It is important to start the unit with a general overview of Cuba since many of my students have limited, if any, background knowledge with regards to this nation-state.
Overview
The Republic of Cuba is an archipelago located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, less than 150 kilometers (about 30 miles: 5km is equal to 3.1 miles) south of Key West, Florida. It includes the island of Cuba (
Isla de Cuba
) (with about 104, 945 square kilometers,) the Youth's island (
Isla de la Juventud
) (2,200 square kilometers) and several adjacent keys. In terms of population, Cuba is the ninth largest country in Latin America.
There are three principal mountain rages: Guaniguanico, in the region of Pinar del Río, Escambray in Trinidad and the Sierra Maestra, in Santiago de Cuba. The principal rivers are the Cauto, Zaza and Sagua la Grande all of them with an average length of about ninety-three kilometers.
The territory is divided in fourteen administrative provinces created in 1974 called (from west to east) Pinar del Río, La Habana, Ciudad de La Habana, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de ¡vila, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Granma, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo. There are also 169 municipalities and one special municipality on the Isla de la Juventud.
Cuba is a communist state with one party, the Communist Party of Cuba (
partido comunista cubano
or PCC). Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz held the power from January 1, 1958 until last February 24, 2008 when his illness required his brother Raúl to take his place.
History of Cuba
The archipelago's strategic location at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico between North America, the Caribbean and Central America has been a key factor in its history since the discovery of the island by Christopher Columbus in 1492. The Spanish used Cuba as an operational base for the conquest of Mexico, since the Yucatan's peninsula is only about 150 kilometers away to the west. They also used the island's natural harbors as ports for all the ships sailing between Spain and the Americas.
The United States became interested in Cuba at least since the beginning of the 19
th
century, not only for its strategic location but also since it became the world's major sugar producer.
In order to fully understand the country and its current political system, I consider it is important to reflect on its history. This is why I am including this section, apart from the fact that it will also be helpful in the classroom since, as a Spanish teacher, I have to focus on the cultural aspects.
Pre-Columbian times
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Studies on the early inhabitants of the island(s) could be classified in three main groups: the Guanahatabey (
guanajatabayes
), the Ciboney (
siboyenes
,) and the Taino (
taínos.
)
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The Guanahatabey was the oldest culture on the island. Some archeologists and anthropologists maintain that they might had come from the South of the United States since their artifacts were similar to those of the early inhabitants of Florida. Others, on the contrary, support the theory that they migrated from South America. They hunted, fished and picked fruit and gathered food and lived in caves since they built no houses. Their civilization was in decline when the Spanish arrived. By this time, they had moved to west part of the island.
The Ciboney culture was part of the Arawak, a larger South American group. They, as well as the Taino, arrived in Cuba through the island along the West Indies. They settled in the western part of Cuba and the southwestern peninsula of Hispaniola. They were more advanced than the Guanahatabey. They inhabited in towns near the sea or rivers where they hunted, fished and performed some kind of basic agriculture. Some of them lived in caves, but others built primitive dwellings called
barbacoas
or
bajareques
. The Ciboney, due to their gentle and peaceful character, ended up being servants of the more advanced Taino.
The Taino, the second Arawak group to inhabit the island, were far more advanced than the Ciboney. They settled the central and eastern parts, as well as most of neighboring islands Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. The Taino lived in small villages of
round houses with conical roofs,
caneyes
, or rectangular ones,
bohios,
near sources of fresh water. They manufactured textiles, made pottery, stone and wood artifacts (such as powerful canoes.) They also developed a quite advanced economic system based on agriculture: they grew
yucca
(manioc), tobacco, cotton, corn, white and sweet potato.
They were socially organized. At the top of the class line there was the
cacique
, the chief who managed all the affairs of the community and ruled over a specific territory. The
nitaínos
, advisors who supervised the community and were in charge of certain sectors of the population, helped the
caciques
.
These first Cuban settlers were inferior to other civilizations in the mainland such as the Aztec or Maya of Mexico or the Inca of Peru in terms of economic development, social organization, art and technological advances.
19
th
Century
Many are the countries that have tried to have control over Cuba due to its strategic situation. Spain controlled it during the colonization and kept absolute control over it for centuries. In 1808, Thomas Jefferson tried to buy the island from Spain. There were also many treaties between Spain and other countries (England) to control slaves.
José Martí
José Martí's figure is of most importance when dealing with Cuba. His influence defined a national conscience, both politically and historically. This section is also important since I am planning to have students read and comment on some of his poems and writings.
Much of his life was devoted to Cuba's independence. Martí was a revolutionary activist, political theorist and writer (poet and journalist). He lived in exile in the US for a long time. He was opposed to those influential Cubans who fought for the independence of Cuba from Spain and who wished to form a union with the US. "The hands of every nation must remain free" (1891).
Martí was always concerned with the problems that characterized Latin America: democracy and dictatorship, reform and revolution, the clash between white settlers and indigenous peoples. He was a determined supporter of racial equality.
The son of Spanish immigrants, Martí was still in school at the outbreak of the first independence war in 1868. At the age of 16 he was sentenced to 6 years in prison as a subversive. He was sent to St. Lázaro in Havana. In 1871 he was exiled to Spain.
Soon caught up in intellectual circles, he studied Philosophy and Law at the University of Madrid and Zaragoza. In 1871, when done with his studies, he traveled around Europe. Later he moved to Mexico where his parents were living. In Mexico and Guatemala (where he taught in the university) he had his first experiences with Latin American "caudillos", Porfirio Díaz in Mexico and Justo Rufino Barrios in Guatemala. As a result he became a fervent opponent of military rule.
In 1878, as a result of the amnesty for political exiles, part of the Pact of Zajón of 1878, he was able to return to Havana.
The Cuban Republic: 1902-1959
The United States military occupation ended when the republic was proclaimed on May 20, 1902 and Tomás Estrada Palma formally took control from the US military governor, Leonard Wood. Estrada Palma was Cuba's first elected president (1902-1906). He was a veteran of exile politics for almost thirty years but not very popular among the revolutionaries. He was accused later on of having privileged Americans over Cubans and having accepted orders from the United States occupying force. Estrada Palma was part of an educated political class that had no prejudice against US occupiers and looked forward to a close and continuing relationship with the Americans after the Independence.
The migration between Cuba and the US had been ongoing for generations and many Cubans moved back and forth easily. Constant communication was maintained between the two communities. In the early years of the republic, almost every one of influence and importance possessed direct experience living in the United States. American intervention in Cuban affairs was not an insult -- they welcomed it and often, they requested it. Therefore, American intervention was welcomed by the Cuban elite in the early years and supported by the American settlers and businessmen who arrived in considerable numbers. More than 13,000 North Americans had acquired title to land in Cuba by 1905, bringing in millions of dollars of investment. Soon 60 % of the rural properties where owned by American individuals or corporations (15% resident Spanish). (2)
Corruption, violence, military revolts, gangsters, dramatic economic growth, prosperity for a small privileged section of the population and sporadic military intervention by the United States characterized the Republic. Many Cubans had fought for independence (and not for economic annexation) and were disillusioned by this development; but others believed it to be inevitable and hurried to associate with the United States.
In September of 1906, only four years after their initial withdraw, about 2000 United States marines landed in Cuba and reestablished their old base in Cape Columbia. Soon these US troops were dispersed throughout the country, where they stayed mapping the island over the next two years. They left in 1909. The intervention was not a unilateral military action by the United States, but the result of a request by Estrada Palma under the terms of the Platt Amendment. Americans had intervened to prevent the Cubans from fighting among themselves. When elections for the National Congress were organized in 1904, it was evident the state had no capacity to do so fraud-free.
The Republicans secured the victory of more congressmen. The Liberals, in favor of local autonomy, refused to accept the outcome and left the Congress. Believing that his services were indispensable, and backed by the United States minister in La Havana, Estrada Palma campaigned for reelection. The Liberals presented José Miguel Gómez (governor of Santa Clara) who was later to become president. Gómez ended up withdrawing due to the violent atmosphere and the certainty that the government officials would secure the reelection of Estrada. The Liberals then organized an armed insurrection to overthrow the government. In August 1906, armed rebels rallied in Pinar del Río and began to march on Havana. On their way, provincial leaders joined them. In Havana, the all-white government panicked and called for American intervention. Estrada appealed to Washington for military assistance in September. Roosevelt sent two delegates to Havana to try to reach a peaceful solution between the Estradans and the Liberals.
Estrada had his own agenda; he did not want to negotiate. He resigned as president and compelled his cabinet to follow suit. As a result the country was left without a government.
Roosevelt would not abandon American investors and decided to send the Marines to Havana. As a result of this action Charles Magoon ruled Cuba for 3 years. During this period his advisers devised a more reliable electoral system, drew up rules for the state bureaucracy and established a small professional army. He also created a new legal system to replace the codes of the Spanish domination. When Magoon left, Enoch "Bert" Crowder organized drafting committees in which Cubans would be represented (although they often missed meetings). Provincial and municipal elections were held in August 1908, and the Conservative party won. By November the presidential elections were held and the Liberals won with Gómez who ruled until 1913. Magoon, Crowder and the Marines had all abandoned the island by 1909.
Even though the United States' influence in the early years of the republic was pervasive, much of the Spanish domination survived. Spain still had a strong influence over many aspects of the Cuban society. Apart from few modifications introduced during the American occupation, little had changed: there were still many Spaniards in relevant positions, they controlled the industry and commerce, retail trade, and the migration from Spain would continue through the first decades of the republic. General Wood encouraged the immigration of white settlers from Spain observing their rights mindfully since he hoped that they would stay to run the country. Their property and individual rights were ratified in the constitution and sustained by the military government. Estrada's new republic made no break with the old colonial order, and maintained the racist legislation previously imposed by the Americans. The landowners were to have many problems caused by this whites-only legislation since some of these Spanish immigrants were anarchists or syndicalists who soon became very active in the union movement.
Since the Liberal Party had not done anything to improve the circumstances of the black population in the island, Evaristo Estenoz created the Independent Party of Colour in 1907. Hoping Americans could be persuaded to take up the Afro-Cuban cause, he traveled to the United States to examine the experiences of American black organizations. The Party of Colour was the first real political challenge to the rules of the political order established in 1902 since it divided the Liberal vote within the black community.
In 1912 there was a short racial uprising started by Estenoz. It was the first military intervention since Magoon had left. General Wood sent troops to Guantánamo to protect the sugar estates in the region, not to support Estenoz. This upraising resulted in about 3000 Afro-Cubans killed. Estenoz was killed a month later, in June.
The pattern of corruption went on with succeeding administrations such as Mario García Menocal's (1913-1921) or Alfredo Zayas' (Liberal)(1921-1925), Gerardo Machado y Morales (1925--1933), Fulgencio Batista (through others 1934--1939 and himself 1940--1944 and 1952--1959), Ramón Grau San Martín (1944--1948), Carlos Prío Socarrás (1948--1952)… Seven were the civilian governments from 1934 to 1940, in which Fulgencio Batista manipulated the events behind the scenes.
Out of all these corrupt presidents, Machado y Morales was probably the most notorious since he held power through manipulation and extortion. The United States helped leftist groups to overthrow him in the Revolution of 1933.
In the final years of Socarrás' presidency, some officers sounded General Batista to know if he would support a coup. On March 10, 1952, Batista arrested all the senior officers at Camp Columbia, getting control of the city. Prio Socarrás went to the Mexican embassy to seek asylum. Batista then appointed himself as chief of state. Much of the 1940 constitution was suspended but most people, except Castro and his friendsyoung political activists to whom the coup was a political opportunity for change gave the government the benefit of the doubt.
Castro's Revolution (1953-1961)
On July 26, 1953 an armed attack led by Fidel Castro took place in Moncada, a fortress near Santiago's Central Square. This offensive was part of a bigger plan designed to overthrow the Batista government established by force after a
coup d'état
the year before. The plan was to simultaneously move against the barracks in Bayazo and secure weapons from the arsenal. The plan failed, but the event was a challenge to the regime and laid the groundwork for the July 26 Movement, a revolutionary organization. It also brought Castro's name to prominence all across the island.
Fidel Castro Ruz, son of a white wealthy landowner from Galicia (Spain), went to a Jesuit college and was trained as a lawyer at the University of Havana. He was a brilliant student, orator and athlete; interested in politics from an early age. He appeared to be headed for a conventional political career, preparing for the elections of 1952 as a possible congressional candidate, when his plans were interrupted by Batista's coup.
Castro was regarded at that time as an outstanding figure of his generation. He became one of the most charismatic and most extraordinary political figures of the 20
th
century. His revolution changed the course of Cuba's history and he became a leader whose ideals and rhetoric were to be followed by many countries in Latin America ruled at that point by narrow oligarchies carried-over from the colonial era. His impact on many Latin American generations of supporters and detractors was key to the political change and, in most cases, development in these countries.
Under Castro, Cuba became a Communist country where nationalism was more significant than socialism, where the legend of José Martí proved more influential than the philosophy of Marx. (3) His charisma, natural strategic vision and organizing talent gave Castro's group an advantage against Batista's regime. Castro assembled men, trained them and raised funds. He also made preparations for guerrilla warfare and drafted a manifesto that outlined a program for government for the cause.
After the Moncada defeat, some rebels were captured and executed. Fidel escaped to the mountains. Discovered a few days later, a black lieutenant from the Rural Guard saved his life by taking him to the police station in Santiago, instead of the Moncada barracks where he would have been shot. The regime's revenge turned public opinion against Batista's government.
Castro went to trial in Santiago with more than one hundred defendants, his brother Raúl Castro among them. Fidel took their defense and only 26 prisoners were found guilty. Raúl Castro was sentenced to 13 years in prison, since he was one of the leaders. The two-hour long speech Fidel made to justify his actions and to defend himself was the basis of his later revolutionary manifesto. In it, he outlined the "five revolutionary laws": first, return power to people and go back to the 1940's constitution; second, changes on land rights; third, rights to mining; fourth, industrial workers and sugar planters; and fifth, a law attacking corruption. He would also reorganize public education, nationalize privately owned utilities, "restore the land to the Cubans" and provide "employment to the jobless" -- these last two measures were already included in the 1940 constitution. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the Isle of Pines, where he joined his brother and some other revolutionaries. After two years, he was released as a result of an amnesty. After spending sometime in Havana, he lost hope in electoral politics and started thinking that the only solution to the crisis was an armed insurrection.
Both brothers flew to Mexico to organize a guerrilla force capable of invading Cuba. There they met a young Argentinean revolutionary, Ernesto Ché Guevara. From then on, Ché would assist the Castro brothers and together they would eventually knock over the Batista government and organize the revolution. With that goal in mind, Castro traveled to the United States. Despite his attempts he was unsuccessful in raising funds from New York, Philadelphia and Miami's Cuban communities. Meanwhile on the island, other groups such as the
Federación Estudiantil Universitaria
(FEU), or sugar-workers, hostile to Batista's regime, were silently plotting a coup.
By May 1956, Fidel Castro had raised enough money to rent a farm in Mexico City, where he was to secretly house and train various supporters, who had come from Cuba and other places, in the tactics of guerrilla warfare. A month later, both Castro and Guevara were arrested and the farm was raided. Former Mexican president Rafael Cárdenas had to intervene in order to guarantee their release. By November, Castro had bought a small boat, the
Granma
, gathered about 82 guerrilla volunteers, and sailed across the Gulf of Mexico heading for Cuba.
The
Granma
landing and the revolutionary war (1956-1958
)
The plan for the
Granma
landing was to make it coincide with an attack on Moncada and the police headquarters in Santiago, so Castro and the
Granma
crew could move unnoticed towards Bayamo and Santiago. The boat landed a couple of days later, on December 2, due to the weather. They were attacked from the air and on land. Some died, others were captured and the rest, though separated from one another, were able to reunite and connect with members of the internal resistance days later in Sierra Maestra.
They soon established regular contact with their urban counterparts from the July 26 Movement. They needed to make sure a continuous flow of men and guns were sent to the mountains. They made plans to strengthen the guerrilla force, expand its operations and to form an urban militia in all the provinces. They also organized a national "civic resistance movement" to prepare for a revolutionary general strike to bring down Batista's government.
It was important to organize the logistics of the guerrilla war, but it was also crucial to secure the agreement among the different political groups opposed to Batista's regime. These political groups were divided into old political parties that hoped for either an eventual electoral outcome or even a military coupthe
Ortodoxos
; and a younger more radical generation, the
Auténticos
, who supported armed resistance. One of the subgroups, the
Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil
(DRE), a terrorist organization dedicated to assassination and sabotage, led by José Antonio Echevarría, had a plan to enter the presidential palace in order to assassinate Batista. Meanwhile Echevarría seized control of Havana's main radio station. The operation took place on March 13, 1957. As a result, Echevarría and many other members of the DRE died, and the incident led to a strengthening of the repression.
In July, some of the Ortodoxo politicians agreed to meet Castro in the mountains to discuss their relationship with the Movement. Together, they shaped the "Pact of the Sierra, " a manifesto that called for a civil revolutionary front. Photographs of Castro with these prominent politicians (Raúl Chibás, Felipe Pazos, Roberto Agramonte and Enrique Barrosa) appeared in magazines in Havana, a publicity success for Castro's cause.
By March 1958, Castro's guerrillas in Sierra Maestra felt confident enough to expand their operations in other locations. Raúl left with a group of about sixty-something men and established a second front in the Oriente's north coast, in Sierra Cristál. A third front led by Juan Almeida was opened to the north of Santiago in the same month.
The Communist Party finally decided to support Castro early that same year. It was then that the plan for a revolutionary general strike, always present in conversations and meetings in the Sierra Maestra, started to materialize. Faustino Pérez, the leader of the Movement in Havana, and Fidel Castro signed the manifesto "Total War Against Tyranny" that called for general strike. It also outlined political plans for the post-Batista period. The insurrection, planned for April 9, was postponed indefinitely due to insufficient weapons required to stage various diversionary schemes on the part of the Movement's urban activists.
In the wake of the revolutionaries, early failures Batista became determined to oust the guerrillas from Sierra Maestra. He sent large numbers of soldiers to both Castro's front in the southern mountains and to Raúl's in the north. This offensive lasted for about two months, but the guerrillas were able to hold out. This victory was a turning point in the war. The time for the invasion of western Cuba had come. Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and others set off to different targets at the end of August. The fighting continued on all fronts throughout the fall. The revolutionaries had a number of small victories.
After two years in the mountains, Castro was on the verge of victory. President Eisenhower had supported Batista supplying weapons. As Castro's victory grew more probable, the Americans gradually withdrew support for the Batista regime, suspending arm shipments on March 18.
By December, the columns of Ché Guevara and Cienfuegos advanced through the province of Las Villas (north-center), until they secured its capital, Santa Clara. Defeated on all sides, Batista's forces collapsed. After losing Santa Clara and expecting betrayal by his own, General Batista, Andrés Rivero Agüero (president elect) and their close associates fled to the Dominican Republic on New Year's eve, 1959. They left a junta with General Eulogio Castillo as head. The junta chose Carlos Piedra, the oldest judge of the Supreme Court as provisional President. Castro refused to accept anything established by the previous regime.
Revolutionary period (1959- )
On January 8,1959, Castro's army arrives in Havana and begins consolidation of power by calling a general strike in protest against Piedra's government, demanding Manuel Urrutia Lleó be appointed as the provisional president and the liberal lawyer José Miró Cardona as prime minister. Only three members of the new cabinet came from the guerrilla army, and only one from the July 26 Movement.
Days later, the United States officially recognized the new government. Castro appointed himself Military Commander-in-Chief (
Comandante en jefe
) of the armed forces. In February Miró Cardona resigned and, on February 16, Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba.
The worst was yet to come, when many former Batista officials were convicted in revolutionary tribunals of political crimes and eventually executed. This was part of an attempt on Castro's part to get rid of potential Batista loyalists and therefore opponents of the new revolutionary government that could launch a counter-revolution.
In May, the first Agrarian Reform Law was promulgated, expropriating farmlands of many hectares owned by major United States corporations and forbidding foreign land ownership. The friction with the United States, the ideological radicalization (towards communism) and the bad publicity Castro's regime had acquired when some of Batista's leaders were publicly brought into trial before revolutionary tribunals and the proceedings were televised, deteriorated Castro's relations with the United States.
Initially, the United States, which had recognized the Castro Government on January 7, followed a "wait and see" policy. Although tension arose in connection with the public trials and executions of Batista supporters, serious differences did not emerge until after the Agrarian Reform Law had been approved.
In an attempt to change all this, Castro visited Washington in April 1959. Even though President Eisenhower refused to meet with him, Fidel talked with vice-president Nixon.
The land reform was the turning point in the US relationship with Cuba. When the National Security Council met in June, it was decided that Castro would have to go. The United States government's objective was to adjust its actions "in such a way as to accelerate the development of an opposition in Cuba which would bring about … a new government favorable to US interests". (4) From then on, institutions such as the Department of the State and the CIA would look for ways to bring about Castro's downfall. This anti-Castro movement was more of an economic decision than a political one. Cuba did not establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union until May 1960.
The first contact with the Soviet Union took place in July in Cairo, when the Russians made an agreement to purchase sugar from Cuba. By October, Alexandr Alexiev, a diplomat and KGB agent arrived to Havana to visit. Some time after, a deputy of Khrushchev, Anastas Mikoyan, sent to the island, signed a sugar deal with the Cubans in February 1960. This was the first of many agreements not only with the Soviet Union but also with several Soviet allies: Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc. By this time, the United States' plan to overthrow the Revolution was to sabotage of Cuba's sugar refineriesthe country's source of wealth. President Eisenhower liked the proposal but did not think it was strong enough. Sabotage attacks, usually by CIA-funded exiles in small planes on the island, started soon after. In April, relations between the two countries deteriorated further due to Cuba's sugar quota. The Russians and Chinese immediately offered help followed by Castro's nationalization of all major American properties on the island: sugar mills, plantations, oil refineries, electric power and phone utilities, banks, hotels, cinemas, etc.
In November the United States declared an Embargo on trade with Cuba. It was now forbidden to export anything, except medical supplies and food. When Castro restricted the staff of the United States embassy to eleven, the United States withdrew its ambassador on January 1961. By then the United States was training groups of Cuban exiles in Central American camps for an attack on the island. An attempt of an overthrow seemed propitious since Castro's support was decreasing.
The exile invasion at the Bay of Pigs (Bahía de Cochínos) (5), in April 17-19, 1961 was one of the major strategic errors of the United States in the twentieth century, reinforcing Castro's control over Cuba, ensuring the permanence of the Revolution and driving him into the Soviet camp. Although the Cuban government did not know the exact date of the attack, they knew about it. At the last minute, John F. Kennedy cancelled some of the air raids. The failure of the operation eliminated the entire Cuban underground since the regime arrested many real and suspected anti-Castro forces. The United States decided then to isolate and strangle Cuba economically by pressuring its allies throughout the world. Also, as a result, the "Operation Mongoose," closely overseen by Robert Kennedy, would comprehend clandestine operations in Cuba.
The Bay of Pigs attack accelerated the soviet military involvement in the island. As a result, new trade and cultural agreements were signed, as well as economic and technical aid.
Cold War Cuba
By mid-1962 the Soviet Union had secretly introduced nuclear missiles and bombers in the island. Through this action, they aimed to alter the balance of power and force the United States to accept a settlement of the German issue, as well as to protect Cuba from any future hostile actions.
On October 22, President Kennedy announced publicly the identification of Soviet missiles on Cuba and his intention of instituting a naval blockade of the island and requested the Security Council to consider a United States resolution calling for "the prompt dismantling and withdrawal of all offensive weapons" (6) The US naval blockade began two days later. On October 26, Khrushchev sent a letter to president Kennedy in which he agreed to move the missiles and bombers if the United States would agree not to invade Cuba. Kennedy and his advisers were happy to accept the offer, the missiles and bombers were removed under the United States aerial surveillance, and the crisis ended formally at a press conference Kennedy convened November 20. After the crisis, Fidel Castro increased contacts with China, proclaiming his intention to maintain close relations with all socialist states. All this increased Cuba's leverage with the Soviets, who had not taken Castro's opinion into account during the missile crisis, and secured him more assistance.
Cuba's relations with the Soviet Union improved significantly in 1968, when the Cuba endorsed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovaquia. As a result, the Soviet Union increased its aid to the country. By the 1970's the United State's ability to keep Cuba isolated was declining. In 1975, the Organization of American States (OAS), withdraw all sanctions previously imposed to the island in 1962. Mexico and Canada developed closer relations with Cuba allowing trade and reopening cultural and diplomatic contacts. They hoped to foster liberalization in Cuba but there was no substantial easing of repression against domestic opposition.
Cuban exiles in the United States increased in size, power and wealth but failed to foment a strong enough anti-Castro movement in the island. On April 6, 1980, a group of Cubans seeking political asylum crashed a lorry into the Peruvian embassy in Havana. Within days, about 10,000 Cubans had sought asylum. After long negotiations they were allowed to leave for Costa Rica and ultimately arrived in Miami. Shortly after Castro announced that anyone who wished to leave island would be able to do so through the port of Mariel. The so-called Mariel Boatlift also enabled Castro to empty prisons, detention centers and mental hospitals, sending them to the United States. Over 125,000 Cubans migrated to the United States before the exodus ended on mid June.
Post Cold War Cuba
The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 caused a crisis in Cuba. This, along with the United States's tightening of the embargo caused a major economic crisis that led to another migration exodus and numerous popular uprisings in the early 1990's being the "Maleconazo" the most notable.
By the later 1990's, Cuba had economic relations with most of the Latin American countries as well with many European Union ones, providing loans and aid to the country.
Future of Cuba: Raúl Castro
Fidel while recovering from a surgery temporarily passed on his duties as President of the Council of State, President of the Council of Minister, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party and Commander in Chief of the armed forces to his brother, Raúl Castro. In February 2008, Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's President, ending 49 years of uninterrupted rule, naming Raúl his successor.
Analysts are divided on what kind of leader he might make. Now that he is in power, he seems to be pushing further economic liberal measures.
Cuban Cinema
The efforts the United States to isolate Cuba with the economic and cultural embargo for nearly two decades, did not impede Cuban cinema, poster design or music to develop different art manifestations to claim Cuba's political views.
The revolutionaries had always recognized the artistic and educational supremacy of film. Fidel Castro, well aware of it, ensured the creation of the First National Congress on Education and Culture, which pointed in the late 1960's to television, cinema, radio and press as "powerful instruments of ideological education, molders of the collective consciousness whose use and development must not be left to improvisation or spontaneity." (7)
Only three months after the overthrow of Batista, the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), was founded. In fact, there was a previous revolutionary film organization called
Cine Rebelde
.
Havana was one of the first places in Latin America exposed to the moving image in 1897, when the first Lumière films were making their debut.
The role Cuban cinema from the 30's to the 50's was to furnish United States and Mexican Film Companies with exotic sets for their productions. During the twenty years preceding the revolution, national film was characterized by escapist tropical musicals, melodramas, and detective flicks. The industry primarily produced advertising shorts for theaters and television, newsreels for local consumption, technical or scientific films for specialized audiences and pornography.
During the fifties there were a couple of film societies --
Nuestro Tiempo
and
Visión
-, where the only serious film activity came about. García Espinosa and Gutiérrez Alea's
El megano
(The Charcoal Woker, 1954), a denounce of the hardships of the charcoal production in the island, is an antecedent of post-revolutionary cinema.
The ICAIC gave priority to documentaries due to ideological and economic factors. From 1959 to 1977, about 600 documentary shorts (including scientific, educational and technical films), and more than 800 weekly newsreels were made.
The growth in awareness and social sensitivity on the artists, who wanted to document the euphoria of the rebel victories and the popular response to social changes, placed them in an exceptional position as observers of their own national reality.
Cuban documentary production could be divided into five thematic categories: domestic politics, historical films, cultural documentaries, didactic documentaries and, films dealing with Cuba's role in international affairs. As for the central themes common in all Cuban films, history and underdevelopment should be mentioned.
Cuban Art: Posters
Cuban posters possess an enormous artistic power and social impact due to the historical and social implications of the Revolution along with "a unique confluence of conditions." (7)
The production of posters was extraordinarily prolific, by the time the Soviet Union collapsed; Cuban artists had produced about twelve thousand posters. This was in part due to the fact that the State had not always supported the arts, but also had institutions such as the ICAIC (Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry),
Editora Política
(EP- the official publishing department of the Cuban Communist Party) and OSPAAAL (the Organization in Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America) which produced them.
The posters, and the movies-especially documentaries- offer formidable representations of whatever it is they portray: national pride, sports, health, cultural, social or political events, etc.
