Cuba: The Caribbean Jewel

The History of Cuba: The Caribbean harbors a jewel, in the Island of Cuba. The island extends 750 miles (almost the size of Pennsylvania), and is a beautiful mix of mountain ranges and plains. There are over 200 bays and 289 beaches to explore. The main ports are located in the provinces of Cienfuegos, Havana, Manzanillo, Mariel, Matanzas, Nuevitas, and Santiago de Cuba. Cuba has no plants or animals that are lethal to humans the mountain ranges include the Sierra Maestra to the East, the Cordillera de los Organos to the West, and the Sierra del Escambray in the central region.

1492: The Native American population of Cuba began to decline after Christopher Columbus discovered the island. Many African slaves were brought to work in the coffee and sugar plantations, Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets going to Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule was bad and occasional rebellions were not uncommon.

1511: Cuba was conquered and settled by Diego De Velasquez. It holds the Spaniards, its first occupants, and is being governed from Madrid. The Spanish established a number of towns, most notably Havana and Santiago. They forced the indigenous population to work for them; the native Arawaks dropped in number until they went extinct.

1526: African slaves are brought in. Cuban plantations grow tobacco, sugar cane and coffee. Yet, Cuban plantations remain inefficient for centuries. Many early settlers move on to Mexico or Peru as these areas are conquered.

1552: The seat of Cuba is first established at Baracoa, the first capital, then, moved to the new capital Santiago de Cuba. The capital moved to Cuba, while the people remained in Santiago.

1791: Fearing a repeat of the fight that wiped out Haiti's white planter class, Cuban creoles refrained from copying their mainland counterparts and risk all in a bloody and ruinous battle with the metropolis' military. 1840: Approximately 60 percent of the population of slaves was black or mulatto there were approximately 430,000 slaves on the island.

1898: A US intervention during the Spanish-American War finally overthrew Spanish rule. Cuba was a geopolitical dream lying only 90 miles from the Florida Keys, by the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. It was separated from Spain by the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba remained one of Spain's two colonies in the New World; Puerto Rico being the other. It was governed from Madrid much as it had been governed since it was first occupied and settled by the Spaniards in 1511.

1902: The Treaty of Paris gave Cuba independence after a three-year transition period. On May 20 General Wood gave power to the new president, ending the military occupation of Cuba. Good feeling spread over the island, and appreciation was publicly expressed to Wood. There was a certain feeling of relief both in Cuba and in the United States, where groups against intervention, annexation, and imperialism were partially appeased by developments on the island.

1960s, 70s, and 80s: The Cuba Communist revolution (with Soviet support), was exported throughout Latin America and Africa. The dominant feature of the Cuban economy between 1960 and 1989 was massive Soviet economic assistance, estimated to have peaked at nearly $6 billion annually in the late 1980s. The Soviet countries provided three types of economic assistance for Cuba: guaranteed export markets for Cuba's main exports: sugar and nickel; long-term supply and delivery agreements with prices set on terms favorable to Cuba; and trade credits to support Cuba's ability to import other products. The main idea of the Cuban-Soviet relationship was exports of Cuban sugar and nickel, in exchange for Soviet petroleum products and machinery. US embargo in place since, illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, smugglers, air flights, or using the southwest border