AGENCY 027 - WEBCAM CHAT CUBA
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The Republic of Cuba (Spanish: Cuba (help·info) or República de Cuba (help·info) [re'pußlika ðe 'kußa]), consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles), Isla de la Juventud and several adjacent small islands. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba is south of the eastern United States and The Bahamas, west of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Haiti and east of Mexico. The Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south. The national flower is Hedychium Coronarium Koenig, most known as "mariposa" (butterfly) and the national bird is "Tocororo" or "Cuban Trogon" from the family of Trogonidae.[7] Cuba is the most populous insular nation in the Caribbean. Its people, culture and customs draw from several sources including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves, and its proximity to the United States. The name "Cuba" comes from the Taíno language and is figured to mean either "where fertile land is abundant" (cubao[8]) or "great place" (coabana[9]). The island has a tropical climate that is moderated by the surrounding waters; however, the warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that the island of Cuba sits across the access to the Gulf of Mexico make Cuba prone to frequent hurricanes. Cuba's main island, at 766 miles long (1,232.5 km), is the world's 17th largest. Contents [hide]
Main articles: History of Cuba and Timeline of Cuban history The coast of Cuba was fully mapped by Sebastián de Ocampo in 1511, and in that year the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa. Other towns including the future capital of the island San Cristobal de la Habana (founded in 1515) soon followed. The Spanish, as they did throughout the Americas, oppressed and enslaved the approximately 100,000 indigenous people that resisted conversion to Christianity on the island. Within a century they had all but disappeared as a distinct nation as a result of the combined effects of European-introduced disease, forced labor and other mistreatment, though aspects of the region's aboriginal heritage have survived.
In the 1820s, when the other parts of Spain’s empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal, although there was some agitation for independence. Due to its loyalty to the Spanish government, the Spanish Crown gave the following mottoe to the island government "La Siempre Fidelisima Isla" (The Always Faithful Island) This was partly because the prosperity of the Cuban settlers depended on trade with Europe, partly through fears of a slave rebellion (as had happened in Haiti) if the Spanish withdrew, and partly because the Cubans feared the rising power of the United States more than they disliked Spanish rule. An additional factor was the continuous migration of Spaniards to Cuba from all social strata, a demographic trend that had ceased in other Spanish possessions decades before and which contributed to the slow development of a Cuban national identity. Pirates were also still a problem and defense against them depended heavily on the presence of Spanish troops. [14] Cuba’s proximity to the U.S. has been a powerful influence on its history. Throughout the 19th century, Southern politicians in the U.S. plotted the island’s annexation as a means of strengthening the pro-slavery forces in the U.S., and there was usually a party in Cuba which supported such a policy. In 1848, a pro-annexations rebellion was defeated and there were several attempts by annexationist forces to invade the island from Florida. There were also regular proposals in the U.S. to buy Cuba from Spain. During the summer of 1848, President James K. Polk quietly authorized his ambassador to Spain, Romulus Mitchell Saunders, to negotiate the purchase of Cuba and offer Spain up to $100 million. While an astonishing sum of money at the time for one territory, trade in sugar and molasses from Cuba exceeded $18,000,000 in 1838 alone.[15] Spain, however, refused to consider ceding one of its last possessions in the Americas. The island was exhausted after this long conflict and pro-independence agitation temporarily died down. There was also a prevalent fear that if the Spanish withdrew or if there was further civil strife, the increasingly expansionist U.S. would step in and annex the island. In 1879-1880, Cuban patriot Calixto Garcia attempted to start another war, known in Cuban history as the Little War but received little support.[17] Partly in response to U.S. pressure, slavery was abolished in 1886, although the African-descended minority remained socially and economically oppressed, despite formal civic equality granted in 1893. During this period, the rural poverty in Spain provoked by the Spanish Revolution of 1868 and its aftermath led to an even greater Spanish emigration to Cuba. During the 1890s, pro-independence agitation revived, fueled by resentment of the restrictions imposed on Cuban trade by Spain and hostility to Spain’s increasingly oppressive and incompetent administration of Cuba. Few of the promises for economic reform made by the Spanish government in the Pact of Zanjon were kept. In April 1895, a new war was declared, led by the writer and poet José Martí who had organized the war over a ten year period while in exile in the U.S. and proclaimed Cuba an independent republic — Martí was killed at Dos Rios shortly after landing in Cuba with the eastern expeditionary force. His death immortalized him and he has become Cuba’s undisputed national hero. The Spanish armed forces totaled about 200,000 troops against a much smaller rebel army which relied mostly on guerilla and sabotage tactics to fight battles, and the Spaniards retaliated with a campaign of suppression. General Valeriano Weyler was appointed military governor of Cuba, and as a repressive measure he herded the rural population into what he called reconcentrados, described by international observers as "fortified towns." These reconcentrados are often considered the prototype for the 20th century concentration camps.[18] Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease during this period in the camps. These numbers were verified by both the Red Cross and U.S. Senator (and former Secretary of War) Redfield Proctor. U.S. and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.[19]. Military events of consequence include the break out to the western provinces "La Invasion", and the taking of the fort complexes at Tunas and Guisa. In 1897, fearing U.S. intervention, Spain moved to a more conciliatory policy, promising home rule with an elected legislature. The rebels rejected this offer and the war for independence continued.
Main article: USS Maine (ACR-1) On 15 February the Maine was blown up in Havana harbour, killing 266 men. Forces in the U.S. blamed the Spanish for blowing up the Maine. Those skeptical of the U.S. accusations were suspicious because the most important officers were at a party on shore. There were 81 foreigners and 82 black seamen among the 25 officers and 318 enlisted killed. An investigative commission arrived in Havana on February 21 aboard USS Mangrove where Judge Advocate of the Navy Adolf Marix reported the ship had been sunk by a mine placed underneath the ship by a diver named Pepe "Taco" Barquin. Marix reported Pepe "Taco" Barquin had been offered $6,000 and was killed the day after. Another diver was killed by guards and another wounded and jailed on the night of the explosion. The one in jail (his arrest was recorded in Regla's official documents), Marix reported, was being poisoned by the Spanish authorities.[20] A Naval Court of inquiry found on March 22, 1898, after physical examination of the ship, "In the opinion of the court, the MAINE was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or more of her forward magazines."[21] Although the court also concluded, "The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the MAINE upon any person or persons."[21], the inference was widely drawn that if there was a submarine mine, the Spanish government had most probably caused that mine to be laid. Swept along on a wave of nationalist sentiment, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution calling for intervention[22] and President William McKinley was quick to comply. According to a letter from Brigadier Freyre de Andrade, the chief planners were Garcia Corujedo, Villasuso, Maribona and other Freemason businessmen, associated with gun runner Maximo Gomez and New York politician William Astor Chanler, a friend of Theodore Roosevelt.[citation needed] Commonly authors find the matter far less definitive and assignment of guilt far less clear.[23] McMorrow, states: "Thus, the conclusion that the explosion which destroyed the ship was triggered by an external blast, as reached by both the Sampson and Vreeland inquiries, seems to be a valid one. Having reached that same conclusion, we still don't know what actually caused the blast. Was the MAINE destroyed by a Spanish mine, as so many believed in 1898, by sabotage, or by some kind of infernal machine?"[24]
In 1906, following disputed elections, an armed revolt led by Independence War Veterans broke out and that defeated the meager government forces loyal to Estrada Palma and the U.S. exercised its right of intervention.[26] The country was placed under U.S. occupation and a U.S. governor, Charles Edward Magoon, took charge for three years. Magoon's governorship in Cuba was viewed in a negative light by many Cuban historians for years thereafter, believing that much political corruption was introduced during Magoon's years as governor.[27] In 1908, self-government was restored when José Miguel Gómez was elected President, but the U.S. retained its supervision of Cuban affairs.
Machado's hold on power was weakened following a decline in the demand for exported agricultural produce due to the Great Depression, the attacks first by War of Independence Veterans, and later by covert terrorist organizations principally the ABC [31] During a general strike in which the communist party took the side of Machado [32] the Senior elements of the Cuban army forced Machado into exile and installed Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, son of Cuba's founding father, as President. In September, 4th-5th (1933) however, a second coup (led by sergeants, most notably Fulgencio Batista, overthrew Céspedes leading to the formation of the first Ramón Grau San Martín government.) Notable bloody events in this violent period include the separate sieges of Hotel Nacional and Atares Castle (see Blas Hernandez). This government lasted just 100 days, but engineered radical socialistic changes in Cuban society and a rejection of the Platt amendment. In 1934, Batista and the army, who were the real center of power in Cuba, replaced Grau with Carlos Mendieta y Montefur. In 1940, Batista decided to run for President himself. Because of a split with the leader of the opposition, Ramón Grau San Martín, Batista turned instead to the Communist Party of Cuba, which had grown in size and influence during the 1930s.
Fidel Castro directed a failed assault on the Moncada Barracks, in Santiago de Cuba, and on the smaller Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Barracks and on the Feast of Saint Ann July 26, 1953.[35]. In April 1956, Batista had given the orders for Barquin to become General and Chief of the Army. But it was too late. Even after Barquin was informed, he decided to move forward with the coup to rescue the morale of the Armed Forces and the Cuban people. On April 4, 1956, a coup by hundreds of career officers led by Col. Barquin (then Vice Chairman of the Inter-American Defense Board in Washington and Cuban Military Attaché of Sea, Air and Land to the US) 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. Barquin was sentenced to solitary confinement for 8 years. La Conspiración de los Puros resulted in the imprisonment of the top commanding brass of the Armed Forces and the closing of the military academies. Barquin was the founder of La Escuela Superior de Guerra (Cuba's War College) and past director of La Escuela de Cadetes (Cuba's Military Academy). Without Barquin's officers the army's ability to combat the revolutionary insurgents was severely curtailed. On 2 December 1956 a party of 82 revolutionaries, led by Castro, landed in a yacht named Granma with the intention of establishing an armed resistance movement in the Sierra Maestra. The yacht had come from Mexico, where Castro had been exiled to, and where his army was strengthened with the help of Ernesto Che Guevara, who later became one of the most important people in the Cuban revolution and one of Castro's closest allies. Castro had gone to Mexico after serving only two years of a twenty year prison sentence for his part in a 1953 rebel attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba.[7][copyvio source?]. Castro received his pardon from Batista after being requested by the Archbishop of Santiago, Monseñor Enrique Perez Serantes and Senator Rafael Diaz-Balart, at the time Fidel Castro's brother-in-law. After the landing, Batista launched a campaign of repression against the opposition, which only served to increase support for the insurgency. With Barquin's professional officers in La Prison Modelo de Isla de Pinos in the Gulf of Mexico, the Army lacked the leadership and will to fight the insurgents.
Castro flew to Washington, DC in April 1959, but was not met by President Eisenhower, who decided to attend a golf tournament rather than meet with the Cuban leader.[36] Castro returned to Cuba after a series of meetings with African-American leaders in New York's Harlem district, and after a lecture on "Cuba and the United States" delivered at the headquarters of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.[37] [12][copyvio source?] [13][copyvio source?] Summary executions of thousands of suspected Batista supporters and members of the opposition through the "paredones" that took place after show trials, coupled with the seizure of privately-owned businesses and the rapid demise of the independent press, nominally attributed to the powerful pro-revolution printing unions,[27] raised questions about the nature of the new government.[attribution needed] The nationalization of private property and businesses, totaling about $25 billion U.S. dollars [38]) and, particularly, U.S.-owned companies (to an excess of 1960 value of US $1.0 billions [39] [40]) aroused immediate hostility within the Eisenhower administration. Anti-Castro Cubans began to leave their country in great numbers and formed a burgeoning expatriate community in Miami that was opposed to the Castro government. The United States government became increasingly hostile towards the Castro-led government of Cuba throughout 1959. Some contend that this, in turn, may have influenced Castro's movement away from the liberal elements of his revolutionary movement and increase the power of hardline Marxist figures in the government, notably Che Guevara. The quality of this article or section may be compromised by weasel
words. This theory is open to debate and has been attacked in various publications which have argued that Castro undertook the Revolution with the goal of turning Cuba towards socialism. Marxist-Leninist Cuba Another result was that Kennedy agreed not to invade Cuba in the future. In the aftermath of this, there was a resumption of contacts between the U.S. and Castro, resulting in the release of the anti-Castro fighters captured at the Bay of Pigs to the US in exchange for a package of aid. However in 1963 relations deteriorated again as Castro moved Cuba towards a fully-fledged Communist system modeled on the Soviet Union.[41]. The U.S. imposed a complete diplomatic and commercial embargo on Cuba, and began Operation Mongoose. In the beginning, U.S. influence in Latin America was strong enough to make the embargo very effective and Cuba was forced to divert virtually all its trade towards the Soviet Union and its allies. However, public declarations of support from Latin American governments for the USA's policies were harder to come by. The Mexican ambassador to the US told the Kennedy administration: "If we publicly declare that Cuba is a threat to our security, forty million Mexicans will die laughing." In 1965, Castro merged his revolutionary organizations with the Communist Party, of which he became First Secretary, with Blas Roca as Second Secretary; later to be succeeded by Raúl Castro, who as Defense Minister and Fidel’s closest confidant became and has remained the second most powerful figure in the government. Raúl Castro’s position was strengthened by the departure of Che Guevara to launch unsuccessful attempts at insurrectionary movements in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then Bolivia, where he was killed in 1967. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, President of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, was a figurehead of little importance. Castro introduced a new constitution in 1976 under which he became President himself, while remaining chairman of the Council of Ministers. Although Cuba's relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated considerably during the mid 1960s, relations between the two countries improved following the Cuban government's endorsement of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. As a result, the Soviet Union increased its aid to Cuba. Indeed, through the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviets were prepared to subsidise all this in exchange for the strategic asset of an ally under the nose of the United States and the undoubted propaganda value of Castro’s considerable prestige in the developing world.[42] During the 1970s, Castro moved onto the world stage as a leading spokesperson for Third World “anti-imperialist” governments. He provided invaluable military assistance to pro-Soviet forces in Angola (see Cuba in Angola), Ethiopia, Yemen and other African and Middle Eastern trouble spots. Cuban forces were decisive in helping the MPLA forces win the Angolan Civil War in 1975. Although the bills for these expeditionary forces were paid by the Soviets, the significant size of the force placed a considerable strain on Cuba’s fragile economy, which was adversely affected by the loss of manpower. Cuba's economic growth was also hampered by its dependence on sugar exports, which forced the Soviets to provide further economic assistance by buying the entire Cuban sugar crop, even though domestic producers in the Soviet Union grew enough sugar beet to supply domestic demand. In exchange the Soviets had to supply Cuba with all its fuel, since it could not import oil from any other source. The Cuban exile community in the U.S. grew in size, wealth and power and politicized elements effectively opposed liberalization of U.S. policy towards Cuba, and have been accused of many terrorist acts, including the bombing of civilian Cubana flight 455 in 1976, resulting in the death of all 73 passengers.[43] However, the efforts of the exiles to foment an anti-Castro movement inside Cuba, let alone a revolution there, met with limited success. On Sunday, April 6, 1980, 10,000 Cubans stormed the Peruvian embassy in Havana seeking political asylum. On Monday, April 7, the Cuban government granted permission for the emigration of Cubans seeking refuge in the Peruvian embassy.[44] On April 16 500 Cuban citizens left the Peruvian Embassy for Costa Rica. On April 21 many of those Cubans started arriving in Miami via private boats and were halted by the US State Department on April 23. The boat lift continued, however, since Castro allowed anyone who desired to leave the country to do so through the port of Mariel and this emigration became known as the Mariel boatlift. In all, over 125,000 Cubans emigrated to the United States before the flow of vessels ended on June 15.[45]
Castro’s popularity, which is difficult to assess, was severely tested by the aftermath of the Soviet collapse (a time known in Cuba as the Special Period). The loss of the nearly five billion USD that the Soviet government provided the Cuban government in aid in the form of a guaranteed export market for Cuban sugar and cheap oil had a significant impact on the country's economy. As in all Communist countries, the collapse of the Soviet Union caused a crisis in confidence for those who believed that the Soviet Union was successfully “building socialism” and providing a model that other countries should follow. However, this event, even combined with a tightening of the embargo by the US government, was insufficient to persuade Cuba's Communists to surrender their grip on power. There were numerous popular uprisings in the early 1990s, the most notable of which was the "Maleconazo" of 1994. By the later 1990s the situation in the country had stabilized. [46] [47] By then Cuba had more or less normal economic relations with most Latin American countries and had improved relations with the European Union, which began providing aid and loans to the island. Communist China also emerged as a new source of aid and support, even though Cuba had sided with the Soviets during the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s. Cuba also found new allies in President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Evo Morales of Bolivia, both major oil and gas exporters.
On January 31, 2007, footage of Castro meeting with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez was broadcast, where, according to international media reports, Castro "appeared frail but stronger than three months ago",[51] and the Cuban leader made a lengthy surprise appearance by phone on Chávez's radio talk show Aló Presidente the following month.[52] Though Castro loyalists in the Cuban government had maintained that he will stand in the 2008 elections to the Cuban National Assembly, speculation continued as to whether he would ever return to power.[53] Recent requests for mass donations of copper ornaments are interpreted by some to suggest support for persistent rumors that massive memorial statues are being prepared. [54] On February 19, 2008 Fidel Castro announced that he is resigning from his function as President of Cuba.[55] Some public discussions of the future among Cuban government officials have been published. [56]
Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme organ of State power and has 609 members who serve five-year terms.[59] 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 sixteen years of age who have not been found guilty of a criminal offense can vote. Article 131 of the Constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote". 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". Votes are cast by secret ballot and are counted in public view. Individual vote totals, which are invariably high, are not verified by non-partisan, independent, or non-state organs and observers. Nominees are chosen at local gatherings from multiple candidates before gaining approval from election committees. In the subsequent election, there is just one candidate for each seat, who must gain a majority to be elected. No political party is permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on the island, 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, whilst activity within Cuba by oppositional groups is minimal and illegal. While the Cuban constitution has language pertaining to freedom of speech, rights are limited by Article 62, which states that "None of the freedoms which are recognized for citizens can be exercised contrary to... the existence and objectives of the socialist state, or contrary to the decision of the Cuban people to build socialism and communism [14]. Violations of this principle can be punished by law." Because the means of production are in the hands of the state and under the control of the government, there have been numerous cases where violations of this law have cost dissidents their employment. For the above conditions, opponents of the present Cuban government sustain Cuban elections are neither free nor fair. [60] Members of the Communist Party Cubans participate in the community-based Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, which play a central role in daily life. These groups are designed to coordinate public projects, ensure that the population remains loyal to the government's specific brand of socialism, and act as neighbourhood watchdogs against "counter-revolutionary" activities.
Cuba-United States relations The US government has budgeted $39 million in 2008 for "broadcasting to Cuba".[15] In 2000, the Trade Sanctions Reform and Enhancement Act allowed for exports directly from the United States to Cuba in the areas of food and medical products. Highly restrivtive, companies such as the Navarretta Group built markets for U.S. companies and taught them how to receive the proper licensing from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The most well known of these failures was the attempted insurgency by Ernesto Guevara in Bolivia in 1967. Less known actions were the 1959 missions into the Dominican Republic [64] and Panama. Almost all countries in Latin America, of which the most, at the time, had autocratic governments, witnessed this kind of infiltration. Arnaldo Ochoa. later commander of Cuban forces in Angola, is said the only survivor of the Camilo Cienfuegos contingent sent on the doomed expedition to the Dominican Republic.[65] The official position of the Cuban government is that although allegations of the Cuban government's military involvement in other countries of the Americas have been extensive these are not well substantiated. The alleged presence of "armed Cuban military advisors" on the island of Grenada was given as one reason for the US government invasion of the island and overthrow of its government in 1981. The commercial airport that was being built on Grenada with Cuban assistance was also cited by US President Ronald Reagan claimed as evidence of Cuban interference in the region. In a speech in 1983, Reagan stated that satellite images of baseball diamonds in Nicaragua in the 1980s was proof of Cuban infiltration.[citation needed] Critics would observe that Reagan ignored the fact that baseball had been popular in Nicaragua since the turn of the century. However, far more solid data backed up Reagan's statements.[66] Casualty ratios in Grenada indicate that vigorous defense of the landing strip by the Cuban construction workers was one of the bravest ever carried out by nominal civilians.[67] Others estimate the size of the Cuban and Grenadian forces much higher. [68] Colonel Tortolo senior Cuban commander, and his staff were stripped of their rank and sent to Angola. [69].
The Cuban government has been accused of numerous human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extra-judicial executions.[71] Dissidents complain of harassment and torture.[72] While the Cuban government placed a moratorium on capital punishment in 2001, it made an exception for perpetrators of an armed hijacking 2 years later. Groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued reports on Cuban prisoners of conscience.[73] Opponents claim the Cuban government represses free expression by limiting access to the Internet.[74] Human Rights Watch claims that the true number of political prisoners may well be vastly understated.[75] 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.[75] In the last weeks of March 2003, the Cuban government sentenced 75 members of the opposition to prison terms of up to 28 years. The activists were charged with “disrespect” toward the Revolution, “treason,” and “giving information to the enemy,” in the harshest backlash against peaceful dissent that the island had seen in years.[76][77] Since 2003, human rights supporters have sent thousands of appeals to the Cuban authorities calling for the release of the prisoners. The numbers of recognized political prisoners varies over time, increasing and decreasing with circumstances. However all former political prisoners are subject to arbitrary re-arrest.[78] Political arrests continue.[79] On the fourth anniversary of a major crackdown on human rights activists in Cuba that saw dozens sentenced to long prison terms for peaceful promotion of basic rights and freedoms, human rights organizations called for the release of the 59 prisoners who remain in jail, several of whom are seriously ill.[80] Organizations like Human Rights First called on the Cuban government and, in particular, to interim leader Raul Castro, to immediately and unconditionally release the 59 individuals who remain in prison since their arrest in the spring of 2003. The Ladies in White are the wives and relatives of those imprisoned in a series of controversial 2003 arrests. They have persistently and peacefully advocated their release since then.[81] Marta Beatriz Roque has been twice detained for her opposition to the government. In July 1997, she and three other dissidents were detained for publishing a paper titled "The Homeland Belongs to All,"[82] which discussed Cuba's human rights situation and called for political and economic reforms. The paper, which was labeled seditious by the government, led to her being imprisoned for a little over three years. On April 3, 2003, Roque was brought to trial and convicted. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for engaging in “activities aimed at subverting the internal order of the Cuban State, provoking its destabilization and the loss of its independence,” and receiving “substantial monetary funds from the U.S. Government.” On July 22, 2004, Roque was unexpectedly released from prison due to her declining health. Medical parole, however, is given only for the duration of the illness. As such, she is subject to rearrest and detainment in the event that there is any improvement in her health. According to Amnesty International, Roque has been harassed repeatedly by Cuban government supporters and state security agents, including receiving death threats and being physically assaulted since her early release from prison.[83][84] Normando Hernández González is an independent journalist sentenced to 25 years in prison in the spring of 2003 for his commentaries on Cuban society, including pieces on the Cuban health, educational and judicial systems, and for his promotion of free expression. Mr. Hernández was apparently held in a cell for more than a year with a prisoner known to have tuberculosis, despite repeated concerns expressed by him and his family. He was recently confirmed to have contracted tuberculosis and is suffering from high fevers, fatigue and fainting. The doctors at Prison Kilo 7 in Camagüey, where he is being held, are reportedly refusing him medical assistance. There have also been reports that he has been physically assaulted by prison guards. [85] José Luis García Paneque was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2003 for his work as an independent journalist, as well as for his involvement in a civic initiative to promote democratic reforms, known as the Varela Project. García Paneque’s health has dramatically worsened since his imprisonment; he suffers from intestinal problems that have caused him to lose almost 90 pounds and at one point left him emaciated at a weight of around 110 pounds. He also suffers from rectal bleeding, and has dangerously low blood pressure. Despite these symptoms, his wife reports that he is not receiving adequate medical care and her request for his release on medical parole in November 2005 has not been answered.[86][87] Luis Enrique Ferrer García received a 28-year sentence for his work with the Varela Project, a civic initiative calling for democratic reforms in Cuba. To protest his unjust imprisonment, particularly harsh prison conditions and mistreatment by prison authorities, Ferrer García has engaged in numerous hunger strikes throughout his detention, often leaving him very ill and weak. In addition, he has been the victim of numerous physical assaults by security guards and violent prisoners, most of whom are encouraged by prison authorities to harass and intimidate him.[88] Oscar Elías Biscet is a physician and president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, which peacefully promotes human rights and the rule of law. In reprisal for his human rights activities, the 41-year-old doctor was sentenced to 25 years in prison and has been held in some of the harshest conditions, including in punishment cells and solitary confinement. For long periods of time he is denied family visits, the right to leave his cell, and essential packages of medicine and food. Biscet suffers from chronic gastritis, hypertension and recurring infections, and is reportedly losing his eyesight; his poor health has been severely aggravated by unhygienic prison conditions and harsh treatment. At one point, Dr. Biscet was reported have lost more than 60 pounds.[89] Although still clinging to official Cuban government view that racial progress was poor before Castro reached power (despite the obvious ethnicity of the leader and many senior members of the Batista regime) has eroded in the last few years.[90]
Stuart Hamilton writes in the Progressive Librarian issue 19-10 2002 [16] "The members of the underground opposition parties face constant
scrutiny from the authorities for their anti-government views. However,
at the same time as enforcing a crackdown on dissidents the government
is also accused of preventing ordinary Cubans accessing information.
Independent news agencies are banned, and journalists who report
stories contrary to the official line reported in the state newspaper,
Granma, are likely to be victimised. As a result of this anti-government
stories are normally found in newspapers and journals published
abroad, as journalists go underground to send stories out to foreign
sympathisers via telephone. Miami in Florida is the centre of anti-Castro
publishing activity, with papers such as Nueva Prensa containing
articles critical of the regime." "Cuban officials are surprisingly unapologetic on the issue.
Their justification is that Cuba is in the midst of an undeclared
war with a shameless US administration which is determined to undermine
the Cuban revolution. They sometimes allude to what they seem to
regard as the British government's distinguished censorship of the
press during World War II." [17]. " Cuban leader Fidel Castro is not at death's door and rumors in Miami of his demise are wishful thinking, Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto said on Wednesday...he had no inside information on Castro's medical condition, but deduced from the 81-year-old leader's regular essays and columns that he is not dying." [18] Trade unions
Isla The provinces are further divided into 170 municipalities.
Climate The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains. At the southeastern end is the Sierra Maestra, a range of steep mountains whose highest point is the Pico Real del Turquino at 1,975 meters (6,480 ft). The local climate is tropical, though moderated by trade winds. 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 21 °C in January and 27 °C in July. Cuba lies in the path of hurricanes, and these destructive storms are most common in September and October. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. Better known smaller towns include Baracoa which was the first Spanish settlement on Cuba, Trinidad, a UNESCO world heritage site, and Bayamo.
It is required that all applicants to universities in Cuba gain a letter from the government (the "Committee for the Defence of the Revolution") [101] stating that they have a good "political and moral background" in order to apply. There have been claims that such letters are withheld because of an applicant (or relative) being politically undesirable. The validity of these claim or how often letters are refused is not easily verifiable and so there is no consensus on whether this amounts to widespread political oppression or just a few isolated cases.
A separate, second division of hospitals cares specifically for foreigners and diplomats.[citation needed] Many foreigners travel to Cuba for reliable and affordable health care. The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, and NPR have all reported on Cuban doctors defecting to other countries. [29], [30], [31] According to the San Francisco Chronicle, one of the reasons that Cuban doctors defect is because their salary in Cuba is only $15 per month. [32]
5,597,233 men and (Official 2002 Cuba Census) Total Men Women % Of Total The ancestry of White Cuban (65.05%) comes primarily from the ethnically diverse Spanish nations Spanish French[109] Spanish African Chinese Jews Cuba's birth rate (9.88 births per thousand population in 2006)[112] 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 rate of increase has stopped in the last few decades, and has recently turned to a decrease, with the Cuban government in 2006 reporting the first drop in the population since the Mariel boatlift. The decrease in fertility rate - from 3.2 children per woman in 1970 to 1.38 in 2006 - is the third greatest in the Western Hemisphere, with only Guadeloupe and Jamaica showing larger decreases.[113] Cuba, which has unrestricted access to legal abortion, has an abortion rate of 58.6 per 1000 pregnancies in 1996 compared to a Caribbean average of 35, a Latin American average of 27 (the latter mostly illegally performed), and a European average of 48. Additionally, contraceptive use is estimated at 79% (in the upper third of countries in the Western Hemisphere).[114] With its high abortion rate, low birth rate, and aging population, Cuba's demographic profile more resembles those of former Communist Eastern European countries such as Poland or Ukraine rather than those of its Latin American and Caribbean neighbors. Immigration and emigration have had noticeable effects on the demographic profile of Cuba during the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1930, close to a million Spaniards arrived from Spain; many of these and their descendentsleft after the Castro government took power. On a smaller scale, of thousands of Jewish immigrants who arrived prior during and after WWII, more than 90% have left Cuba.[115]
Since 1959 many Cubans have emigrated to Miami, Florida, where a vocal, well-educated and economically successful exile community exists formally called the Cuban-American lobby.[117] The exodus that occurred immediately after the Cuban Revolution was primarily of the upper and middle classes that were predominantly white. This contributed to a demographic shift back in Cuba. Exodus of 1980 demonstrated problems deriving from the lack of personal freedom and chronic economic austerity.[118] Seeking to normalize migration between the two countries—particularly after the chaos that accompanied the Mariel boatlift—Cuba and the United States in 1994 agreed, in what is commonly called the 1994 Clinton-Castro accords,[119] to limit emigration to the United States. The United States grants a specific number of visas to those wishing to emigrate; 20,000 have been granted since 1994. Cubans picked up at sea trying to emigrate without a visa are returned to Cuba while those that make it to U.S. soil are allowed to seek asylum.[120] U.S. law gives the Attorney General the discretion to grant permanent residence to Cuban natives or citizens seeking adjustment of status if they have been present in the United States for at least one year after admission or parole and are admissible as immigrants;[121] In 2005 an additional 7,610 Cuban emigrants from Cuba entered the United States by September 30.[citation needed] Citizens of Cuba must obtain an exit permit before they may leave the country legally.[citation needed] Human Rights Watch has criticized the Cuban restrictions on emigration and its alleged keeping of children as "hostages" in order to prevent defection by Cubans traveling abroad.[122][123] Over the years, thousands of Cubans ("balseros") have attempted to escape across the Florida Strait to reach the United States with many succeeding (over a hundred thousand in the Mariel Boatlift alone). But it has been estimated that between 30,000 to 40,000 Cubans may have perished attempting to flee the island.[124] This has led to a safer route through Mexico where organized traffickers ferry asylum seekers for a price.[125]
The religious landscape of Cuba is also strongly marked by syncretisms of various kinds. This diversity derives from West and Central Africans who were transported to Cuba, and in effect reinvented their African religions. They did so by combining them with elements of the Catholic belief system, with a result very similar to Brazilian Umbanda. Catholicism is often practised in tandem with Santería, a mixture of Catholicism and other, mainly African, faiths that include a number of cult religions. Cuba’s patron saint, La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (the Virgin of Cobre) is a syncretism with the Santería goddess Ochún. The important religious festival "La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre" is celebrated by Cubans annually on 8 September. Other religions practised are Palo Monte, and Abakuá, which have large parts of their liturgy in African languages. Protestantism, introduced from the United States in the 18th century, has seen a steady increase in popularity. 300,000 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. The Episcopal Church of Cuba claims 10,000 adherents. Cuba has small communities of Jews, Muslims and members of the Bahá'í Faith.[127] Havana has just three active synagogues and no mosque[128]. 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 (primarily Istanbul and Thrace). Most of these Sephardic Jews live in the provinces, although they maintain a synagogue in Havana. In the 1960s, almost 8,000 Jews left for Miami. In the 1990s, approximately 400 Jewish Cubans relocated to Israel in a co-ordinated exodus using visas provided by nations sympathetic to their desire to move to Israel.
Sport is Cuba's national passion. Due to historical associations with the United States, many Cubans participate in sports which share popularity in North America, rather than sports traditionally promoted in other Latin American nations. Baseball is by far the most popular; other sports and pastimes in Cuba include basketball, volleyball, cricket, and athletics. Cuba is the dominant force in amateur boxing, consistently achieving high gold medal tallies in major international competitions. The government of Cuba however, will not be sending competitors to the "World Boxing Championships, based in the U.S. city of Chicago from October 21 to November 3; this to avoid the "theft" of athletes. the Cuban government official newspaper alleges: " As our people are all too well aware, the theft of anyone
who stands out in Cuban society, whether s/he is an athlete, educationalist,
doctor, artist, or any kind of scientist, has been the practice
of various U.S. governments within that country’s constant
policy of aggression against our people. That felony was instigated
at the very triumph of the Revolution in 1959 with the exit of thousands
of doctors and engineers." [129] Havana, the Cuban capitol, was the heart of the rap scene in Cuba when it began in the 1990s. During that time, reggaetón was also growing in popularity. The formation of Cubanitos in 2002 by ex-members of pioneering “underground” rap group Primera Base was a pivotal moment in the emergence of reggaetón in the capital and a watershed in Cuban rap. In the wake of this successful bid for a higher commercial profile, most rappers have followed one of two paths: dancing with the enemy and embracing reggaetón, or resisting the new genre vociferously. The resisters deride reggaetón for being trite and mindless, for promoting pointless diversion and dancing over social commitment and reflection with its lack of meaningful lyrics. Rap, on the other hand, was seen as a way to lyrically express their opinions about things such as racism, sexism, peace, the environment, sexuality, poverty and social inequalities. Despite this controversy, reggaetón has become the dominant form of popular music among Cuban youth. The relationship between Cuban rap and reggaetón continues to be debated today. [130] [131] In addition, Cuban reggaeton has in the mind of conventional musicians of Cuba, "sold out" on their established culture. Prior to reggaeton, Cuba had a long established professionalism in music towards the early and mid 90's. The release and popular acceptance of reggaeton has created many openings for those with little or no experience in music. Music in Cuba is not the same as it was before, and much of the new artists that are exposing their creations now utilize electronics, synthetic sounds and technology to create music that was otherwise unheard of. This, created much dissent among the professionalized music industry within Cuba.[132] Dance within Cuba has taken a major boost over the 90's. Although lyrics may be censored, bodily movements and provocative dance can not be. Provocative dance allows inhabitants to free the mind and allows people of all social classes to rebel against the political and social injustices within the period. Although this has strayed from the conventional rap, bodily usage has become a commonly accepted form of rebellion among the young communities. Particularly "Perreo," an exotic and slightly different form grinding, has become one of the most accepted forms of dancing in clubs and music videos. [133] 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 José Lezama Lima have also been influential. Writers such as Reinaldo Arenas, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, and more recently Daína Chaviano, Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, Zoé Valdés, and Leonardo Padura have earned international recognition in the postrevolutionary era, though many of these writers have felt compelled to continue their work in exile due to ideo |
