Cuba

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Cuban ( ; Spanish pronunciation: Ã, ['ku? a] ), officially Cuban Republic (Spanish: RepÃÆ'ºblica de Cuba Ã, ), is a country consisting of the islands of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and some small islands. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It lies to the southern US states of Florida and the Bahamas, western Haiti and northern Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital; Other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and CamagÃÆ'¼ey. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of ​​109,884 square kilometers (42,426 square meters), and the second most populous after Hispaniola, with more than 11 million inhabitants.

The present Cuban region is inhabited by Ciboney Taà ± no people from the 4th millennium BC to Spanish colonization in the 15th century. From the 15th century, it was a Spanish colony until the Spanish-American War of 1898, when Cuba was occupied by the United States and gained nominal independence as a protectorate of the United States in 1902. As a fragile republic, in 1940 Cuba sought to strengthen its democratic system, but the heightening of political radicalization and social strife culminated in Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batista's expulsion in January 1959 by the 26 July Movement, after which the communist government was founded under Fidel Castro. Since 1965, the country has been ruled by the Cuban Communist Party. The country became a point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and nuclear war almost broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Cuba is one of the few remaining Marxist-Leninist socialist nations, where the pioneering Communist Party role is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of many human rights violations, including arbitrary prisons.

Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America. It is a multiethnic country whose people, cultures and customs come from diverse origins, including the former TaÃÆ'no and Ciboney, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves and the close ties with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

Cuba is a founding member of the United Nations, G77, Non-Aligned Movement, Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific Country Group, ALBA and Organization of American States. The country is currently one of the world's planned economies, and its economy is dominated by exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee and skilled labor. According to the Human Development Index, Cuba has a high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America, although the 67th in the world. It also ranks high in several national performance metrics, including health care and education.

Video Cuba

Etimologi

Historians believe that the name Cuba is derived from TaÃÆ'no, but "the exact derivation is unknown". The exact meaning of the name is unclear but can be translated as 'where abundant fertile land' ( cubao ), or "good place" ( coabana ). The author who believes that Christopher Columbus is a Portuguese country that Cuban is named by Columbus for the city of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal.

Maps Cuba

History

Pre-Columbian era

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, Cuba was inhabited by three tribes of different American indigenous peoples. The Taño (Arawak), Guanahatabey and the Ciboney people.

The ancestors of Ciboney migrated from mainland South America, with the earliest site dated 5,000 BP.

The TaÃÆ'no arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, with an estimated population of 150,000.

The Taà ± no are farmers, while Ciboney is a farmer and fisherman and hunter-gatherer.

Spanish colonization and rules (1492-1898)

After the first landing on an island later called Guanahani, Bahamas, on October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus ordered three of his vessels: La Pinta, La NiÃÆ' Â ± a and Santa MarÃÆ'a, to land on the northeast coast of Cuba on 28 October 1492. (This is near what is now Bariay, HolguÃÆ'n Province.) Columbus claims the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince Asturias.

In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuà ©  © llar at Baracoa. Other cities soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital. The original TaÃÆ'no was forced to work under the encomienda system, which resembled a feudal system in medieval Europe. Within a century indigenous populations were almost destroyed due to various factors, especially the Eurasian infectious diseases, which they lacked natural resistance (immunity), compounded by repressive colonial repressive conditions. In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of some native people who had previously survived smallpox.

On May 18, 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto departed from Havana at the head of some 600 followers into a great expedition through the Southeastern United States, beginning in La Florida, searching for gold, treasures, fame and power. On September 1, 1548, Dr. Gonzalo Perez de Angulo was appointed governor of Cuba. He arrived in Santiago, Cuba on 4 November 1549 and immediately expressed the freedom of all indigenous peoples. He became the first permanent governor of Cuba who lived in Havana instead of Santiago, and he built the first Havana church made of brick. After France took Havana in 1555, the son of the governor, Francisco de Angulo, went to Mexico.

Cubans are growing slowly and, unlike the plantation islands of the Caribbean, have diversified farming. But most importantly the colony developed as an urban society that mainly supported the Spanish colonial kingdom. In the mid-18th century, its colonists housed 50,000 slaves, compared with 60,000 in Barbados; 300,000 in Virginia, the two British colonies; and 450,000 in French Saint-Domingue, which has large scale sugarcane plantations.

The Seven Years War, which erupted in 1754 on three continents, finally arrived in the Spanish Caribbean. The Spanish alliance with France put them in direct conflict with Britain, and in 1762 a British expedition of five warships and 4,000 troops departed from Portsmouth to capture Cuba. England arrived on June 6, and in August Havana was under siege. When Havana surrendered, the British fleet admiral, George Keppel, the 3rd Earl of Albemarle, entered the city as the new governor who conquered and controlled the entire western part of the island. The British immediately opened trade with their North American and Caribbean colonies, leading to a rapid transformation of Cuban society. They import food, horses and other items to the city, as well as thousands of West African slaves to work under the developed sugar plantations.

Although Havana, which has become the third largest city in America, will enter the era of sustainable development and improve relations with North America during this period, the British occupation of the city proved to be short-lived. Pressure from sugar traders in London, who worried about falling sugar prices, forced negotiations with Spain over colonial territory. Less than a year after Britain seized Havana, he signed the Paris Peace along with France and Spain, ending the Seven Years' War. The agreement gave Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba. The French have recommended this to Spain, advising that refusing to surrender Florida could result in Spain instead of losing Mexico and much of mainland South America to the UK. Many people in Britain are disappointed, believing that Florida is a bad return for Cuba and another British advantage in the war.

The real engine for Cuba's trade growth in the late XVIII and early nineteenth centuries was the Haitian Revolution. As the enslaved people of the richest colonies in the Caribbean free themselves through cruel revolts, Cuban growers feel the changing situation in the region with fear and opportunity. They were afraid because the prospect that slaves might rebel in Cuba, too, and many restrictions during 1790 about the sale of slaves in Cuba who had previously been slaves in the French colony underlined this anxiety. But the planters saw the opportunity because they thought they could exploit the situation by turning Cuba into a slave society and a "pearl of Antilles" producing sugar that Haiti had existed before the revolution. As historian Ada Ferrer put it, "At the basic level, liberation at Saint-Domingue helped to strengthen his rejection in Cuba.When slavery and colonialism collapsed in the French colony, the Spanish island underwent a transformation that is almost a mirror image of Haiti." Estimates show that between 1790 and 1820 about 325,000 Africans were imported into Cuba as slaves, which quadrupled the number coming between 1760 and 1790.

Although a small portion of Cubans are enslaved, sometimes slaves appear in rebellion. In 1812 the Aponte Slave Rebellion took place but it was suppressed.

The population of Cuba in 1817 was 630,980, of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 were color-free (mixed race), and 224,268 black slaves. This is a higher proportion of free blacks to slaves than in Virginia, for example, or other Caribbean islands. Historians such as Swedish Magnus MÃÆ'Âμrner, who studied slavery in Latin America, found that manuisi increased when slave economies declined, as in the 18th century Cuban and early 19th century Maryland in the United States.

Partly because Cuban slaves worked primarily in urbanization arrangements, by the nineteenth century, had developed the practice of coartacion, or "bought themselves from slavery", "a unique Cuban development", according to the historian Herbert S. Klein. Due to the shortage of white labor, blacks dominated the urban industry "in such a way that when whites in large numbers came to Cuba in the mid-nineteenth century, they could not relocate Negro workers." A diverse farming system, with small farms and fewer slaves, serves to supply cities with products and other goods.

In the 1820s, when the rest of the Spanish empire in Latin America rebelled and formed an independent state, Cuba remained faithful. Its economy is based on serving the empire. In 1860, Cuba had 213,167 free-colored people, 39% of the non-white population of 550,000. In contrast, Virginia, with the same number of blacks, has only 58,042 or 11% free; the rest enslaved. In the years before the war, after the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion of 1831, Virginia did not advocate manpower and strengthen restrictions on free blacks, as did other Southern countries. In addition, there is a high demand for slaves, and the Virginia planters sell a lot in internal domestic slave trade, shipped or brought ashore to Deep South, which has greatly expanded its cotton production.

Movement of Independence

The full independence of Spain was the aim of the uprising in 1868 led by the plantation of Carlos Manuel de CÃÆ' Â © spedes. De CÃÆ'Ã… © spedes, a sugar grower, frees his slave to fight with him for an independent Cuba. On December 27, 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory but accepting it in practice and declaring the release of every slave whose master presents them for military service. The 1868 uprising resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Year War. Two thousand Cuban Chinese joined the rebels. China is imported as a contract laborer. A monument in Havana glorifies the fallen Cuban China in war.

The United States refuses to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American countries do so. In 1878, the ZanjÃÆ'³n Pact ceased the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879-1880, Cuban patriots Calixto GarcÃÆ'a tried to start another war known as the Little War but did not receive enough support. Slavery in Cuba was abolished in 1875 but the process was completed only in 1886.

An exiled dissident named JosÃÆ'Â © MartÃÆ' founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York in 1892. The aim of the party was to achieve Cuban independence from Spain. In January 1895 MartÃÆ' traveled to Montecristi and Santo Domingo to join the efforts of MÃÆ'¡ximo GÃÆ'³mez. MartÃÆ' recorded his political views on the Montecristi Manifesto. The battle against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 24 February 1895, but Mart could not reach Cuba until 11 April 1895. MartÃÆ' was killed in the battle of Dos Rios on May 19, 1895. His death perpetuated him as a national hero of Cuba.

Some 200,000 Spanish troops are outnumbered by smaller rebel forces, largely dependent on guerrilla tactics and sabotage. The Spaniards started a campaign of oppression. General Valeriano Weyler, the Cuban military governor, leads the rural population into what he calls reconcentrados, described by international observers as a "fortified city". These are often regarded as prototypes for the concentration camps of the 20th century. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died of starvation and disease in the camp, the number was verified by the Red Cross and US Senator Redfield Proctor, former Secretary of War. American and European protests against Spain's behavior on the island followed.

US warship Maine was sent to protect US interests, but soon after arriving, it exploded in Havana harbor and drowned rapidly, killing nearly three-quarters of the crew. The cause and responsibility for the sinking remains unclear after the investigation board. A popular opinion in the US, fueled by an active press, concludes that Spain is to blame and demand action. Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April 1898.

For decades before, five US presidents - Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, Grant, and McKinley - have been trying to buy Cuban islands from Spain.

Republic (1902-59)

First year (1902-1925)

After the Spanish-American War, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898), in which Spain handed Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States with an amount of US $ 20 million . Cuba gained official independence from the United States on May 20, 1902, as Cuban Republic. Under Cuba's new constitution, the United States retains the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to oversee its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment, the US leases a Guantanamo Bay marine base from Cuba.

Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, TomÃÆ'¡s Estrada Palma, faced an armed rebellion by veterans of the war of independence that defeated very small government forces. The US intervened by occupying Cuba and named Charles Edward Magoon as Governor for three years. Cuban historians have characterized the Magoon government as one who introduced political and social corruption. In 1908, self-government was restored when JosÃÆ'Â © Miguel GÃÆ'³mez was elected President, but the US continued to intervene in Cuban affairs. In 1912, Partido Independiente de Color attempted to establish a separate black republic in the Oriente Province, but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodbath.

In 1924, Gerardo Machado was elected president. During his reign, tourism increased sharply, and American hotels and restaurants were built to accommodate the influx of tourists. The tourism boom led to an increase in gambling and prostitution in Cuba. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 caused the fall of sugar prices, political upheaval, and oppression. Protesting students, known as the 1930s, turned to violence as opposition to Machado became increasingly unpopular. A general strike (where the Communist Party sided with Machado), a rebellion among sugar workers, and an army rebellion forced Machado to be exiled in August 1933. He was succeeded by Carlos Manuel de CÃÆ' Â © spedes y Quesada.

Revolution 1933-1940

In September 1933, the Sergeant Revolution, led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista, toppled Cespedes. A five-member executive committee (Penthouse 1933) was elected to head the interim administration. RamÃÆ'³n Grau San MartÃÆ'n was later appointed as the interim president. Grau resigned in 1934, leaving a clear path for Batista, who dominated Cuban politics for the next 25 years, initially through a series of puppet presidents. The period from 1933 to 1937 was a time of "almost endless social and political warfare". On balance, during the period 1933-1940 Cuba was supported by the fragile political realities embodied in the decision of three presidents in two years (1935-1936), as well as in Batista's militaristic and repressive policies as Chief of the Army.

Constitution of 1940

The new constitution was adopted in 1940, which devised radical progressive ideas, including the right to labor and health care. Batista was elected president the same year, holding the post until 1944. So far he is the only non-white Cuban who won the highest political office in the country. His government is doing major social reforms. Some members of the Communist Party held offices under his rule. The Cuban armed forces were not much involved in fighting during World War II - although Batista's president actually advocated a joint United States-Latin American attack against the Spanish Francoist to overthrow his authoritarian regime.

Batista followed the 1940 constitutional limits that hindered his re-election. Ramon Grau San Martin was the winner of the next election, in 1944. Grau increasingly pollutes the legitimacy base of Cuba's political system, especially by undermining Congress, and the Supreme Court, which is very deficient, though not entirely ineffective. Carlos PrÃÆ'o SocarrÃÆ'¡s, a protà © à © gÃÆ'Ã… © Grau, became president in 1948. Both terms of the AutÃÆ' © ntico Party brought the influx of investments, which sparked an economic boom, raised living standards for all segments of society, and created the middle class in most of the urban areas.

After finishing his tenure in 1944 Batista was living in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing a certain election defeat, he led a military coup that preceded the election. Back in power, and receiving financial, military and logistical support from the US government, Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and deprived most of the political freedoms, including the right to strike. He then harmonized with the richest landowners who own the largest sugarcane plantations, and led a stagnant economy that widened the gap between the rich and poor of Cuba. Batista banned the Cuban Communist Party in 1952. After the coup, Cuba had the highest level of consumption of meat, vegetables, cereals, cars, telephones and radio in Latin America, although about a third of its population was considered poor and enjoyed relatively little of this consumption.

In 1958, Cuba was a relatively advanced country with Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards. On the other hand, Cuba is influenced by the greatest possible trade union rights in Latin America, including a ban on dismissal and mechanization. They are acquired in large numbers "with the costs of unemployment and farmers", which causes disparity. Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba expanded the economic regulations on a large scale, causing economic problems. Unemployment is a problem because graduates who enter the workforce can not find a job. The middle class, which is comparable to the United States, is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. Unions supported Batista to the end. Batista remained in power until he was forced into exile in December 1958.

Revolution and rule of the Communist party (1959-present)

In the 1950s, various organizations, including some supporters of armed insurrection, competed for public support in bringing about political change. In 1956, Fidel Castro and about 80 supporters landed from Granma's yacht in an attempt to start a revolt against the Batista government. Only in 1958, the 26 July Movement of Castro emerged as a prominent revolutionary group.

By the end of 1958 the rebels had left the Sierra Maestra and launched a popular popular rebellion. After the Castro fighters captured Santa Clara, Batista fled with his family to the Dominican Republic on January 1, 1959. Then he went into exile on Madeira Island and finally settled in Estoril, near Lisbon. Fidel Castro forces entered the capital on January 8, 1959. The liberal Manuel Urrutia LleÃÆ'Â menjadi became the interim president.

From 1959 to 1966, Cuban rebels fought six years in the Escambray Mountains against Castro's government. Figures far superior government ultimately destroy the rebellion. The rebellion lasted longer and involved more troops than the Cuban Revolution. The US State Department estimates that 3,200 people were executed from 1959 to 1962. According to Amnesty International, the official death sentence from 1959-87 numbered 237 in which all but 21 were actually committed. Other estimates for the total number of political executions range from 4,000 to 33,000. Most of those executed immediately after the 1959 revolution were the Batista police, politicians and informants who were accused of crimes such as torture and murder, and their public trials and executions received widespread support among the Cuban population.

The United States government initially reacted positively to the Cuban revolution, seeing it as part of a movement to bring democracy to Latin America. Castro's legislation against the Communist party and the hundreds of executions that followed led to worsening relations between the two countries. The ratification of the Agrarian Reform Act, taking over thousands of hectares of agricultural land (including from US landowners), exacerbates further relations. In response, between 1960 and 1964 the US imposed sanctions, eventually including a total trade ban between countries and the freezing of all Cuban-owned assets in the US. In February 1960, Castro signed a commercial agreement with the Soviet Representatives. Premier Anastas Mikoyan.

In March 1960, Eisenhower gave his approval to the CIA's plan to arm and train a group of Cuban refugees to overthrow the Castro regime. The invasion (known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion) occurred on April 14, 1961. Some 1,400 Cuban exiles descended on the Bay of Pigs, but failed in their attempts to overthrow Castro.

In January 1962, Cuba was suspended from the Organization of the States of the Americas (OAS), and later in the same year the OAS began to impose sanctions on Cuba which is characterized by US sanctions. The Cuban Missile Crisis took place in October 1962. In 1963, Cuba moved to a complete Communist system imitating the Soviet Union.

During the 1970s, Fidel Castro sent tens of thousands of troops to support the Soviet-backed war in Africa. He supports the MPLA in Angola and Mengistu Haile Mariam in Ethiopia.

The standard of living in the 1970s was "very simple" and dissatisfaction rampant. Fidel Castro acknowledged the failure of economic policy in a 1970 speech. In 1975, the OAS lifted its sanctions against Cuba, with the consent of 16 member states, including the US, the US, however, retaining its own sanctions.

Castro's power was strongly tested after the Soviet collapse of 1991 (known in Cuba as the Special Period). The country faces a severe economic downturn following the withdrawal of $ 4 billion worth of spiraling Soviet subsidies to $ 6 billion annually, resulting in effects such as food and fuel shortages. The government did not accept US donations of food, medicine, and cash until 1993. On 5 August 1994, state security dispersed protesters in a spontaneous protest in Havana.

Cuba has since found a source of new aid and support in the People's Republic of China. In addition, Hugo ChÃÆ'¡vez, former President of Venezuela, and Evo Morales, Bolivian President, became allies and both countries are major oil and gas exporters. In 2003, the government arrested and imprisoned a large number of civilian activists, a period known as "Black Spring".

In February 2008, Fidel Castro announced his resignation as President of Cuba. On February 24, his brother, RaÃÆ'ºl Castro, was declared the new President. In his inauguration speech, RaÃÆ'ºl promised that some restrictions on freedom in Cuba would be removed. In March 2009, RaÃÆ'ºl Castro transferred several men appointed by his brother.

On June 3, 2009, the Organization of American States adopted a resolution to end the 47-year ban on Cuban membership of the group. The resolution states, however, that full membership will be postponed until Cuba "complies with OAS practice, objectives and principles". Fidel Castro reiterated his position that he was not interested in joining after the OAS resolution was announced.

Effective January 14, 2013, Cuba terminated the requirements set in 1961, that every citizen wishing to travel abroad is required to obtain expensive government permits and invitation letters. In 1961 the Cuban government had imposed extensive restrictions on travel to prevent mass emigration of people after the 1959 revolution; it approved the visa out only on rare occasions. Simplified requirements: Cubans only need passports and national identity cards to leave; and they were allowed to bring their little ones with them for the first time. However, the average passport fee is a five month salary. Analysts expect that Cubans by paying relatives abroad are likely to take advantage of the new policy. In the first year of the program, more than 180,000 leave Cuba and return.

In December 2014, talks with Cuban officials and US officials, including President Barack Obama, resulted in the release of Alan Gross, fifty-two political prisoners, and an unnamed non-citizen agent from the United States in return for the release of three Cuban agents currently in prison in the United States. In addition, while an embargo between the United States and Cuba is not immediately revoked, it is relaxed to allow certain imports, exports, and limited trade.

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Government and politics

The Republic of Cuba is one of the last socialist states in the world following the Marxist-Leninist ideology. The 1976 Constitution, which defines Cuba as a socialist republic, was replaced by the 1992 Constitution, "guided by Josà © MartÃÆ''s ideas and political and social ideas from Marx, Engels and Lenin." The constitution described the Communist Party of Cuba as "the main power of society and state".

The First Secretary of the Communist Party cum President of the Senate (Cuban President) and President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes referred to as the Prime Minister of Cuba). The second member of the council is elected by the National Assembly of People Power. The President of Cuba, also elected by the Assembly, has served for five years and has no limit on the number of positions.

The People's Supreme Court serves as the branch of the highest court of Cuba. It is also the last court for all appeals against provincial court decisions.

Cuban national legislature, National Assembly of the People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme organ of power; 609 members serve a five-year period. The meeting meets twice a year; between sessions of legislative power held by 31 members of the Council of Ministers. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by a public referendum. All Cubans aged over 16 years who have not been convicted of a criminal offense may vote. Article 131 of the Constitution states that voting should "through a free, equal and secret vote". Article 136 states: "In order for the deputies or delegates to be considered elected, they must get more than half the legal votes cast in the electoral district".

No political party is allowed to nominate candidates or campaigns on the island, including the Communist Party. The Cuban Communist Party has held six party congress meetings since 1975. In 2011, the party claimed that there are 800,000 members, and representatives are generally at least half of the council of nations and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by nominally nominally without party affiliation. Campaigning other political parties and improving finances internationally, while activities in Cuba by opposition groups are minimal.

Cuba is considered an authoritarian regime according to the 2016 Democracy Index and the 2017 Freedom in the World survey.

In February 2013, Cuban president RaÃÆ'ºl Castro announced he would resign in 2018, ending his five-year term, and that he hopes to impose a permanent deadline for future Cuban presidents, including the age limit.

After Fidel Castro died on November 25, 2016, the Cuban government announced a nine-day mourning period. During the period of mourning, Cuban people are prohibited from playing loud music, partying, and drinking alcohol.

Administrative divisions

The country is divided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud). This was once part of six larger historical provinces: Pinar del RÃÆ'o, Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, CamagÃÆ'¼ey and Oriente. The current subdivision is very similar to the Spanish military provinces during the Cuban War of Independence, when the most troubled areas were subdivided. Provinces are divided into municipalities.

Human rights

The Cuban government has been accused of human rights abuses including torture, arbitrary detention, unfair trials, and extrajudicial executions (also known as "El ParedÃÆ'³n"). Human Rights Watch has stated that the government "represses almost all forms of political dissent" and that "Cuba systematically denied the basic rights to free expression, assembly, assembly, privacy, movement and fair justice".

In 2003, the European Union (EU) accused the Cuban government of "continuing to violate conspicuous human rights and fundamental freedoms". It continues to call regularly for social and economic reforms in Cuba, along with the unconditional release of all political prisoners. The United States continues its embargo on Cuba "as long as it continues to refuse to move toward greater democratization and respect for human rights", although the UN General Assembly has, since 1992, passed a resolution annually condemning the ongoing impact of the embargo and claiming it violates the Charter United Nations and international law. Cuba considers the embargo itself a violation of human rights. On December 17, 2014, United States President Barack Obama announced the re-establishment of diplomatic ties with Cuba, prompting Congress to end the embargo.

Cuba has the second highest number of journalists in any country in 2008 (China has the highest) according to various sources, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch.

Cuban dissidents 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 40 maximum security prisons, 30 minimum security jails, and more than 200 labor camps. According to Human Rights Watch, the Cuban prison population is limited in "substandard and unhealthy conditions, where prisoners face physical and sexual abuse".

In July 2010, the Cuban Commission on Human Rights did not officially say there were 167 political prisoners in Cuba, falling from 201 at the beginning of the year. The head of the commission stated that the long prison sentences were replaced by harassment and intimidation. During the reign of Castro over the island, some 200,000 people have been imprisoned or deprived of their liberty for political reasons.

Foreign relations

Cuba under Castro is deeply involved in the war in Africa, Central America and Asia.

Cuba supported Algeria in 1961-1965. Cuba sent tens of thousands of troops to Angola during the Angolan Civil War. Other countries featuring Cuban involvement include Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Yemen.

Cuba has undertaken a foreign policy that is not such a small and developing country as it is. Lesser known acts include the 1959 mission to the Dominican Republic. The expedition failed, but the famous monument for its members was erected in their memories in Santo Domingo by the Dominican government, and they appeared prominently in the Memorial Museum of the Resistance of the country.

Cuba is a founding member of the Bolivarian Alliance for America. By the end of 2012, tens of thousands of Cuban medical personnel are working abroad, with as many as 30,000 doctors in Venezuela alone through the oil-for-physic program of both countries.

In 1996, the United States, later under President Bill Clinton, brought in the Cuban Solidan Freedom and Democratic Act, better known as the Helms-Burton Act.

In 2008, the EU and Cuba agreed to continue full relations and cooperative activities. US President Barack Obama declared on April 17, 2009, in Trinidad and Tobago that "the United States is looking for a new beginning with Cuba", and reversed the Bush administration's ban on travel and remittance by Cuban-Americans from the United States to Cuba.

On December 17, 2014, an agreement between the United States and Cuba, popularly called "The Cuban Thaw", partly mediated by Canada and Pope Francis, began the process of restoring international relations between Cuba and the United States. Cuba and the United States agreed to release political prisoners and the United States began the process of establishing embassies in Havana.

On April 14, 2015, the United States White House announced that President Obama would remove Cuba from the list of governments sponsoring terrorism. The Cuban government reportedly welcomed the decision as "fair".

On June 30, 2015, Cuba and the United States reached an agreement to reopen the embassies in their respective capital on July 20, 2015 and rebuild diplomatic relations.

On September 17, 2017, the United States considered closing the Cuban embassy following a mysterious sonic attack on its staff.

Crime and law enforcement

All law enforcement agencies are maintained under the Cuban Interior Ministry, which is overseen by the Revolutionary Armed Forces. In Cuba, citizens can receive police assistance by pressing "106" on their phone. The police, referred to as "PolicÃÆ'a Nacional Revolucionaria" or PNR are then expected to provide assistance. The Cuban government also has an agent called the Intelligence Directorate who conducts intelligence operations and maintains close ties with Russia's Federal Security Service.

Military

In 2009, Cuba spent about US $ 91.8 million for its armed forces. In 1985, Cuba devoted more than 10% of its GDP to military spending. In response to perceived American aggression, such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuba built one of the largest armed forces in Latin America, second only to Brazil.

From 1975 to the late 1980s, Soviet military assistance enabled Cuba to improve its military capabilities. After the loss of Soviet subsidies, Cuba reduced the number of military personnel, from 235,000 in 1994 to about 60,000 in 2003.

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Economy

The Cuban state claims to adhere to the socialist principles of regulating a state-controlled planned economy. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government and most of the workforce is employed by the state. The past few years have seen a trend toward private sector employment. In 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared with 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981. Government spending was 78.1% of GDP. Every company that hires a Cuban has to pay the Cuban government, which in turn pays employees in Cuban peso. The average monthly wage per July 2013 is 466 Cuban pesos - about US $ 19.

Cuba has a dual currency system, where most wages and prices are set in Cuban peso (CUP), while the tourist economy operates with a Convertible peso (CUC), which is set equivalent to the US dollar. Each Cuban family has a ration book (known as libreta) that gives it to monthly food supplies and other essentials, provided at a nominal cost.

Prior to the 1959 Fidel Castro revolution, Cuba was one of the most advanced and successful countries in Latin America. The capital of Cuba, Havana, is a "glittering and dynamic" city. The economy of the country at the beginning of this century, driven by the sale of sugar to the United States, has grown rich. Cuba ranks 5th in the hemisphere in per capita income, life expectancy of the 3rd, 2nd in car and telephone per capita ownership, and number 1 in the number of television sets per population. The Cuban literacy rate, 76%, is the fourth highest in Latin America. Cuba is also ranked 11th in the world in doctors per capita. Some clinics and private hospitals provide services for the poor. Cuba's revenue distribution is better than that of other Latin American communities. However, the huge inequality of income between cities and villages, especially between whites and blacks. Cuba lives in extreme poverty in the countryside. According to PBS, the growing middle class holds the promise of prosperity and social mobility. According to Cuban historian Louis Perez of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "Havana at the time was Las Vegas." In 2016, the Miami Herald wrote, "... about 27 percent of Cubans earn less than $ 50 a month, 34 percent earn an income of $ 50 to $ 100 per month, and 20 percent make $ 101 to $ 200. Twelve percent reportedly earning $ 201 to $ 500 a month, and nearly 4 percent said their monthly income reached $ 500, including 1.5 percent who said they earned more than $ 1,000. "

After the Cuban revolution and prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba relied on Moscow for substantial aid and a protected market for its exports. The loss of this subsidy sends the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as a Special Period. Cuba takes limited market-oriented measures to reduce food shortages, consumer goods, and services. These measures include enabling some entrepreneurs in certain retail and light manufacturing sectors, legalizing the use of US dollars in business, and tourism encouragement. Cuba has developed a unique urban farming system called organopÃÆ'³nicos to compensate for the end of food imports from the Soviet Union. The US embargo on Cuba was instituted in response to the nationalization of property belonging to US citizens and maintained on grounds of alleged human rights abuses. It is widely seen that the embargo injures the Cuban economy. In 2009, the Cuban Government estimated this loss to $ 685 million annually.

Cuba's leadership has called for reforms in the country's agricultural system. In 2008, RaÃÆ'ºl Castro began enacting agrarian reforms to increase food production, as 80% of the food was imported. Reform aims to expand land use and improve efficiency. Venezuela supplies Cuba with approximately 110,000 barrels (17,000 m ³ ) of oil per day in exchange for money and services of some 44,000 Cubans, most of them medical personnel, in Venezuela.

In 2005, Cuba had exports of US $ 2.4 billion , ranked 114th out of 226 countries worldwide, and imports US $ 6.9 billion , ranked 87th out of 226 countries. Its main export partners are Canada 17.7%, China 16.9%, Venezuela 12.5%, Netherlands 9%, and Spain 5.9% (2012). Cuba's main exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus fruits, and coffee; imports including food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba currently holds an estimated debt of <$ 13 billion , about 38% of GDP. According to the Heritage Foundation, Cuba depends on credit accounts that rotate from one country to another. The supply of 35% of the sugar export market in Cuba earlier for sugar has declined by 10% due to various factors, including the decline in global sugar commodity prices that make Cuba less competitive in the world market. It was announced in 2008 that the wage cap would be left to increase the nation's productivity.

In 2010, Cubans were allowed to build their own homes. According to RaÃÆ'ºl Castro, they can now repair their homes, but the government will not support these new homes or repairs. There are hardly any homeless in Cuba, and 85% of Cubans have their homes and do not pay property taxes or mortgage interest. Mortgage payments must not exceed 10% of the combined income of households.

On August 2, 2011, The New York Times reported that Cuba reaffirmed its intention to legalize the "purchase and sale" of private property before the end of this year. According to experts, the sale of private property could "change Cuba more than anything from the economic reforms announced by President RaÃÆ'ºl Castro government". It will cut more than a million state jobs, including party bureaucrats who resist change. The Reformation creates what some people call the "New Cuban Economy". In October 2013, RaÃÆ'ºl said he intends to combine both currencies, but by August 2016, the dual currency system remained in effect.

In August 2012, a specialist "Cubaenergia Company" announced the opening of Cuba's first Solar Power Plant. As a member of the Cubasolar Group, there are also some 10 additional factories in 2013.

Resources

Cuba's natural resources include sugar, tobacco, fish, citrus fruits, coffee, beans, rice, potatoes, and livestock. The output of the Cuban nickel mine that year was 71,000 tons, close to 4% of world production. By 2013, the reserves are estimated at 5.5 million tonnes, more than 7% of the world's total. Sherritt International of Canada operates a large nickel mining facility in Moa. Cuba is also a major producer of processed cobalt, a byproduct of nickel mining.

Oil exploration in 2005 by the US Geological Survey revealed that the Cuban Basin of the North could generate about 4.6 billion barrels (730 million m ³ ) to 9.3 billion barrels (1.48 Ã Eks - 10 ⁹ m ³ ) from oil. In 2006, Cuba began testing these sites for possible exploitation.

Tourism

Tourism was initially confined to a pockets area where travelers would be separated from Cuban society, referred to as "pocket tourism" and "apartheid tourism". Contact between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans was illegally de facto between 1992 and 1997. The rapid growth of tourism during the Special Period had widespread social and economic impact in Cuba, and led to speculation about two-tier economic emergence.

Cuba has tripled Caribbean market share in the past decade; as a result of significant investment in tourism infrastructure, this growth rate is expected to continue. 1.9 million tourists visiting Cuba in 2003, mainly from Canada and the EU, generated revenues of US $ 2.1 billion . Cuba recorded 2,688,000 international tourists in 2011, the third highest figure in the Caribbean (behind the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico).

The medical tourism sector serves thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian, and American consumers each year.

A recent study shows that Cuba has the potential of mountain climbing activities, and mountain climbing can be a major contributor to tourism, along with other activities, such as cycling, diving, caving). Promoting these resources can contribute to regional development, welfare, and prosperity.

The Cuban Justice Minister underestimated the alleged sex tourism widespread. According to the Government of Canada travel advice website, "Cuba is actively working to prevent child sex tourism, and a number of tourists, including Canada, have been convicted of offenses related to corruption of children under the age of 16. Prison sentences range from 7 to 25 year. "

Some tourist facilities were badly damaged on September 8, 2017 when Hurricane Irma hit the island. The storm made landfall at CamagÃÆ'¼ey Archipelago; the worst damage occurred to the key on the north of the main island, however, and not in the most significant tourist areas.

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Geography

Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the northern Caribbean Sea at a meeting with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between latitude 19Ã, Â ° and 24Ã, Â ° N, and longitude lines 74Ã, Â ° and 85Ã, Â ° W. The United States lies 150 kilometers (93 miles) across the Florida Channel to the north and northwest closest from Key West, Florida), and the Bahamas 21 km (13 miles) to the north. Mexico is located 210 kilometers (130 miles) across the YucatÃÆ'¡n Channel to the west (to the nearest tip of Cabo Catoche in the State of Quintana Roo).

Haiti is 77 km (48 mi) east, Jamaica (140 km/87 mi) and the Cayman Islands to the south. Cuba is the main island, surrounded by four small island groups: the Colorados Islands on the north-west coast, the Sabana-CamagÃÆ'¼ey Islands on the north-Atlantic coast, the Jardines de la Reina on the south-central coast and the Canarreos Islands on the southwest coast.

The main island, called Cuba, is 1,250 km (780 miles) long, constituting most of the country's mainland (104,556 km ² (40,369 sqm)) and is the largest island in the Caribbean and the largest island of- 17 in the world by land area. The main island consists mostly of flat plains to bolsters separated from the Sierra Maestra mountains to the southeast, the highest point being Pico Turquino (1,974 m (6,476 ft).

The second largest island is Isla de la Juventud (Island Pemuda) in the Canarreos archipelago, with an area of ​​2200 km ² (849Ã, sqÃ, mi). Cuba has official territory (land area) 109,884 km ² (42,426 square meters). Its territory is 110,860 km ² (42,803 sqÃ, mi) including coastal waters and territorial waters.

Climate

With the entire island south of the Tropic of Cancer, the local climate is tropical, moderated by the northeast trade winds blowing throughout the year. Temperatures are also formed by the Caribbean currents, which carry warm water from the equator. This makes Cuban climate warmer than Hong Kong's climate, which is around the same latitude as Cuba but has subtropical and not tropical climates. In general (with local variations), there are more dry seasons from November to April, and the rainy season from May to October. The average temperature was 21 Â ° C (69.8 Â ° F) in January and 27 Â ° C (80.6 Â ° F) in July. The warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that Cuba sits opposite the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico join forces to make the country vulnerable to frequent storms. This is most common in September and October.

Hurricane Irma hit the island on September 8, 2017, with winds of 260 kilometers per hour, at CamagÃÆ'¼ey Archipelago; the storm reached the province of Ciego de Avila around midnight and kept hitting Cuba the next day. The worst damage is in the key north of the main island. Hospitals, warehouses and factories are damaged; most of the north coast without electricity. At that time, nearly a million people, including tourists, had been evacuated. The resort area of ​​Varadero also reports widespread damage; the government believes that improvements can be completed before the start of the main tourist season. Subsequent reports indicate that 10 people were killed during a storm, including seven in Havana, most of the time the building collapsed. The parts of the capital have been flooded. Hurricane Jose is not expected to attack Cuba.

Biodiversity

Cuba signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 12 June 1992, and became part of the Convention on 8 March 1994. It subsequently produced the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with a revision, adopted by the convention on January 24, 2008.

The revision consists of an action plan with a time limit for each item, and an indication of the government agency responsible for delivery. The document contains almost no information on biodiversity. However, the national reports of the four countries to the CBD contain detailed details of the number of species of each recorded life kingdom of Cuba, the main groups are: animals (17,801 species), bacteria (270), chromista (707), fungi, including lichen-forming species (5844), plants (9107) and protozoa (1440).

As elsewhere in the world, vertebrate animals and flowering plants are well documented, so the number of species listed may be close to the actual numbers. For most or all other groups, the actual number of species occurring in Cuba tends to exceed, often, the amount recorded so far.

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Demographics

According to the official census of 2010, the Cuban population is 11,241,161, comprising 5,628,996 men and 5,612,165 women. The birth rate (9.88 births per thousand in 2006) is one of the lowest in the western hemisphere. Although the country's population has grown by about four million people since 1961, the rate of growth has slowed during that period, and the population began to decline in 2006, due to the country's low fertility rate (1.43 children per woman) coupled with emigration.

Indeed, this decline in fertility is one of the largest in the western hemisphere and is largely due to unrestricted access to legal abortion: the rate of Cuban abortion was 58.6 per 1,000 pregnancies in 1996, compared with an average of 35 in the Caribbean, 27 in Latin America. overall, and 48 in Europe. Similarly, the use of contraception is also widespread, an estimated 79% of the female population (in the upper third of countries in the western hemisphere).

Group etnoracial

The Cuban population is multiethnic, reflecting its complex colonial origins. Interdisciplinary marriages are widespread, and consequently there are some differences in reports of the country's racial composition: while the Cuban and Cuban-American Institute of Studies at the University of Miami determined that 62% of black Cubans, the 2002 Cuban census found that the proportion of the population same, 65,05%, white color.

In fact, the International Minority Rights Group stipulates that "The objective assessment of the Afro-Cuba situation remains problematic because of the lack of records and the lack of systematic studies of both pre- and post-revolutionary estimates The percentage of Africans in the Cuban population varies considerably, 34% to 62% ".

A 2014 study found that, based on an ancestral information marker (AIM), the autosomal genetic ancestors in Cuba were 72% Europeans, 20% Africans, and 8% Natives. Approximately 35% of the maternal lineage comes from the Cuban Indigenous People, compared with 39% of Africa and 26% of Europe, but the male lineage is Europe (82%) and Africa (18%), showing a historical bias towards intermarriage between foreign men and native women than the reverse.

Asians make up about 1% of the population, and most are of Chinese descent, followed by Japan. Many of the descendants of farm laborers were brought to the island by Spanish and American contractors during the 19th century and early 20th century. The number of Cubans currently recorded with Chinese ancestors is 114,240.

Afro-Cubans are mainly descended from the Yoruba, the Bantu people from the Congo valley, the Carabali and ArarÃÆ'¡ people from Dahomey as well as several thousand North African refugees, especially Sahara Arabic Western Sahara.

Immigration and emigration

Immigration and emigration have played an important part in Cuba's demographic profile. Between the 18th and early 20th centuries, big waves of Canarian, Catalan, Andalusian, Galician, and other Spaniards immigrated to Cuba. Between 1899 and 1930 alone, nearly a million Spanish people entered the country, although many would eventually return to Spain. Other prominent immigrant groups include France, Portugal, Italy, Russia, the Netherlands, Greece, England, and Ireland, as well as a small number of US citizens who arrived in Cuba in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Cuba's post-revolution has been characterized by a significant degree of emigration, which has led to a large and influential diaspora community. During the three decades after January 1959, over one million Cubans from all social classes - who constitute 10% of the total population - emigrated to the United States, the proportion matching the level of emigration to the US from the Caribbean as a whole during that period. Those who migrate into the sea often do so by sea with small boats and fragile rafts. Prior to January 13, 2013, Cubans could not travel abroad, go or return to Cuba without first obtaining a formal permit along with applying for passports and government-issued travel visas, which are often rejected. Other common destinations include Spain, England, Canada, Mexico, and Sweden, among others. Those who leave the country usually do so by sea, with small boats and rafts that are fragile. On September 9, 1994, the US and Cuban governments agreed that the United States would provide at least 20,000 visas annually in exchange for Cuba's promise to prevent further further unlawful abuses of ships.

Religion

In 2010, the Pew Forum estimated that religious affiliation in Cuba was 65% Christian (60% Roman Catholic or about 6.9 million in 2016, 5% Protestant or about 575,000 in 2016), 23% unaffiliated, 17% religion people (such as santeria), and the remaining 0.4% consisting of other religions.

Cuba is officially a secular state. Religious freedom increased throughout the 1980s, with the government changing the constitution in 1992 to impose the characterization of the state as an atheist.

Roman Catholicism is the greatest religion, with its origins in Spanish colonialism. Although less than half the population identified as Catholics in 2006, it remains the dominant religion. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba in 1998 and 2011, and Pope Francis visited Cuba in September 2015. Prior to the papal visit, the Cuban government forgave prisoners as a humanitarian movement.

The easing of restrictions on house churches in 1990 led to the explosion of Pentecostalism, with some groups claiming as many as 100,000 members. However, Protestant Evangelical denominations, organized into the umbrella of the Cuban Church Council, remain much more alive and powerful.

The Cuban religious landscape is also highly determined by various types of syncretism. Christianity is often practiced simultaneously with SanterÃÆ'Âa, a mixture of Catholic religion and most of the African religions, which include a number of heretics. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (The Virgin of Cobre) is a Catholic protector of Cuba, and a cultural symbol of Cuba. In Santeria, he has been synchronized with the goddess of Oshun.

Cuba also hosts a small Jewish community (500 in 2012), Muslims, and members of the Bahá¡'ÃÆ' Faith.

Several prominent Cuban religious figures have operated out of the island, including humanitarian and writer Jorge Armando PÃÆ' Â © rez.

Language

The official language of Cuba is Spanish and most Cubans speak it. The Spanish language as used in Cuba is known as Cuban Spanish and is a form of Caribbean Spanish. LucumÃÆ', a dialect of the West African Yoruba language, is also used as a liturgical language by SanterÃÆ'a practitioners, and only as a second language. Haiti Creole is the second most widely used language in Cuba, and is spoken by Haitian immigrants and their descendants. Other languages ​​spoken by immigrants include Galician and Corsican.

The largest city

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Media

The Cuban government and the Cuban Communist Party control almost all media in Cuba.

Press

• Granma brings:

Fidel Castro Reflection

Raa ºl Castro Speech

Television

Lima saluran nasional yang dikuasai Komunis:

• CubavisiÃÆ'Â3n
• Tele Rebelde
• Kanal Educativo
• Kanal Educativo 2
• MultivisiÃÆ'Â3n

Internet

The Internet in Cuba has some of the lowest penetration rates in the Western Hemisphere, and all content should be reviewed by the Revolutionary Orientation Department. ETECSA operates 118 cybercafes in the country. The Cuban government provides an online encyclopedia website called EcuRed that operates in a "wiki" format. Internet access is limited. The sale of computer equipment is strictly regulated. Internet access is controlled, and e-mail is closely monitored.

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Culture

Cuban culture is influenced by a mix of cultures, mainly from Spain and Africa. After the 1959 revolution, the government embarked on a national literacy campaign, offering free education for all and setting up a rigorous program of sports, ballet and music.

Music

Cuban music is very rich and is the best known expression of Cuban culture. The central form of this music is Son, who has been the basis of many other musical styles such as "DanzÃÆ'³n de nuevo ritmo", mambo, cha-cha-cha, and salsa music. Rumba ("de cajÃÆ'³n o de solar") music originated in early Afro-Cuban culture, mixed with elements of Hispanic style. The Tres was created in Cuba from the Hispanic cordophone instrument model (this instrument is actually a fusion of elements from the Spanish guitar and lute). Other traditional Cuban instruments are from Africa, origin TaÃÆ'no, or both, such as maracas, gÃÆ'¼iro, marbbula and various wooden drums including mayohuacÃÆ'¡n.

The popular Cuban music of all styles has been enjoyed and widely praised around the world. Cuban classical music, which includes music with strong African and European influences, and featuring symphonic works and music for soloists, has gained international recognition thanks to composers like Ernesto Lecuona. Havana was the heart of the rap scene in Cuba when it started in the 1990s.

During that time, reggaetÃÆ'³n is gaining in popularity. In 2011, the Cuban state condemned reggaeton as a degenerate, directed at reducing the "low-profile" genre screening (but not completely prohibiting it) and banning Chupi Chupi's mockit by Osmani GarcÃÆ'a, characterizing his sex descriptions as " prostitutes will carry out. " In December 2012, the Cuban government officially banned explicit sex reggaeton and music videos from radio and television. And pop, classical and rock are very popular in Cuba.

Cuisine

Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish and Caribbean cuisine. The Cuban recipe shares herbs and techniques with Spanish cuisine, with some Caribbean influences in herbs and flavors. Food allotment, which has been the norm in Cuba for the past four decades, limits the general availability of this dish. Traditional Cuban food is not served in the course; all meals are served at the same time.

Typical foods can consist of banana kings, black beans and rice, ropa vieja (grated meat), Cuban bread, pork with onion, and tropical fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to as moros y cristianos (or moros for p

Source of the article : Wikipedia