the heart of the [[rap]] scene in Cuba when it began in the 1990s. During that time, [[reggaetón]] was also growing in popularity. Dance in Cuba has taken a major boost over the 1990s. Cuba has produced more than its fair share of literature. Cuban literature 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 [[Dulce María Loynaz]] and [[José Lezama Lima]] have also been influential. While romanticist [[Miguel Barnet]], who once wrote "Everyone dreamed of Cuba", reflects a more melancholy Cuba.<ref>[http://www.tobias-hauser.de/vortraege/?cmd=en Costa Rica – Journey into the Tropical Garden of Eden], Tobias Hauser.{{Verify credibility|date=September 2009}}</ref> "Writers such as [[Reinaldo Arenas]], [[Guillermo Cabrera Infante]], and more recently [[Daína Chaviano]], [[Pedro Juan Gutiérrez]], [[Zoé Valdés]], [[Guillermo Rosales]] and [[Leonardo Padura]] have earned international recognition in the post-revolutionary era, though many of these writers have felt compelled to continue their work in exile due to ideological control of media by the Cuban authorities. Cuban cuisine is a fusion of [[Spanish cuisine|Spanish]] and [[Caribbean cuisine]]s. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. Now food rationing, which has been the norm in Cuba for the last four decades, restricts the common availability of these dishes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/asce/pdfs/volume11/alvarez.pdf|title=Rationed Products and Something Else: Food Availability and Distribution in 2000 Cuba|work=Cuba in Transition|volume=11|pages=305–322|author=José Alvarez|year=2001|publisher=University of Texas at Austin|accessdate=2009-09-06}}</ref> 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]]'' (shredded beef), [[Cuban bread]], pork with onions, and tropical fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to as ''[[Platillo 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. == International rankings == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Organization ! Survey ! Ranking |- | Institute for Economics and Peace [http://www.economicsandpeace.org] | [[Global Peace Index]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/home.php |title=Vision of Humanity |publisher=Vision of Humanity |date= |accessdate=2010-02-04}}</ref> | 68 out of 144 |- | [[United Nations Development Programme]] | [[Human Development Index]] | 51 out of 182 |- | [[Transparency International]] | [[Corruption Perceptions Index]] | 61 out of 180 |} ==See also== <!-- Place links to all topics directly related to Cuba in the Index of Cuba-related articles --> {{Portal|Cuba}} * [[Outline of Cuba]] * [[Index of Cuba-related articles]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== {{Sister project links|Cuba}} * [http://www.cubagob.cu/ingles/default.htm Government of Cuba] *{{Wikiatlas|Cuba}} *{{Wikitravel|Cuba}} * [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-c/cuba-nde.html Chief of State and Cabinet Members] * {{CIA World Factbook link|cu|Cuba}} * [http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/cuba.htm Cuba] from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs'' * {{dmoz|Regional/Caribbean/Cuba}} * [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/cuba.jpg Map of Cuba (Political) 1994 C.I.A./Univ. of Texas, Austin] * [http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/23083/welcome-to-cuba Welcome To Cuba] – slideshow by ''[[Life (magazine)|LIFE]]'' magazine * [http://www.fotopedia.com/en/Cuba fotopedia.com], Selected photos of Cuba {{-}} {{Topics related to Cuba}} {{Template group |title=Geographic locale |list= {{West Indies}} {{Countries of North America}} }} {{Template group |title=International |list= {{Latinunion}} {{Non-Aligned Movement}} {{Socialist states}} }} <!--Categories--> [[Category:Cuba| ]] [[Category:Caribbean countries]] [[Category:Communist states]] [[Category:Former Spanish colonies]] [[Category:Gulf of Mexico]] [[Category:Island countries]] [[Category:Spanish-speaking countries]] [[Category:States and territories established in 1902]] [[Category:Eastern bloc]] [[Category:Socialist states]] [[Category:Single-party states]] [[Category:Republics]] {{Link FA|he}} {{Link FA|la}} <!--Other languages--> [[ace:Kuba]] [[af:Kuba]] [[am:ኩባ]] [[ang:Cūba]] [[ar:كوبا]] [[an:Cuba]] [[roa-rup:Cuba]] [[frp:Cuba]] [[ast:Cuba]] [[az:Kuba]] [[bm:Kuba]] [[bn:কিউবা]] [[zh-min-nan:Cuba]] [[be:Куба]] [[be-x-old:Куба]] [[bcl:Kuba]] [[bo:ཀུ་བ།]] [[bs:Kuba]] [[br:Kuba]] [[bg:Куба]] [[ca:Cuba]] [[cv:Куба]] [[ceb:Cuba]] [[cs:Kuba]] [[cy:Cuba]] [[da:Cuba]] [[de:Kuba]] [[dv:ކިއުބާ]] [[nv:Kyóoba]] [[dsb:Kuba]] [[et:Kuuba]] [[el:Κούβα]] [[es:Cuba]] [[eo:Kubo (lando)]] [[ext:Cuba]] [[eu:Kuba]] [[ee:Cuba]] [[fa:کوبا]] [[hif:Cuba]] [[fo:Kuba]] [[fr:Cuba]] [[fy:Kuba]] [[ga:Cúba]] [[gv:Yn Choobey]] [[gd:Cùba]] [[gl:Cuba]] [[gan:古巴]] [[hak:Kú-pâ]] [[xal:Кубанмудин Орн]] [[ko:쿠바]] [[hy:Կուբա]] [[hi:क्यूबा]] [[hsb:Kuba]] [[hr:Kuba]] [[io:Kuba]] [[ilo:Cuba]] [[bpy:কিউবা]] [[id:Kuba]] [[ia:Cuba]] [[iu:ᖂᐹ/quupaa]] [[os:Кубæ]] [[is:Kúba]] [[it:Cuba]] [[he:קובה]] [[jv:Kuba]] [[kn:ಕ್ಯೂಬಾ]] [[pam:Cuba]] [[ka:კუბა]] [[kk:Куба]] [[kw:Kuba]] [[sw:Kuba]] [[kv:Куба]] [[ht:Kiba]] [[ku:Kûba]] [[la:Cuba]] [[lv:Kuba]] [[lb:Kuba]] [[lt:Kuba]] [[lij:Cuba]] [[li:Cuba]] [[ln:Kuba]] [[jbo:kubas]] [[lmo:Cuba]] [[hu:Kuba]] [[mk:Куба]] [[ml:ക്യൂബ]] [[mr:क्युबा]] [[arz:كوبا]] [[mzn:کوبا]] [[ms:Cuba]] [[mwl:Cuba]] [[mn:Куба]] [[nah:Cuba]] [[na:Kiuba]] [[nl:Cuba (land)]] [[nds-nl:Kuba]] [[ja:キューバ]] [[pih:Kyuuba]] [[no:Cuba]] [[nn:Cuba]] [[nov:Kuba]] [[oc:Cuba]] [[uz:Kuba]] [[pnb:کیوبا]] [[pap:Cuba]] [[km:គុយបា]] [[pms:Cuba]] [[nds:Kuba]] [[pl:Kuba]] [[pt:Cuba]] [[crh:Kuba]] [[ro:Cuba]] [[qu:Kuba]] [[ru:Куба]] [[sah:Куба (дойду)]] [[se:Cuba]] [[sa:क्यूबा]] [[sc:Cuba]] [[sco:Cuba]] [[sq:Kuba]] [[scn:Cubba]] [[si:කියුබාව]] [[simple:Cuba]] [[sk:Kuba]] [[sl:Kuba]] [[szl:Kuba]] [[so:Kuuba]] [[sr:Куба]] [[sh:Kuba]] [[fi:Kuuba]] [[sv:Kuba]] [[tl:Kuba]] [[ta:கூபா]] [[kab:Kuba]] [[tt:Куба]] [[te:క్యూబా]] [[th:ประเทศคิวบา]] [[tg:Кубо]] [[tr:Küba]] [[uk:Куба]] [[ur:کیوبا]] [[ug:كۇبا]] [[vec:Cuba]] [[vi:Cuba]] [[vo:Kubeän]] [[fiu-vro:Kuuba]] [[wa:Couba]] [[war:Cuba]] [[wo:Kubaa]] [[wuu:古巴]] [[yi:קובא]] [[yo:Kúbà]] [[zh-yue:古巴]] [[diq:Kuba]] [[bat-smg:Kuba]] [[zh:古巴]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page:

• Template:! (view source) (protected)
• Template:- (view source) (protected)
• Template:About (view source) (protected)
• Template:As of (view source) (protected)
• Template:Basepage subpage (view source) (protected)
• Template:CIA World Factbook link (view source) (protected)
• Template:Cat handler (view source) (protected)
• Template:Cat handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
• Template:Cat handler/numbered (view source) (protected)
• Template:Citation needed (view source) (protected)
• Template:Citation/core (view source) (protected)
• Template:Citation/identifier (view source) (protected)
• Template:Citation/make link (view source) (protected)
• Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
• Template:Cite journal (view source) (protected)
• Template:Cite news (view source) (protected)
• Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
• Template:Clarify (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/-0 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/Goilbbl (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/LoffAoffDbSoff (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/LoffAoffDbSoffT (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/LoffAonDbSoff (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/LoffAonDbSoffT (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/LoffAonSoff (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/LoffT (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/ft (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/km (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/km2 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/m (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/m3 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/mi (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/numdisp (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/numdisp/a (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/oilbbl (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/pround (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/proundT0 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/round (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/sqmi (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/°C (view source) (protected)
• Template:Convert/°F (view source) (protected)
• Template:Coor URL (view source) (protected)
• Template:Coord (view source) (protected)
• Template:Coord/display/inline (view source) (protected)
• Template:Coord/dms2dec (view source) (protected)
• Template:Coord/input/dm (view source) (protected)
• Template:Coord/link (view source) (protected)
• Template:Coord/negzeropad (view source) (protected)
• Template:Countries and territories of the Caribbean (edit)
• Template:Countries of North America (view source) (semi-protected)
• Template:DMCA (view source) (protected)
• Template:Dablink (view source) (protected)
• Template:Dated maintenance category (view source) (protected)
• Template:Dmoz (view source) (protected)
• Template:Es icon (view source) (protected)
• Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
• Template:Hide in print (view source) (protected)
• Template:IPA-es (view source) (semi-protected)
• Template:ISO 639 name es (edit)
• Template:If pagename (view source) (protected)
• Template:Infobox Country (view source) (protected)
• Template:Infobox country (view source) (protected)
• Template:Lang (view source) (protected)
• Template:Lang-es (view source) (protected)
• Template:LangWithName (view source) (protected)
• Template:Language icon (view source) (protected)
• Template:Latin Union (edit)
• Template:Latinunion (edit)
• Template:Link FA (view source) (protected)
• Template:Loop15 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Main (view source) (protected)
• Template:Max/2 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Namespace detect (view source) (protected)
• Template:Navbar (view source) (protected)
• Template:Navbox (view source) (protected)
• Template:Navbox subgroup (view source) (protected)
• Template:Navbox subgroups (view source) (protected)
• Template:Navbox with collapsible groups (view source) (protected)
• Template:Navbox with collapsible sections (view source) (protected)
• Template:Navboxes (view source) (protected)
• Template:Nbsp (view source) (protected)
• Template:Non-Aligned Movement (edit)
• Template:Nowrap (view source) (protected)
• Template:Nowrap begin (view source) (protected)
• Template:Nowrap end (view source) (protected)
• Template:Only in print (view source) (protected)
• Template:Ordomag (view source) (protected)
• Template:Ordomag/x (view source) (protected)
• Template:POV-statement (edit)
• Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
• Template:Portal (view source) (protected)
• Template:Portal/Images/Cuba (edit)
• Template:Pp-meta (view source) (protected)
• Template:Pp-protected (view source) (protected)
• Template:Pp-semi (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision/-11 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision/0 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision/00 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision/1 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision/a (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision/tz (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision/tz/1 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Precision1 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Pron-en (view source) (protected)
• Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rellink (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd/- (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd/b1 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd/c4dec0 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd/c4dec1 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd/c6dec0 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd/c8dec0 (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd/d (view source) (protected)
• Template:Rnd/e+ (view source) (protected)
• Template:Sec link auto (view source) (protected)
• Template:Sec link image (view source) (protected)
• Template:Sec link/normal link (view source) (protected)
• Template:Sec link/normal url (view source) (protected)
• Template:Sec link/text (view source) (protected)
• Template:Sister project links (view source) (semi-protected)
• Template:Socialism by state (edit)
• Template:Socialist states (edit)
• Template:Spaces (view source) (protected)
• Template:Talk other (view source) (protected)
• Template:Template group (view source) (protected)
• Template:Topics related to Cuba (edit)
• Template:Transclude (view source) (protected)
• Template:Verify credibility (view source) (protected)
• Template:West Indies (edit)
• Template:Wikiatlas (view source) (semi-protected)
• Template:Wikitravel (view source) (protected)
• Template:· (view source) (protected)
• Template:·w (view source) (protected)
• Template:·wrap (view source) (protected)

Return to Cuba

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.thelinks.com.pl/wiki/Cuba"

• Privacy policy
• About Wikipedia
• Disclaimers

• Dowódca GROM podał się do dymisji. Reakcja na zmiany kadrowe?
  Dowódca GROM płk Dariusz Zawadka złożył wypowiedzenie stosunku służbowego z końcem sierpnia - potwierdziła w kliku niezależnych źródłach w wojsku. Minister Obrony Narodowej Bogdan Klich nie rozpatrzył jeszcze tego wniosku.
  
• "Jesteśmy zieloną wyspą. Tylko PiS myśli inaczej"
  - Polska była i jest zieloną wyspą; pokazywana jest jako przykład, jak sobie radzić z kryzysem - powiedział premier Donald Tusk, odnosząc się do zarzutów PiS.
  
• Połowa popiera rząd, połowa - przeciw. Ale Tuska...
  Według lipcowego sondażu TNS OBOP, w Polsce jest tyle samo zwolenników (44 proc)., co przeciwników (45 proc.) rządu. Co dziesiąty badany (11 proc.) nie ma na ten temat swojego zdania.
  
• PiS: Niech PO wyjaśni, czemu rosną podatki
  Prawo i Sprawiedliwość domaga się przedstawienia przez rząd na najbliższym posiedzeniu Sejmu, informacji na temat sytuacji finansów publicznych. Politycy tej partii uważają, że Polacy powinni dowiedzieć się dlaczego powinni płacić wyższe podatki - czego nie wykluczają niektórzy politycy PO.
  
• Ustawa medialna. SLD: Z PO zgodnie przegłosujemy
  Wicemarszałek Sejmu Jerzy Wenderlich (Lewica) zapowiedział w Rzeszowie, że projekt ustawy medialnej, nad którym posłowie będą głosować w przyszłą środę, zostanie "razem z PO zgodnie przegłosowany".
  
• Na Ukrainie będzie gorąco. W sierpniu nawet 42 stopnie
  W sierpniu temperatura na Ukrainie może osiągnąć nawet 42 stopni Celsjusza - alarmują służby meteorologiczne tego kraju. Nowa fala gorąca oczekiwana jest już w niedzielę.
  
• Gdańsk: samochody zderzyły się na obwodnicy. Korki
  Do zderzenia czterech samochodów doszło ok. 13.30 na obwodnicy Trójmiasta na zwężeniu drogi spowodowanym przez budowę węzła Karczemki. Nikomu nic się nie stało, ale na obwodnicy są poważne utrudnienia w ruchu.
  
• Krwawe żniwo wilczych watach na Litwie. "To początek"
  W północnej Litwie wilki atakują zwierzęta domowe. Strach padł na mieszkańców okolic Birż. W zagrodach i na polach okolicznych wsi w czerwcu i lipcu wilki zabiły już kilkadziesiąt owiec, krów i psów. Naukowcy zapowiadają, że jest to tylko początek, ponieważ niedługo rozpocznie się uczenie młodych wilków polowania.
  
• Kolejny pasażer wypadł z pociągu na Woodstok
  21-letni mieszkaniec Tomaszowa Mazowieckiego z poważnymi obrażeniami głowy trafił dziś nad ranem do szpitala
  
• "Lech Kaczyński patronem Muzeum Powstania". Listy
  Do Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego napłynęły listy z propozycją, aby patronem placówki został tragicznie zmarły prezydent Lech Kaczyński. Po katastrofie pod Smoleńskiem do muzeum docierały prośby o uczczenie w ten sposób pamięci prezydenta. To Lech Kaczyński jako ówczesny prezydent Warszawy doprowadził do wybudowania placówki i nagłośnienia rocznicy powstania.
  
• Zatruta przesyłka w ambasadzie USA w Paryżu
  Dwóch pracowników ambasady USA w Paryżu zostało zbadanych pod kątem zatrucia po otwarciu podejrzanej koperty, ale wstępne badania wykazały, że nie była ona szkodliwa - podała ambasada w komunikacie. Wcześniej agencja Ruetersa informowała o trzech pracownikach, którzy ulegli zatruciu.
  
• Zaginięcie Iwony. Nie będą mogli kręcić - do akcji wkracza prokurator
  Śledztwo wszczęto w piątek przed południem. Podstawa - bezprawne pozbawienie wolności osoby na okres powyżej 7 dni. Teraz świadkowie muszą mówić prawdę - za fałszywe zeznania grozi im odpowiedzialność karna
  
• Dziwna strona Deutsche Banku. "Spokojnie, to aktualizacja"
  Na stronie Deutsche Banku od rana pojawia się informacja o aktualizacji i linki prowadzące bezpośrednio do stron bankowości elektronicznej "Czy to prawdziwa informacja? Czy to nie jakiś atak?" - pytają czytelnicy. Poza stroną główną wszystkie strony służące do obsługi konta e działają normalnie. Brakuje tylko części marketingowo-informacyjnej. Aktualizacja zakończy się dziś po południu.
  
• Atak kilkunastu dresiarzy na radiowóz. Grozi im nawet 10 lat
  Na jednym z kędzierzyńskich osiedli kilkanaście młodych osób zaatakowało interweniujących policjantów. By opanować agresywną grupę funkcjonariusze użyli m.in. gazu pieprzowego. Siedmiu najbardziej agresywnych trafiło do policyjnego aresztu. 
  
• Dyplomaci dostaną telefony satelitarne. Na kartę
  150 telefonów satelitarnych kupi resort spraw zagranicznych dla polskich dyplomatów. Aby utrzymanie nowych aparatów nie było zbyt kosztowne, dzwonienie z większości z nich ma odbywać się w systemie prepaid.
  
• Pałac: Nie zdążymy z remontem. Bo Marta trzymała klucze
  Gdzie zamieszka Bronisław Komorowski po zaprzysiężeniu na prezydenta RP? Na początku na pewno nie w Pałacu Prezydenckim. - Nie zdążymy z remontem. Stosunkowo późno dostaliśmy klucze od pani Marty Kaczyńskiej - wyjaśnia szef Kancelarii Prezydenta Jacek Michałowski.
  
• Kłótnia o Palikota. "Sławku, oderwałeś od rzeczywistości"
  Szkodzenie Platformie Obywatelskiej zarzuca wiceprezydentowi Sławomirowi Hincowi radny Jakub Jędrzejewski. List otwarty, który wysłał w tej sprawie do swoich partyjnych kolegów, zatytułował: "Stolica kultury czy skansen PRL?"
  
• "TVP zła, puszcza bzdury". Owsiak na Woodstocku
  Telewizja publiczna jest upolityczniona, zła, puszczane są bzdury. Żadnej misyjności - mówił Jurek Owsiak na spotkaniu z woodstokowiczami w Kostrzynie nad Odrą.
  
• Dowódca GROM podał się do dymisji. Reakcja na zmiany kadrowe?
  Dowódca GROM płk Dariusz Zawadka złożył wypowiedzenie stosunku służbowego z końcem sierpnia - potwierdziła w kliku niezależnych źródłach w wojsku. Minister Obrony Narodowej Bogdan Klich nie rozpatrzył jeszcze tego wniosku.