U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Cuban President Raul Castro shake hands at the start of their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York Sept. 29, 2015.
Photo Credit: Reuters
New York Daily News front page dated January 2, 1959.
***
In July, 2015, Washington and Havana announced they were reopening their embassies, a major step in re-establishing diplomatic ties severed in 1961; and most recently, President Obama made another historic announcement, that he will travel to Cuba in March (21-22) to meet with its president, Raúl Castro
The last sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba was Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) roundly applauded Mr. Obama's rapprochement with the island nation, reportedly saying the ``visit could help secure the recent thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations against a new presidential administration’s efforts to cut ties again with the island nation.''
Others, however, aren't so keen to embrace the president's planned visit.
``Ever since December 17, 2014, when President Obama announced that he was going to embrace the Castro regime, repression has increased steadily in Cuba'', according to Carlos Eire, Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University.
Eire authored, ``Waiting for Snow in Havana'' (2003), his award winning memoir, chronicling being one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Havana—exiled from his family, his country, and his own childhood by Fidel Castro’s repressive revolution.
``The "thaw"-- which I prefer to call the ``Normalization Circus'', Eire said, `` has been a great disaster for the Cuban people. And the "historic" visit is only going to make things worse.''
So, as President Obama's trip draws near, I put together a tip sheet on Cuba.
I hope you find it helpful.
Cuba: At a Glance
Population: 11.38 million (2014)
Area: 109,884 sq. km, slightly smaller than Pennsylvania
GDP: $77.15 billion (2013, current U.S. $)
Per Capita Income: $5,890 (2011, current U.S. $)
Key Trading Partners: Exports (2013): Venezuela, 43%; Canada, 8.8%; the Netherlands, 8.7%; China, 6.5%. Imports (2013): Venezuela, 33%; China, 10.4%, Spain, 8.3%; Brazil, 4.2%; Mexico, 3.5%.
Life Expectancy: 79 years (2013)
Literacy (adult): 99.8% (2012)
Legislature: National Assembly of Peoples Power, 612 members.
Cuba is divided into 16 provinces.
About 60 percent of all Cubans are Roman Catholic; of these, only about five percent attend mass regularly
Cuba's national anthem, ``The Hymn of Bayamo,'' was composed in 1868 by Perucho Figueredo..
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea, some 90 miles south of Florida.
Havana or La Habana (founded in 1515) is one of the oldest capitals in the Americas with approximately 2,163,824 people, it’s the largest city in Cuba and the entire Caribbean region.
Sources: World Bank; National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), Republic of Cuba; U.N. Development Programme.
In the News
President Obama on Tuesday sent Congress his plan for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, fulfilling a long-held campaign promise.
At the time of its creation in January 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the prison camp was established to detain extraordinarily dangerous people, to interrogate detainees in an optimal setting, and to prosecute detainees for war crimes.
Guantanamo Background
-At the eastern tip of Cuba stands the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The United States and Cuba signed a treaty to establish a military base at Guantanamo in 1903. The Cuban government is generally opposed to U.S. presence.
The U.S. pays the Cuban government $4,500 annually in rent for the 45-square mile naval base.
Key Events in Cuba’s History
- Cuba gained formal independence in 1902, under the provisions of the Platt Amendment, when the United States ended its military occupation of Cuba (which had begun in 1898 during the Spanish-American War) to “leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its people.”
- Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country on January 1, 1959, leading to more than 45 years of rule under Fidel Castro until he stepped down from power provisionally in July 2006 because of poor health.
- “There will be freedom of speech for those who support us and for those who oppose us and criticize us.” Fidel Castro, January 1, 1959.
“Habrá libertad para los que hablan a favor nuestro y para los que hablan en contra nuestro y nos critican”. Fidel Castro, 1 de enero de 1959.
- “We’ll re-establish all rights and freedoms, including freedom of the press.” Fidel Castro, January 3, 1959.
“Restableceremos todos los derechos y libertades, incluyendo la absoluta libertad de prensa”. Fidel Castro, 3 de enero de 1959.
- ``We have a free country. We are free of censorship and the people can assembly freely. We will never use force, and when the people want me out, I’ll leave.” Fidel Castro, January 9, 1959.
“Nosotros tenemos un país libre. No tenemos censura y el pueblo puede reunirse libremente. Nunca vamos a usar la fuerza y el die que el pueblo no me quiera, me iré.” Fidel Castro, 9 de enero de 1959.
- In April 1961, Castro declared that the Cuban revolution was socialist, and in December 1961, he proclaimed himself to be a Marxist-Leninist.
- From 1959 until 1976, Castro ruled by decree.
- “In our country, prostitution was eradicated many years ago. In our country, all those sad and horrible situations that persist in exploiting societies do not exist here.” Fidel Castro, October 25, 1962.
“En nuestro país la prostitución se erradico hace muchos años. En nuestro país, todas esas tristes y horribles cosas de una sociedad explotadora, ya no existen” Fidel Castro, octubre 25, 1962.
- In 1976, the Cuban government enacted a new Constitution setting forth the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) as the leading force in state and society, with power centered in a Political Bureau headed by Fidel Castro.
- February 19, 2008, Fidel Castro announced that he would not accept the position as president of the Council of State, confirming his departure as head of the Cuban government.
- Raúl Castro officially became Cuba’s president in February 2008, when Cuba’s legislature selected him as president of the 31-member Council of State.
- “No one has ever been tortured in a revolutionary jail.” Fidel Castro, March 2010.
“Jamás se ha torturado a nadie en una cárcel revolucionaria”. Fidel Castro, marzo de 2010.
- July 1, 2015, President Obama announced that the United States and Cuba agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, effective July 20, and to reopen embassies in their respective capitals on the same day.
Source: Congressional Research Service; Cuba Transition Project; Institute For Cuban & Cuban-American Studies (University of Miami).
Did you know.....?
- According to Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste, a Puerto Rican writer and historian (1850-1930) Cuba means ``a great place'' formed from two Indo-Antillian roots: coa, place, and bana, large or great.
- Prostitution is legal in Cuba, but pimping is not, primarily because ``pimping'' is seen a form of capitalist exploitation, according to Arthur Gottschalk, Professor of Music Composition at Rice University.
- Cuba was the first Latin American country to legalize abortion. It's been legal (and available upon request) for over four decades now.
- Cuba was the second to last country in the Western Hemisphere to end slavery in 1886. Brazil was the last (1888).
- The first railroad in Latin America was built in Cuba between 1834 and 1837, to transport sugar from the inland to the port of Havana.
- The average salary in Cuba is about $20 per month.
- Health Care is free in Cuba.
- Education is free in Cuba at every level, from preschool through the university.
- 80 percent of the workforce is employed by the Cuban government.
- Since the state controls and manufactures everything, there are no advertising billboards in Cuba.
- Fidel Castro, age 20, distributed anti-US propaganda in Bogota, Colombia in 1948. In 1958, he wrote to one of his aides “my destiny is to fight the U.S.,'' according to Jamie Suchlicki, Director of the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies.
- Fidel Castro has two nephews by marriage who serve and have served in the U.S. Congress: former Congressman Lincoln Díaz Balart and Congressman Mario Díaz Balart. Both are sons of Fidel’s former brother-in-law, Rafael Díaz Balart, who once served as Batista’s deputy minister of Interior.
- Between 1960 and 1965, the CIA attempted to assassinate Fidel Castro eight times.
- According to Pick’s Currency Yearbook, in 1956 Cuba was ranked #13 in the world based on the strength of its monetary system.
- According to Arthur Gottschalk, Professor of Music Composition at Rice University, Cuban musicians are now "free" to visit the United States to play and/or to study. However, they may not bring an instrument with them (they are property of the state). ``So, any school offering a scholarship to a Cuban music student must provide not only tuition, but room, board - and an instrument!''
- In most Cuban elections, between 95 and 99 percent of all eligible voters go to the polls.
- Cuban theater was the first to promote and participate in cultural exchanges between the United States and Cuba (beginning in 1980).
- According to Carol Damian, Professor of Art History at Florida International University, Cuba's renowned National Art Schools (Escuelas Nacionales de Arte, now known as the Instituto Superior de Arte/ISA) were conceived and founded by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in 1961, and they ``reflect the utopian optimism and exuberance of the early years of the Cuban Revolution. '' For over 50 years, the schools have served as the primary incubator for Cuba’s artists, musicians, actors and dancers.
- Since the revolution, Cuban-Americans were prohibited from visiting Cuba until 1979.
- More than 2.5 million foreign tourists arrive in Cuba every year, the largest are from Canada.
- 97 percent of the Cuban population is literate. Their students score higher than any other country in Central and South America on standardized tests.
- Many of the automobiles driven by Cubans were built in the 1950s.
-Researched and compiled by Bill Lucey
February 23, 2016
Source: ``Cuba: The Legend of Rum'' By Jared McDaniel Brown, Anistatia Renard Miller, ``Cuba: Enchantment of the World'' By Deborah Kent; ``Transforming Public Health in Developing Nations'' edited by Sheikh, Mohamud
