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Economy of Cuba
Flag
Rank	89th
Currency	Cuban peso (CUP) = 100 centavos and Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) = 24 CUP
Fiscal year	yes
Statistics
GDP	$57.49 billion (2010 est.) [1] $114.1 billion (2010 est.)[2] (PPP)
GDP growth	2.7% (2011 est.)[3]
GDP per capita	$9,900 (2010 est.)[2] (PPP)
GDP by sector	Agriculture: 4.3%, industry: 21.6%, services: 74% (2009 est.)[2]
Inflation (CPI)	1.5% (2009 est.)[2]
Population below poverty line	1.5% (2006)
Labor force	5.159 million (Public sector: 78%, Private sector: 22%) (2009 est.)[2]
Labor force by occupation	Agriculture: 20%, industry: 19.4%, services: 60.6% (2005)[2]
Unemployment	1.7% (2009 est.)[2]
Main industries	Sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals[2]
External
Exports	$2.458 billion f.o.b. (2009 est.)[2]
Export goods	sugar, medical products, nickel, tobacco, shellfish, citrus, coffee[2]
Main export partners	Canada 27.8%, China 26.7%, Spain 6.2%, Netherlands 5.6% (2008)[2]
Imports	$8.963 billion f.o.b. (2009 est.)[2]
Import goods	petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals[2]
Main import partners	Venezuela 29.8%, China 11.8%, Spain 10%, Canada 6.4%, US 6.3%, Brazil 4.6% (2008)[2]
Public finances
Public debt	$19.44 billion (31 December 2009 est.);[2] another $20.8 billion owed to Russia, $0.9 billion owed to Romania and $0.2 billion owed to Hungary
Revenues	$35.01 billion (2007 est.)
Expenses	$36.73 billion (2007 est.)
Economic aid	$87.8 million (2005 est.)
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars

The economy of Cuba is a largely centrally planned economy dominated by state-run enterprises overseen by the Cuban government, though there remains significant foreign investment and private enterprise in Cuba. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government, and most of the labor force is employed by the state, although in recent years, the formation of cooperatives and self-employment has been encouraged by the Communist Party. In the year 2000, public sector employment was 76% and private sector employment was 23% compared to the 1981 ratio of 91% to 8%.^[4] Capital investment is restricted and requires approval by the government. The Cuban government sets most prices and rations goods to citizens. In 2009, Cuba ranked 51st out of 182 with an HDI of 0.863; remarkably high considering its GDP per capita only places it 95th.^[5] Public services and transport in Cuba however are regarded to be second-rate compared its more developed counterparts on the mainland.^[6]

In the 1950s, Cuba had a vibrant but extremely unequal economy, with large capital outflows to foreign investors.^[7] The country has made significant progress since the Revolution towards a more even distribution of income. Despite the economic embargo by the United States, the economy grew at a rate higher than the rest of Latin America until the collapse of the Soviet Union, which provided Cuba with $4 billion to $6 billion in subsidies annually. Between 1990 and 1993, Cuba's GDP declined by 33%.^[8] Yet Cuba has managed to retain levels of healthcare and education.^[9]

Cubans receive low housing and transportation costs, free education, and health care and food subsidies.^[10] Corruption is common, though far lower than in most other countries in Latin America.^[11]

History[link]

Prior to the Cuban Revolution, Cuba had a one-crop economy whose domestic market was constricted. Its population was characterized by chronic unemployment and deep poverty. United States monopolies like Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Speyer gained control over Cuba's national resources, from which they made huge profits. The banks and the country's entire financial system, all electric power production, and most industry was dominated by US capital. US monopolies owned 25 percent of the best land in Cuba, and more than 80 percent of all farm lands were occupied by sugar and livestock-raising latifundia. 90 percent of the country's raw sugar and tobacco exports was sent to the USA. Before the Revolution, most Cuban children were not included in the school system. There was almost no machine-building industry in Cuba.^[12]

87 percent of urban homes had electricity, but only 10 percent of rural homes did. Only 15 percent of rural homes had running water. Nearly half the rural population was illiterate, as was about 25 percent of the total population. Poverty and unemployment in the rural areas forced desperate residents to migrate to Havana, where there was high levels of crime and prostitution.^[13] More than 40 percent of the Cuban workforce in 1958 was either underemployed or unemployed. Schools for blacks and mulattoes were vastly inferior than those for whites. Afro-Cubans had the worst living conditions and held the lowest paid jobs.^[14]

Cuban Revolution[link]

Occupational injuries in Cuba per 1.000 workers (1999-2011)

Following the Cuban Revolution, the country made economic progress. In the period 1960-85, real income growth per capita averaged 3.1 percent per year, compared to 1.8 percent in the rest of Latin America. As a result of this growth, Cuba's per capita income in 1987 exceeded $3500, compared to only $2200 in the rest of Latin America.

Unemployment in Cuba was minimal. Basic services for Cuban citizens have been maintained and improved. Lower income groups have experienced a rise in their wages and state-set prices have remained stable for Cubans.

The share of agriculture in the GDP fell from 25 percent to only 10 percent in 1985. The country has had immense industrial growth, with manufacturing's share in the GDP rising from 23 to 36 percent. In the 1980s, with the exception of Argentina, Cuba's manufacturing share was the highest in Latin America. Branches of industry such as machinery and transport equipment have had significant growth, as their share of manufacturing output rose from under 2 percent in 1961 to over 20 percent in 1986.

Between 1980 and 1985, Cuba introduced over 100 new products for export and had significant growth in exports of citrus fruits, steel products, gas stoves, paper products, transport material, radios, batteries, among others.

Cuba also has succeeded in reducing poverty and equalizing the distribution of wealth. According to the United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America, the decile ratio (share of total income for the top 10 percent of wage earners divided by the bottom 10 percent) in Latin America was 45 to 1, while that of Cuba was only 4 to 1. Cuba's income distribution was more than 10 times more equal than the rest of Latin America in the 1980s. Before the Revolution, Cuba's decile ratio was 65 to 1.

During the Revolutionary period, Cuba was one of the few developing countries to provide foreign aid. Foreign aid began with the construction of six hospitals in Peru in the early 1970s.^[15]

Foreign aid expanded later in the 1970s to the point where some 8000 Cubans worked in overseas assignments. Cubans built housing, roads, airports, schools, and other facilities in Angola, Ethiopia, Laos, Guinea, Tanzania, and other countries. By the end of 1985, 35,000 Cuban workers had helped build projects in some 20 Asian, African and Latin American countries.^[15]

For Nicaragua, Cuba pledged to provide over $130 million worth of agricultural and machinery equipment, as well as some 4000 technicians, doctors, and teachers.^[15]

Some have attributed the Cuban economic success to Soviet subsidies. However, comparative economic data from 1989 showed that the amount of Soviet aid was in line with the amount of Western aid to many Latin American countries.^[16]

Special Period[link]

The Cuban economy is still recovering from a decline in gross domestic product of at least 35% between 1989 and 1993 due to the loss of 80% of its trading partners^{[clarification needed]} and Soviet subsidies.^[17] This era was referred to as the "Special Period in Peacetime" later shortened to "Special Period". A Canadian Medical Association Journal paper states that "The famine in Cuba during the Special Period was caused by political and economic factors similar to the ones that caused a famine in North Korea in the mid-1990s. Both countries were run by authoritarian regimes that denied ordinary people the food to which they were entitled when the public food distribution collapsed; priority was given to the elite classes and the military."^[18] Cubans had to resort to eating anything they could find, from Havana Zoo animals to domestic cats.^[19] Because of the collapse of centrally-planned economies in the Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern bloc, Cuba experienced economic difficulties, which led to a drop in calories per day from 3052 in 1989 to 2600 in 2006.^[20]

The government has undertaken several reforms in recent years^[when?] to stem excess liquidity, increase labour incentives, and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. To alleviate the economic crisis, the government introduced a few market-oriented reforms including opening to tourism, allowing foreign investment, legalizing the U.S. dollar, and authorizing self-employment for some 150 occupations. (This policy was later partially reversed, so that while the U.S. dollar is no longer accepted in businesses, it remains legal for Cubans to hold the currency.) These measures resulted in modest economic growth. The liberalized agricultural markets introduced in October 1994, at which state and private farmers sell above-quota production at free market prices, have broadened legal consumption alternatives and reduced black market prices.^{[citation needed]}

Government efforts to lower subsidies to unprofitable enterprises and to shrink the money supply caused the semi-official exchange rate for the Cuban peso to move from a peak of 120 to the dollar in the summer of 1994 to 21 to the dollar by year-end 1999. Living conditions in 1999 remained well below the 1989 level. New taxes introduced in 1996 have helped drive down the number of self-employed workers from 208,000 in January 1996.^{[citation needed]}

Havana announced in 1995 that GDP declined by 35% during 1989-93, the result of lost Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. The drop in GDP apparently halted in 1994, when Cuba reported 0.7% growth, followed by increases of 2.5% in 1995 and 7.8% in 1996. Growth slowed again in 1997 and 1998 to 2.5% and 1.2% respectively. One of the key reasons given was the failure to notice that sugar production had become dramatically uneconomic. Reflecting on the Special period Cuban president Fidel Castro later admitted that many mistakes had been made, “The country had many economists and it is not my intention to criticize them, but I would like to ask why we hadn’t discovered earlier that maintaining our levels of sugar production would be impossible. The Soviet Union had collapsed, oil was costing $40 a barrel, sugar prices were at basement levels, so why did we not rationalize the industry?" ^[21]

Recovery[link]

Due to the continued growth of tourism, growth began in 1999 with a 6.2% increase in GDP^{[citation needed]}. Growth in recent years has picked up significantly, with a growth in GDP of 11.8% in 2005 according to official Cuban information^{[citation needed]}. In 2007 the Cuban economy grew by 7.5%, below the expected 10%, but higher than the Latin American average rate of growth. Accordingly, the cumulative growth in GDP since 2004 stood at 42.5 %.^[22][23]

Post-Fidel reforms[link]

Parts of this article (those related to this section) are outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (August 2011)

In 2007, Raúl Castro's administration hinted that the purchase of computers, DVD players and microwaves would become legal. However, monthly wages remain less than 20 U.S. dollars.^[24] Mobile phones, which have been restricted to Cubans working for foreign companies and government officials, have become legalized. The new program could put phones in the hands of hundreds of thousands of Cubans.^[24]

In 2010, Fidel Castro, in agreement with Raul Castro's reformist sentiment, admitted that the Cuban model based on the old Soviet model of centralized planning was no longer sustainable for the Cuban economy. While both leaders remain committed to dialectical materialism, they are encouraging the creation of a co-operative variant of socialism where the state plays a less active role in the economy, and the formation of worker-owned co-operatives and self-employed enterprises is being encouraged.^[25]

Energy production[link]

Electricity generated in Cuba, 1985-2011

Due to the reliance on declining Soviet era electricity generators, many areas of Cuba suffered^[when?] frequent blackouts and brownouts for extended periods, creating additional pressure on society. To counter these problems, the government has put Cuba through an "Energy Revolution", which has placed increased emphasis on the efficient use of electrical energy and more efficient,^{[citation needed]} small-power generators linked in a synchronized network. The country has increased the number of solar- and wind-powered generators. Citizens are also encouraged to swap their old, electricity consumptive lamps with those of newer model to reduce consumption, which is also complemented with a new power tariff, which imposes economically punitive measurements on inefficient use of power.^[26] Though development was hampered by large-scale damage created by Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Wilma, which cut Cuba's electricity generation capacity by half in the areas most affected, Cuba now exceeds the government set demand in electricity production.^{[27][clarification needed]} Raul Castro told Cubans in his July 26 speech in 2007, that the Special Period is not yet over.^[28]

Government policies[link]

Rationing in Cuba refers to the system of food distribution known in Cuba as the Libreta de Abastecimiento ("Supplies booklet"). The system establishes the rations each person is allowed to buy through that system, and the frequency of supplies. It is rumoured that the rationing card, and the whole rationing system, will be abolished. The abolishment of the rationing system will become official at the next Communist Party of Cuba's party congress set for April 2011.^[29]

On top of rationing, the average wage at the end of 2005 was 334 regular pesos per month ($16.70 per month) and average monthly pension was $9.^[30]

A person can get more jail time for killing a cow (10 years in prison) than killing a human. Those who sell beef without government permission can get three to eight years in prison. Eaters of illegal beef can get three months to one year in prison.^[31]

After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, citizens were not required to pay a personal income tax (their salaries being regarded as net of any taxes). However, from 1996, the State started to impose income taxes on Cubans earning hard currency, primarily the self-employed.^[32]

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Cuba 65th (from best to worst) out of 180 countries, better than most other countries in Central or Latin America.

Agriculture[link]

As a result of inefficient state-run agriculture, Cuba imports up to 80% of the food it rations to the public.^[33] After coming to power, Raúl Castro, Fidel Castro's brother, has ridiculed the bureaucracy that shackles the agriculture sector.^[33] Before 1959, Cuba boasted as many cattle as people. Today meat is so scarce that it is a crime to kill and eat a cow without government permission.^[34] Cuban people even suffered from starvation during the Special Period.

Industry[link]

Oil pumps in Cuba

In total, industrial production accounted for almost 37% of the Cuban GDP, or US$6.9 billion, and employs 24% of the population, or 2,671,440 people, in 1996.^{[citation needed]}

More recently Cuba's world-class biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry is gaining in its importance to the economy. It has been claimed that soon it will become Cuba's main source of foreign exchange. Among the products sold internationally are vaccines against various viral and bacterial pathogens, and promising anti-cancer vaccines are undergoing exhaustive clinical trials. Some Cuban scientists, like V. Verez-Bencomo, have been awarded international prizes for their contributions in biotechnology and Sugar Cane. Cuban vaccines are sold, among other countries, in Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and several Latin American countries.^[35]

Tertiary industries[link]

Tourism in Cuba[link]

White sand beach in Varadero, Cuba

In the mid 1990s tourism surpassed sugar, long the mainstay of the Cuban economy, as the primary source of foreign exchange. Tourism figures prominently in the Cuban Government's plans for development, and a top official cast it as the "heart of the economy". Havana devotes significant resources to building new tourist facilities and renovating historic structures for use in the tourism sector. Cuban officials estimate roughly 1.6 million tourists visited Cuba in 1999 with about $1.9 billion in gross revenues. In 2000, 1,773,986 foreign visitors arrived in Cuba. Revenue from tourism reached US $1.7 billion.^[36]

The rapid growth of tourism has had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba. This has led to speculation of the emergence of a two-tier economy^[37] and the fostering of a state of tourist apartheid on the island. This situation was exacerbated by the influx of dollars into the Cuban economy during the 1990s, potentially creating a dual economy based on the dollar (the currency of tourists) on the one hand, and the peso on the other. Scarce imported goods - and even some of local manufacture, such as rum and coffee- could be had at dollars-only stores, but were hard to find or unavailable at peso prices. As a result, Cubans who earned only in the peso economy, outside the tourist sector, were at an economic disadvantage. Those with dollar incomes based upon the service industry began to live more comfortably. This widened the gulf between Cubans' material standards of living, in conflict with the Cuban Government's long term socialist policies.^[38]

Retail[link]

Cuba has a very poorly developed retail sector. There are no large shopping centers and the commercial districts that existed before the revolution are largely shut down. Those that remain carry few and poorly made products that are priced in dollars and are too expensive for the average Cuban to purchase. The majority of the stores are small dollar stores, bodegas, agro-mercados (farmers' markets) and street stands.^[39]

Poverty[link]

Typical wages range from factory worker's 400 non-convertible Cuban pesos a month to doctor's 700. That is around 17-30 U.S. dollars a month. However, the Human Development Index of Cuba still ranks much higher than the vast majority of Latin American nations.^[40] After Cuba lost subsidies in 1991, malnutrition resulted in an outbreak of diseases and general hunger.^[41] Despite this, the poverty level reported by the government is one of the lowest in the developing world, ranking 6th out of 108 countries, 4th in Latin America, and 48th among all countries.^[42] Pensions are among the smallest in the Western hemisphere at $9.50. In 2009, Raul Castro increased minimum pensions by 2 dollars, which he said was to recompense for those who have "dedicated a great part of their lives to working... and who remain firm in defense of socialism".^[43]

International trade[link]

The Netherlands receives the largest share of Cuban exports (24%), 70 to 80% of which go through Indiana Finance BV, a company owned by the Van 't Wout family, who have close personal ties with Fidel Castro. Currently, this trend can be seen in other colonial Caribbean communities who have direct political ties with the global economy. (for example, British West Indies, United States Virgin Islands, French outer-territories, and so on). The second largest trade partner is Canada, with a 22% share of the Cuban export market.^[44]

Foreign investment[link]

Since the Special Period, Cuba has actively courted foreign investment. All would be foreign investors are required to form joint ventures with the Cuban government. The sole exception to this rule are Venezuelans, who are allowed to hold 100% ownership in businesses due to an economic agreement between Cuba and Venezuela. Cuban officials said in early 1998 that there were a total of 332 joint ventures. Many of these are loans or contracts for management, supplies, or services normally not considered equity investment in Western economies. Investors are constrained by the U.S.-Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act which provides sanctions for those who "traffic" in property expropriated from U.S. citizens. As of March 1998, 15 executives of three foreign companies have been excluded from entry into the United States.^{[citation needed]} Over a dozen companies have pulled out of Cuba or altered their plans to invest there due to the threat of action under the Libertad Act.^{[citation needed]}

Tobacco plantation, Pinar del Río.

US Dollar[link]

In 1993 the Cuban Government made it legal for its people to possess and use the U.S. dollar. From then until 2004, the dollar became a major currency. To capture the hard currency flowing into the island through tourism and remittances - estimated at $500–800 million annually - the government set up state-run "dollar stores" throughout Cuba that sold 'luxury' food, household, and clothing items, compared with basic necessities, which were bought using the Cuban peso. As such, a gap in the standard of living developed between those with access to dollars and those without. Jobs that could earn dollar salaries or tips from foreign businesses and tourists became highly desirable. It was common to meet doctors, engineers, scientists, and other professionals working in restaurants or as taxicab drivers.

However, in response to stricter economic sanctions by the US, and because the authorities were pleased with Cuba's economic recovery, the Cuban government decided in October 2004 to remove the American dollar from circulation. In its place, the Cuban convertible peso is now used, which although not internationally traded, has a value pegged to that of the dollar. As a source of additional revenue, a 10% surcharge is levied for conversions from US dollars to the convertible peso; this surcharge does not apply to other currencies, so it acts as an encouragement for tourists to bring currencies like Euros, pounds sterling or Canadian dollars into Cuba. Indeed, an increasing number of tourist zones now also accept Euros.

Self-employment[link]

To provide jobs for workers laid off due to the economic crisis that the government was having difficulty providing, and to try to bring some forms of black market activity into legal, and regulated, channels, Havana in 1993 legalized self-employment for some 150 occupations. The government tightly controls the small private sector, which has fluctuated in size from 150,000 to 209,000, by regulating and taxing it. For example, owners of small private restaurants (paladares) can seat no more than 12 people^[45] and can only employ family members to help with the work. Set monthly fees must be paid regardless of income earned and frequent inspections yield stiff fines when any of the many self-employment regulations are violated. Rather than expanding private sector opportunities, in recent years, the government has been attempting to squeeze more of these private sector entrepreneurs out of business and back to the public sector. Many have opted to enter the informal economy or black market. In recent years there has developed what is called "urban agriculture", production which takes place on small parcels of land in the cities. Growing organopónicos (organic gardens) in the private sector has been attractive to city dwelling small producers who get to sell their products in the same place where they produce them, avoiding taxes and enjoying a measure of government help from the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) in the form of seed houses and advisers.

Public Facilities[link]

La Bodega For Cuban nationals only. Provides subsidized food and other necessities including rice, sugar, beans, peas, coffee, meat, milk, and cooking oil at low prices.

La Copelia A government-owned facility offering ice cream, juice, and sweets.

Paladar A type of small, privately-owned restaurant facility with no more than 12 seats.

La Farmacia Low-priced medicine, with the lowest costs anywhere in the world.

Etecsa National telephone service provider.

La Feria A weekly market (Sunday market-type) owned by the government.

Cerveceria Bucanero A beverage manufacturer, providing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Ciego Montero The main soft-drink and beverage distributor.

Connection with Venezuela[link]

The relationship cultivated between Cuba and Venezuela in recent years has resulted in agreements in which Venezuela provides cheap oil in exchange for Cuban "missions" of doctors to bolster the Venezuelan health care system. Cuba, with the second-highest per capita number of physicians in the world (behind Italy), sends tens of thousands of doctors to other countries as aid, as well as to obtain favorable economic terms of trade.

Other statistics[link]

This section mainly consists of lists. The information may be better understood by either replacing or supporting with prose. You can help by consulting the relevant guideline and making appropriate changes or additions. Editing help is available. (February 2012)

Electricity - production: 16.89 billion kWh (2007 est.)^[2]

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 89.52%
hydro: 0.65%
nuclear: 0%
other: 9.83% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 13.93 billion kWh (2007 est.)^[2]

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)^[2]

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)^[2]

Oil - production: 62,100 bbl/d (9,870 m³/d) (2008 est.)^[2]

Oil - consumption: 176,000 bbl/d (28,000 m³/d) (2008 est.)^[2]

Oil - exports: 0 bbl/d (0 m³/d) (2007 est.)^[2]

Oil - imports: 104,800 bbl/d (16,660 m³/d) (2007 est.)^[2]

Oil - proved reserves: 197,300,000 bbl (31,370,000 m³) (1 January 2009 est.)^[2]

Natural gas - production: 400 million cu m (2008 est.)^[2]

Natural gas - consumption: 400 million cu m (2008 est.)^[2]

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2008 est.)^[2]

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2008 est.)^[2]

Natural gas - proved reserves: 70.79 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)^[2]

Agriculture - products: sugarcane, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans, livestock^[2]

Annual budget: revenues: $47.08 billion expenditures: $50.34 billion (2009 est.)^[2]

Public debt: 34.6% of GDP (2009 est.)^[2]

Current account balance: $513 million (2009 est.)^[2]

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $4.647 billion (31 December 2009 est.)^[2]

References[link]

v t e Cuba Culture Art Cinema Internet Literature Media Music Musical theater Newspapers Public holidays Radio Religion Sports (Baseball, Boxing, Football) Television Universities Demographics Cubans Afro-Cubans Cape Verdean Chinese Ciboney Filipino German Haitian Isleños Italian Japanese Jews Korean LGBT Spanish White Women Economy Agriculture Agrarian reform Agricultural cooperatives Airline Central bank Communications Peso Convertible peso Tourism Transport Geography General Almendares River Sierra Maestra World Heritage Sites Cities Bayamo Camagüey Ciego de Ávila Cienfuegos Guantánamo Havana Holguín Victoria de Las Tunas Matanzas Pinar del Río Sancti Spíritus Santa Clara Santiago de Cuba Provinces Artemisa Camagüey Ciego de Ávila Cienfuegos Ciudad de La Habana Granma Guantánamo Holguín Isla de la Juventud Las Tunas Matanzas Mayabeque Pinar del Río Sancti Spíritus Santiago de Cuba Villa Clara History Timeline Colonial governors Ten Years' War Little War Cuban War of Independence Sinking of the USS Maine Spanish–American War Platt Amendment Revolution 1932 Cuba Hurricane La Coubre explosion Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuban Missile Crisis War Against the Bandits Cuban intervention in Angola (1975-1991) Cubana Flight 455 Mariel boatlift Special Period 2006 Cuban transfer of presidential duties Tropical cyclones People By Career Academics‎ Activists‎ Actors‎ Architects‎ Artists‎ Ballet Dancers‎ Businesspeople‎ Chefs‎ Comedians‎ Composers‎ Cosmonauts‎ Criminals‎ Dancers‎ Economists‎ Educators‎ Engineers‎ Entertainers‎ Farmers‎ Film Directors‎ Film Producers‎ Geographers‎ Heads Of State‎ Colonial Heads‎ Historians‎ Illustrators‎ Journalists‎ Judges‎ Lawyers‎ Librarians‎ Mathematicians‎ Military Personnel‎ Models‎ Musicians‎ Notaries‎ Painters‎ Philosophers‎ Photographers‎ Physicians‎ Poets‎ Politicians‎ Presidents‎ Psychologists‎ Radio Personalities‎ Rappers‎ Rebels‎ Religious Leaders‎ Revolutionaries‎ Sailors‎ Scientists‎ Sculptors‎ Sex Workers‎ Singers‎ Social Scientists‎ Soldiers‎ Songwriters‎ Sportspeople‎ Television Personalities‎ Women By Occupation‎ Writers‎ By Name Desi Arnaz Fulgencio Batista Leo Brouwer Fidel Castro Raúl Castro Celia Cruz Ibrahim Ferrer Osmani García "La Voz" Máximo Gómez Elián González affair Nicolás Guillén José Martí Pablo Milanés Omara Portuondo Silvio Rodríguez Compay Segundo Félix Varela Politics General Castroism Constitution Elections Foreign relations Law Military Government Opposition Presidency Cuba-U.S. Bay of Pigs Invasion Brothers to the Rescue Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba Cuban American Cuban-American lobby Cuban dissident movement Cuban Five Cuban Missile Crisis Elián González affair Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Helms–Burton Act Cuba-U.S. hijackings Luis Posada Carriles Mariel boatlift Operation Northwoods Operation Peter Pan Platt Amendment Spanish–American War U.S. ambassador U.S. embargo U.S. Interests Section Parties Communist Party Christian Democratic Democratic Socialist Current Democratic Social-Revolutionary Democratic Solidarity Liberal Liberal Movement Social Democratic Co-ordination Former parties: Auténtico Cuban National Democratic Union Independent Republican Ortodoxo Popular Socialist Republican (Havana) Security Military Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) Army Navy Air Force Territorial Troops Militia Law enforcement National Revolutionary Police Force Intelligence Military Counterintelligence Directorate Intelligence Directorate Society Censorship Committees for the Defense of the Revolution Education Healthcare Human rights Rationing Sociolismo Scouting and Guiding

External links[link]

• Cuba's Economic Struggles from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
• Marianne Ward (Loyola College) and John Devereux (Queens College CUNY), The Road not taken: Pre-Revolutionary Cuban Living Standards in Comparative Perspective

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (May 2012)

Republic of Cuba República de Cuba (Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Patria o Muerte (Spanish) "Homeland or Death"[1]
Anthem: La Bayamesa  ("The Bayamo Song")[2]
Capital (and largest city)		Havana 23°8′N 82°23′W / 23.133°N 82.383°W / 23.133; -82.383
Official language(s)		Spanish
Ethnic groups		65.1% White, 10.1% African, 24.8% Mulatto and Mestizo[3]
Demonym		Cuban
Government		Unitary republic, Socialist state
-	President & Premier	Raúl Castro
-	First Vice President	J. R. M. Ventura
-	First Secretary of Communist Party	Raúl Castro
-	President of the National Assembly	Ricardo Alarcón
Legislature		National Assembly
Independence		from Spain/U.S.
-	Declared	October 10, 1868 from Spain
-	Republic declared	May 20, 1902 from the United States
-	Cuban Revolution	January 1, 1959
Area
-	Total	109,884 km2 (105th) 42,426 sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible[4]
Population
-	2010 census	11,241,161[5]
-	Density	102.3/km2 (106th) 265.0/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2010 estimate
-	Total	$114.1 billion[6] (63rd)
-	Per capita	$9,900 (86th)
GDP (nominal)		2010 estimate
-	Total	$57.49 billion[3] (68th)
-	Per capita	$5,100[3][4][7] (90th)
HDI (2011)		0.776[8] (high) (51st)
Currency		Cuban peso(CUP) Cuban convertible peso[9] (CUC)
Time zone		CST (UTC−5)
-	Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC−4)
Drives on the		right
ISO 3166 code		CU
Internet TLD		.cu
Calling code		+53

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, (ⁱ/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( listen)) 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.^[10][11] To the north of Cuba lies the United States (140 km or 90 mi away) and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. A fragile democracy, increasingly dominated by radical politics eventually evolved, solidified by the Cuban Constitution of 1940, but was definitely quashed in 1952 by former president Fulgencio Batista, and an authoritarian regime was set up, intensifying and catalyzing already rampant corruption, political repression and crippling economic regulations.^[12][13][14] Batista was ousted in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, and a new administration under Fidel Castro established, which had by 1965 evolved into a single-party state under the revived Communist Party of Cuba, which holds power to date.

Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous island nation in the Caribbean, as well as the largest by area. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, such as the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves and its proximity to the United States.

Cuba has a 99.8% literacy rate,^[3][15] an infant death rate lower than some developed countries,^[16] and an average life expectancy of 77.64.^[3] In 2006, Cuba was the only nation in the world which met the WWF's definition of sustainable development; having an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita and a Human Development Index of over 0.8 for 2007.^[17]

Etymology[link]

The name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant (cubao),^[18] or great place (coabana).^[19] Authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the ancient town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal.^[20][21]

History[link]

Pre-Columbian era[link]

Sketch of a Taíno woman, also known as the Arawak by the Spanish

Cuba was inhabited by Native American people known as the Taíno, also called Arawak by the Spanish, and Guanajatabey and Ciboney people before the arrival of the Spanish. The ancestors of these Native Americans migrated from the mainland of North, Central and South America several centuries earlier.^[22] The native Taínos called the island Caobana.^[23] The Taíno were farmers and the Ciboney were farmers, fishers and hunter-gatherers.

Spanish colonization[link]

After first landing on an island then called Guanahani on October 12, 1492,^[24] Christopher Columbus landed on Cuba's northeastern coast near what is now Baracoa on October 27^[24] or 28.^[25][26] He claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain^[27] and named Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias.^[28] In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa; other towns soon followed including the future capital of San Cristobal de la Habana which was founded in 1515. The native Taínos were working under the encomienda system,^[29] which resembled a feudal system in Medieval Europe.^[30] Within a century the indigenous people were virtually wiped out due to multiple factors, including Eurasian infectious diseases aggravated in large part by a lack of natural resistance as well as privation stemming from repressive colonial subjugation.^[31] In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of the natives who had previously survived smallpox.^[32][33]

Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, conquistador of Cuba

Cuba remained a Spanish possession for almost 400 years (1511–1898), with an economy based on 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 slaves brought to the island.

The small land-owning elite of Spanish settlers held social and economic powers supported by a population of Spaniards born on the island (Criollos), other Europeans, and African-descended slaves. The population in 1817 was 630,980, of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 free black, and 224,268 black slaves.^[34]

Independence wars[link]

In the 1820s, when the rest of Spain's empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal. Although there was agitation for independence, the Spanish Crown gave Cuba the motto La Siempre Fidelísima Isla ("The Always Most Faithful Island"). This loyalty was due partly to Cuban settlers' dependence on Spain for trade, their desire for protection from pirates and against a slave rebellion, and partly because they feared the rising power of the United States more than they disliked Spanish rule.^{[citation needed]}

Ten Years' War[link]

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes is known as Father of the Homeland in Cuba, having declared the nation's independence from Spain in 1868.

Independence from Spain was the motive for a rebellion in 1868 led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. De Céspedes, a sugar planter, freed his slaves to fight with him for a free Cuba. On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory but accepting it in practice and declaring free any slaves whose masters present them for military service.^[35] The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Years' War. The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American nations did so.^[36] In 1878, the Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–1880, Cuban patriot Calixto García attempted to start another war known as the Little War but received little support.^[37]

Period between wars[link]

In Cuba, a sophisticated and prosperous sugar industry had employed chattel slavery until the final third of the 19th century. Cuba produced 720,250 metric tons of sugar in 1868, more than forty percent of cane sugar reaching the world market that year. Slavery had been maintained in Cuba, however, while abolition was underway elsewhere. Abolition in Cuba began the final third of the 19th century, and was completed in the 1880s.^[38][39]

War of 1895[link]

An exiled dissident named José Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York in 1892. The aim of the party was to achieve Cuban independence from Spain.^[40] In January 1895 Martí traveled to Montecristi and Santo Domingo to join the efforts of Máximo Gómez.^[40] Martí recorded his political views in the Manifesto of Montecristi.^[41] Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 24 February 1895, but Martí was unable to reach Cuba until 11 April 1895.^[40] Martí was killed in the battle of Dos Rios on 19 May 1895.^[40] His death immortalized him as Cuba's national hero.^[41]

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 camps.^[42] Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the camps, numbers verified by the Red Cross and United States Senator and former Secretary of War Redfield Proctor. American and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.^[43]

Spanish–American War[link]

USS Maine[link]

The U.S. battleship Maine arrived in Havana on 25 January 1898 to offer protection to the 8,000 American residents on the island, but the Spanish saw this as intimidation. On the evening of 15 February 1898, the Maine blew up in the harbor, killing 252 crew. Another eight crew members died of their wounds in hospital over the next few days.^[44] A Naval Board of Inquiry headed by Captain William T. Sampson was appointed to investigate the cause of the explosion on the Maine. Having examined the wreck and taken testimony from eyewitnesses and experts, 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."^[44]

The facts remain disputed today, although an investigation by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover published in 1976 established that the blast was most likely a large internal explosion. Rickover believes the explosion was caused by a spontaneous combustion in inadequately ventilated bituminous coal which ignited gunpowder in an adjacent magazine.^[45][46] 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.^[44] The U.S. Congress passed a resolution calling for intervention, and President William McKinley complied.^[47] Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April.

Early 20th century[link]

After the Spanish-American War, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898), by which Spain ceded Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States for the sum of $20 million.^[48] Under the same treaty, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over 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 treaty. Cuba gained formal independence from the U.S. on May 20, 1902, as the Republic of Cuba. 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.

Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, Tomás Estrada Palma, faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces.^[49] The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named Charles Edward Magoon as Governor for three years. Cuban historians have attributed Magoon's governorship as having introduced political and social corruption.^[50] 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,^[51] but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed.

García Lorca Theater in Havana

During World War I, Cuba exported considerable quantities of sugar to Britain. Cuba was able to avoid U-boat attacks by the subterfuge of shipping the sugar to Sweden. The Menocal government declared war on Germany very soon after the United States.

A constitutional government was maintained until 1930 when Gerardo Machado y Morales suspended the constitution. During Machado's tenure, a nationalistic economic program was pursued with several major national development projects which included the Carretera Central and El Capitolio. 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]}

During a general strike in which the Communist Party sided with Machado,^[52] 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 4–5 September 1933, a second coup overthrew Céspedes which led to the formation of the first Ramón Grau government. Notable events in this violent period include the separate sieges of Hotel Nacional de Cuba and Atares Castle. This government lasted 100 days but engineered radical socialist changes in Cuban society, including the abolishment of the Platt Amendment and instating of womens' suffrage in Cuba. In 1934, Grau was ousted in favor of Carlos Mendieta, the first in a series of puppet presidents subordinate to the army and its young chief of staff, Fulgencio Batista.

Fulgencio Batista was democratically elected President in the elections of 1940, so far the only non-white Cuban endorsed for the nation's highest office.^[53][54][13] His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of the Communist Party held office under his administration^[55] and established numerous economic regulations and pro-union policies, as well as the Cuban Constitution of 1940, which engineered radical progressive ideas, including the right to labour and health care.^[56] 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. Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II, although president Batista suggested a joint U.S.-Latin American assault on Francoist Spain in order to overthrow its authoritarian regime.^[57]

Many so-called yank tanks remain in use from pre-revolutionary days. The balcony above belongs to a casa particular.

Ramón Grau, who lost in 1940 to Batista, finally returned in the 1944 elections by defeating Batista's preferred successor, Carlos Saladrigas Zayas. In 1948, his Revolutionary Authentic Party won again when Carlos Prío Socarrás won, the last person elected to the presidency by free and fair elections. The two terms of the Auténtico Party saw an influx of investment fueled a boom which raised living standards for all segments of society and created a prosperous middle class in most urban areas.^[58]

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 10 March 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.

In March 1952 Justo Carrillo informed Barquín in Washington that the inner circles knew that Batista had plotted the coup. 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 4 April 1956, a coup by hundreds of career officers led by Barquín was frustrated by Rios Morejon. The coup broke the back of the Cuban armed forces. 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, though about one third of the population was considered poor and enjoyed relatively little of this consumption.^[60] In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards.^[61] Cuba attracted more immigrants, primarily from Europe, as a percentage of population than the U.S. The United Nations noted Cuba for its large middle class.^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in Latin America, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.^[62]

Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems.^[13][63] Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs.^[13] The middle class, which was comparable to the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions supported Batista until the very end.^[53][13]

Revolution[link]

Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, photographed by Alberto Korda in 1961.

On 2 December 1956 a party of 82 people on the yacht Granma landed in Cuba. The party, led by Fidel Castro, had the intention of establishing an armed resistance movement in the Sierra Maestra. While facing armed resistance from Castro's rebel fighters in the mountains, Fulgencio Batista's regime was weakened and crippled by a United States arms embargo imposed on 14 March 1958. By late 1958, the rebels broke out of the Sierra Maestra and launched a general popular insurrection. After the fighters captured Santa Clara, Batista fled from Havana on 1 January 1959 to exile in Portugal. Barquín negotiated the symbolic change of command between Camilo Cienfuegos, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, and his brother Fidel Castro after the Supreme Court decided that the Revolution was the source of law and its representatives should assume command.

Fidel Castro's forces entered the capital on 8 January 1959. 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]} Disagreements within the government culminated in Urrutia's resignation in July 1959. He was replaced by Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, who served as president until 1976. Castro became prime minister in February 1959, succeeding José Miró in head of the state.

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 mafia in 1960 and 1961 to assassinate Fidel Castro, according to documents declassified in 2007.^[64][65]

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.^[66] The government nationalized private property totaling about USD $25 billion,^[67] of which American property made up around USD $1 billion.^[67][68]

By the end of 1960, the coletilla made its appearance, and most newspapers in Cuba had been expropriated, taken over by the unions, or had been abandoned.^[60][69] All radio and television stations were in state control.^[60] Moderate teachers and professors were purged.^[60] In any year, about 20,000 dissenters were imprisoned.^[60] Some homosexuals, religious practitioners, and others were sent to labor camps where they were subject to political "re-education".^[70] One estimate is that 15,000 to 17,000 people were executed,^[71] although the U.S. State Department estimates that 3,200 people were executed from 1959 to 1962.^[72]

The Communist Party strengthened its one-party rule, with Castro as ultimate leader.^[60] Fidel's brother, Raúl Castro, became the army chief.^[60] Loyalty to Castro became the primary criterion for all appointments.^[73] In September 1960, the revolutionary government created a system known as Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), which provided neighborhood spying.^[60]

In the 1961 New Year's Day parade, the administration exhibited Soviet tanks and other weapons.^[73] Eventually, Cuba built up the second largest armed forces in Latin America, second only to Brazil.^[74] Cuba became a privileged client-state of the Soviet Union.^[75]

By 1961, hundreds of thousands of Cubans had left for the United States.^[76] The 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion (La Batalla de Girón) was an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Cuban government by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles with U.S. military support. The plan was launched in April 1961, less than three months after John F. Kennedy became the U.S. President. The Cuban armed forces, trained and equipped by Eastern Bloc nations, defeated the exiles in three days. Cuban-American relations were exacerbated the following year by the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Kennedy administration demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba placed in response to U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey and the Middle East. 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.^[53]

Fidel Castro and members of the East German Politburo in 1972

In January 1962, Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS), and later the same year the OAS started to impose sanctions against Cuba of similar nature to the US sanctions.^[77]

By 1963, Cuba was moving towards a full-fledged Communist system modeled on the USSR.^[78] The U.S. imposed a complete diplomatic and commercial embargo on Cuba and began Operation Mongoose, a program of covert CIA operations.

In 1965, Castro merged his revolutionary organizations with the Communist Party, of which he became First Secretary; Blas Roca was named Second Secretary. Roca was succeeded by Raúl Castro, who, as Defense Minister and Fidel's closest confidant, became and remained the second most powerful figure in Cuba until his brother's retirement. Raúl's position was strengthened by the departure of Che Guevara to launch unsuccessful insurrections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then Bolivia, where he was killed in 1967.

During the 1970s, Fidel Castro dispatched tens of thousands of troops in support of Soviet-supported wars in Africa, particularly the MPLA in Angola and Mengistu Haile Mariam in Ethiopia.^[79]

The standard of living in 1970s was "extremely spartan" and discontent was rife.^[80] Fidel Castro admitted the failures of economic policies in a 1970 speech.^[80] By the mid-1970s, Castro started economic reforms.

In 1975 the OAS lifted its sanctions against Cuba, with the approval of 16 member states, including the U.S. The U.S., however, maintained its own sanctions.^[77]

Recent affairs[link]

As of 2002, some 1.2 million persons of Cuban background (about 10% of the current population of Cuba) reside in the U.S.^[81][82] Many of them left the island for the United States, often by sea in small boats and fragile rafts. On 6 April 1980, 10,000 Cubans stormed the Peruvian 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]} 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^{[clarification needed]} the U.S. State Department, but the emigration continued, because Castro allowed anyone who desired to leave the country to do so through the port of Mariel. Over 125,000 Cubans emigrated to the U.S. before the flow of vessels ended on 15 June.^{[citation needed]}

Raúl Castro and President 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.^[83][84] The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines, and cash until 1993.^[83] On 5 August 1994, state security dispersed protesters in a spontaneous protest in Havana.^[85]

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".^[86][87]

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]} On 2 December 2006, Fidel was too ill to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Granma boat landing, fuelling speculation that he had stomach cancer,^[88] although there was evidence his illness was a digestive problem and not terminal.^[89]

In January 2007, footage was released of Fidel Castro meeting Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, in which Castro "appeared frail but stronger than three months ago".^[90] In February 2008, Fidel Castro announced his resignation as President of Cuba,^[91] and on 24 February Raúl was elected as the new President.^[92] In his acceptance speech, Raúl promised that some of the restrictions that limit Cubans' daily lives would be removed.^[93] In March 2009, Raúl Castro removed some of Fidel Castro's officials.^[94]

On 3 June 2009, the OAS adopted a resolution to end the 47-year ban on Cuban membership of the group.^[95] 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. The resolution stated, however, that full membership would be delayed until Cuba was “in conformity with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS.”^[77] Cuban leaders have repeatedly announced they are not interested in rejoining the OAS, and Fidel Castro restated this after the OAS resolution had been announced.^[96]

Human rights[link]

Trinidad, Cuba, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988

The Cuban government has been accused of numerous human rights abuses including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial executions (also known as "El Paredón").^[97][98] The Human Rights Watch alleges the government "represses nearly all forms of political dissent" and that "Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law".^[99]

Cuba had the second-highest number of imprisoned journalists of any nation in 2008 (the People's Republic of China had the highest) according to various sources, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international NGO, and Human Rights Watch.^[100][101] As a result of ownership restrictions, computer ownership rates are among the world's lowest.^[102] The right to use the Internet is granted only to selected locations and they may be monitored.^[102][103] Connecting to the Internet illegally can lead to a five-year prison sentence.^{[citation needed]}

Cuban dissidents who commit crimes face arrest and imprisonment. In the 1990s, Human Rights Watch reported that Cuba's extensive prison system, one of the largest in Latin America, consists of some 40 maximum-security prisons, 30 minimum-security prisons, and over 200 work camps.^[104] 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.^[104]

Citizens cannot leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission in addition to their passport and the visa requirements of their destination.^[99]

Economy[link]

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 toward more private sector employment. By 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981.^[105] Capital investment is restricted and requires approval by the government. The Cuban government sets most prices and rations goods. Any firm wishing to hire a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn will pay the employee in Cuban pesos.^[106] Cubans cannot change jobs without government permission.^[13] 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.^[107]

Cuba relied heavily on trade with the Soviet Union. From the late 1980s, Soviet subsidies for Cuban goods started to dry up. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba depended on Moscow for substantial aid and sheltered markets for its exports. The removal of these subsidies (for example the oil ^[108][109] ) sent the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as the Special Period. In 1992 the United States tightened the trade embargo, hoping to see democratisation of the sort that took place in Eastern Europe.

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. 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 U.S. currency from circulation in its stores and businesses.^{[citation needed]}

Varadero beach gets 1 million foreign visitors per year

Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as "enclave tourism" and "tourism apartheid".^[110] Contacts between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were de facto illegal until 1997.^[111] 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.^[112] 1.9 million tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of $2.1 billion.^[113] The rapid growth of tourism during the Special Period had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba, and led to speculation about the emergence of a two-tier economy.^[114] The Medical tourism sector caters to thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian, and American consumers every year.

The communist agricultural production system was ridiculed by Raúl Castro in 2008.^[115] Cuba now imports up to 80% of food used for rations.^[115] 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.^[116] The government instituted food rationing policies in 1962, which were exacerbated following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the U.S. embargo. Studies have shown that, as late as 2001, the average Cuban's standard of living was lower than before the downturn of the post-Soviet period. Paramount issues have been state salaries failing to meet personal needs under the state rationing system, chronically plagued with shortages. The variety and quantity of available rationed goods declined.

Under Venezuela's Mission Barrio Adentro, Hugo Chávez has supplied Cuba with up to 80,000 barrels (13,000 m³) of oil per day in exchange for 30,000 doctors and teachers.

In 2005 Cuba had exports of $2.4 billion, ranking 114 of 226 world countries, and imports of $6.9 billion, ranking 87 of 226 countries.^[117] Its major export partners are China 27.5%, Canada 26.9%, Netherlands 11.1%, Spain 4.7% (2007).^[6] Cuba's major exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, and coffee;^[6] imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated to be $13 billion,^[118] approximately 38% of GDP.^[119] According to the Heritage Foundation, Cuba is dependent on credit accounts that rotate from country to country.^[120] Cuba's prior 35% supply of the world's export market for sugar has declined to 10% due to a variety of factors, including a global sugar commodity price drop that made Cuba less competitive on world markets.^[121] At one time, Cuba was the world's most important sugar producer and exporter. As a result of diversification, underinvestment, and natural disasters, Cuba's sugar production has seen a drastic decline. In 2002 more than half of Cuba's sugar mills were shut down. Cuba holds 6.4% of the global market for nickel,^[122] which constitutes about 25% of total Cuban exports.^[123] A 2005 US Geological Survey report estimates that the North Cuba Basin could contain 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.^[124]

In 2010^[update], 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.^[125]

On August 2, 2011, The New York Times reported Cuba as reaffirming their intent to legalize "buying and selling" of private property before the year ends. According to experts, the private sale of property could "transform Cuba more than any of the economic reforms announced by President Raúl Castro’s government".^[126] It will cut more than one million state jobs including party bureaucrats which resist the changes.^[127]

Government and politics[link]

Revolution Square: José Martí Monument designed by Enrique Luis Varela, sculpted by Juan José Sicre, and finished in 1958.^[128]

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, Engels and Lenin.^[129] The constitution describes the Communist Party of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state".^[129] The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba is concurrently President of the Council of State (President of Cuba) and President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes referred to as Premier of Cuba).^[130] Members of both councils are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power.^[129] 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.^[129]

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.^[129] 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".^[129] 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".^[129] 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.^{[citation needed]}

No political party is permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on the island, including the Communist Party. The Communist Party of Cuba has held six party congress meetings since 1975. In 2011, the party stated that there were 800,000 members, and representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by candidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity within Cuba by opposition groups is minimal.

The country is subdivided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud). These were formerly part of six larger historical provinces: Pinar del Río, Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagüey and Oriente. The present subdivisions closely resemble those of the Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence, when the most troublesome areas were subdivided. The provinces are divided into municipalities.

Pinar del Río Artemisa Havana Mayabeque Matanzas Cienfuegos Villa Clara Sancti Spíritus

Ciego de Ávila Camagüey Las Tunas Granma Holguín Santiago de Cuba Guantánamo Isla de la Juventud

Military[link]

Cuba devoted 9–13% of its GDP to military expenditures.^[131] Under the leadership of Fidel Castro, Cuba built up one of the largest armed forces in Latin America; second only to that of Brazil.^[74] 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.^[132]

Foreign relations[link]

From its inception, the Cuban Revolution defined itself as internationalist, joining Comecon in 1972. Cuba was a major contributor to anti-imperialist wars in Africa, Central America and Asia. In Africa, the largest war was in Angola, where Cuba sent tens of thousands of troops. Cuba was a friend of the Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam.^[133] In Africa, Cuba supported 17 leftist governments. In some countries it suffered setbacks, such as in eastern Zaire, but in others Cuba had significant success. Major engagements took place in Algeria, Zaire, Yemen,^[134] 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^[135] and Panama.^{[citation needed]} 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 martyrs 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.^[136] The socialist government in Nicaragua was openly supported by Cuba and can be considered its greatest success in Latin America.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[137] The membership of Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Council has received criticism.^[138]