Cuba Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
- Alternate meanings: see Cuba (disambiguation)
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| National motto: "Patria y Libertad" (Spanish: Homeland and Freedom) | |||||
| Official language | Spanish | ||||
| Capital | Havana (La Habana) | ||||
| Largest City | Havana (La Habana) | ||||
| President | Fidel Castro | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 106th 100,860 km² Negligible | ||||
| Population - Total (2002) - Density | Ranked 67th 11,184,023 101/km² | ||||
| Independence - Declared - Recognised | Sp.-Am. War October 10, 1868 May 20, 1902 1959 from US |
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| Currency | Cuban Peso | ||||
| Time zone | UTC −5 | ||||
| National anthem | La Bayamesa | ||||
| Internet TLD | .CU | ||||
| Calling Code | 53 | ||||
| Table of contents |
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2 Politics 3 Provinces 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Religion 9 External links |
Cuba and its originally Amerindian population (Taino, Siboney and Guanajatabey) came under Spanish control in the 16th century. The colony's struggle for independence started in 1868 and continued during the 19th century until the Spanish-American War of 1898. The United States then occupied the island until recognising independence in 1902, though limited by the Platt Amendment (revoked in 1934), after which the US continued to have a major influence in Cuban affairs.
Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, Raúl Castro and a small rebel army of fewer than 100 individuals were one of many guerilla groups that opposed the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro's 'July 26 Movement' subsumed these other groups quickly and took over Cuba's government in 1959. When the revolutionary government started to carry out mass executions, imprisonments, freezing the country's bank accounts and expropriating all private property, relations with the US rapidly deteriorated. Millions of Cubans, deceived by Castro's earlier promises, fled the country. Castro then claimed he was "always a communist" and turned to Soviet backing and trade ties, declared the Revolution socialist in 1961. The economy began socializing a new government led by the newly-recreated Communist Party of Cuba. A Constitution of Soviet inspiration was implemented in 1976.
For several decades, Cuba received a large Soviet subsidy, whereby Cuba provided the Soviet Union with sugar and the Soviets provided Cuba with oil. Part of this oil was consumed by Cuba, the remainder was sold in the world market for a profit of several billion dollars. In return for this subsidy from the Soviet Union, Cuba supported communist movements throughout Latin America (Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Chile) and Africa (Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia). In Angola alone, Cuba had over 50,000 troops. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 dealt Cuba a giant economic blow and when the Soviets stopped their $6 billion per year subsidy, the Cuban communist government called for "a special period." Despite being denied access to development aid from the IMF and World Bank because Cuba is in arrears to its Paris Club debtors to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, Cuba's economy has not collapsed, although its per-capita income is still lower than it was in 1959. Cuba's economy today is roughly split into three parts: Agriculture and mining (tobacco, sugar, nickel, citrus), Tourism and remittances from Cuban-Americans in the United States.
In 1994, the Clinton Administration enacted the Helms-Burton law. This law was enacted after the Cuban government shot down two private U.S planes, containing the anti-Castro activists Brothers to the Rescue in Cuban airspace. The planes had been warned by Cuban air controllers that they were violating Cuban airspace. The Helms Burton law states, among other things, that any foreign company that "knowingly trafficks in property in Cuba confiscated without compensation from a U.S. person can be subjected to litigation and that company's leadership can be barred from entry into the United States. Sanctions may be applied to non-U.S. companies trading with Cuba. This extraterritorial U.S. legislation is considered highly controversial.
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The country's major trading partners include Spain, Canada, France, Italy, Great Britain and Japan. The U.S. embargo against Cuba applies to all goods, except the export of medicine and medical products and agricultural commodities to Cuba, which are authorized by law. U.S. agriculture companies are free to trade with Cuba provided that Cuba pays in cash previous delivery. Most travel by U.S. persons to Cuba is banned; tourism by U.S. persons is banned by law. Some U.S. persons illegally visit Cuba mainly travel illegally through Mexico or Canada, and are subsequently liable to large fines. Cuba's tourism industry has been severely damaged since September 11, 2001. Moreover, the Castro government in March 2003 arrested and imprisoned 75 independent journalists, artists and writers after summary "show trials". The international community, including the European Union, the United States, and the UN Commission on Human Rights condemned these arrests, described by some as perhaps the most brutal political crackdown against peaceful government opponents in the last decade. In 2003, the government condemned to death penalty and executed 3 Afro-Cuban youngsters attempting to escape the island by hijacking a boat and threatening more than 20 hostages.
Cuba is a "Communist state", or a parliamentary republic led by a Communist Party. Fidel Castro has been the head of state and head of government since 1959, first as prime minister and after the abolition of that office in 1976 as president of the Councils of State and Ministers. He is also the member of the National Assembly of People's Power from the minicipality of Santiago de Cuba since 1976, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, and commander in chief of the armed forces.
The unicameral Cuban parliament is the National Assembly of People's Power or Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular. Its 609 members are elected to serve five-year terms. The candidates, who may or may not be members of the Cuban Communist Party, are nominated by people and independent political organizations. The Communist Party is constitutionally recognised as Cuba's only legal political party.
Other political issues include people fleeing the island and defecting to the US, the embargo, the government imprisonment of political dissidents and human rights abuses.
In 2001 an attempt was made by Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and others, operating as the Varela Project, to have a national plebiscite using provisions in the Constitution of Cuba which provided for citizen initiative. If accepted by the government and approved by public vote, the amendments would have established such things as freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of press, as well as the freedom to start private businesses. The Petition was however refused by the National Assembly, and a subsequent crackdown resulted in the imprisonment of 75 political prisoners for terms of up to 28 years on charges of collaborating with and receiving money from the US government.
Cuba is divided into 14 provinces of 169 municipalities, and one special municipality (the Isla de la Juventud).
History
Main article: History of CubaPolitics
Main article: Politics of CubaProvinces
Main article: Provinces of Cuba
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The elongated island of Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and is bounded to the north by the Straits of Florida and the greater North Atlantic Ocean, to the northwest by the Gulf of Mexico, to the west by the Yucatan Channel, to the south by the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Windward Passage. The Republic comprises the entire island, including many outlying islands such as the Isle of Youth, with the exception of Guantanamo Bay, a naval base that has been leased by the United States since 1903. The mainland is the world's 16th largest island.
The island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains, with more rugged hills and mountains primarily in the southeast and the highest point is the Pico Real del Turquino at 2,005 m. The local climate is tropical, though moderated by trade winds. There is a drier season from November to April, and a rainier season from May to October. Havana is the largest city and capital, other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey.
Cuba continues its public ownership of the economy and has shown itself unwilling to implement "free market" reforms. Tourism has become one of the largest sources of income for Cuba and it has put the American dollar into circulation in parts of Cuba where tourists go.
In october 2004, the dollar was banned by the government.
The Cuban economy was hit hard in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Comecon economic bloc, with which it had traded predominantly. More recent problems include high oil prices, recessions in key export markets such as sugar and nickel, damage from hurricanes (most recently an estimated 1 billion dollars economic damage from hurricane Charley), depressed tourism, and faltering world economic conditions. In late 2003, and early 2004, both tourism levels and nickel prices increased. One other factor in the "recovery" of the Cuban economy is the remittances of Cuban-Americans (which constitute one-third of the Cuban Economy). Cuba currently trades with almost every nation in the world except the US. Cuba owes billions in Paris Club debt to nations such as France, Japan and Germany.
Cuba is a multiracial society with a population of either mixed (mulatto) or more specific Spanish and African origins. There is also a small ethnic Chinese community. The largest organised religion is the Roman Catholic Church. Afro-Cuban or Santería religions, a blend of native African religions and Roman Catholicism, are widely practiced in Cuba. Officially, Cuba had been an atheist state for most of the Castro era, but religious restrictions have been relaxed since 1991 and the state secularised. Smaller Protestant and Jewish minorities also exist.Geography
Main article: Geography of CubaEconomy
Main article: Economy of CubaDemographics
Main article: Demographics of Cuba
| Date | English Name | Local Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Revolution Victory Day | Triunfo de la Revolución | The former dictator Fulgencio Batista fled in the night from 12/31/1958 to 01/01/1959, marking the victory of the Revolution led by Fidel Castro, who has been President since then |
| May 1 | Labor Day | Día de los trabajadores | International Labour Day |
| July 26 | Commemoration of the Assault of the Moncada garrison | Asalto al cuartel Moncada | In the morning of July 26, 1953, some 160 men under the command of Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada army garrison in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second-largest city. Although this action crushingly failed, it is seen as the beginning of Castro's led insurrection that expelled dictator Fulgencio Batista on January 1st 1959 and established a communist government in Havana thereafter |
| October 10 | Independence Day | Día de la Independencia | This day in 1868, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, "Father of the Homeland", gave freedom to his slaves and started the independence war against the Spanish colonial power |
| December 25 | Christmas Day | Navidad | Prohibited for decades in revolutionary Cuba, the Christmas celebration (and the corresponding holiday) was reinstalled in 1998 after Pope John Paul II visited Cuba |
The religious landscape of Cuba is strongly marked by syncretisms of various kinds. Though officially Cuba is an atheist state, religious practice is allowed and, especially since 1992, common. Though the papal visit to Cuba has strengthened official Catholicism, most Cubans share a motley of faiths that include popular Catholicism, spiritism and African-derived beliefs. The most important currents of these are Regla de Ocha (known as Santería), which derives from Yoruban religion, Regla de Palo Monte, which derives from Congo-based religions, and the Sociedad Secreta Abakuá, which derives from the secret men's societies in the region of Calabar, in south-eastern Nigeria. Other religious manifestations include freemasonry and pentacostalist churches.
It is assumed that Santería and popular Catholicism are the most widely followed religious beliefs in Cuba, though these are by no means exclusive, and one can easily be a follower of several religious currents at the same time, as well as being a member of the communist party.
In Cuba the 6th of January is the "Dia de los Reyes Magos" which in English means "Day of Kings" is celebrated to commemorate the day that the Three wise men came to visit Jesus according to the Gospels. As in most Latin American countries as well as Spain, this day is celebrated in conjunction with, or sometimes instead of Christmas Day.
Important religious festivals include various days dedicated to the saints such as the "Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre" (the Virgin of Cobre, Cuba's patron saint, syncretised with Santería's Ochún) on September 8th, and san Lázaro (Lazarus) (syncretised with Babalu Ayé), on December 17th.
This is an Article on Cuba. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Cuba Religion
Main articles: Santería,Palo Monte,CatholicismExternal links