Cuba#Politics

{{Main|History of Cuba|Timeline of Cuban history}}

Humans first settled Cuba around 6,000 years ago, descending from migrations from northern South America or Central America.{{Cite journal |last1=Fernandes |first1=Daniel M. |last2=Sirak |first2=Kendra A. |last3=Ringbauer |first3=Harald |last4=Sedig |first4=Jakob |last5=Rohland |first5=Nadin |last6=Cheronet |first6=Olivia |last7=Mah |first7=Matthew |last8=Mallick |first8=Swapan |last9=Olalde |first9=Iñigo |last10=Culleton |first10=Brendan J. |last11=Adamski |first11=Nicole |last12=Bernardos |first12=Rebecca |last13=Bravo |first13=Guillermo |last14=Broomandkhoshbacht |first14=Nasreen |last15=Callan |first15=Kimberly |date=2021-02-04 |title=A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=590 |issue=7844 |pages=103–110 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-03053-2 |issn=0028-0836 |pmc=7864882 |pmid=33361817|bibcode=2021Natur.590..103F }} The arrival of humans on Cuba is associated with extinctions of the islands native fauna, particularly its endemic sloths.{{Cite journal |last1=Orihuela |first1=Johanset |last2=Viñola |first2=Lázaro W. |last3=Jiménez Vázquez |first3=Osvaldo |last4=Mychajliw |first4=Alexis M. |last5=Hernández de Lara |first5=Odlanyer |last6=Lorenzo |first6=Logel |last7=Soto-Centeno |first7=J. Angel |date=December 2020 |title=Assessing the role of humans in Greater Antillean land vertebrate extinctions: New insights from Cuba |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=249 |pages=106597 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106597|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020QSRv..24906597O | issn = 0277-3791 }} The Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taíno people arrived in the Caribbean in a separate migration from South America around 1,700 years ago. Unlike the previous settlers of Cuba, the Taíno extensively produced pottery and engaged in intensive agriculture. The earliest evidence of the Taíno people on Cuba dates to the 9th century AD.{{Cite book |last1=Keegan |first1=William F. |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190605247.001.0001/acprof-9780190605247 |title=The Caribbean before Columbus |last2=Hofman |first2=Corinne L. |date=2017-02-23 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-060524-7 |pages=151–196 |chapter=Cuba, the Bahama Archipelago, and Jamaica |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190605247.003.0006}} Descendants of the first settlers of Cuba persisted on the western part of the island until Columbian contact, where they were recorded as the Guanahatabey people, who lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.{{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/florida-scholarship-online/book/21174/chapter/180794954 |title=Cuban Archaeology in the Caribbean |date=2016-09-20 |publisher=University Press of Florida |isbn=978-1-68340-002-8 |pages=8–16 |language=en |chapter=The Role of the Nicaraguan Rise in the Early Peopling of the Greater Antilles |doi=10.5744/florida/9781683400028.003.0002 |last1=Roksandic |first1=van }}

{{main|Governorate of Cuba|Captaincy General of Cuba}}

After first landing on an island then called Guanahani on 12 October 1492,{{cite book |author-first=Ted |author-last=Henken|title=Cuba: A Global Studies Handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mv7anQoCbzgC|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-984-9|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mv7anQoCbzgC&pg=PT59 30]}} (gives the landing date in Cuba as 27 October) Christopher Columbus landed on Cuba on 27 October 1492, and landing in the northeastern coast on 28 October.{{cite book |author=Cuba Oficina Del Censo|title=Cuba: Population, History and Resources 1907 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0iIQ1nxJB4C |year=2009|publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC|isbn=978-1-110-28818-2|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=E0iIQ1nxJB4C&pg=PA28 28]}} (gives the landing date in Cuba as 28 October) Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain{{Harvnb|Gott|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aVq0qOnLFusC&pg=PA13 13]}} and named it Isla Juana ("John's Island") after John, Prince of Asturias.{{cite book |first1=Alfred J. |last1=Andrea |author2=Overfield, James H. |title=The Human Record |volume=1|chapter=Letter by Christopher Columbus concerning recently discovered islands|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|year=2005 |page=8 |isbn=978-0-618-37040-5}}

File:DiegoVelazquezCuellar.jpg, conquistador of Cuba]]

In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa. Other settlements soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1514 (southern coast of the island) and then in 1519 (current place), which later became the capital (1607). The Indigenous Taíno were forced to work under the encomienda system,{{cite web |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/colonial/encomienda-slavery.pdf |title=Encomienda or Slavery? The Spanish Crown's Choice of Labor Organization in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America |website=LatinAmericanStudies.org |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509061016/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/colonial/encomienda-slavery.pdf |url-status=live }} which resembled the feudal system in medieval Europe.{{Harvnb|McAlister|1984|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=a1vBlgo68J4C&pg=PA164 164]}} Within a century, the Indigenous people faced high incidence of mortality due to multiple factors, primarily Eurasian infectious diseases, to which they had no natural resistance (immunity), aggravated by the harsh conditions of the repressive colonial subjugation.{{cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared M. |author-link=Jared Diamond |title=Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies |url=https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co |location=New York, NY |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-393-03891-0 |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-date=16 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116115810/http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html |url-status=live }} In 1529, a measles outbreak killed two-thirds of those few Natives who had previously survived smallpox.{{cite book |last=Byrne |first=Joseph Patrick |title=Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues: A-M |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Pvi-ksuKFIC&pg=PA413 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |page=413 |isbn=978-0-313-34102-1 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}J. N. Hays (2005). [https://archive.org/details/epidemicspandemi0000hays/page/82 Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127014715/https://books.google.com/books?id=GyE8Qt-kS1kC&pg=PA82 |date=27 November 2016}}. p.82. {{ISBN|1-85109-658-2}}

On 18 May 1539, conquistador Hernando de Soto departed from Havana with some 600 followers into a vast expedition through the American Southeast, in search of gold, treasure, fame and power.Davidson, James West. After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection Volume 1. Mc Graw Hill, New York 2010, Chapter 1, p. 1 On 1 September 1548, Gonzalo Perez de Angulo was appointed governor of Cuba. He arrived in Santiago, Cuba, on 4 November 1549, and immediately declared the liberty of all Natives.{{sfn|Wright|1916|p=183}} He became Cuba's first permanent governor to reside in Havana instead of Santiago, and he built Havana's first church made of masonry.{{sfn|Wright|1916|p=229}}{{efn|After the French captured Havana in 1555, the governor's son, Francisco de Angulo, went to the Viceroyalty of New Spain.{{sfn|Wright|1916|p=246}}}}

File:Darlington map of Cuba 1680.png

By 1570, most residents of Cuba comprised a mixture of Spanish, African, and Taíno heritages. Cuba developed slowly and, unlike the plantation islands of the Caribbean, had a diversified agriculture. Most importantly, the colony developed as an urbanized society that primarily supported the Spanish colonial empire. By the mid-18th century, there were 50,000 slaves on the island. Estimates suggest that between 1790 and 1820 some 325,000 Africans were imported to Cuba as slaves, which was four times the amount that had arrived between 1760 and 1790.{{Cite book |title=Freedom's Mirror: Cuba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution |last=Ferrer |first=Ada |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1107029422 |location=New York |page=36}}

In 1812, the Aponte Slave Rebellion took place, but it was ultimately suppressed.{{cite book|last=Childs|first=Matt D.|title=The 1813 Aponte Rebellion in Cuba and the Struggle against Atlantic Slavery|year=2006|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-5772-4|page=320 pages}} The population of Cuba in 1817 was 630,980 (of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 were free people of color (mixed-race), and 224,268 black slaves).{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=352}}

In part due to Cuban slaves working primarily in urbanized settings, by the 19th century, the practice of {{Lang|es|coartacion}} had developed (or "buying oneself out of slavery", a "uniquely Cuban development"), according to historian Herbert S. Klein.Herbert S. Klein, Slavery in the Americas: A Comparative Study of Virginia and Cuba, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967, p. 196 Due to a shortage of white labor, blacks dominated urban industries "to such an extent that when whites in large numbers came to Cuba in the middle of the nineteenth century, they were unable to displace Negro workers."{{cite journal |jstor=1919107 |author=Melvin Drimmer |title=Reviewed Work: Slavery in the Americas: A Comparative Study of Virginia and Cuba by Herbert S. Klein |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |volume=25 |issue=2 |date=Apr 1968 |pages=307–309|doi=10.2307/1919107 }} A system of diversified agriculture, with small farms and fewer slaves, served to supply the cities with produce and other goods.

In the 1820s, when the rest of Spain's empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal to Spain. Its economy was based on serving the empire. By 1860, Cuba had 213,167 free people of color (39% of its non-white population of 550,000).

{{Main|Republic of Cuba in Arms}}

File:Carlos Manuel de Cespedes.jpg is known as Father of the Homeland in Cuba, having declared its independence from Spain in 1868.]]

Full independence from Spain was the goal of a rebellion in 1868 led by planter Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. De Céspedes, a sugar planter, freed his slaves to fight with him for an independent Cuba.The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carlos-Manuel-de-Cespedes. Accessed 9 May 2025 On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory but accepting it in practice and declaring free any slaves whose masters present them for military service.{{sfn|Chomsky|Carr|Smorkaloff|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sr2hQkCIihMC&pg=PA115 115–117]}} The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Years' War.{{Cite web |title=Military Records – Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, Fl., Inc. |url=https://www.cubangenclub.org/databases/military/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |language=en-US}}

According to one military historian, "The thirty-eight individuals who responded to the call for independence on 9 October 1868 had almost no military experience. They, and other Cubans, ignorant of the martial skills, were soon joined by a small band of political refugees from Santo Domingo. A number of these individuals had fought for Spain in Santo Domingo following its re-annexation (1861–65). When Spain quit Santo Domingo for the second time, some Dominican colonial officers immigrated to Cuba. Most were unable to find service in the Spanish army in Cuba. Some of these former soldiers joined the new Revolutionary army and provided its initial training and leadership."{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=353}} Mercenaries from Canada, Colombia, France, Mexico, and the United States also joined the Cuban Revolutionary Army. Chinese nationals, brought to Cuba as indentured servants, also fought for the cause.{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=353}}

By 1876, the Cuban Revolutionary movement was facing internal strife, largely driven by racial tensions. General Máximo Gómez surrendered his command after officers refused to follow his orders because he was Dominican. At the same time, the campaign against Antonio Maceo, a mulatto leader, grew stronger as white factions sought to undermine his leadership because of his race. These racial divisions contributed to a decline in morale within the Revolutionary Army.{{sfn|Scheina|2003|p=357}}

File:Calixto García and William Ludlow in Cuba, 1898.jpg, a general of Cuban separatist rebels (right) with U.S. Brigadier General William Ludlow (Cuba, 1898)]]

The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American nations did so.{{cite web|url=http://www.cubagenweb.org/mil/e-war-hist.htm|title=Historia de las Guerrras de Cuba|website=cubagenweb.org|access-date=11 May 2007|archive-date=8 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908064028/http://www.cubagenweb.org/mil/e-war-hist.htm|url-status=live}} In 1878, the Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–80, Cuban patriot Calixto García attempted to start another war known as the Little War but failed to receive enough support.{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/lilwar.htm |title=The Little War of 1878 – History of Cuba |website=historyofcuba.com |access-date=11 May 2007 |archive-date=15 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815055924/http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/lilwar.htm |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Cuban Independence Movement {{!}} History & Ten Years’ War {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Cuban-Independence-Movement |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}Knight, Franklin W., Levinson, Sandra H.. "Cuba". Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba. Accessed 9 May 2025{{Cite web |title=Calixto García Iñiguez |url=https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Calixto-Garc%C3%ADa-I%C3%B1iguez/324270 |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Britannica Kids |language=en-US}}Slavery in Cuba was abolished in 1875 but the process was completed only in 1886.{{sfn|Scott|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SmpMmVQAvAcC&pg=PA3 3]}}{{sfn|Chomsky|Carr|Smorkaloff|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sr2hQkCIihMC&pg=PA37 37–38]}} An exiled dissident named José Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York City in 1892. The aim of the party was to achieve Cuban independence from Spain.{{cite book|title=Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia|chapter=Part 25|volume=1|page=549|year=2002|editor-first=Stanley |editor-last=Sandler|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-344-5|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_xxOM85bD8C&pg=PP1|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204734/https://books.google.com/books?id=L_xxOM85bD8C&pg=PP1|url-status=live}} In January 1895, Martí traveled to Monte Cristi and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to join the efforts of Máximo Gómez. Martí recorded his political views in the Manifesto of Montecristi.{{cite book|title=Spanish-Americans: Lives And Faces|page=171|author-first=David |author-last=Arias|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AlqghmzQVUC&pg=PA171|year=2005|isbn=978-1-4120-4717-3|publisher=Trafford Publishing|location=Victoria, BC, Canada|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204705/https://books.google.com/books?id=7AlqghmzQVUC&pg=PA171#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 24 February 1895, but Martí was unable to reach Cuba until 11 April 1895. Martí was killed in the Battle of Dos Rios on 19 May 1895. His death immortalized him as Cuba's national hero.

File:Weyler reconcentrados.png]]

Around 200,000 Spanish troops outnumbered the much smaller rebel army, which relied mostly on guerrilla and sabotage tactics. The Spaniards began a campaign of suppression. General Valeriano Weyler, the military governor of Cuba, herded the rural population into what he called {{Lang|es|reconcentrados}}, described by international observers as "fortified towns". These are often considered the prototype for 20th-century concentration camps.{{cite book |title=Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British Colonial Cities |publisher=Chapman and Hall |author-first=Robert K. |author-last=Home |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-419-20230-1 |page=195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ovC4TylXNkC&pg=PA195 |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204721/https://books.google.com/books?id=1ovC4TylXNkC&pg=PA195 |url-status=live }} Between 200,000{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcMWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA508 |title=Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, Volume II: Since 1863, Concise Edition |first1=John M. |last1=Murrin |first2=Paul E. |last2=Johnson |author2-link=Paul E. Johnson|first3=James M. |last3=McPherson |author3-link=James M. McPherson |first4=Alice |last4=Fahs |first5=Gary |last5=Gerstle |author5-link=Gary Gerstle|date=27 February 2013 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=9781285629544 |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204715/https://books.google.com/books?id=WcMWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA508 |url-status=live }} and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the Spanish concentration camps, numbers verified by the Red Cross and United States Senator Redfield Proctor, a former Secretary of War. American and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.{{cite web |url=http://www.spanamwar.com/proctorspeech.htm |title=Cuban Reconcentration Policy and its Effects |author=The Spanish–American War |author-link=Spanish–American War |access-date=29 January 2007 |archive-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024165715/http://www.spanamwar.com/proctorspeech.htm |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Thurber |first=Dani |title=Research Guides: World of 1898: International Perspectives on the Spanish American War: Valeriano Weyler |url=https://guides.loc.gov/world-of-1898/valeriano-weyler |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=guides.loc.gov |language=en}}

The U.S. battleship USS Maine was sent to protect American interests, but soon after arrival, it exploded in Havana harbor and sank quickly, killing nearly three-quarters of the crew. The cause and responsibility for the sinking of the ship remained unclear after a board of inquiry. Popular opinion in the U.S., fueled by active yellow press, concluded that the Spanish were to blame and demanded action.{{cite book |title=The American Battleship |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYurkGIlgLMC&pg=PA18 |page=18 |author1-first=Samuel Loring |author1-last=Morison |author1-link=Samuel Loring Morison|author2-last=Morison |author2-first=Samuel Eliot |author2-link=Samuel Eliot Morison |author3-last=Polmar |author3-first=Norman |author3-link=Norman Polmar|year=2003 |location=St. Paul, Minn. |publisher=MBI Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-7603-0989-6 |access-date=15 September 2009 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204722/https://books.google.com/books?id=SYurkGIlgLMC&pg=PA18 |url-status=live }} Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April 1898.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2009-11-24 |title=The USS Maine explodes in Cuba's Havana Harbor {{!}} February 15, 1898 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-15/the-maine-explodes |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}{{Cite news |title=Why did the USS Maine explode? |url=https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/Recent/Article-View/Article/3290776/why-did-the-uss-maine-explode/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250417161532/https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/Recent/Article-View/Article/3290776/why-did-the-uss-maine-explode/ |archive-date=2025-04-17 |access-date=2025-05-09 |work=The Sextant |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=On This Day |url=https://apnews.com/article/d68ad3e58e21a563207353897f6a5f7c}}

{{Main|Republican period (Cuba)}}

File:Raising the Cuban flag on the Governor General's Palace at noon on May 20, 1902.gif

After the Spanish–American War, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898), by which Spain ceded Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States for the sum of {{Nowrap|US$20 million}}{{cite web|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp|title=Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain|date=10 December 1898|work=The Avalon Project|publisher=Yale Law School|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708063629/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp|url-status=live}} and Cuba became a protectorate of the United States. Cuba gained formal independence from the U.S. on 20 May 1902, as the Republic of Cuba.{{cite book|author-first=Louis A. |author-last=Pérez|title=Cuba Between Empires: 1878–1902|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRhK4vMXe1QC&pg=PR15|access-date=19 July 2013|year=1998|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|isbn=978-0-8229-7197-9|page=xv|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204559/https://books.google.com/books?id=qRhK4vMXe1QC&pg=PR15#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} Under Cuba's new constitution, the U.S. retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment, the U.S. leased the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base from Cuba.

Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, Tomás Estrada Palma, faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces.{{cite book|title=Corruption in Cuba: Castro and Beyond|page=63|first1=Sergio|last1=Diaz-Briquets|author2-first=Jorge F. |author2-last=Pérez-López|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin|year=2006|isbn=978-0-292-71321-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fiquofr8LSoC&pg=PA63|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204734/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fiquofr8LSoC&pg=PA63#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named Charles Edward Magoon as Governor for three years. Cuban historians have characterized Magoon's governorship as having introduced political and social corruption.{{Harvnb|Thomas|1998|pp=283–7}}. In 1908, self-government was restored when José Miguel Gómez was elected president, but the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. In 1912, the Partido Independiente de Color attempted to establish a separate black republic in Oriente Province,{{cite book|title=The War of 1898, and U.S. Interventions, 1898–1934: An Encyclopedia|editor=Benjamin Beede|page=134|year=1994|publisher=Garland|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8240-5624-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48g116X9IIwC&pg=PA134|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204727/https://books.google.com/books?id=48g116X9IIwC&pg=PA134#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed.

In 1924, Gerardo Machado was elected president. During his administration, tourism increased markedly, and American-owned hotels and restaurants were built to accommodate the influx of tourists. The tourist boom led to increases in gambling and prostitution in Cuba.{{cite book|author-first=Terry K. |author-last=Sanderlin |title=The Last American Rebel in Cuba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFT8Mp8VuNkC&pg=PA7|access-date=19 July 2013|date=24 April 2012|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4685-9430-0|page=7}} The Wall Street crash of 1929 led to a collapse in the price of sugar, political unrest, and repression. Protesting students, known as the Generation of 1930, turned to violence in opposition to the increasingly unpopular Machado. A general strike (in which the Communist Party sided with Machado),{{cite book|title=Fulgencio Batista|volume=1|page=[https://archive.org/details/fulgenciobatista00argo/page/50 50]|last=Argote-Freyre |first=Frank |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick, N.J.|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8135-3701-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/fulgenciobatista00argo/page/50}} uprisings among sugar workers, and an army revolt forced Machado into exile in August 1933. He was replaced by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada.{{cite book|author1-first=Wilber Albert |author1-last=Chaffee|author2-first=Gary |author2-last=Prevost|title=Cuba: A Different America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CJec-NWjS0C&pg=PA4|access-date=19 July 2013|year=1992|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8476-7694-1|page=4|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108204759/https://books.google.com/books?id=9CJec-NWjS0C&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Cuban Revolution of 1933}}

File:1933-Pentarchy w Batista.jpg. Fulgencio Batista, who controlled the armed forces, appears at far right]]

In September 1933, the Sergeants' Revolt, led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista, overthrew Céspedes.{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Melanie|editor-first=Jacqueline |editor-last=West|contribution=Cuba: History|title=South America, Central America and the Caribbean 2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9ODxqsr-dIC&pg=PA303|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2001|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-85743-121-6|page=303|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205214/https://books.google.com/books?id=o9ODxqsr-dIC&pg=PA303#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} A five-member executive committee (the Pentarchy of 1933) was chosen to head a provisional government.{{cite book|author-first=Jaime |author-last=Suchlicki|title=Cuba: From Columbus to Castro and Beyond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BHhUknsCtfIC&pg=PA95|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2002|publisher=Potomac Books|isbn=978-1-57488-436-4|page=95|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205216/https://books.google.com/books?id=BHhUknsCtfIC&pg=PA95#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} Ramón Grau San Martín was then appointed as provisional president. Grau resigned in 1934, leaving the way clear for Batista, who dominated Cuban politics for the next 25 years, at first through a series of puppet-presidents. The period from 1933 to 1937 was a time of "virtually unremitting social and political warfare".{{Harvnb|Domínguez|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y1oF-WQmOPgC&pg=PA76 76]}} On balance, during the period 1933–1940 Cuba suffered from fragile political structures, reflected in the fact that it saw three different presidents in two years (1935–1936), and in the militaristic and repressive policies of Batista as Head of the Army.

{{Main|1940 Constitution of Cuba}}

A new constitution was adopted in 1940, which engineered radical progressive ideas, including the right to labor and health care.{{sfn|Domínguez|1978|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}} Batista was elected president in the same year, holding the post until 1944.{{cite book |author-first=Frank R. |author-last=Villafana |title=Expansionism: Its Effects on Cuba's Independence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jj2mIS40lAMC&pg=PA201 |access-date=19 July 2013 |date=31 December 2011 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=978-1-4128-4656-1 |page=201 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205114/https://books.google.com/books?id=Jj2mIS40lAMC&pg=PA201#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} He is so far the only non-white Cuban to win the nation's highest political office.{{Harvnb|Horowitz|1988|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hx2_y7Vu-PUC&pg=PA662 662]}}{{cite book|title=Cuba|first=Leslie|last=Bethell|author-link=Leslie Bethell|isbn=978-0-521-43682-3|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}{{Harvnb|Sweig|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ob-I8MyTqx8C&pg=PA4 4]}} His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of the Communist Party held office under his administration.{{sfn|Sweig|2004|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}} Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II—though president Batista did suggest a joint U.S.-Latin American assault on Francoist Spain to overthrow its authoritarian regime.{{cite news |title=Batista's Boot |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802544,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080825011807/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802544,00.html |archive-date=25 August 2008 |magazine=Time |date=18 January 1943 |access-date=20 April 2013 }} Cuba lost six merchant ships during the war, and the Cuban Navy was credited with sinking the {{GS|U-176}}.{{cite book|author1-last=Polmar |author1-first=Norman |author1-link=Norman Polmar |author2-first=Thomas B. |author2-last=Allen |author2-link=Thomas B. Allen (author)|title=World War II: The Encyclopedia of the War Years 1941–1945| page=230}}

Batista adhered to the 1940 constitution's strictures preventing his re-election.{{Harvnb|Domínguez|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y1oF-WQmOPgC&pg=PA101 101]}} Ramon Grau San Martin was the winner of the next election, in 1944. Grau further corroded the base of the already teetering legitimacy of the Cuban political system, in particular by undermining the deeply flawed, though not entirely ineffectual, Congress and Supreme Court.{{Harvnb|Domínguez|1978|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y1oF-WQmOPgC&pg=PA110 110–1]}} Carlos Prío Socarrás, a protégé of Grau, became president in 1948. The two terms of the Auténtico Party brought an influx of investment, which fueled an economic boom, raised living standards for all segments of society, and created a middle class in most urban areas.{{Harvnb|Alvarez|2004}}.

{{Main|1952 Cuban coup d'état|Cuban Revolution}}

File:HavanaSlums1954.jpg (bohío) dwellings in Havana, Cuba in 1954, just outside Havana baseball stadium. In the background is advertising for a nearby casino.]]

After finishing his term in 1944 Batista lived in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup that preempted the election.{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/general-batista-returns-power-cuba|title=A Coup in Cuba|website=History Today|access-date=7 September 2017|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801010146/https://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/general-batista-returns-power-cuba|url-status=live}} Back in power, and receiving financial, military, and logistical support from the United States government, Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans.{{cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of the 1950s |author-link=James S. Olson |first=James Stuart |last=Olson |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2000 |isbn=0-313-30619-2 |pages=67–68}} Batista outlawed the Cuban Communist Party in 1952.{{Harvnb|Sweig|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ob-I8MyTqx8C&pg=PA6 6]}} After the coup, Cuba had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios, though about one-third of the population was considered poor and enjoyed relatively little of this consumption.{{cite book|title=Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LAvw-YXm4TsC&pg=PA186|author-first=Paul H. |author-last=Lewis|author-link=Paul H. Lewis|page=186|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=978-0-7425-3739-2|access-date=14 September 2009|year=2006|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205115/https://books.google.com/books?id=LAvw-YXm4TsC&pg=PA186#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} However, in his "History Will Absolve Me" speech, Fidel Castro mentioned that national issues relating to land, industrialization, housing, unemployment, education, and health were contemporary problems.{{cite web |title=Fidel Castro: "History Will Absolve Me" |website=college.cengage.com |url=https://college.cengage.com/history/world/keen/latin_america/8e/assets/students/sources/pdfs/87_fidel_castro.pdf |access-date=4 June 2021 |archive-date=4 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604150031/https://college.cengage.com/history/world/keen/latin_america/8e/assets/students/sources/pdfs/87_fidel_castro.pdf |url-status=live }}

In 1958, Cuba was a well-advanced country in comparison to other Latin American regions.{{Harvnb|Smith|Llorens|1998}}. Cuba was also affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in Latin America, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.{{Harvnb|Baklanoff|1998}}. Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems.{{Harvnb|Thomas|1998|p=1173}}. Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. The middle class, which was comparable to that of the United States{{How|date=February 2022}}, became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions, manipulated by the previous government since 1948 through union "yellowness", supported Batista until the very end. Batista stayed in power until he resigned in December 1958 under the pressure of the US Embassy and as the revolutionary forces headed by Fidel Castro were winning militarily (Santa Clara city, a strategic point in the middle of the country, fell into the rebels hands on 31 December, in a conflict known as the Battle of Santa Clara).{{cite book |last1=Padrón |first1=José Luis |last2=Betancourt |first2=Luis Adrián |title=Batista, últimos días en el poder. |date=2008|language=es |publisher=Unión |location=Havana}}{{cite book|author1=Maureen Ihrie|author2=Salvador Oropesa|title=World Literature in Spanish: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zPDFHE_5besC&pg=PA262|access-date=19 July 2013|date=31 October 2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-08083-8|page=262|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205117/https://books.google.com/books?id=zPDFHE_5besC&pg=PA262|url-status=live}}

In the 1950s, various organizations, including some advocating armed uprising, competed for public support in bringing about political change.{{cite book |author-first=Aviva |author-last=Chomsky |author-link=Aviva Chomsky|title=A History of the Cuban Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=094JHT5JtCAC&pg=PA37 |access-date=19 July 2013 |date=23 November 2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-2956-8 |pages=37–38 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205221/https://books.google.com/books?id=094JHT5JtCAC&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} In 1956, Fidel Castro and about 80 supporters landed from the yacht Granma in an attempt to start a rebellion against the Batista government. In 1958, Castro's July 26th Movement emerged as the leading revolutionary group. The U.S. supported Castro by imposing a 1958 arms embargo against Batista's government. Batista evaded the American embargo and acquired weapons from the Dominican Republic.

By late 1958, the rebels had broken out of the Sierra Maestra and launched a general popular insurrection. After Castro's fighters captured Santa Clara, Batista fled with his family to the Dominican Republic on 1 January 1959. Later he went into exile on the Portuguese island of Madeira and finally settled in Estoril, near Lisbon. Fidel Castro's forces entered the capital on 8 January 1959. The liberal Manuel Urrutia Lleó became the provisional president.{{sfn|Falk|1988|p=67}} One of the goals of Castro's revolution was to achieve economic independence, but Cuba instead became heavily dependent on Soviet subsidies, with additional economic aid provided by Eastern European countries through COMECON.

Militant anti-Castro groups, funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Rafael Trujillo, carried out armed attacks and set up guerrilla bases in Cuba's mountainous regions. This led to the unsuccessful Escambray rebellion (1959–65), which lasted longer and involved more soldiers than the Cuban Revolution.Ros (2006) pp. 159–201.{{cite web |title=Anti-Cuba Bandits: terrorism in past tense |url=http://www.escambray.cu/Eng/Bandits/FpasadoE.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222204658/http://www.escambray.cu/Eng/Bandits/FpasadoE.htm |archive-date=22 February 2007}}

{{Main|Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution|Revolutionary Offensive}}

File:CheyFidel.jpg and Fidel Castro, photographed by Alberto Korda in 1961]]

According to Amnesty International, official death sentences from 1959 to 1987 numbered 237 of which all but 21 were carried out.{{cite book |title=When the State Kills: The Death Penalty v. Human Rights |publisher=Amnesty International Publications |year=1989 |isbn=9780862101640 |oclc=1017244324 |id={{NCJ|117205}} |publication-place=New York, United States}} The vast majority of those executed directly following the 1959 Revolution were policemen, politicians, and informers of the Batista regime accused of crimes such as torture and murder, and their public trials and executions had widespread popular support among the Cuban population.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Chase|first=Michelle|editor1-first=Greg|editor1-last=Grandin|editor1-link=Greg Grandin|editor2-first=Joseph |editor2-last=Gilbert|encyclopedia=A Century of Revolution|title=The Trials|url=http://read.dukeupress.edu/content/a-century-of-revolution|access-date=17 September 2015|year=2010|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham, NC|isbn=978-0822347378|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YJ7ZBGy0wsIC&dq=a%20century%20of%20revolution&pg=PA163 163–198]|doi=10.1215/9780822392859|archive-date=7 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107055759/http://read.dukeupress.edu/content/a-century-of-revolution|url-status=live}}

The United States government initially reacted favorably to the Cuban Revolution, seeing it as part of a movement to bring democracy to Latin America.{{cite book|author-first=Stephen G. |author-last=Rabe|author-link=Stephen G. Rabe|title=Eisenhower and Latin America: The Foreign Policy of Anticommunism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o2SFNdAiB7UC&pg=PA123|access-date=19 July 2013|year=1988|publisher=UNC Press Books |isbn=978-0-8078-4204-1|pages=123–125}} Castro's legalization of the Communist Party and the hundreds of executions of Batista agents, policemen, and soldiers that followed caused a deterioration in the relationship between the two countries. The promulgation of the Agrarian Reform Law, expropriating thousands of acres of farmland (including from large U.S. landholders), further worsened relations. In response, between 1960 and 1964 the U.S. imposed a range of sanctions, eventually including a total ban on trade between the countries and a freeze on all Cuban-owned assets in the U.S.{{cite book | author=U.S. International Trade Commission | title=The Economic Impact of U.S. Sanctions with Respect to Cuba | isbn=978-1-4578-2290-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c0wCioRlTG0C&pg=SA2-PA2 | page=Section 2–3, p. 2| publisher=DIANE }} In February 1960, Castro signed a commercial agreement with Soviet Vice-Premier Anastas Mikoyan.

File:Brigadistas capturados na Baía dos Porcos 1961.jpg

In March 1960, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his approval to a CIA plan to arm and train a group of Cuban refugees to overthrow the Castro government. The CIA provided B-26 light bombers and ships to the rebels for the invasion. On 15 April 1961 at dawn, Brigade 2506 flew from Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and carried out preemptive airstrikes on Cuban military airfields at San Antonio de Los Baños, Ciudad Libertad, Pinar del Río, and Santiago de Cuba, destroying five aircraft and damaging an indeterminable number.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=247}} The invasion (known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion) took place on 17 April 1961, during the term of President John F. Kennedy. About 1,400 Cuban exiles disembarked at the Bay of Pigs. Cuban troops and local militias defeated the invasion by 19 April, killing over 100 invaders and taking the remainder prisoner.{{cite book|author-first=Richard A. |author-last=Crooker |title=Cuba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-5GqG1hluIC&pg=PA43|access-date=19 July 2013|year=2005|publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0497-3|pages=43–44}} Five rebel B-26s were shot down by the Cuban air force, and one was downed by anti-aircraft fire.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=250}} In January 1962, Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS), and later the same year the OAS started to impose sanctions against Cuba of similar nature to the U.S. sanctions.{{cite web |url=https://piie.com/sites/default/files/publications/papers/sanctions-cuba-60-3.pdf |title=Case Studies in Sanctions and Terrorism: Case 60–3, US v. Cuba (1960– : Castro) |publisher=Peterson Institute for International Economics |date=October 2011 |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214180014/https://piie.com/sites/default/files/publications/papers/sanctions-cuba-60-3.pdf |url-status=live }} The failed amphibious assault on Cuba contributed to the Soviet decision to deploy missiles there,{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=253}} and the ensuing Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 almost sparked World War III.{{cite book |last1=Polmar |first1=Norman |last2=Gresham |first2=John D. |title=DEFCON-2: Standing on the Brink of Nuclear War During the Cuban Missile Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGMaAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA223 |date=17 January 2006 |publisher=Wiley |location=Hoboken |isbn=978-0-471-67022-3 |oclc=60373348 |page=223 |access-date=18 July 2021 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108205217/https://books.google.com/books?id=gGMaAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA223 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Duncan |first1=Terri Kaye |last2=Stein |first2=R. Conrad |title=Thirteen Days of Tension: The Cuban Missile Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_ElEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |series=Movements and Moments That Changed America |date=15 July 2020 |publisher=Rosen Publishing Group |location=New York |isbn=978-1-72534-219-4 |pages=8, 49, 94 |oclc=1203013466}} In 1962, American generals proposed Operation Northwoods which would entail committing terrorist attacks in American cities and against refugees and falsely blaming the attacks on the Cuban government, manufacturing a reason for the United States to invade Cuba. This plan was rejected by President Kennedy.{{Cite web |last=Ruppe |first=David |date=1 May 2001 |title=U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War With Cuba |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662&page=1 |access-date=2023-07-03 |publisher=ABC News|location=United States |language=en |archive-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421204148/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92662&page=1 |url-status=live }} By 1963, Cuba was moving towards a full-fledged communist system modeled on the USSR.{{cite book |author-last=Faria |author-first=Miguel A. |author-link=Miguel A. Faria, Jr. |title=Cuba in Revolution – Escape From a Lost Paradise |date=2002 |publisher=Hacienda Publishing |publication-place=Macon, Georgia |pages=163–228}}

Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo founded the anti-Castro group Alpha 66 in the early 1960s, which used small craft to attack Cuban and Soviet merchant ships, killing or wounding crew members. In 1964, Menoyo set up a guerrilla training camp in the Dominican Republic, and after entering Cuba in 1965, he was captured; however, Alpha 66 continued its raids under new leadership.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=251}} By the mid-1960s, Soviet aid had strengthened the Cuban air force and navy, making raids against the island by Cuban dissidents costly without significant U.S. support.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=254}}

In 1963, Cuba sent 686 troops together with 22 tanks and other military equipment to support Algeria in the Sand War against Morocco.{{Cite news|url=https://themilitant.com/2019/02/16/cuba-and-algerian-revolutions-an-intertwined-history/|author1-first=Martín|author1-last=Koppel|author-link=Martín Koppel|author2-first=Róger|author2-last=Calero|author2-link=Róger Calero|title=Cuba and Algerian revolutions: an intertwined history|volume=83|number=8|newspaper=The Militant|place=Havana International Book Fair|publication-place=New York City|date=25 February 2019|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=19 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819163139/https://themilitant.com/2019/02/16/cuba-and-algerian-revolutions-an-intertwined-history/|url-status=live}} The Cuban forces remained in Algeria for over a year, providing training to the Algerian army.{{harvnb|Scheina|2003b|pp=327–377}} Che Guevara, authorized by Fidel Castro, engaged in guerrilla activities in Africa and was killed in 1967 while attempting to start a revolution in Bolivia. By the middle of 1965, Cuba had begun supplying arms to the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). In 1966, Cuban aid also reached the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde. Furthermore, by the late 1960s, Cuban instructors were providing military training to members of the Mozambique Liberation Front. Cuban troops prevented the 1966 Republic of the Congo coup attempt. The coup collapsed when the Congolese army refused to engage in combat against the Cubans. In February 1967, Cuban advisors began operating with guerrillas in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence, and in November 1969, the Portuguese captured Cuban Captain Pedro Rodriguez Peralta.

Starting in 1968 a campaign titled the "revolutionary offensive" was initiated to nationalize all remaining private small businesses, which at the time totaled to be about 58,000 small enterprises.{{cite web |url=https://www.american.edu/centers/latin-american-latino-studies/upload/2015-au-ssrc-henken-vignoli-enterprising-cuba-final.pdf |title=ENTERPRISING CUBA: CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT, STATE ABANDONMENT, OR U.S. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY? |last1=Henken |first1=Ted |last2=Vignoli |first2=Gabriel |year=2015 |website=american.edu |publisher=Center for Latin American and Latino Studies |access-date= 19 August 2020}} The campaign would spur industrialization in Cuba and focus the economy on sugar production, specifically to a deadline for an annual sugar harvest of 10 million tons by 1970. The economic focus on sugar production involved international volunteers and the mobilization of workers from all sectors of the Cuban economy.{{cite journal |last1=Prevost |first1=Grey |year=2007 |title=Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution |url=https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1040&context=headwaters |journal=Headwaters |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=25–26 |access-date=19 August 2020}} Economic mobilization also coincided with greater militarization of Cuban political structures and society in general.{{cite book |year=2018 |title=Cuba's Forgotten Decade How the 1970s Shaped the Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ek1jDwAAQBAJ&dq=revolutionary+offensive+zafra&pg=PA72 |publisher=Lexington Books |pages=72–73 |isbn=9781498568746 }} The ten million ton harvest goal was not reached.{{Cite journal |last=Pineo |first=Ronn |date=2019-03-01 |title=Cuban Public Healthcare: A Model of Success for Developing Nations |journal=Journal of Developing Societies |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=16–61 |doi=10.1177/0169796X19826731 |issn=0169-796X |doi-access=free}}{{Rp|pages=37–38}} The Cuban economy fell into decline after large sectors of the economy were neglected when large amounts of urban labor mobilized to the countryside.{{Rp|page=38}}

The standard of living in the 1970s was "extremely spartan" and discontent was rife.{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge History of Latin America|author=Bethell, Leslie|isbn=978-0-521-62327-8|date=13 August 1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/culturalhistoryo00lesl}}{{Page needed|date=August 2010}} Fidel Castro admitted the failures of economic policies in a 1970 speech. In 1975, the OAS lifted its sanctions against Cuba, with the approval of 16 member states, including the United States. The U.S., however, maintained its own sanctions.

{{Main|Foreign interventions by Cuba}}

File:Cubans in Ogaden1.JPG during the Ogaden War.]]

During the Cold War, Cuba received $33 billion in Soviet aid,{{cite web |title=The Cuban Economy: A Soviet Showcase? |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00287R000901450001-4.pdf |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 August 1984}} and Cuban forces were deployed to all corners of Africa, either as military advisors or as combatants.{{cite journal |journal=Parameters |volume=VII |number=2 |year=1977 |publisher=U.S. Army War College |title=Cuba and the Regional Balance of Power: Cuba's International Involvement|author-last=Marcella |author-first=Gabriel |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMdLAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA13 |access-date=29 February 2020 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209040625/https://books.google.com/books?id=kMdLAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA13 |url-status=live }} Soviet pilots and technicians assumed defense duties in Cuba, freeing up Cuban personnel to be deployed in Africa. In 1979, the U.S. objected to the presence of Soviet combat troops on the island.

In November 1975, Cuba deployed more than 65,000 troops and 400 Soviet-made tanks in Angola in one of the fastest military mobilizations in history.{{cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/blogs/stranger_than_fiction/2015/10/21/why-the-cuban-military-machine-should-intervene-in-syria_484903|title=Why the Cuban military machine should intervene in Syria|first=Rakesh Krishnan|last=Simha|date=21 October 2015|website=Russia Beyond|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=17 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317180959/https://www.rbth.com/blogs/stranger_than_fiction/2015/10/21/why-the-cuban-military-machine-should-intervene-in-syria_484903|url-status=live}} South Africa developed nuclear weapons due to the threat to its security posed by the presence of large numbers of Cuban troops in Angola.{{cite book |title=The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime: Prospects for the 21st Century |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |page=95}} In 1975-76 and again in 1988 at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, the Cubans alongside their MPLA allies fought UNITA rebels and apartheid South African forces. In December 1977, Cuba sent its combat troops from Angola, the People's Republic of the Congo, and the Caribbean to Ethiopia, assisted by mechanized Soviet battalions, to help defeat a Somali invasion. On 24 January 1978, Ethiopian and Cuban troops counterattacked, inflicting 3,000 casualties on the Somali forces. In February, Cuban troops launched a major offensive and forced the Somali army back into its own territory. Cuban forces remained in Ethiopia until September 1989.

Despite Cuba's small size and the long distance separating it from the Middle East, Castro's Cuba played an active role in the region during the Cold War. In 1972, a major Cuban military mission consisting of tank, air, and artillery specialists was dispatched to South Yemen. Cuban military advisors were sent to Iraq in the mid-1970s but their mission was canceled after Iraq invaded Iran in 1980. The Cubans were also involved in the Syrian-Israeli conflict (November 1973–May 1974) that followed the Yom Kippur War (October 1973).{{cite web |title=Foreign Intervention by Cuba |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP77M00144R000400100003-7.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122223212/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP77M00144R000400100003-7.pdf |archive-date=22 January 2017}} Israeli sources reported the presence of a Cuban tank brigade in the Golan Heights, which was supported by two brigades.{{cite book |title=Cuba: The International Dimension |year=1990 |url=https://archive.org/details/cubainternationa00faur |url-access=registration |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=[https://archive.org/details/cubainternationa00faur/page/138 138]|isbn=9780887383243 }} The Israelis and the Cuban-Syrian tank forces engaged in battle on the Golan front.{{cite journal |last1=Ra'anan |first1=Gavriel D. |title=The Evolution of the Soviet Use of Surrogates in Military Relations with the Third World, with Particular Emphasis on Cuban Participation in Africa |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6420.html |website=RAND Corporation |access-date=29 June 2021 |date=31 December 1978 |archive-date=29 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629074717/https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6420.html |url-status=live }}{{rp|37–38}}

After the U.S. was defeated in the Vietnam War, Castro began supporting Marxist insurgencies in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Colombia by supplying weapons, munitions, and training.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=339}} Following the 1983 coup that resulted in the execution of Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and establishment of the military government led by Hudson Austin, U.S. forces invaded Grenada in 1983, overthrowing the pro-Castro government. In a few days of fighting, 6,000 American combat troops defeated 784 Cubans (636 construction workers with military training, 43 military advisors, and 18 diplomats).{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=358}}

Cuba gradually withdrew its troops from Angola in 1989–91. An important psychological and political aspect of the Cuban military involvement in Africa was the significant presence of black or mixed-race soldiers among the Cuban forces. According to one source, more than 300,000 Cuban military personnel and civilian experts were deployed in Africa. The source also states that out of the 50,000 Cubans sent to Angola, half contracted AIDS and that 10,000 Cubans died as a consequence of their military actions in Africa.

File:Geneva Ministerial Conference 18-20 May 1998 (9308745700).jpg in Geneva, Switzerland, May 1998]]

{{Main|Special Period|2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties}}

Soviet troops began to withdraw from Cuba in September 1991,{{cite web |title=Cuba |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=25 April 2023 |access-date=18 August 2017 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823081846/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba |url-status=live }} and Castro's rule was severely tested in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse in December 1991 (known in Cuba as the Special Period). The country faced a severe economic downturn following the withdrawal of Soviet subsidies worth {{Nowrap|$4 billion}} to {{Nowrap|$6 billion}} annually, resulting in effects such as food and fuel shortages.{{cite journal|title=Health consequences of Cuba's Special Period |pmc=2474886 |year=2008 |volume=179 |issue=3 |pmid=18663207 |page=257 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.1080068 |journal=CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mercatrade.com/blog/country-profile-cuba/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314103057/http://www.mercatrade.com/blog/country-profile-cuba/|archive-date=14 March 2016|title=Doing Business with Cuba – The Complete Guide |date=12 January 2015 |last=Patricia Maroday}} The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines and cash until 1993. On 5 August 1994, state security dispersed protesters in a spontaneous protest in Havana. From the start of the crisis until 1995, Cuba saw its gross domestic product (GDP) shrink by 35%. It took another five years for its GDP to reach pre-crisis levels.{{sfn|Gershman|Gutierrez|2009|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}}

Cuba has since found a new source of aid and support in the People's Republic of China. In addition, Hugo Chávez, then president of Venezuela, and Evo Morales, former president of Bolivia, became allies and both countries are major oil and gas exporters. In 2003, the government arrested and imprisoned a large number of civil activists, a period known as the "Black Spring".{{cite web|url=http://cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.php|title=Cuba's Long Black Spring|author1=Carlos Lauria|author2=Monica Campbell|author3=María Salazar|publisher=The Committee to Protect Journalists|date=18 March 2008|access-date=3 April 2009|archive-date=30 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830062924/https://www.cpj.org/reports/2008/03/cuba-press-crackdown.php|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Cuba_report.pdf |title=Cuba – No surrender by independent journalists, five years on from "black spring" |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |date=March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090702082005/http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Cuba_report.pdf |archive-date=2 July 2009}}

In February 2008, Fidel Castro resigned as President of the State Council due to the serious gastrointestinal illness which he had suffered since July 2006.{{cite web|title=Castro resigns as Cuban president: official media|agency=Agence France-Presse |url=http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/newsmlmmd.fce074e0275fae2a0c16383ec4973c96.191.html|date=19 February 2008|access-date=19 February 2008}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} On 24 February, the National Assembly elected his brother Raúl Castro the new president.{{cite news|title=Raul Castro named Cuban president|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261204.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=24 February 2008|access-date=24 February 2008|archive-date=22 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622045408/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261204.stm|url-status=live}} In his inauguration speech, Raúl promised that some of the restrictions on freedom in Cuba would be removed.{{cite news|title=Byte by byte|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10881009|date=19 March 2008|access-date=4 April 2008|archive-date=22 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080322204221/http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10881009|url-status=live}} In March 2009, Raúl Castro removed some of his brother's appointees.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/02/raul-castro-fidel-cuba-officials|title=Raúl Castro replaces top Cuban officials|date=2 March 2009|access-date=15 September 2009|work=The Guardian|location=London|archive-date=10 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310081342/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/02/raul-castro-fidel-cuba-officials|url-status=live}}

On 3 June 2009, the Organization of American States adopted a resolution to end the 47-year ban on Cuban membership of the group.{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11483233.htm |title=China View 2009-06-04: OAS plenary votes to end Cuba's exclusion |agency=Xinhua News Agency |date=4 June 2009 |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821171219/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11483233.htm |archive-date=21 August 2013}} The resolution stated, however, that full membership would be delayed until Cuba was "in conformity with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS". Fidel Castro wrote that Cuba would not rejoin the OAS, which, he said, was a "U.S. Trojan horse" and "complicit" in actions taken by the U.S. against Cuba and other Latin American nations.{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11485277.htm |title=China View 2009-06-04: Cuba's Fidel Castro calls OAS a "U.S. Trojan horse" |agency=Xinhua News Agency |date=4 June 2009 |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821175617/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/04/content_11485277.htm |archive-date=21 August 2013 }}

File:Press conference, Havana.jpg and U.S. President Barack Obama at their joint press conference in Havana, Cuba, 21 March 2016]]

Effective 14 January 2013, Cuba ended the requirement established in 1961, that any citizens who wish to travel abroad were required to obtain an expensive government permit and a letter of invitation.[http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/16/world/americas/cuba-travel-policy/ CNN: "Cuba eases travel restriction for citizens" by Ben Brumfield] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095615/http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/16/world/americas/cuba-travel-policy/ |date=4 March 2016 }} 16 October 2012 |Until now, Cubans had to pay $150 for an exit visa. A resident in the country that the Cuban wanted to visit would also have to write a letter of invitation. Fees associated with the letter ran as high as $200. That's a steep price in a country where the average official monthly income is about $20.[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18933175 BBC: "Leaving Cuba: The difficult task of exiting the island"] by Sarah Rainsford {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207180432/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18933175 |date=7 December 2016 }} 12 July 2012[http://www.wola.org/commentary/cubans_allowed_to_travel_abroad_without_exit_visas Washington Office on Latin America: "Cubans Allowed to Travel Abroad Without Exit Visas" By Geoff Thale and Clay Boggs] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402155526/http://www.wola.org/commentary/cubans_allowed_to_travel_abroad_without_exit_visas |date=2 April 2016 }} 16 October 2012 In 1961 the Cuban government had imposed broad restrictions on travel to prevent the mass emigration of people after the 1959 revolution;{{cite book|last=Henken|first=Ted|title=Cuba|year=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781610690126|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Pe_XAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA245 245]}} it approved exit visas only on rare occasions.{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Girish |date=2013-01-14 |title=Cubans line up for the chance to leave |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/01/14/cuba-passports-travel-abroad/1832811/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710060827/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/01/14/cuba-passports-travel-abroad/1832811/ |archive-date=2017-07-10 |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}} Requirements were simplified: Cubans need only a passport and a national ID card to leave; and they are allowed to take their young children with them for the first time.[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world-jan-june13-cuba1_01-14/ PBS: "Cuba Opens Travel Abroad for Most Citizens, Eliminating Exit Visa Requirement"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128050947/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world-jan-june13-cuba1_01-14/ |date=28 November 2016 }} 14 January 2013 However, a passport costs on average five months' salary. Observers expect that Cubans with paying relatives abroad are most likely to be able to take advantage of the new policy.[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/11/11/cuba-exit-visas/1694569/ USA Today: "Cubans can leave, but to where and with what?" by Girish Gupta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710053815/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/11/11/cuba-exit-visas/1694569/ |date=10 July 2017 }}, 11 November 2012 In the first year of the program, over 180,000 left Cuba and returned.

{{as of|2014|December|}}, talks with Cuban officials and American officials, including President Barack Obama, resulted in the release of Alan Gross, fifty-two political prisoners, and an unnamed non-citizen agent of the United States in return for the release of three Cuban agents currently imprisoned in the United States. Additionally, while the embargo between the United States and Cuba was not immediately lifted, it was relaxed to allow import, export, and certain limited commerce.{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/cuba-frees-american-alan-gross-held-five-years-n269926|title=Cuba Frees American Alan Gross, Held for Five Years|publisher=NBC News|author1=Andrea Mitchell|author2=Eric McClam|date=18 December 2014|access-date=18 December 2014|archive-date=21 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821205750/http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/cuba-frees-american-alan-gross-held-five-years-n269926|url-status=live}}

Raúl Castro stepped down from the presidency on 19 April 2018 and Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president by the National Assembly following parliamentary elections. Raúl Castro remained the First Secretary of the Communist Party and retained broad authority, including oversight over the president.{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/d2709fff1daf410d87fef30aaa9b069c |title=Raul Castro leaving Cuban presidency, not power |work=Associated Press News |date=18 April 2018 |quote=The 86-year-old former guerrilla remains head of Cuba's Communist Party, a position that leaves him with broad authority – including much oversight of the man who is replacing him as president. |access-date=4 October 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604154142/https://apnews.com/d2709fff1daf410d87fef30aaa9b069c |url-status=live }}

Cuba approved a new constitution in 2019. The optional vote attracted 84.4% of eligible voters. 90% of those who voted approved of the new constitution and 9% opposed it. The new constitution states that the Communist Party is the only legitimate political party, describes access to health and education as fundamental rights, imposes presidential term limits, enshrines the right to legal representation upon arrest, recognizes private property, and strengthens the rights of multinationals investing with the state.{{cite news |last1=Augustin |first1=Ed |title=Cuba overwhelmingly approves new constitution affirming 'irrevocable' socialism |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/25/cuba-approves-new-socialist-constitution |access-date=10 August 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=25 February 2019 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813073857/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/25/cuba-approves-new-socialist-constitution |url-status=live }} Any form of discrimination harmful to human dignity is banned under the new constitution.

Raúl Castro announced at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which began on 16 April 2021, that he was retiring as secretary of the Communist Party.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/16/raul-castro-cuba-communist-party-resigning |title=Raúl Castro confirms he is resigning as head of Cuba's Communist party |work=The Guardian |date=16 April 2021 |access-date=4 October 2023 |archive-date=25 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925090808/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/16/raul-castro-cuba-communist-party-resigning |url-status=live }} His successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was voted in on 19 April.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-17/raul-castro-resigning-ending-long-era-in-cuba/100076126|title=Raul Castro confirms he's retiring, ending long era of Castro leadership in Cuba|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=17 April 2021|accessdate=17 April 2021|archive-date=16 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416230512/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-17/raul-castro-resigning-ending-long-era-in-cuba/100076126|url-status=live}}

In July 2021, there were several large protests against the government under the banner of Patria y Vida. Cuban exiles also conducted protests overseas.{{cite news |date=11 July 2021 |title=Protestas en Cuba: manifestantes se concentraron frente a la embajada en Argentina al grito de "Patria y vida" |location=Buenos Aires |url=https://www.clarin.com/mundo/protestas-cuba-manifestantes-concentraron-frente-embajada-argentina-grito-patria-vida-_0_mKNNyd068.html |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=12 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712000417/https://www.clarin.com/mundo/protestas-cuba-manifestantes-concentraron-frente-embajada-argentina-grito-patria-vida-_0_mKNNyd068.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=11 July 2021 |title=Cubanos protestan en el Zócalo conta el régimen de Díaz Canel |url=https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2021/7/11/cubanos-protestan-en-el-zocalo-contra-el-regimen-de-diaz-canel-267600.html |website=proceso.com.mx |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118202059/https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2021/7/11/cubanos-protestan-en-el-zocalo-contra-el-regimen-de-diaz-canel-267600.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=PERÚ |first=NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO |date=2021-07-12 |title=San Isidro: ciudadanos cubanos realizan una protesta frente a la embajada de su país {{!}} VIDEO {{!}} Lima {{!}} nndc {{!}} LIMA |url=https://elcomercio.pe/lima/sucesos/san-isidro-ciudadanos-cubanos-realizan-una-protesta-frente-a-la-embajada-de-su-pais-video-lima-nndc-noticia/ |access-date=2021-07-13 |newspaper=El Comercio |language=es |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118202059/https://elcomercio.pe/lima/sucesos/san-isidro-ciudadanos-cubanos-realizan-una-protesta-frente-a-la-embajada-de-su-pais-video-lima-nndc-noticia/ |url-status=live }} The song associated with the movement received international acclaim including a Latin Grammy Award.{{cite magazine |last1=Flores |first1=Griselda |last2=Cobo |first2=Leila |date=19 November 2021 |title=Camilo Is Top Winner, Cuban Anthem 'Patria y Vida' Wins Song of the Year at 2021 Latin Grammys: Winners List |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/2021-latin-grammys-winners-list-1234999583/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=19 November 2021 |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120052249/https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/2021-latin-grammys-winners-list-1234999583/ |url-status=live }}

On 25 September 2022, Cuba approved a referendum which amended the Family Code to legalise same-sex marriage and allow surrogate pregnancy and same-sex adoption. Gender reassignment surgery and transgender hormone therapy are provided free of charge under Cuba's national healthcare system. The proposed changes were supported by the government and opposed by conservatives and parts of the opposition. Official policies of the Cuban government from 1959 until the 1990s were hostile towards homosexuality, with the LGBT community marginalized on the basis of heteronormativity, traditional gender roles, and strict criteria for moralism.{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Lydia |date=4 January 2018 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cuba-lgbt-revolution-gay-lesbian-transgender-rights-havana-raul-castro-a8122591.html |title=Inside Cuba's LGBT revolution: How the island's attitudes to sexuality and gender were transformed |newspaper=The Independent |location=Havana |access-date=3 May 2023 |archive-date=14 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514152751/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cuba-lgbt-revolution-gay-lesbian-transgender-rights-havana-raul-castro-a8122591.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63035426 |title=Cuba Family Code: Country votes to legalise same-sex marriage |publisher=BBC News |date=26 September 2022 |access-date=28 September 2022 |archive-date=28 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928110542/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63035426 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Geography of Cuba|Environment of Cuba|List of islands of Cuba}}{{More sources|section|date=May 2025}}File:Cuba Topography.png

Cuba is an archipelago of 4,195 islands, cays and islets located in the northern Caribbean Sea at the confluence with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between latitudes 19° and 24°N, and longitudes 74° and 85°W. Florida (Key West, Florida) is about 150 km (93 miles) across the Straits of Florida to the north and northwest, and The Bahamas (Cay Lobos) 22.5 km (14 mi) to the north. Mexico lies 210 km (130.5 mi) west across the Yucatán Channel (to the closest tip of Cabo Catoche in the State of Quintana Roo).

Haiti is 77 km (47.8 mi) east and Jamaica 140 km (87 mi) south. Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four smaller groups of islands: the Colorados Archipelago on the northwestern coast, the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago on the north-central Atlantic coast, the Jardines de la Reina on the south-central coast and the Canarreos Archipelago on the southwestern coast.

File:Sierra Maestra panorama1.jpg ]]

The main island, named Cuba, is {{convert|1250|km|abbr=on}} long, constituting most of the nation's land area ({{convert|104338|km2|sqmi|disp=or|abbr=on}}) and is the largest island in the Caribbean and 17th-largest island in the world by land area. The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains apart from the Sierra Maestra mountains in the southeast, whose highest point is Pico Turquino ({{convert|1974|m|ft|disp=or|abbr=on}}).

The second-largest island is Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) in the Canarreos archipelago, with an area of {{convert|2204|km2|abbr=on}}. Cuba has an official area of {{convert|109884|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. Its area is {{convert|110860|km2|sqmi|sigfig=5|abbr=on}} including coastal and territorial waters.

{{Main|Climate of Cuba}}

File:Koppen-Geiger Map CUB present.svg

With the entire island south of the Tropic of Cancer, the local climate is tropical, moderated by northeasterly trade winds that blow year-round. The temperature is also shaped by the Caribbean current, which brings in warm water from the equator. This makes the climate of Cuba warmer than that of Hong Kong, which is at around the same latitude as Cuba but has a subtropical rather than a tropical climate. In general (with local variations), there is a drier season from November to April, and a rainier season from May to October. The average temperature is {{convert|21|C|F}} in January and {{convert|27|C|F}} in July. The warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that Cuba sits across the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico combine to make the country prone to frequent hurricanes. These are most common in September and October.

Climate change in Cuba is causing an increase in temperature, rising sea levels and shifting precipitation patterns, with an overall decrease in rainfall predicted. These will severely impact industries key to the economy, including agriculture, forestry and tourism. As rainfall is Cuba's only water source, water security is an issue. Warmer temperatures may affect the health of the population, causing an increase in cardiovascular, respiratory and viral diseases.{{Cite web |last=World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal |title=Cuba |url=https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/cuba |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org |language=en}} A temperature rise of 2 °C above preindustrial levels can increase the likelihood of extreme hurricane rainfall by three times in Cuba.{{cite news |last1=BERARDELLI |first1=JEFF |date=29 August 2020 |title=Climate change may make extreme hurricane rainfall five times more likely, study says |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-may-make-extreme-hurricane-rainfall-five-times-more-likely-study-says/ |access-date=30 August 2020 |agency=CBC News}} Cuba's climate mitigation and adaptation plans include renewable energy generation and nature-based solutions, such as restoring mangrove ecosystems.{{Cite book |last=Republic of Cuba |url=https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/NDC/2022-06/Cuban%20First%20NDC%20Summary%20%28Updated%20submission%29.pdf |title=SUMMARY OF THE FIRST NDC UPDATED (2020-2030) REPUBLIC OF CUBA}}{{Cite web |date=2022-05-10 |title=Small Island Developing States are on the frontlines of climate change – here's why {{!}} UNDP Climate Promise |url=https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/small-island-developing-states-are-frontlines-climate-change-heres-why#:~:text=Cuba%20is%20restoring%20ecosystems%20within%20mangroves%20and,erosion,%20and%20channel%20freshwater%20to%20coastal%20areas. |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=climatepromise.undp.org |language=en}}

Hurricane Irma hit the island on 8 September 2017, with winds of {{convert|260|km/h|m/s|abbr=on}},{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/hurricane-irma-landfall-cuba-category-5-170909040746649.html|title=Florida braces for Hurricane Irma after Cuba landfall|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909212031/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/hurricane-irma-landfall-cuba-category-5-170909040746649.html|url-status=live}} at the Camagüey Archipelago; the storm reached Ciego de Avila province around midnight and continued to pound Cuba the next day.{{cite web |url=https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/hurricane-irma-rips-through-cuba-on-its-way-to-florida/article36221350/ |author1=Brian Thevenot |author2=Robin Respaut |date=9 September 2017 |work=The Globe and Mail |title=Winds whip Florida Keys as Hurricane Irma turns sights northward |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910053409/https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/hurricane-irma-rips-through-cuba-on-its-way-to-florida/article36221350/ |archive-date=10 September 2017 |agency=Reuters}} The worst damage was in the keys north of the main island. Hospitals, warehouses and factories were damaged; much of the north coast was without electricity. By that time, nearly a million people, including tourists, had been evacuated. The Varadero resort area also reported widespread damage; the government believed that repairs could be completed before the start of the main tourist season.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/americas/irma-cuba/index.html|title=Irma kills 10 people in Cuba|author1=Hilary Clarke|author2=Patrick Oppmann|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-date=12 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912154601/http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/americas/irma-cuba/index.html|url-status=live}} Subsequent reports indicated that ten people had been killed during the storm, including seven in Havana, most during building collapses. Sections of the capital had been flooded.

File:Priotelus temnurus -Camaguey, Camaguey Province, Cuba-8.jpg is the island's national bird. Its white, red and blue feathers match those of the Cuban flag. |upright]]

Cuba signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 12 June 1992, and became a party to the convention on 8 March 1994.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/ |title=List of Parties |work=cbd.int |access-date=9 December 2012 |archive-date=24 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124005746/http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/ |url-status=live }} It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with one revision, that the convention received on 24 January 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cu/cu-nbsap-v2-es.pdf |title=Plan de Acción Nacional 2006/2010 sobre la Diversidad Biológica. República de Cuba |work=cbd.int |access-date=9 December 2012 |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117012409/http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cu/cu-nbsap-v2-es.pdf |url-status=live }}

The country's fourth national report to the CBD contains a detailed breakdown of the numbers of species of each kingdom of life recorded from Cuba, the main groups being: animals (17,801 species), bacteria (270), chromista (707), fungi, including lichen-forming species (5,844), plants (9,107) and protozoa (1,440).{{cite web |url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cu/cu-nr-04-es.pdf |title=IV Informe Nacional al Convento sobre la Diversidad Biológica. República de Cuba. 2009 |work=cbd.int |access-date=9 December 2012 |archive-date=17 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117012400/http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cu/cu-nr-04-es.pdf |url-status=live }} The native bee hummingbird or zunzuncito is the world's smallest known bird, with a length of {{convert|55|mm|in|frac=8|abbr=on}}. The Cuban trogon or tocororo is the national bird of Cuba and an endemic species. Other endemic species are the Cuban crocodile, Cuban hutia, Cuban solenodon, Cuban gar, Cuban boa, and Polymita picta. Hedychium coronarium, named mariposa in Cuba, is the national flower.{{cite book|author=Jaime Suchlicki|title=Historical Dictionary of Cuba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yzIlAZ6OPsUC&pg=PA69|year=2001|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-3779-9|page=69}}

Cuba is home to six terrestrial ecoregions: Cuban moist forests, Cuban dry forests, Cuban pine forests, Cuban wetlands, Cuban cactus scrub, and Greater Antilles mangroves.{{cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant |last10=Noss |first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C. |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen |last20=Sechrest |first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya |last30=Potapov |first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A. |last40=Timberlake |first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |year=2017 |pages=534–545 |issn=0006-3568 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |pmid=28608869 |pmc=5451287}} It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.4/10, ranking it 102nd globally out of 172 countries.{{cite journal |last1=Grantham |first1=H. S. |last2=Duncan |first2=A. |last3=Evans|first3=T. D. |last4=Jones |first4=K. R. |last5=Beyer |first5=H. L. |last6=Schuster |first6=R. |last7=Walston |first7=J. |last8=Ray |first8=J. C. |last9=Robinson |first9=J. G. |last10=Callow |first10=M. |last11=Clements |first11=T. |last12=Costa |first12=H. M. |last13=DeGemmis |first13=A. |last14=Elsen |first14=P. R. |last15=Ervin |first15=J. |last16=Franco |first16=P. |last17=Goldman |first17=E. |last18=Goetz |first18=S. |last19=Hansen |first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang |first20=E. |last21=Jantz |first21=P. |last22=Jupiter |first22=S. |last23=Kang |first23=A. |last24=Langhammer |first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F. |last26=Lieberman |first26=S. |last27=Linkie |first27=M. |last28=Malhi |first28=Y. |last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier |first31=R. |last32=Murray |first32=N. J. |last33=Possingham |first33=H. |last34=Radachowsky |first34=J. |last35=Saatchi |first35=S. |last36=Samper |first36=C. |last37=Silverman |first37=J. |last38=Shapiro |first38=A. |last39=Strassburg |first39=B. |last40=Stevens |first40=T. |last41=Stokes |first41=E. |last42=Taylor |first42=R. |last43=Tear |first43=T. |last44=Tizard |first44=R. |last45=Venter |first45=O. |last46=Visconti |first46=P. |last47=Wang |first47=S. |last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M. |title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material |journal=Nature Communications |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2020 |page=5978 |issn=2041-1723 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3 |pmid=33293507 |pmc=7723057 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G }}

According to a 2012 study, Cuba is the only country in the world to meet the conditions of sustainable development put forth by the WWF.{{cite journal |last1=Cabello |first1=Juan José |display-authors=etal. |year=2012 |title=An approach to sustainable development: the case of Cuba |journal=Environment, Development and Sustainability |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=573–591 |doi=10.1007/s10668-012-9338-8 |bibcode=2012EDSus..14..573C |s2cid=153707220}}

{{Main|Politics of Cuba}}

{{multiple image

|total_width = 220

| align = right

| perrow = 2

| image1 = Miguel Díaz-Canel 2019.jpg

| alt1 = Miguel Díaz-Canel

| caption1 = Miguel Díaz-Canel
First Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Cuba

| image2 = Manuel_Marrero_Cruz.png

| alt2 = Manuel Marrero Cruz

| caption2 = Manuel Marrero Cruz
Prime Minister

| image3 = Salvador_Valdés_Mesa_(cropped).jpg

| alt3 = Salvador Valdés Mesa

| caption3 = Salvador Valdés Mesa
Vice President

| image4 = Esteban_Lazo_Hernandez.jpg

| alt4 = Esteban Lazo Hernández

| caption4 = Esteban Lazo Hernández
President of the National Assembly

}}

The Republic of Cuba is a socialist country that adheres to the ideology of Marxism–Leninism. The Constitution of 1976, which defined Cuba as a socialist republic, was replaced by the Constitution of 1992, which is "guided by the ideas of José Martí and the political and social ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin."{{cite web |title=The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, 1976 (as Amended to 2002) |url=http://www.constitutionnet.org/files/Cuba%20Constitution.pdf |publisher=National Assembly of People's Power |access-date=18 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117013359/http://www.constitutionnet.org/files/Cuba%20Constitution.pdf |archive-date=17 January 2013}}
For discussion of the 1992 amendments, see {{Harvnb|Domínguez|2003}}. The constitution describes the Communist Party of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state". The political system in Cuba reflects the Marxist–Leninist concept of democratic centralism.{{Cite book |last=Cederlöf |first=Gustav |title=The Low-Carbon Contradiction: Energy Transition, Geopolitics, and the Infrastructural State in Cuba |date=2023 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-39313-4 |series=Critical environments: nature, science, and politics |location=Oakland, California}}{{Rp|page=38}}

The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba is the most senior position in the one-party state.{{cite web|url=https://france24.com/en/20180419-raul-castro-leadership-cuba-communist-party-2021-diaz-canel|title=Raul Castro to lead Cuba's Communist Party until 2021|publisher=France 24|date=19 April 2018|quote='I confirm to this assembly that Raul Castro, as first secretary of the Communist Party, will lead the decisions about the future of the country,' Diaz-Canel said.|access-date=21 January 2021|archive-date=18 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718003647/https://france24.com/en/20180419-raul-castro-leadership-cuba-communist-party-2021-diaz-canel|url-status=live}} The First Secretary leads the Politburo and the Secretariat, making the office holder the most powerful person in Cuban government.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1203299.stm|title=Country profile: Cuba|publisher=BBC News|date=20 August 2009|access-date=7 September 2009|archive-date=20 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220033854/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1203299.stm|url-status=live}} Members of both councils are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. The President of Cuba, who is also elected by the Assembly, serves for five years and since the ratification of the 2019 Constitution, there is a limit of two consecutive five-year terms.

File:Comité Central PCC.jpg ]]

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

Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme organ of power; 474 members serve five-year terms. The assembly meets twice a year; between sessions legislative power is held by the 31 member Council of Ministers. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by public referendum. All Cuban citizens over 16 who have not been convicted of a criminal offense can vote.{{cite web|title=Cuba 1976 (rev. 2002)|url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Cuba_2002?lang=en#796|website=Constitue|access-date=28 April 2015|archive-date=3 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603204859/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Cuba_2002?lang=en#796|url-status=live}} Article 131 of the Constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote". Article 136 states: "In order for deputies or delegates to be considered elected they must get more than half the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts".

There are elections in Cuba, but they are not considered democratic.{{cite journal|last1=Galvis|first1=Ángela Fonseca |last2=Superti|first2=Chiara|date=2019-10-03|title=Who wins the most when everybody wins? Predicting candidate performance in an authoritarian election |journal=Democratization|volume=26|issue=7|pages=1278–1298 |doi=10.1080/13510347.2019.1629420|s2cid=197727359 |issn=1351-0347}}{{Cite journal|last1=Domínguez|first1=Jorge I.|last2=Galvis|first2=Ángela Fonseca|last3=Superti|first3=Chiara|year=2017|title=Authoritarian Regimes and Their Permitted Oppositions: Election Day Outcomes in Cuba|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-politics-and-society/article/abs/authoritarian-regimes-and-their-permitted-oppositions-election-day-outcomes-in-cuba/3F9E5B1A4EB059A316A9AB2BB0628216|journal=Latin American Politics and Society|volume=59|issue=2|pages=27–52|doi=10.1111/laps.12017|s2cid=157677498|issn=1531-426X|access-date=20 July 2021|archive-date=29 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929200719/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-politics-and-society/article/abs/authoritarian-regimes-and-their-permitted-oppositions-election-day-outcomes-in-cuba/3F9E5B1A4EB059A316A9AB2BB0628216|url-status=live}} In elections for the National Assembly of People's Power there is only one candidate for each seat, and candidates are nominated by committees that are firmly controlled by the Communist Party.{{Cite journal |last1=Smyth |first1=Regina |last2=Bianco |first2=William |last3=Chan |first3=Kwan Nok |date=2019-04-25 |title=Legislative Rules in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Hong Kong's Legislative Council |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/703068 |journal=The Journal of Politics |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=892–905 |doi=10.1086/703068 |s2cid=159138096 |issn=0022-3816 |access-date=11 December 2022 |archive-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106105705/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/703068 |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Braithwaite |first1=Alex |last2=Braithwaite |first2=Jessica Maves |year=2020 |title=Restricting Opposition in Elections and Terrorist Violence |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |volume=32 |issue=7 |pages=1550–1572 |doi=10.1080/09546553.2018.1495627 |s2cid=149575921 |issn=0954-6553}} Most legislative districts elect multiple representatives to the Assembly. Voters can select individual candidates on their ballot, select every candidate, or leave every question blank, with no option to vote against candidates.{{Cite journal |last1=Domínguez |first1=Jorge I. |last2=Galvis |first2=Ángela Fonseca |last3=Superti |first3=Chiara |year=2017 |title=Authoritarian Regimes and Their Permitted Oppositions: Election Day Outcomes in Cuba |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-politics-and-society/article/abs/authoritarian-regimes-and-their-permitted-oppositions-election-day-outcomes-in-cuba/3F9E5B1A4EB059A316A9AB2BB0628216 |journal=Latin American Politics and Society |language=en |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=27–52 |doi=10.1111/laps.12017 |s2cid=157677498 |issn=1531-426X |access-date=20 July 2021 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929200719/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-politics-and-society/article/abs/authoritarian-regimes-and-their-permitted-oppositions-election-day-outcomes-in-cuba/3F9E5B1A4EB059A316A9AB2BB0628216 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Leogrande |first=William M. |title=The Cuban communist party and electoral politics: Adaptation, succession, and transition |isbn=978-0-9704916-2-6 |date=2012 |publisher=Cuba Transition Project, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami}}

No political party is permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on the island, including the Communist Party.[http://sshl.ucsd.edu/collections/las/cuba/1990.html Cuba: Elections and Events 1991–2001] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301123039/http://sshl.ucsd.edu/collections/las/cuba/1990.html |date=1 March 2007}} Latin American Election Statistics Home The Communist Party of Cuba has held six party congress meetings since 1975. In 2011, the party stated that there were 800,000 members, and representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by candidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity within Cuba by opposition groups is minimal.

Cuba is considered an authoritarian regime according to The Economist's Democracy Index{{cite web|date=25 January 2017|title=Democracy Index 2016: Revenge of the 'deplorables'|url=https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2016|access-date=20 July 2017|website=eiu.com|publisher=The Economist Intelligence Unit|archive-date=11 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111195322/https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2016|url-status=live}} and Freedom in the World reports.{{cite web |title=Country Status and ratings overview – Freedom in the World 1973–2016 |url=https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Country%20Status%20%26%20Ratings%20Overview%2C%201973-2016.pdf |access-date=29 January 2021 |website=Freedom House |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020075644/https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Country%20Status%20%26%20Ratings%20Overview%2C%201973-2016.pdf |url-status=live }} More specifically, Cuba is considered a military dictatorship in the Democracy-Dictatorship Index, and has been described as "a militarized society"Hugo Prieto. [https://historico.prodavinci.com/2017/07/30/actualidad/elizabeth-burgos-los-cubanos-se-han-dedicado-al-control-de-las-fuerzas-armadas-por-hugo-prieto/ "Elizabeth Burgos: 'Los cubanos se han dedicado al control de las Fuerzas Armadas'."] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905002151/https://historico.prodavinci.com/2017/07/30/actualidad/elizabeth-burgos-los-cubanos-se-han-dedicado-al-control-de-las-fuerzas-armadas-por-hugo-prieto/ |date=5 September 2022}} Prodavinci. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2022. "Cuba es una dictadura militar y una sociedad militarizada." with the armed forces having long been the most powerful institution in the country.{{cite web |url=http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/Research_Studies/BLatell.pdf |title=The Cuban military and transition dynamics |access-date=2009-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326012540/http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/Research_Studies/BLatell.pdf|archive-date=2009-03-26}}

In February 2013, President of the State Council Raúl Castro announced he would resign in 2018, ending his five-year term, and that he hopes to implement permanent term limits for future Cuban presidents, including age limits.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/24/cuba-president-castro-parliament/1943365/ |title=Cuba's Raul Castro announces retirement in 5 years |work=USA Today |date=25 February 2013 |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-date=28 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028124350/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/24/cuba-president-castro-parliament/1943365/ |url-status=live }}

Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected president on 18 April 2018 after the resignation of Raúl Castro. On 19 April 2021, Díaz-Canel became First Secretary of the Communist Party. He is the first non-Castro to be in such top position since the Cuban revolution of 1959.{{cite web |title=Raul Castro retires but Cuban Communist Party emphasizes continuity |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuban-president-diaz-canel-made-communist-party-leader-ending-castro-era-2021-04-19/ |work=Reuters|date=19 April 2021 |access-date=19 April 2021 |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331094026/https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cuban-president-diaz-canel-made-communist-party-leader-ending-castro-era-2021-04-19/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Provinces of Cuba|Municipalities of Cuba}}

The country is subdivided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud). These were formerly part of six larger historical provinces: Pinar del Río, Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagüey and Oriente. The present subdivisions closely resemble those of the Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence, when the most troublesome areas were subdivided. The provinces are divided into municipalities.

File:CubaSubdivisions.png

{{clear}}

{{Main|Foreign relations of Cuba}}

{{See also|Cuban medical internationalism}}

File:Ali Khamenei and Fidel Castro in Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Zimbabwe (1986).jpg and Ali Khamenei at a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Zimbabwe, 3 September 1986]]

Cuba has conducted a foreign policy that is uncharacteristic of such a minor, developing country.{{Harvnb|Domínguez|1989|p=6}}: "Cuba is a small country, but it has the foreign policy of a big power."{{Harvnb|Feinsilver|1989|p=2}}: "Cuba has projected disproportionately greater power and influence through military might ... through economic largesse ... as a mediator in regional conflicts, and as a forceful and persuasive advocate of Third World interests in international forums. Cuba's scientific achievements, while limited, are also being shared with other Third World countries, thereby furthering Cuban influence and prestige abroad." Under Castro, Cuba was heavily involved in wars in Africa, Central America and Asia. Cuba supported Algeria in 1961–1965{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|1996|pp=159, 161}}: "Cuba's relationship with Algeria in 1961–5 ... clashes with the image of Cuban foreign policy—cynical ploys of a [Soviet] client state—that prevails not only in the United States but also in many European capitals. ... The aid Cuba gave Algeria in 1961–2 had nothing to do with the East-West conflict. Its roots predate Castro's victory in 1959 and lie in the Cubans' widespread identification with the struggle of the Algerian people." and sent tens of thousands of troops to Angola during the Angolan Civil War.{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|2010|p=327}}: "The dispatch of 36,000 Cuban soldiers to Angola between November 1975 and April 1976 stunned the world; ... by 1988, there were 55,000 Cuban soldiers in Angola." Other countries that featured Cuban involvement include Ethiopia,{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QHWGwG71hzMC&pg=PA392 392]}}: "After Angola, Cuba's largest military intervention was in Ethiopia, where in 1978 16,000 Cuban troops helped repulse the invading Somali army."{{Harvnb|Gebru Tareke|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dRIfYPTZxJsC&pg=PA62 62–3]}}. Tareke refers here to the training given to 10 members of the Eritrean Liberation Front in 1968 during the Eritrean struggle for independence. Guinea,{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|1997|p=50}}: "On 14–16 October 1960, [Guinean president Ahmed Sékou] Touré went to Havana. It was the first visit of an African chief of state to Cuba. The following year Cuba's foreign aid programme to Third World governments began when fifteen students from Guinea arrived in Havana to attend the university or technical institutes." Guinea-Bissau,{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|1997|p=45}}: "Joining the rebellion in 1966, and remaining through the war's end in 1974, this was the longest Cuban intervention in Africa before the despatch of troops to Angola in November 1975. It was also the most successful. As the Guinean paper Nõ Pintcha declared, 'The Cubans' solidarity was decisive for our struggle{{' "}}. Mozambique,{{Harvnb|Gleijeses|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QHWGwG71hzMC&dq=%22not+very+important%22&pg=PA227 227]}}. The Cuban contribution to the independence of Mozambique was not very important. and Yemen.{{sfn|Ramazani|1975|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7ETnbmUmxoUC&pg=PA91 91]}} Lesser known actions include the 1959 missions to the Dominican Republic.{{Cite news |publisher=Waterloo Daily Courier|date=24 June 1959|location=Waterloo, Iowa|title=AP 1950 Invasion Wiped Out Says Trujillo|page=7}} The expedition failed, but a prominent monument to its members was erected in their memory in Santo Domingo by the Dominican government, and they feature prominently at the country's Memorial Museum of the Resistance.{{cite web |title=Resistencia 1916–1966 |url=http://www.museodelaresistencia.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=232 |publisher=museodelaresistencia.org |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-date=26 November 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131126212007/http://museodelaresistencia.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=232}}

In 2008, the European Union (EU) and Cuba agreed to resume full relations and cooperation activities.{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EU-Cuba-Joint%20declaration-261108_EN.pdf |title=Joint declarations concerning areas and modalities provisionally identified for cooperation |date=26 November 2008 |publisher=European Commission |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511102350/http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EU-Cuba-Joint%20declaration-261108_EN.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011}} Cuba is a founding member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.{{cite web |last=Hirst |first=Joel D. |date=2 December 2010 |title=The Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas |url=http://www.cfr.org/venezuela/bolivarian-alliance-americas/p23585 |publisher=cfr.org |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615195732/http://www.cfr.org/venezuela/bolivarian-alliance-americas/p23585 |archive-date=15 June 2013}} At the end of 2012, tens of thousands of Cuban medical personnel worked abroad,{{cite web |last=Millman |first=Joel |date=15 January 2011 |title=New Prize in Cold War: Cuban Doctors |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203731004576045640711118766 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929193703/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203731004576045640711118766 |url-status=live }} with as many as 30,000 doctors in Venezuela alone via the two countries' oil-for-doctors programme.{{cite web |last=Arsenault |first=Chris |date=31 December 2012 |title=Cuban doctors prescribe hope in Venezuela |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/venezuelaelection/2012/10/20121039242915607.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-date=21 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921013600/https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/venezuelaelection/2012/10/20121039242915607.html |url-status=live }}
As the article discusses, the oil-for-doctors programme has not been welcomed uncritically in Venezuela. The initial impetus for Cuban doctors' going to Venezuela was a Chavez-government welfare project called Misión Barrio Adentro ({{Harvnb|Albornoz|2006}}).

File:Vladimir Putin and Raul Castro (28-09-2015).jpg with Russian President Vladimir Putin in New York City, 28 September 2015]]

File:22.06.2023 - Encontro com o Presidente da República de Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (52994078528).jpg with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Paris, France, 22 June 2023]]

In 1996, the United States, then under President Bill Clinton, brought in the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, better known as the Helms–Burton Act.{{sfn|Roy|2000|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}}{{efn|Roy's study was described as "systematic and fair" by Jorge Domínguez.{{Cite journal |last=Domínguez |first=Jorge I. |year=2001 |title=Reviews: Cuba, the United States, and the Helms-Burton Doctrine: International Reactions by Joaquín Roy |journal=Journal of Latin American Studies |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=888–890 |jstor=3653779 |doi=10.1017/s0022216x0133626x |s2cid=145691025}}}} In 2009, United States President Barack Obama stated on 17 April, in Trinidad and Tobago that "the United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba",{{cite web |url=http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/April/20090421102201dmslahrellek0.4116632.html |title=Obama Says U.S., Cuba Taking Critical Steps Toward a New Day |date=21 April 2009 |publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130044737/http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/April/20090421102201dmslahrellek0.4116632.html?CP.rss=true |archive-date=30 November 2009}} and reversed the Bush Administration's prohibition on travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans from the United States to Cuba.{{cite web |url=http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/April/20090413170610eaifas0.2033502.html |title=U.S. Administration Announcement on U.S. Policy Toward Cuba |date=13 April 2009 |publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830041229/http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/April/20090413170610eaifas0.2033502.html |archive-date=30 August 2009}} Five years later, an agreement between the United States and Cuba, popularly called the "Cuban thaw", brokered in part by Canada and Pope Francis, began the process of restoring international relations between the two countries. They agreed to release political prisoners and the United States began the process of creating an embassy in Havana.{{cite news|author1=Daniel Trotta and Steve Holland|title=U.S., Cuba restore ties after 50 years|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-gross-idUSKBN0JV1H520141217|access-date=13 January 2015|work=Reuters|date=17 December 2014|location=Havanna and Washington|archive-date=15 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115200949/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-gross-idUSKBN0JV1H520141217|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Baker|first=Peter|date=17 December 2014|title=U.S. to Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War Hostility|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-cuba-relations.html|access-date=13 January 2015|work=The New York Times|archive-date=5 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105152931/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-cuba-relations.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |author1=Frances Robles |author2=Julie Hirschfeld Davis |date=18 December 2014 |title=U.S. Frees Last of the 'Cuban Five,' Part of a 1990s Spy Ring |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-frees-last-of-the-cuban-five-part-of-a-1990s-spy-ring-.html |access-date=13 January 2015 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929200719/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-frees-last-of-the-cuban-five-part-of-a-1990s-spy-ring-.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news|last=Parlapiano|first=Alicia|date=17 December 2014|title=How America's Relationship With Cuba Will Change|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/17/world/americas/cuba-sanctions.html|access-date=13 January 2015|work=The New York Times|archive-date=29 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929194015/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/17/world/americas/cuba-sanctions.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|author1=Mark Landler and Michael R. Gordon|date=17 December 2014|title=Journey to Reconciliation Visited Worlds of Presidents, Popes and Spies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/journey-to-rapprochement-visited-worlds-of-presidents-popes-and-spies.html|access-date=13 January 2015|work=The New York Times|archive-date=29 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929194047/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/journey-to-rapprochement-visited-worlds-of-presidents-popes-and-spies.html|url-status=live}} This was realized on 30 June 2015, when Cuba and the U.S. reached a deal to reopen embassies in their respective capitals on 20 July 2015{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=David |title=Obama, Cuba announce embassy openings |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/01/obama-cuba-raul-castro-embassy/29555255/ |access-date=1 July 2015 |date=1 July 2015 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929200719/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/01/obama-cuba-raul-castro-embassy/29555255/ |url-status=live }} and reestablish diplomatic relations.{{cite news |last1=Jaffe |first1=Greg |title=U.S. and Cuba reach deal to reopen embassies and reestablish ties |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-and-cuba-reach-deal-to-reopen-embassies-and-reestablish-ties/2015/06/30/258209ba-1f70-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=30 June 2015 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422050303/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-and-cuba-reach-deal-to-reopen-embassies-and-reestablish-ties/2015/06/30/258209ba-1f70-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html |url-status=live }} Earlier in the same year, the White House announced that President Obama would remove Cuba from the American government's list of nations that sponsor terrorism,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/world/americas/obama-cuba-remove-from-state-terror-list.html |title=Cuba to Be Removed From U.S. List of Nations That Sponsor Terrorism |last1=Archibold |first1=Randal C. |last2=Davis |first2=Julie Hirschfield |work=The New York Times |date=14 April 2015 |access-date=15 April 2015 |archive-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001153816/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/world/americas/obama-cuba-remove-from-state-terror-list.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/obama-remove-cuba-list-state-sponsors-terrorism-n341446 |title=Obama Nixing Cuba From List of State Sponsors of Terrorism |last1=Gamboa |first1=Suzanne |last2=Abdullah |first2=Halimah |publisher=NBC News |date=14 April 2015 |access-date=15 April 2015 |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003131551/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/obama-remove-cuba-list-state-sponsors-terrorism-n341446 |url-status=live }} which Cuba reportedly welcomed as "fair".{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32313184 |title=Cuba praises 'fair' US pledge on terrorism list |publisher=BBC News |date=15 April 2015 |access-date=15 April 2015 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929193804/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32313184 |url-status=live }} On 17 September 2017, the United States considered closing its Cuban embassy following mysterious medical symptoms experienced by its staff.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/us/politics/tillerson-cuba-embassy.html|title=Tillerson Says U.S. May Close Cuba Embassy Over Mystery Ailments|last=Harris|first=Gardiner|date=17 September 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=29 October 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=29 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029070032/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/us/politics/tillerson-cuba-embassy.html|url-status=live}} In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing international isolation of Russia, Cuba emerged as one of the few countries that maintained friendly relations with the Russian Federation.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/29/despite-cubas-important-history-solidarity-with-ukraine-russia-remains-key-ally/|title=Despite Cuba's important history of solidarity with Ukraine, Russia remains a key ally|author=William Kelly|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=29 March 2022|access-date=28 April 2023|archive-date=9 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609231358/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/29/despite-cubas-important-history-solidarity-with-ukraine-russia-remains-key-ally/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/cuba-and-russia-strengthen-strategic-partnership/#.ZEsYuC-l0_U|title=Cuba and Russia Strengthen Strategic Partnership|website=dialogo-americas.com|date=6 January 2023|access-date=28 April 2023|archive-date=28 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428005728/https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/cuba-and-russia-strengthen-strategic-partnership/#.ZEsYuC-l0_U|url-status=live}} Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow in November 2022, where the two leaders opened a monument of Fidel Castro, as well as speaking out against U.S. sanctions against Russia and Cuba.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/evoking-castro-putin-cuban-leader-pledge-deepen-ties-2022-11-22/|title=Evoking Castro, Putin and Cuban leader pledge to deepen ties|work=Reuters|date=22 November 2022|access-date=28 April 2023|archive-date=28 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428005729/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/evoking-castro-putin-cuban-leader-pledge-deepen-ties-2022-11-22/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|United States embargo against Cuba}}

Since 1960, the U.S. embargo on Cuba stands as one of the longest-running trade and economic measures in bilateral relations history, having endured for almost six decades. This action was initiated in response to a wave of nationalizations that impacted American properties valued at over US$1 billion, the then U.S.{{Cite web |last=Padinger |first=Germán |date=2021-11-09 |title=En qué consiste el embargo comercial de Estados Unidos sobre Cuba |url=https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2021/11/09/embargo-eeuu-cuba-afectado-economia-isla-orix/ |access-date=2023-10-07 |publisher=CNN |language=es |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923191445/https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2021/11/09/embargo-eeuu-cuba-afectado-economia-isla-orix/ |url-status=live }} President, Dwight Eisenhower, instated an embargo that prohibited all exports to Cuba, with the exception of medicines and certain foods. This measure was intensified in 1962 under the administration of John F. Kennedy, extending the restrictions to Cuban imports, based on the Foreign Assistance Act approved by Congress in 1961. During the Missile Crisis in 1962, the United States even imposed a naval blockade on Cuba, but this was lifted following the resolution of the crisis. The embargo, however, remained in place and has been modified on several occasions over the years.

The Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 states that sanctions will continue "so long as it continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights".{{cite web |year=1992 |title=Cuban Democracy Act |url=https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/regions/wha/cuba/democ_act_1992.html |access-date=6 September 2009 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |archive-date=15 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115002210/https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/regions/wha/cuba/democ_act_1992.html |url-status=live }}{{Primary source inline|date=May 2022}} American diplomat Lester D. Mallory wrote an internal memo on 6 April 1960, arguing in favor of an embargo: "The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship. [...] to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government."{{cite book |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499 |title=Foreign Relations of the United States |date=6 April 1960 |publisher=Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute – United States Department of State |location=Washington |chapter=499. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Mallory) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom) |quote=If the above are accepted or cannot be successfully countered, it follows that every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government. |access-date=13 May 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927035426/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Yaffe |first=Helen |url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004501201/BP000010.xml |title=Sanctions at War |date=9 December 2021 |isbn=9789004501201 |series=Studies in Critical Social Sciences |pages=129–147 |chapter=Chapter 8 US Sanctions Cuba 'to Bring About Hunger, Desperation and the Overthrow of the Government' |doi=10.1163/9789004501201_009 |access-date=17 May 2022 |s2cid=245412919 |archive-date=17 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517014739/https://brill.com/view/book/9789004501201/BP000010.xml |url-status=live }} The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution every year since 1992 condemning the embargo and stating that it violates the Charter of the United Nations and international law.{{cite web |date=September 2009 |title=The US Embargo Against Cuba: Its Impact on Economic and Social Rights |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/007/2009/en/ |access-date=29 December 2013 |publisher=Amnesty International |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804205931/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr25/007/2009/en/ |url-status=live }} Cuba considers the embargo a human rights violation.{{Cite web |date=7 November 2019 |title=Cuba: UN Members overwhelmingly support end of US embargo, as Brazil backs Washington |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1050891 |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=United Nations News |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116072030/https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1050891 |url-status=live }}

File:Havana11.JPG]]

The impact and effectiveness of the embargo have been subjects of intense debate. While some argue it has been "extraordinarily porous" and isn't the primary cause of Cuba's economic hardships, others see it as a pressure mechanism aimed at driving change in the Cuban government. According to Arturo Lopez Levy, a professor of international relations, it would be more appropriate to refer to the measure as a "blockade" or "siege", as it goes beyond mere trade restrictions. Other critics of the Cuban government argue that the embargo has been used by the government as an excuse to justify its own economic and political shortcomings.

On 17 December 2014, United States President Barack Obama announced the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba, pushing for Congress to put an end to the embargo,{{cite news |title=Historic thaw in U.S., Cuba standoff |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/obama-cuba-castro-relations/ |access-date=19 December 2014 |archive-date=2 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102035252/http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/obama-cuba-castro-relations/ |url-status=live }} as well as the United States-run Guantanamo Bay detention camp. These diplomatic improvements were later reversed by the Trump Administration, which enacted new rules and re-enforced the business and travel restrictions which were loosened by the Obama Administration.{{cite web |last=Lederman |first=Josh |title=U.S. tightens travel rules to Cuba, blacklists many businesses |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-us-cuba-travel-restrictions-20171108-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422150935/https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-us-cuba-travel-restrictions-20171108-story.html |archive-date=22 April 2019 |access-date=13 May 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune}} These sanctions were inherited and strengthened by the Biden Administration.{{cite web |date=31 July 2021 |title=U.S. issues new Cuba sanctions, Biden promises more to come |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/biden-meet-cuban-american-leaders-amid-calls-tougher-action-havana-2021-07-30/ |access-date=13 May 2022 |work=Reuters|archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516164157/https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/biden-meet-cuban-american-leaders-amid-calls-tougher-action-havana-2021-07-30/ |url-status=live }}

Despite the embargo, Cuba has maintained trade relations with other countries. According to 2019 data, China stands as Cuba's main trading partner, followed by countries such as Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Cyprus. Cuba's main exports include tobacco, sugar, and alcoholic beverages, while it primarily imports chicken meat, wheat, corn, and condensed milk.

{{Main|Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces}}

{{As of|2018}}, Cuba spent about {{Nowrap|US$91.8 million}} on its armed forces or 2.9% of its GDP.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex|title=SIPRI Military Expenditure Database | SIPRI|website=sipri.org|access-date=19 July 2021|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502184705/https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex|url-status=live}} In 1985, Cuba devoted more than 10% of its GDP to military expenditures.{{cite magazine |author-last=Williams |author-first=John Hoyt |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1988/08/cuba-havanas-military-machine/305932/|access-date=19 July 2013|magazine=The Atlantic|date=August 1988|archive-date=7 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607110023/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1988/08/cuba-havanas-military-machine/305932/|url-status=live|title=Cuba: Havana's Military Machine}} During the Cold War, Cuba built up one of the largest armed forces in Latin America, second only to that of Brazil.{{cite web|url=http://www.disam.dsca.mil/pubs/Vol%205-2/Cuban.pdf|title=Cuban armed forces and the Soviet military presence|access-date=24 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324232416/http://www.disam.dsca.mil/pubs/Vol%205-2/Cuban.pdf|archive-date=24 March 2009}}

From 1975 until the late 1980s, Soviet military assistance enabled Cuba to upgrade its military capabilities. After the loss of Soviet subsidies, Cuba scaled down the numbers of military personnel, from 235,000 in 1994 to about 49,000 in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.redorbit.com/news/general/618165/cuban_army_called_key_in_any_postcastro_scenario/index.html/|title=Cuban army called key in any post-Castro scenario|date=15 August 2006|website=Redorbit|access-date=30 December 2019|archive-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817082243/https://www.redorbit.com/news/general/618165/cuban_army_called_key_in_any_postcastro_scenario/index.html/|url-status=live}}

In 2017, Cuba signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.{{cite web |url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |title=Chapter XXVI: Disarmament – No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons |publisher=United Nations Treaty Collection |date=7 July 2017 |access-date=10 August 2019 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230171334/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |url-status=live }}

Cuba is the 98th most peaceful country in the world, according to the 2024 Global Peace Index.{{Cite web |title=2024 Global Peace Index |url=https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf}}

{{Main|Law enforcement in Cuba}}{{See also|Committees for the Defense of the Revolution|Crime in Cuba}}

File:Cuba police car 01.JPG police car in Holguín ]]

All law enforcement agencies are maintained under Cuba's Ministry of the Interior, which is supervised by the Revolutionary Armed Forces. In Cuba, citizens can receive police assistance by dialing "106" on their telephones.{{cite web |url=http://www.whatlatinamerica.com/emergency-phone.html |title=Emergency Phone Numbers |publisher=Whatlatinamerica.com |access-date=10 June 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509135031/http://www.whatlatinamerica.com/emergency-phone.html |url-status=live }} The police force, which is referred to as "Policía Nacional Revolucionaria" or PNR is then expected to provide help. The Cuban government also has an agency called the Intelligence Directorate that conducts intelligence operations and maintains close ties with the Russian Federal Security Service.{{cite web |url=http://duma.gov.ru/en/news/55808/ |title=Vyacheslav Volodin: for us, Cuba is a symbol of the struggle for independence, struggle for self-determination of the people |website=State Duma |date=22 November 2022 |access-date=28 April 2023 |archive-date=28 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428005729/http://duma.gov.ru/en/news/55808/ |url-status=live }} The US Justice Department considers Cuba a significant counterintelligence threat.{{Cite news |last=Strobel |first=Brett Forrest and Warren P. |title=How Cuba Recruits Spies to Penetrate Inner Circles of the U.S. Government |url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/how-cuba-recruits-spies-to-penetrate-inner-circles-of-the-u-s-government-d277b931?mod=hp_lead_pos6 |access-date=2024-03-17 |work=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=17 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317002544/https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/how-cuba-recruits-spies-to-penetrate-inner-circles-of-the-u-s-government-d277b931?mod=hp_lead_pos6 |url-status=live }}

Civilians are also involved in law enforcement, in a limited capacity. The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution are an official neighborhood watch organization, made up of dedicated citizens who monitor their neighbors.[https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gq3GU2QzFyRWT84_YNvI3mgOy7tg?docId=CNG.cd0ab416a2c7901c0abb23f392c5057d.ad1 Cuba's Neighborhood Watches: 50 Years of Eyes, Ears] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410190428/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gq3GU2QzFyRWT84_YNvI3mgOy7tg?docId=CNG.cd0ab416a2c7901c0abb23f392c5057d.ad1 |date=2013-04-10 }} by Isabel Sanchez, Associated Press, 27 September 2010 Membership is not selective, but leading members are approved by the Cuban Communist Party.{{Cite book|title=Back from the Future: Cuba under Castro|last=Eckstein|first=Susan|publisher=Routledge|year=1994|isbn=0-415-94793-6|location=Great Britain|pages=29}}

{{Main|Human rights in Cuba}}

{{See also|LGBT rights in Cuba|Women in Cuba|Censorship in Cuba|Cuban dissident movement}}

File:Damas de Blanco demonstration in Havana, Cuba.jpg demonstration in Havana (April 2012)]]

In 2003, the European Union (EU) accused the Cuban government of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms".{{cite web |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2004:076E:0384:0386:EN:PDF|title=EU-Cuba relations|date=4 September 2003|publisher=European Communities|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=5 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905060853/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2004:076E:0384:0386:EN:PDF}} {{As of|2009|post=,}} it has continued to call regularly for social and economic reform in Cuba, along with the unconditional release of all political prisoners.{{cite book |last=Laursen |first=F. |title=The EU in the Global Political Economy |publisher=P.I.E. Peter Lang |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-5201-554-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8N66N1M3fVMC&pg=PA279 |page=279 |access-date=14 October 2016 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209040624/https://books.google.com/books?id=8N66N1M3fVMC&pg=PA279 |url-status=live }}

Cuba was ranked 19th by the number of imprisoned journalists of any nation in {{As of|2021|bare=y}} according to various sources, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch.{{cite web |url=https://cpj.org/2021/12/attacks-on-the-press-in-2021/ |title=Attacks on the Press in 2021 |date=9 December 2021 |publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists |access-date=13 May 2022 |archive-date=13 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513072703/https://cpj.org/2021/12/attacks-on-the-press-in-2021/ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |title=World Report 2008: Events of 2007 |publisher=Seven Stories Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-58322-774-9 |author=Human Rights Watch |author-link=Human Rights Watch |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldreport2008e0000unse/page/207 207] |url=https://archive.org/details/worldreport2008e0000unse/page/207 }} Cuba ranks 171st out of 180 on the {{As of|2020|bare=y}} World Press Freedom Index.{{Cite web |title=Cuba – Constant ordeal for independent media |url=https://rsf.org/en/cuba |access-date=14 October 2021 |website=Reporters without Borders |archive-date=6 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006091631/https://rsf.org/en/cuba |url-status=live }}

In July 2010, the unofficial Cuban Human Rights Commission said there were 167 political prisoners in Cuba, a fall from 201 at the start of the year. The head of the commission stated that long prison sentences were being replaced by harassment and intimidation.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10517497|title=Number of Cuban political prisoners dips – rights group|date=5 July 2010|access-date=2 June 2014|publisher=BBC News|archive-date=5 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605082130/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10517497|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Economy of Cuba}}

{{Further|Dual economy of Cuba|Rationing in Cuba|Sociolismo|United States embargo against Cuba}}

File:GDP per capita development of Cuba.svg

The Cuban state asserts its adherence to socialist principles in organizing its largely state-controlled planned economy. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government and most of the labor force is employed by the state. Recent years have seen a trend toward more private sector employment. By 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981.{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/research_reports/art3670.html/OA-Cuba_Social_Policy_at_Crossroads-en.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009163422/http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/research_reports/art3670.html/OA-Cuba_Social_Policy_at_Crossroads-en.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2007|title=Social Policy at the crossroads |publisher=oxfamamerica.org|access-date=5 February 2009}} Government spending is 78.1% of GDP.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reference.com/government-politics/countries-planned-economy-3f07e563b79708ba|title=What countries have a planned economy?|newspaper=Reference|access-date=18 October 2016|archive-date=26 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826083115/https://www.reference.com/government-politics/countries-planned-economy-3f07e563b79708ba|url-status=live}} Since the early 2010s, following the initial market reforms, it has become popular to describe the economy as being, or moving toward, market socialism.{{cite news |last=Plummer |first=Robert |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-12565417 |title=Cuba inches towards market socialism |date=27 March 2011 |publisher=BBC |access-date=22 October 2022 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929020629/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-12565417 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Feinberg |first=Richard |title=Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy |pages=214–215 |date=14 June 2016 |publisher=Publisher: Brookings Institution Press |isbn=9780815727699}}{{cite web |last=LeoGrande |first=William |url=https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/is-cuba-s-vision-of-market-socialism-sustainable/ |title=Is Cuba's Vision of Market Socialism Sustainable? |date=31 July 2018 |access-date=22 October 2022 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203031714/https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/is-cuba-s-vision-of-market-socialism-sustainable/ |url-status=live }} Any firm that hires a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn pays the employee in Cuban pesos.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-01.htm#P392_35421|title=Cuba's repressive machinery: Summary and recommendations|publisher=Human Rights Watch|year=1999|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522224702/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-01.htm#P392_35421|url-status=live}} After a reform in 2021, the minimum monthly wage is about 2100 CUP (US$81) and the median monthly wage is about 4000 CUP (US$155).{{cite web|url=https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/economy/cuban-economy/cuba-raises-minimum-wage-to-2100-pesos-and-sets-pensions-cap-at-1528|title=Cuba raises minimum wage to 2,100 pesos and sets pensions cap at 1,528|publisher=OnCuba|year=2020|access-date=6 May 2025}}

Cuba had Cuban pesos (CUP) set at par with the US dollar before 1959.{{cite news|title=Cuba's economy: Money starts to talk|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21581990-and-eventually-perhaps-one-currency-tempo-reform-accelerates-money-starts|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=19 July 2013|date=20 July 2013|archive-date=24 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224013150/http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21581990-and-eventually-perhaps-one-currency-tempo-reform-accelerates-money-starts|url-status=live}} Every Cuban household has a ration book (known as libreta) entitling it to a monthly supply of food and other staples, which are provided at nominal cost.{{cite news|title=Inequality: The deal's off|url=https://www.economist.com/node/21550421|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=21 July 2013|date=24 March 2012|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612184844/https://www.economist.com/node/21550421|url-status=live}}

According to the Havana Consulting Group, in 2014, remittances to Cuba amounted to US$3,129 million, the seventh highest in Latin America.{{cite news |title=CUBA: The Fastest Growing Remittances Market in Latin America |url=http://www.thehavanaconsultinggroup.com/en-US/Articles/Article/20?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 |access-date=29 May 2022 |publisher=The Havana Consulting Group & Tech |date=23 June 2016 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307204623/http://www.thehavanaconsultinggroup.com/en-US/Articles/Article/20?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 |url-status=live }} In 2019, remittances had grown to US$6,616 million, but dropped down to US$1,967 million in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |title=Envío de remesas a Cuba cayó el 54,14 % en 2020, según expertos |url=https://oncubanews.com/cuba/envio-de-remesas-a-cuba-cayo-el-5414-en-2020-segun-expertos/ |access-date=29 May 2022 |work=On Cuba News |date=24 November 2020 |language=Spanish |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929195112/https://oncubanews.com/cuba/envio-de-remesas-a-cuba-cayo-el-5414-en-2020-segun-expertos/ |url-status=live }} The pandemic has also devastated Cuba's tourist industry, which along with a tightening of U.S. sanctions, has led to large increase in emigration among younger working-age Cubans. It has been described as a crisis that is "threatening the stability" of Cuba, which "already has one of the hemisphere's oldest populations".{{cite news |last1=Augustin |first1=Ed |last2=Robles |first2=Frances |title='Cuba Is Depopulating': Largest Exodus Yet Threatens Country's Future |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/world/americas/cuba-us-migration.html |access-date=11 December 2022 |date=10 December 2022 |archive-date=29 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829220932/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/world/americas/cuba-us-migration.html |url-status=live }} According to a controversial 2023 report by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), 88% of Cuban citizens live in extreme poverty. The report stated that Cubans were concerned about food security and the difficulty in acquiring basic goods.{{Cite web |date=2023-09-29 |title=Un informe asegura que el 88% de los cubanos vive en la pobreza extrema |url=https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2023/09/29/un-informe-asegura-que-el-88-de-los-cubanos-vive-en-la-pobreza-extrema/ |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=infobae |language=es-ES |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929152636/https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2023/09/29/un-informe-asegura-que-el-88-de-los-cubanos-vive-en-la-pobreza-extrema/ |url-status=live }}

According to the World Bank, Cuba's GDP per capita was $9,500 as of 2020.{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=CU|title=GDP per capita (current US$) – Cuba|publisher=World Bank|access-date=3 January 2024|archive-date=1 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801033400/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=CU|url-status=live}} But according to the CIA World Factbook, it was $12,300 as of 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|title=Cuba|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=3 January 2024|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812170744/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|url-status=live}} The United Nations Development Programme gave Cuba a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.764 in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI|title=Human Development Index (HDI)|publisher=United Nations Development Programme|access-date=3 January 2024|archive-date=10 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610040330/https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI|url-status=live}} The same United Nations agency estimated the country's Multidimensional Poverty Index of 0.003 in 2023.{{cite web|url=https://hdr.undp.org/content/2023-global-multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi#/indicies/MPI|title=2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)|date=11 July 2023 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme|access-date=3 January 2024|archive-date=13 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713210119/https://hdr.undp.org/content/2023-global-multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi#/indicies/MPI|url-status=live}}

In 2005, Cuba had exports of {{Nowrap|US$2.4 billion}}, ranking 114 of 226 world countries, and imports of {{Nowrap|US$6.9 billion}}, ranking 87 of 226 countries.{{cite web|date=29 June 2006 |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html|title=Rank Order Exports|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=30 April 2014|archive-date=19 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819103836/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html}} Its major export partners are Canada 17.7%, China 16.9%, Venezuela 12.5%, Netherlands 9%, and Spain 5.9% (2012).{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|title=Cuba|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=6 April 2009|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812170744/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|url-status=live}} Cuba's major exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus fruits, and coffee; imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated at {{Nowrap|$13 billion}},{{cite web|last=Calzon |first=Frank |date=13 March 2005 |url=http://www.cubacenter.org/media/calzon/cuba_makes_poor_trade.html |title=Cuba makes poor trade partner for Louisiana |publisher=Center for a Free Cuba |access-date=7 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513073046/http://www.cubacenter.org/media/calzon/cuba_makes_poor_trade.html |archive-date=13 May 2008 }} approximately 38% of GDP.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html |title=Rank Order – GDP (purchasing power parity)|publisher=CIA Fact Book|access-date=9 July 2006|archive-date=4 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604195034/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html}}

According to The Heritage Foundation, Cuba is dependent on credit accounts that rotate from country to country. Cuba's prior 35% supply of the world's export market for sugar has declined to 10% due to a variety of factors, including a global sugar commodity price drop that made Cuba less competitive on world markets.{{cite web|date=6 December 2001 |url=http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/highlights/2001/IATR/cubaiatr.pdf |title=Cuba's Sugar Industry and the Impact of Hurricane Michele |publisher=International Agricultural Trade Report |access-date=9 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623123242/http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/highlights/2001/IATR/cubaiatr.pdf |archive-date=23 June 2006 }} It was announced in 2008 that wage caps would be abandoned to improve the nation's productivity.{{cite web |title=Cuba to abandon wage caps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/12/cuba |website=The Guardian |access-date=7 May 2015 |first=Lee |last=Glendinning |date=12 June 2008 |archive-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620091712/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/12/cuba |url-status=live }}

Cuba's leadership has called for reforms in the country's agricultural system. In 2008, Raúl Castro began enacting agrarian reforms to boost food production, as at that time 80% of food was imported. The reforms aim to expand land use and increase efficiency.{{Cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/16/cuba.farming/index.html|title=Cuban leader looks to boost food production|publisher=CNN|date=17 April 2008|access-date=14 September 2009|archive-date=6 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206084002/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/16/cuba.farming/index.html|url-status=live}} Venezuela supplies Cuba with an estimated {{convert|110000|oilbbl|m3}} of oil per day in exchange for money and the services of some 44,000 Cubans, most of them medical personnel, in Venezuela.{{cite news|title=Venezuela's Maduro pledges continued alliance with Cuba|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-venezuela-maduro-idUSBRE93R00Y20130428|access-date=19 July 2013|work=Reuters|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222221531/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-venezuela-maduro-idUSBRE93R00Y20130428|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Cuba Ill-Prepared for Venezuelan Shock |url=http://ascecuba.org/blog/post/Cuba-Ill-Prepared-for-Venezuelan-Shock-.aspx |publisher=Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423062457/http://www.ascecuba.org/blog/post/Cuba-Ill-Prepared-for-Venezuelan-Shock-.aspx |archive-date=23 April 2013 }}

File:Havana - Cuba - 2756.jpg

{{As of|2010|alt=In 2010}}, Cubans were allowed to build their own houses. According to Raúl Castro, they could now improve their houses, but the government would not endorse these new houses or improvements.{{cite web |url=http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/152868/gobierno-de-castro-otorga-a-cubanos-permiso-para-construir-viviendas-por-esfuerzo-propio/ |title=Gobierno de Castro otorga a cubanos permiso para construir viviendas 'por esfuerzo propio' en |publisher=Noticias24.com |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012090759/http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/152868/gobierno-de-castro-otorga-a-cubanos-permiso-para-construir-viviendas-por-esfuerzo-propio/}} There is virtually no homelessness in Cuba,{{Cite web|last=Alliance|first=Community|date=13 September 2011|title=Homeless in Cuba? Not Likely|url=https://fresnoalliance.com/homeless-in-cuba-not-likely/|access-date=2 January 2021|website=Community Alliance|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107062112/https://fresnoalliance.com/homeless-in-cuba-not-likely/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=20 June 2017|title=Opinion: Universal healthcare, no illiteracy and other Cuban feats under a U.S. embargo|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-cuba-us-embargo-trump-20170620-story.html|access-date=2 January 2021|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121033955/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-cuba-us-embargo-trump-20170620-story.html|url-status=live}} and 85% of Cubans own their homes{{Cite journal|last=Grein|first=John|date=1 January 2015|title=Recent Reforms in Cuban Housing Policy|url=https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/international_immersion_program_papers/17|journal=International Immersion Program Papers|access-date=2 January 2021|archive-date=5 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905215045/https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/international_immersion_program_papers/17/|url-status=live}} and pay no property taxes or mortgage interest. Mortgage payments may not exceed 10% of a household's combined income.{{Citation needed|reason=unbiased source needed|date=May 2020}}

On 2 August 2011, The New York Times reported that Cuba reaffirmed its intent to legalize "buying and selling" of private property before the year's end. According to experts, the private sale of property could "transform Cuba more than any of the economic reforms announced by President Raúl Castro's government".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/world/americas/03cuba.html |work=The New York Times |first=Damien |last=Cave |title=Cuba Prepares for Private Property |date=2 August 2011 |access-date=26 February 2017 |archive-date=22 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222142756/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/world/americas/03cuba.html |url-status=live }} It would cut more than one million state jobs, including party bureaucrats who resist the changes.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14368316 |title=Cuba National Assembly approves economic reforms |date=2 August 2011 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=28 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128050834/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14368316 |url-status=live }} The reforms created what some call "New Cuban Economy".{{cite web |author=Categoría: Lucha de nuestros pueblos |url=http://semanarioaqui.com/index.php/lucha-de-nuestros-pueblos-2/357-cuba-adopta-nuevos-lineamientos-economicos-para-aumentar-la-produccion |title=Los nuevos lineamientos económicos |publisher=Semanarioaqui.com |date=1 April 2014 |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012091219/http://semanarioaqui.com/index.php/lucha-de-nuestros-pueblos-2/357-cuba-adopta-nuevos-lineamientos-economicos-para-aumentar-la-produccion |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/12/cuba%20economy%20feinberg/cuba%20economy%20feinberg%209.pdf |title=New Cuban Economy |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730061603/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/12/cuba%20economy%20feinberg/cuba%20economy%20feinberg%209.pdf |archive-date=30 July 2013 }} In October 2013, Raúl said he intended to merge the two currencies, but {{as of|2016|August|lc=y}}, the dual currency system remains in force.

File:Cuba 2013-01-23 (8503121480).jpg]]

In 2016, the Miami Herald wrote, "... about 27 percent of Cubans earn under $50 per month; 34 percent earn the equivalent of $50 to $100 per month; and 20 percent earn $101 to $200. Twelve percent reported earning $201 to $500 a month; and almost 4 percent said their monthly earnings topped $500, including 1.5 percent who said they earned more than $1,000."[http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article89133407.html Study: Cubans don't make much, but it's more than state salaries indicate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904013753/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article89133407.html |date=4 September 2017 }}, Miami Herald, 12 July 2016

In May 2019, Cuba imposed rationing of staples such as chicken, eggs, rice, beans, soap and other basic goods. (Some two-thirds of food in the country is imported.) A spokesperson blamed the increased U.S. trade embargo although economists believe that an equally important problem is the massive decline of aid from Venezuela and the failure of Cuba's state-run oil company which had subsidized fuel costs.{{cite news|title=Cuba rations chicken, eggs and rice as economic crisis worsens|date=10 May 2019 |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/cuba-launches-rationing-in-face-of-economic-crisis|work=National Post|access-date=12 May 2019 |quote=Cuba imports roughly two-thirds of its food at an annual cost of more than $2.7 billion and brief shortages of individual products have been common for years. In recent months, a growing number of products have started to go missing for days or weeks at a time, and long lines have sprung up within minutes of the appearance of scarce products like chicken or flour.}}

In June 2019, the government announced an increase in public sector wages of about 300%, specifically for teachers and health personnel.{{cite news |title=Cuba announces increase in wages as part of economic reform |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-announces-increase-wages-part-economic-reform-n1024451 |access-date=8 June 2021 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=NBC News |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608170918/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-announces-increase-wages-part-economic-reform-n1024451 |url-status=live }} In October, the government allowed stores to purchase house equipment and similar items, using international currency, and send it to Cuba by emigration. The leaders of the government recognized that the new measures were unpopular but necessary to contain the capital flight to other countries as Panamá where Cuban citizens traveled and imported items to resell on the island. Other measures included allowing private companies to export and import, through state companies, resources to produce products and services in Cuba.

File:La Habana Cuba.jpg in Havana]]

On 1 January 2021, Cuba's dual currency system was formally ended, and the convertible Cuban peso (CUC) was phased out, leaving the Cuban peso (CUP) as the country's sole currency unit. Cuban citizens had until June 2021 to exchange their CUCs. However, this devalued the Cuban peso and caused economic problems for people who had been previously paid in CUCs, particularly workers in the tourism industry.{{cite news |title=Cuba eliminates the CUC and announces currency unification |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article247776195.html |access-date=18 February 2022 |work=Miami Herald |date=11 December 2020 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127222459/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article247776195.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Forde |first1=Kaelyn |title=Cuba protests: The economic woes driving discontent |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7/16/cuba-protests-the-economic-woes-helping-drive-discontent |access-date=18 February 2022 |publisher=Al Jazeera|date=16 July 2021 |language=en |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815202251/https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7/16/cuba-protests-the-economic-woes-helping-drive-discontent |url-status=live }} Also, in February, the government dictated new measures to the private sector, with prohibitions for only 124 activities,{{cite news |title=Cuba opens up its economy to private businesses |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55967709 |access-date=8 June 2021 |publisher=BBC |date=7 February 2021 |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528044943/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55967709 |url-status=live }} in areas like national security, health and educational services.{{cite news |title=Cuba to reform economy, allow more private enterprise |url=https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/02/08/cuba-to-reform-economy-allow-more-private-enterprise/ |access-date=8 June 2021 |work=Daily Friend |date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608170922/https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/02/08/cuba-to-reform-economy-allow-more-private-enterprise/ |url-status=live }} The wages were increased again, between 4 and 9 times, for all the sectors. Also, new facilities were allowed to the state companies, with much more autonomy.{{cite news |title=What will Cuba's new single currency mean for the island? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/1/1/what-will-cubas-new-single-currency-mean-for-the-island |access-date=8 June 2021 |publisher=Al Jazeera|date=1 January 2021 |archive-date=17 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617115037/https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/1/1/what-will-cubas-new-single-currency-mean-for-the-island |url-status=live }}

The first problem with the new reform, in terms of public opinion, were electricity prices, but that was amended quickly. Other measures corrected were in the prices for private farmers.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} In July 2020, Cuba opened new stores accepting only foreign currency while simultaneously eliminating a special tax on the U.S. dollar{{cite news |title=Cuba opens foreign currency-only shops, ends tax on dollar |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cuba-opens-foreign-currency-shops-ends-tax-dollar-71886770 |access-date=8 June 2021 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=ABC News|location=United States |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608170919/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cuba-opens-foreign-currency-shops-ends-tax-dollar-71886770 |url-status=live }} to combat an economic crisis arising initially due to economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration,{{cite news |last1=Chalfant |first1=Morgan |title=Trump announces new sanctions on Cuba |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-announces-new-sanctions-on-cuba/ar-BB19lMIc |access-date=8 June 2021 |publisher=MSNnews |date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608170921/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-announces-new-sanctions-on-cuba/ar-BB19lMIc |url-status=live }} then later worsened by a lack of tourism during the coronavirus pandemic. These economic sanctions have since been sustained by the Biden administration.{{cite news |title=Biden administration decided to keep Cuba in the 'bad boys' list |url=https://en.mercopress.com/2021/05/26/biden-administration-decided-to-keep-cuba-in-the-bad-boys-list |access-date=8 June 2021 |date=26 May 2021 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608171458/https://en.mercopress.com/2021/05/26/biden-administration-decided-to-keep-cuba-in-the-bad-boys-list |url-status=live }}

Cooperatives will play a larger role in the emerging Cuban economy. The transfer of state-run businesses into cooperatives could result in 20 – 30 percent of Cuba's workers being actively involved in cooperatives. All state-run restaurants (over 8,000) will be converted to worker owned cooperatives, and by 2017 the Cuban government expects there to be approximately 10,000 cooperatives operating.{{Cite web |title=US - Cuba Cooperative Working Group Project |url=https://ncbaclusa.coop/project/cuba-u-s-cuba-cooperative-working-group-usccwg/ |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=NCBA CLUSA}}

Cuba's natural resources include sugar, tobacco, fish, citrus fruits, coffee, beans, rice, potatoes, and livestock. Cuba's most important mineral resource is nickel, with 21% of total exports in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://legacy.intracen.org/appli1/TradeCom/TP_EP_CI.aspx?RP=192&YR=2011 |title=World Competitiveness Map |publisher=International Trade Center |access-date=9 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109163626/http://legacy.intracen.org/appli1/TradeCom/TP_EP_CI.aspx?RP=192&YR=2011 |archive-date=9 November 2013 }} The output of Cuba's nickel mines that year was 71,000 tons, approaching 4% of world production.{{cite web|url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nickel/mcs-2013-nicke.pdf|title=Nickel|publisher=United States Geological Survey|access-date=9 November 2013|archive-date=9 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509061155/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nickel/mcs-2013-nicke.pdf|url-status=live}} {{As of| 2013}} its reserves were estimated at 5.5 million tons, over 7% of the world total. Sherritt International of Canada operates a large nickel mining facility in Moa. Cuba is also a major producer of refined cobalt, a by-product of nickel mining.{{cite web|url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/1997/9509097.pdf|title=The Mineral Industry of Cuba|author=Ivette E. Torres|year=1997|publisher=United States Geological Survey|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012091655/https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/1997/9509097.pdf|url-status=live}}

Oil exploration in 2005 by the US Geological Survey revealed that the North Cuba Basin could produce about {{convert|4.6|Goilbbl|m3}} to {{convert|9.3|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil. In 2006, Cuba started to test-drill these locations for possible exploitation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1936186,00.html|author=Wayne S. Smith|title=After 46 years of failure, we must change course on Cuba|work=The Guardian|date=1 November 2006|access-date=6 September 2009|location=London|archive-date=17 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617133641/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/nov/01/comment.cuba|url-status=live}}

{{main|Tourism in Cuba}}

File:Camaguey rooftops 2.jpg, a colonial city UNESCO World Heritage Site]]

File:Varaderos beach (5982433102).jpg resort area]]

Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as "enclave tourism" and "tourism apartheid".{{Harvnb|Espino|2000}}. Contact between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were {{lang|la|de facto}} illegal between 1992 and 1997.{{Harvnb|Corbett|2002|p=33}}. The rapid growth of tourism during the Special Period had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba, and led to speculation about the emergence of a two-tier economy.{{cite journal |url=http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/conferences/cuba/TLCP/Volume%201/Facio.pdf |title=Tourism in Cuba During the Special Period |first1=Elisa |last1=Facio |author2=Maura Toro-Morn, and Anne R. Roschelle |publisher=University of Iowa College of Law |journal=Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems |volume=14 |page=119 |date=Spring 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822042043/http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/conferences/cuba/TLCP/Volume%201/Facio.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2006}}

{{Nowrap|1.9 million}} tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of {{Nowrap|US$2.1 billion}}.{{cite web|date=December 2005|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm|title=Background Note: Cuba|publisher=U.S. Department of State|access-date=9 July 2006|archive-date=22 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122194359/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm|url-status=live}} Cuba recorded 2,688,000 international tourists in 2011, the third-highest figure in the Caribbean (behind the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico).{{cite web|title=UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2013 Edition |url=http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_highlights13_en_lr.pdf |publisher=Tourism Trends and Marketing Strategies UNWTO |access-date=21 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718115306/http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/unwto_highlights13_en_lr.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2013 }} American tourism was incredibly limited due to the Cuban Missile Crisis until 2016, when most restrictions were limited but some remained in place.{{cite web |last1=Perrottet |first1=Tony |title=Can Americans Travel to Cuba? |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/can-americans-travel-to-cuba |website=Condé Nest Traveller |date=21 May 2024 |access-date=19 December 2024}}

The medical tourism sector caters to thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian, and American consumers every year.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

A study in 2018 indicated that Cuba has a potential for mountaineering activity, and that mountaineering could be a key contributor to tourism, along with other activities, e.g. biking, diving, caving. Promoting these resources could contribute to regional development, prosperity, and well-being.{{Cite journal|author1=Apollo, M. |author2=Rettinger, R.|date=7 March 2018|title=Mountaineering in Cuba: improvement of true accessibility as an opportunity for regional development of communities outside the tourism enclaves|journal=Current Issues in Tourism|volume=22|issue=15|pages=1797–1804|doi=10.1080/13683500.2018.1446920|s2cid=158535778|issn=1368-3500}}

The Cuban Justice minister downplays allegations of widespread sex tourism.{{cite news|last=Tamayo |first=Juan O. |title=Cuba's Justice Minister says the government fights prostitution |newspaper=Miami Herald |date=16 October 2013 |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/16/3691714/cubas-justice-minister-says-the.html |access-date=2 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017051027/http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/16/3691714/cubas-justice-minister-says-the.html |archive-date=17 October 2013 }} According to a Government of Canada travel advice website, "Cuba is actively working to prevent child sex tourism, and a number of tourists, including Canadians, have been convicted of offenses related to the corruption of minors aged 16 and under. Prison sentences range from 7 to 25 years."{{cite web|title=Travel Advice and Advisories for Cuba: Sex tourism|date=16 November 2012|url=http://travel.gc.ca/destinations/cuba|publisher=Government of Canada|access-date=4 January 2014|archive-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510150629/https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/cuba|url-status=live}}

Some tourist facilities were extensively damaged on 8 September 2017 when Hurricane Irma hit the island. The storm made landfall in the Camagüey Archipelago; the worst damage was in the keys north of the main island, however, and not in the most significant tourist areas.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/09/us/hurricane-irma-florida.html|title=Storm Gains Strength as It Nears Florida|work=The New York Times|date=9 September 2017|access-date=9 September 2017|archive-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909102639/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/09/us/hurricane-irma-florida.html|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Transport in Cuba}}

{{Main|Cubans|Demographics of Cuba}}

According to the official census of 2010, Cuba's population was 11,241,161, comprising 5,628,996 men and 5,612,165 women.{{cite web |url=http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/anuario_2010/anuario_demografico_2010.pdf |title=ANUARIO DEMOGRAFICO DE CUBA 2010 |publisher=Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas |access-date=22 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021100817/http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/anuario_2010/anuario_demografico_2010.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2012}} Its birth rate (9.88 births per thousand population in 2006){{cite web |url=http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Americas&month=May2007&file=World_News2007051741913.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926222652/http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Americas&month=May2007&file=World_News2007051741913.xml|archive-date=26 September 2007 |title=Population, birth rate falling in Cuba: Official |publisher=The Peninsula On-line |access-date=19 July 2013}} 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 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.periodico26.cu/english/features/june2008/cuba-population060508.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113074404/http://www.periodico26.cu/english/features/june2008/cuba-population060508.html|archive-date=13 January 2009 |title=Population Decrease Must be Reverted |access-date=19 July 2013}}

{{See also|List of cities in Cuba}}

{{Largest cities

| country = Cuba

| stat_ref = According to the 2018 Estimate{{cite web |url=http://citypopulation.de/en/cuba/cities/ |title=Cuba: Major Cities |website=citypopulation.de |access-date=9 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022083213/http://citypopulation.de/en/cuba/cities/ |archive-date=22 October 2021}}

| div_name = Province

| city_1 = Havana | div_1 = La Habana Province{{!}}La Habana | pop_1 = 2,131,480 | img_1 = Línea, La Habana, Cuba.jpg

| city_2 = Santiago de Cuba | div_2 = Santiago de Cuba Province{{!}}Santiago de Cuba | pop_2 = 433,581 | img_2 = Escuela Ing Luis Armando Morales Mustelier 002.jpg

| city_3 = Camagüey | div_3 = Camagüey Province{{!}}Camagüey | pop_3 = 308,902 | img_3 = Camaguey rooftops 3.jpg

| city_4 = Holguín | div_4 = Holguín Province{{!}}Holguín | pop_4 = 297,433 | img_4 = Holguín-3.jpg

| city_5 = Santa Clara, Cuba{{!}}Santa Clara | div_5 = Villa Clara Province{{!}}Villa Clara | pop_5 = 216,854

| city_6 = Guantánamo | div_6 = Guantánamo Province{{!}}Guantánamo | pop_6 = 216,003

| city_7 = Las Tunas (city){{!}}Las Tunas | div_7 = Las Tunas Province{{!}}Las Tunas | pop_7 = 173,552

| city_8 = Bayamo | div_8 = Granma Province{{!}}Granma | pop_8 = 159,966

| city_9 = Cienfuegos | div_9 = Cienfuegos Province{{!}}Cienfuegos | pop_9 = 151,838

| city_10 = Pinar del Río | div_10 = Pinar del Río Province{{!}}Pinar del Río | pop_10 = 145,193

}}

{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption=Racial groups in Cuba (2012 census){{cite web |url=http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/cpv2012/20140428informenacional/46_tabla_II_4.pdf |title=2012 census |website=www.one.cu |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603230454/http://www.one.cu/publicaciones/cepde/cpv2012/20140428informenacional/46_tabla_II_4.pdf |archive-date=3 June 2014 |url-status=dead}}

|label1 = White

|value1 = 64.12

|color1 = #FBC5A7

|label2 = Mulatto

|value2 = 26.62

|color2 = #AA7E54

|label3 = Black

|value3 = 9.26

|color3 = #4D2512

}}

File:1919 The Barrientos family.jpg.]]

Cuba's population is multiethnic, reflecting its complex colonial origins. Intermarriage between diverse groups is widespread, and consequently there is some discrepancy in reports of the country's racial composition: whereas the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami determined that 62% of Cubans are black using the one drop rule,{{cite web |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/part4/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821113550/http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/part4/index.html|archive-date=21 August 2013|title=A barrier for Cuba's blacks|work=Miami Herald}} the 2002 Cuban census found that a similar proportion of the population, 65.05%, was white.

In fact, the Minority Rights Group International determined that "An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution. Estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 34% to 62%".{{cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/49749d342c.html|title=Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Cuba: Afro-Cubans|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|access-date=30 December 2019|archive-date=17 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117034058/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49749d342c.html|url-status=live}}

A 2014 study found that, based on ancestry informative markers (AIM), autosomal genetic ancestry in Cuba is 72% European, 20% African, and 8% Indigenous.{{cite journal |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004488 |pmid=25058410 |pmc=4109857 |title=Cuba: Exploring the History of Admixture and the Genetic Basis of Pigmentation Using Autosomal and Uniparental Markers |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=10 |issue=7 |at=e1004488 |year=2014 |last1=Marcheco-Teruel |first1=Beatriz |last2=Parra |first2=Esteban J. |last3=Fuentes-Smith |first3=Evelyn |last4=Salas |first4=Antonio |last5=Buttenschøn |first5=Henriette N. |last6=Demontis |first6=Ditte |last7=Torres-Español |first7=María |last8=Marín-Padrón |first8=Lilia C. |last9=Gómez-Cabezas |first9=Enrique J. |last10=Álvarez-Iglesias |first10=Vanesa |last11=Mosquera-Miguel |first11=Ana |last12=Martínez-Fuentes |first12=Antonio |last13=Carracedo |first13=Ángel |last14=Børglum |first14=Anders D. |last15=Mors |first15=Ole |doi-access=free }}

Asians make up about 1% of the population, and are largely of Chinese ancestry, followed by Japanese and Filipino.{{cite web |url=http://www.com/topics/cuba |title=Cuba |access-date=29 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130040841/http://www.com/topics/cuba |archive-date=30 November 2016 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HpqAAAAMAAJ&q=30,000+cantonese+immigrants+cuba|title=Cuba: a Lonely Planet travel survival kit |publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=9780864424037|year=1997}} Many are descendants of farm laborers brought to the island by Spanish and American contractors during the 19th and early 20th century.{{cite web|last=Chiu|first=Lisa |url=http://chineseculture.about.com/od/thechinesediaspora/a/ChineseinCuba.htm|title=A Short History of the Chinese in Cuba|work=About.com News & Issues|access-date=26 July 2014|archive-date=3 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103123851/http://chineseculture.about.com/od/thechinesediaspora/a/ChineseinCuba.htm}} The current recorded number of Cubans with Chinese ancestry is 114,240.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |title=Central America :: Cuba – The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=30 July 2019}}

Afro-Cubans are descended primarily from the Yoruba people, Bantu people from the Congo basin, Kalabari tribe and Arará from the Dahomey, as well as several thousand North African refugees, most notably the Sahrawi Arabs of Western Sahara.{{cite web |url=http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=2&id=13816 |date=31 March 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061125161820/http://www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=2&id=13816|archive-date=25 November 2006|title=Sahrawi children inhumanely treated in Cuba, former Cuban official|publisher=MoroccoTimes.com|access-date=9 July 2006}}

{{Main|French immigration to Cuba|Spanish immigration to Cuba}}

Immigration and emigration have played a prominent part in Cuba's demographic profile. Between the 18th and early 20th century, large waves of Canarian, Catalan, Andalusian, Galician, and other Spanish people immigrated to Cuba. Between 1899 and 1930 alone, close to a million Spaniards entered Cuba, although many eventually returned to Spain.{{cite web |url=http://www.tau.ac.il/eial/IV_2/bejarano.htm |title=La inmigración entre 1902 y 1920 |publisher=Tau.ac.il |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606060146/http://www.tau.ac.il/eial/IV_2/bejarano.htm |archive-date=6 June 2009}} Other prominent immigrant groups included French,{{cite web |title=Etat des propriétés rurales appartenant à des Français dans l'île de Cuba |url=http://www.cubagenweb.org/french/index.htm#refugees |publisher=Cuban Genealogy Center |date=10 July 2007 |access-date=19 July 2013}} Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Greek, British, and Irish, as well as small number of descendants of U.S. citizens who arrived in Cuba in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As of 2015, the foreign-born population in Cuba was 13,336 inhabitants per the World Bank data.{{Cite web |title=International migrant stock, total – Cuba {{!}} Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SM.POP.TOTL?locations=CU |access-date=2022-09-08 |publisher=World Bank}}

{{Main|Cuban exile|Cuban immigration to the United States}}

File:6.6.10CubanParadeUCByLuigiNovi5.jpg, is home to a large Cuban American population.]]

Post-revolution Cuba has been characterized by significant levels of emigration, which has led to a large and influential diaspora community. During the three decades after January 1959, more than one million Cubans of all social classes—constituting 10% of the total population—emigrated to the United States, a proportion that matches the extent of emigration to the U.S. from the Caribbean as a whole during that period.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Powell |first=John |title=Cuban immigration |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of North American Immigration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNCX6UsdZYkC&q=%22cubans+are+usually+considered+to+be+the+most+successful%22&pg=PA68|access-date=30 November 2016 |pages=68–71 |publisher=Facts on File |year=2005 |isbn=9781438110127}}{{sfn|Pedraza|2007|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}}{{Harvnb|Falk|1988|p=74}}: "[A] tenth of the entire Caribbean population has ... [emigrated to the U.S.] over the past 30 years".{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/000797.html |access-date=19 July 2013 |date=3 September 2002 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090709154810/http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/000797.html |archive-date=9 July 2009 |title=US Census Press Releases}}{{sfn|Pedraza|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QCSJ61F4j34C&pg=PA5 5]}} Prior to 13 January 2013, Cuban citizens could not travel abroad, leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission along with applying for a government-issued passport and travel visa, which was often denied.{{cite web |date=31 December 2005 |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/cuba12207.htm |publisher=Human Rights Watch|title=Essential Background: Overview of human rights issues in Cuba |access-date=13 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305201021/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2006/01/18/cuba12207.htm|archive-date=5 March 2016}} Those who left the country typically did so by sea, in small boats and fragile rafts.

On 9 September 1994, the U.S. and Cuban governments agreed that the U.S. would grant at least 20,000 visas annually in exchange for Cuba's pledge to prevent further unlawful departures on boats.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/13/world/visa-lottery-for-cubans.html|title=Visa Lottery for Cubans|agency=Associated Press|date=13 October 1994|work=The New York Times |access-date=16 January 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}

In 2023, Cuba is undergoing its most severe socioeconomic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, leading to a record number of Cubans fleeing the island.{{Cite web |last1=Hull |first1=Christopher |last2=Kent |first2=James Clifford |date=2023-02-20 |title=Cuba sufre el mayor éxodo ante su peor crisis desde el colapso de la URSS |url=http://theconversation.com/cuba-sufre-el-mayor-exodo-ante-su-peor-crisis-desde-el-colapso-de-la-urss-200237 |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=The Conversation |language=en}} In 2022 alone, the number of Cubans trying to enter the United States, primarily through the Mexican border, surged from 39,000 in 2021 to over 224,000. Many have resorted to selling their homes at very low prices to afford one-way flights to Nicaragua, hoping to travel through Mexico to reach the U.S. For those remaining among the island's 11 million inhabitants, life grows increasingly desperate. Internal migration has led to overpopulation in the capital, Havana, resulting in people living in makeshift shelters or overcrowded buildings, some of which are on the brink of collapse. The island's persistent shortages of food and medicine can be attributed to the U.S. trade embargo in place since 1962 and stringent government control over the economy since 1959. Regular power outages harken back to the early 1990s, a time when Soviet subsidies ended, plunging the island into economic hardship.

Cuba's "Special Period" saw the country relying heavily on foreign tourism and the earnings of nationals working abroad. The pandemic, however, severely affected this revenue stream, decreasing the number of tourists by 75% in 2020. Monetary reforms in 2021 introduced shocks of inflation, further exacerbating the country's food scarcity and boosting the black market's prominence. Despite the increasing hardships, the Cuban spirit remains resilient. Access to the internet since 2018 and widespread use of social media have fueled calls for political and economic liberalization. The power of the internet was evident during the Cuban protests of 2021, which were promptly suppressed by the police, with many prominent artists and bloggers detained.

As of 2013 the top emigration destinations were the United States, Spain, Italy, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.{{cite web |title=Cuba Migration Profiles |url=https://esa.un.org/miggmgprofiles/indicators/files/Cuba.pdf |access-date=16 January 2019 |website=UNICEF}} Following a tightening of U.S. sanctions and damage to the tourist industry by the COVID-19 pandemic, emigration has accelerated. In 2022, more than 2% of the population (almost 250,000 Cubans out of 11 million) migrated to the United States, and thousands more went to other countries, a number "larger than the 1980 Mariel boatlift and the 1994 Cuban rafter crisis combined", which were Cuba's previous largest migration events.

{{Main|Cuban Spanish}}

The official language of Cuba is Spanish and the vast majority of Cubans speak it. Spanish as spoken in Cuba is known as Cuban Spanish and is a form of Caribbean Spanish. Lucumí, a dialect of the West African language Yoruba, is also used as a liturgical language by practitioners of Santería,{{cite book |last=Brandon |first=George |title=Santeria from Africa to the New World |url=https://archive.org/details/santeriafromafri00bran |url-access=registration |quote=lucumi language. |page=[https://archive.org/details/santeriafromafri00bran/page/56 56] |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21114-9 |date=1 March 1997}} and so only as a second language.{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=luq |title=Lucumi: A Language of Cuba (Ethnologue) |access-date=10 March 2010}} Haitian Creole is the second-most spoken language in Cuba, and is spoken by Haitian immigrants and their descendants.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10130814 |title=Cuban Creole choir brings solace to Haiti's children |access-date=10 March 2010 |publisher=BBC News}} Other languages spoken by immigrants include Galician and Corsican.{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CU |title=Languages of Cuba |access-date=31 October 2010}}

{{Main|Religion in Cuba}}

File:Havana Cathedral crop.jpg, built between 1748 and 1777]]

In 2010, the Pew Forum estimated that religious affiliation in Cuba is 59.2% Christian, 23% unaffiliated, 17.4% folk religion (such as santería), and the remaining 0.4% consisting of other religions.{{cite web|title=Religious Composition by Country |url=http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/globalReligion-tables.pdf|work=Global Religious Landscape |publisher=Pew Forum|access-date=9 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909201109/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf|archive-date=9 September 2013}} In a 2015 survey sponsored by Univision, 44% of Cubans said they were not religious and 9% did not give an answer while only 34% said they were Christian.{{cite news|title=Cubans love the pope and the Catholic Church, but they're just not that into religion |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/10/cubans-love-the-pope-and-the-catholic-church-but-theyre-just-not-that-into-religion/|access-date=2021-07-20|issn=0190-8286}}

Cuba is officially a secular state. Religious freedom increased through the 1980s,{{Harvnb|Smith|1996|p=105}}: "The expansion of religious liberty began more than a decade ago, for example, and Cuban citizens, by and large, are free to practice their faiths without fear of persecution." with the government amending the constitution in 1992 to drop the state's characterization as atheistic.{{Harvnb|Domínguez|2003|p=4}}.

Roman Catholicism is the largest religion, with its origins in Spanish colonization. Despite less than half of the population identifying as Catholics in 2006, it nonetheless remains the dominant faith.{{cite web |url=http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2006a/033106/033106o.php|title=Catholic church in Cuba strives to re-establish the faith |author=David Einhorn|publisher=National Catholic Reporter|date=31 March 2006|access-date=7 September 2009}} Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba in 1998 and 2011, respectively, and Pope Francis visited Cuba in September 2015.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/sep/21/pope-francis-in-cuba-pontiff-to-hold-mass-in-holguins-revolution-square-live |title=Pope Francis in Cuba: pontiff arrives in Santiago – as it happened |last1=Woolf |first1=Nicky |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=21 March 2016 |last2=Holpuch |first2=Amanda |last3=Bruno |first3=Angela |last4=Watts |first4=Jonathan in |last5=Kirchgaessner |first5=Stephanie |date=22 September 2015}}{{cite web|title=Cuba to Free 3,500 Prisoners Ahead of Pope Visit |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/cuba-pope-francis-visit-prisoners-amnesty/2959896.html |publisher=Voice of America |date=11 September 2015 |access-date=11 September 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115200947/http://www.voanews.com/content/cuba-pope-francis-visit-prisoners-amnesty/2959896.html|archive-date=15 January 2016}} Prior to each papal visit, the Cuban government pardoned prisoners as a humanitarian gesture.{{cite news|last1=Miroff|first1=Nick|title=Cuba pardons more than 3,500 prisoners ahead of Pope Francis visit |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cuba-pardons-more-than-3500-prisoners-ahead-of-pope-francis-visit/2015/09/11/5e1c1f27-ab63-444f-98ca-fff75cb92d3b_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=11 September 2015 |date=11 September 2015}}{{cite web|last=Alexander |first=Harriett|date=11 September 2015|title=Cuba pardons 3,522 prisoners ahead of Pope Francis visit |work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/11858266/Cuba-pardons-3522-prisoners-ahead-of-Pope-Francis-visit.html |access-date=11 September 2015 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/11858266/Cuba-pardons-3522-prisoners-ahead-of-Pope-Francis-visit.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live }}{{cbignore}}

The government's relaxation of restrictions on house churches in the 1990s led to an explosion of Pentecostalism, with some groups claiming as many as 100,000 members. However, Evangelical Protestant denominations, organized into the umbrella Cuban Council of Churches, remain much more vibrant and powerful.{{cite book |last1=Edmonds |first1=E.B. |last2=Gonzalez |first2=M.A. |title=Caribbean Religious History: An Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oFQ65RzBm5wC&pg=PA171 |publisher=NYU Press |year=2010 |page=171 |isbn=978-0-8147-2250-3}}

The religious landscape of Cuba is also strongly defined by syncretisms of various kinds. Christianity is often practiced in tandem with Santería, a mixture of Catholicism and mostly African faiths, which include a number of cults. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (the Virgin of Cobre) is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and a symbol of Cuban culture. In Santería, she has been syncretized with the goddess Oshun. A breakdown of the followers of Afro-Cuban religions showed that most practitioners of Palo Mayombe were black and dark brown-skinned, most practitioners of Vodú were medium brown and light brown-skinned, and most practitioners of Santeria were light brown and white-skinned.{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Jualynne E. |last2=Millet Batista |first2=José |title=Sacred Spaces and Religious Traditions in Oriente Cuba |pages=12–13 |publisher=UNM Press |year=2008}}

Cuba also hosts small communities of Jews (500 in 2012), Muslims (6,000 in 2011) and members of the Baháʼí Faith.{{cite web|date=13 June 2005 |url=http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=377|title=Government officials visit Baha'i center|publisher=Baha'iWorldNewsService.com}}

Several well-known Cuban religious figures have operated outside the island, including the humanitarian and author Jorge Armando Pérez.

{{Main|Education in Cuba}}

File:Front view of Universidad de La Habana.jpg, founded in 1728]]

The University of Havana was founded in 1728 and there are a number of other well-established colleges and universities. In 1957, just before Castro came to power, the literacy rate was as low as fourth in the region at almost 80% according to the United Nations, yet higher than in Spain. Castro created an entirely state-operated system and banned private institutions. School attendance is compulsory from ages six to the end of basic secondary education (normally at age 15), and all students, regardless of age or gender, wear school uniforms with the color denoting grade level. Primary education lasts for six years, secondary education is divided into basic and pre-university education.{{Cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/547664-1099080026826/The_Cuban_education_system_lessonsEn00.pdf |title=The Cuban Education System: Lessons and Dilemmas. Human Development Network Education. World Bank |access-date=5 April 2007 |archive-date=10 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810172258/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/547664-1099080026826/The_Cuban_education_system_lessonsEn00.pdf }} Cuba's literacy rate of 99.8 percent{{cite web |url=http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/SeriesDetail.aspx?srid=656&crid=192 |title=unstats – Millennium Indicators |publisher=United Nations |date=23 June 2010 |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-date=21 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121152701/http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/SeriesDetail.aspx?srid=656&crid=192 |url-status=dead }} is the tenth-highest globally, largely due to the provision of free education at every level.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/latin-lessons-what-can-we-learn-from-the-worldrsquos-most-ambitious-literacy-campaign-2124433.html |title=Latin lessons: What can we Learn from the World's most Ambitious Literacy Campaign? |work=The Independent |date=7 November 2010 |access-date=19 July 2013}} Cuba's high school graduation rate is 94 percent.[http://www.tc.columbia.edu/news.htm?articleID=7292 Getting a Reading on High Literacy in Cuba] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408223929/http://www.tc.columbia.edu/news.htm?articleID=7292 |date=8 April 2016}}. Teachers College, Columbia University. 22 December 2009.

Higher education is provided by universities, higher institutes, higher pedagogical institutes, and higher polytechnic institutes. The Cuban Ministry of Higher Education operates a distance education program that provides regular afternoon and evening courses in rural areas for agricultural workers. Education has a strong political and ideological emphasis, and students progressing to higher education are expected to have a commitment to the goals of Cuba. Cuba has provided free education to foreign nationals from disadvantaged backgrounds at the Latin American School of Medicine.{{cite web |title=Students graduate from Cuban school |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19942866 |publisher=NBC News |date=25 July 2007 |access-date=7 November 2010}}{{cite news |title=Cuba-trained US doctors graduate |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6914265.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=25 July 2007 |access-date=7 September 2009}}

According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, the top-ranking universities in the country are Universidad de la Habana (1680th worldwide), Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría (2893rd) and the University of Santiago de Cuba (3831st).{{cite web|title=Cuba |url=http://www.webometrics.info/en/Latin_America/Cuba|publisher=Ranking Web of Universities|access-date=23 July 2015}}

{{Main|Healthcare in Cuba}}

File:Life expectancy development in Cuba.svg

After the revolution, Cuba established a free public health system.

Cuba's life expectancy at birth is 80.1 years (77.8 for males and 82.6 for females). This ranks Cuba 58th in the world and 5th in the Americas, behind Canada, the United States, Costa Rica, and Chile.{{Citation |title=Central America :: Cuba – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ |date=6 June 2023 |access-date=12 June 2023}} Infant mortality declined from 32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1957, to 10 in 1990–95,{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf|title=World population Prospects: The 2006 Revision: Highlights|publisher=United Nations.|access-date=19 July 2013}} 6.1 in 2000–2005 and 5.13 in 2009. Historically, Cuba has ranked high in numbers of medical personnel and has made significant contributions to world health since the 19th century. Today, Cuba has universal health care and despite persistent shortages of medical supplies, there is no shortage of medical personnel.{{Harvnb|Whiteford|Branch|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lJe7uc7X3pYC&pg=PA2 2]}} Primary care is available throughout the island and infant and maternal mortality rates compare favorably with those in developed nations. That an impoverished nation like Cuba has health outcomes rivaling the developed world is referred to by researchers as the Cuban Health Paradox.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/billfrist/2015/06/08/cubas-most-valuable-export-its-healthcare-expertise/|title=Cuba's Most Valuable Export: Its Healthcare Expertise|last=Frist |first=Bill |date=8 June 2015 |website=Forbes |access-date=18 November 2018 }} Cuba ranks 29th on the 2024 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, the highest ranking of a developing country.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Lee J. |last2=Lu |first2=Wei |date=24 February 2019 |title=These Are the World's Healthiest Nations |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-24/spain-tops-italy-as-world-s-healthiest-nation-while-u-s-slips|publisher=Bloomberg News |access-date=16 March 2019 }} The Cuban healthcare system, renowned for its medical services, has emphasized the export of health professionals through international missions, aiding global health efforts.{{Cite web |last=Ramos |first=Javier |date=2021-11-18 |title=La otra cara de Cuba: el negocio de las batas blancas |url=https://es.globalvoices.org/2021/11/18/la-otra-cara-de-cuba-el-negocio-de-las-batas-blancas/ |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=Global Voices en Español |language=es}} However, while these missions generate significant revenue and serve as a tool for political influence, domestically, Cuba faces challenges including medication shortages and disparities between medical services for locals and foreigners. Despite the income from these missions, only a small fraction of the national budget has been allocated to public health, underscoring contrasting priorities within the nation's healthcare strategy.

Disease and infant mortality increased in the 1960s immediately after the revolution, when half of Cuba's 6,000 doctors left the country.Cuba: A Different America, By Wilber A. Chaffee, Gary Prevost, Rowland and Littlefield, 1992, p. 106 Recovery occurred by the 1980s, and the country's health care has been widely praised.{{Harvnb|Feinsilver|1989|pp=4–5}}: "Its success has been acclaimed by Dr. Halfdan Mahler, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Dr. Carlysle Guerra de Macedo, Director-General of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as well as by medical professionals from the United States and other capitalist countries who have observed the Cuban health system in action. Despite U.S. hostility toward Cuba, a U.S. government document stated in 1982 that the 'Cuban Revolution has managed social achievements, especially in education and health care, that are highly respected in the Third World ..., [including] a national health care program that is superior in the Third World and rivals that of numerous developed countries.{{' "}} The Communist government stated that universal health care was a priority of state planning and progress was made in rural areas.Lundy, Karen Saucier. Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public's Health. Jones and Bartlett: 2005, p. 377. After the revolution, the government increased rural hospitals from one to 62. Like the rest of the Cuban economy, medical care suffered from severe material shortages following the end of Soviet subsidies in 1991, and a tightening of the U.S. embargo in 1992.{{cite book|title=Global Health Policy, Local Realities: The Fallacy of the Level Playing Field|page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYc_LgzsRDMC&pg=PA69|editor-last=Whiteford|editor-first=Linda M.|editor2-last=Manderson|editor2-first=Lenore|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|location=Boulder, Col.|year=2000|isbn=978-1-55587-874-0|access-date=14 September 2009}}

Challenges include low salaries for doctors,{{cite news |author=Editorial |date=16 May 2015 |title=Be more libre |url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21651216-transformation-economy-needs-happen-much-faster-be-more-libre |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=20 May 2015}} poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and the frequent absence of essential drugs.{{cite web|author=The Committee Office, House of Commons |url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmhealth/30/30ap91.htm |title=Cuban Health Care Systems and its implications for the NHS Plan |publisher=Select Committee on Health |date=28 March 2001 |access-date=19 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821213607/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmhealth/30/30ap91.htm |archive-date=21 August 2013 }}

Cuba has the highest doctor-to-population ratio in the world and has sent thousands of doctors to more than 40 countries around the world.{{sfn|Breier|Wildschut|2007|pp=16, 81}} According to the World Health Organization, Cuba is "known the world over for its ability to train excellent doctors and nurses who can then go out to help other countries in need".{{cite web |title=Cuban medical team heading for Sierra Leone |url=https://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/ |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=27 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914045119/https://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/ |archive-date=14 September 2014 |date=14 September 2014}} {{as of|2014|September|}}, there are around 50,000 Cuban-trained health care workers aiding 66 nations.[https://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/ Cuban medical team heading for Sierra Leone] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228051729/http://www.who.int/features/2014/cuban-ebola-team/en/ |date=28 December 2016 }}. World Health Organization. September 2014. Cuban physicians have played a leading role in combating the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.Alexandra Sifferlin (5 November 2014). [https://time.com/3556670/ebola-cuba/ Why Cuba Is So Good at Fighting Ebola] . Time. Retrieved 28 April 2015. Preventative medicine is very important within the Cuban medical system, which provides citizens with easy to obtain regular health checks.

Import and export of pharmaceutical drugs is done by the Quimefa Pharmaceutical Business Group (FARMACUBA) under the Ministry of Basic Industry (MINBAS). This group also provides technical information for the production of these drugs.{{cite web |url=http://www.cepec.cu/farmacuba.php |title=Centro de Promoción del Comercio Exterior y la Inversión Extranjera de Cuba – CEPEC |publisher=Cepec.cu |access-date=10 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620084258/http://www.cepec.cu/farmacuba.php |archive-date=20 June 2012 }} Isolated from the West by the US embargo, Cuba developed the successful lung cancer vaccine, Cimavax, which is now available to US researchers for the first time, along with other novel Cuban cancer treatments. The vaccine has been available for free to the Cuban population since 2011.Erin Schumaker (14 May 2015). [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/14/cuba-lung-cancer-vaccine_n_7267518.html Cuba's Had A Lung Cancer Vaccine For Years, And Now It's Coming To The U.S.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503231329/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/14/cuba-lung-cancer-vaccine_n_7267518.html |date=3 May 2016 }} The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 May 2015. According to Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center CEO Candace Johnson: "They've had to do more with less, so they've had to be even more innovative with how they approach things. For over 40 years, they have had a preeminent immunology community."Rob Quinn (12 May 2015). [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/12/lung-cancer-vaccine-cimavax-cuba/27168559/ USA about to get Cuba's lung cancer vaccine] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423115808/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/12/lung-cancer-vaccine-cimavax-cuba/27168559/ |date=23 April 2016 }}. USA Today. Retrieved 14 May 2015. During the thaw in Cuba–U.S. relations starting in December 2014 under the Obama administration, a growing number of U.S. lung cancer patients traveled to Cuba to receive vaccine treatment. The end of the thaw under the Trump Administration has resulted in a tightening of travel restrictions, making it harder for U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba for treatment.{{cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Sally |date=10 January 2018 |title=Cuba has a lung cancer vaccine. Many U.S. patients can't get it without breaking the law |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/09/cuba-has-lung-cancer-vaccine-many-u-s-patients-cant-get-without-breaking-law/1019093001/ |access-date=16 October 2018}}

In 2015, Cuba became the first country to eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis,{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/mtct-hiv-cuba/en/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702063246/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/mtct-hiv-cuba/en/| archive-date=2 July 2015| title=WHO validates elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Cuba| publisher=World Health Organization| date=30 June 2015| access-date=30 August 2015}} a milestone hailed by the World Health Organization as "one of the greatest public health achievements possible".{{cite web |last=O'Carroll |first=Lisa |date=30 June 2015 |title=Cuba first to eliminate mother-to-baby HIV transmission |website=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/30/cuba-first-eliminate-mother-baby-hiv-transmission |access-date=1 July 2015}}

The traditional diet in Cuban households has raised international concerns due to its lack of micronutrients and diversity. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), an entity of the United Nations, the average diet in Cuba lacks adequate nutritional quality. This is attributed to various factors, including limited availability of nutrient-rich foods, socioeconomic issues, and poor dietary habits.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-05 |title=Un informe de la ONU señala que los cubanos de 14 a 60 años sufren de malnutrición |url=https://www.14ymedio.com/cuba/informe-ONU-senala-cubanos-malnutricion_0_3508449125.html |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=14ymedio |language=es}} The WFP's annual report on Cuba supports previous testimonies and evidence, pointing to a concerning situation. Even though the country has rolled out food subsidy programs, many backed by the WFP, the populace's diet remains nutritionally insufficient. Specifically, rationed food covers only a small percentage of the daily energy, protein, and fat requirements for the population aged 14 to 60.

Such deficiencies have led to health issues like overweight and obesity, largely due to a diet high in sugars and salts. Additionally, there is a significant disparity in accessing proper nutrition. Individuals without access to foreign currencies and remittances are the most affected. The inadequacy of the minimum wage to meet recommended nutritional requirements is another concern highlighted in the report. The political and socioeconomic landscape has influenced this scenario. The implementation of the "Tarea Ordenamiento", an economic reform that removed many food subsidies, has spurred alarming inflation, intensifying the shortage of basic foods like cereals, vegetables, dairy, and meat. As a result, Cuban households spend between 55% and 65% of their income on food, a proportion deemed disproportionate compared to international standards.

Nevertheless, the report acknowledges the Cuban government's efforts in areas like social protection and universal access to basic services. It highlights Cuba's position in the Human Development Report 2021–2022 and the extensive COVID-19 vaccination coverage. To address food security challenges, the WFP has enhanced its collaboration with Cuban authorities. In 2022, the organization procured essential foods and macronutrients worth $10.7 million in response to alarming figures about anemia prevalence in infants.

Amid this nutritional crisis, international interventions and collaborations are anticipated to alleviate the food and nutrition issues plaguing the Cuban populace.

{{Main|Culture of Cuba}}

File:Casa de la Trova Santiago Cuba.jpg

Cuban culture is influenced by its melting pot of cultures, primarily those of Spain, West Africa and the Indigenous Guanahatabey and Taínos of Cuba. After the 1959 revolution, the government started a national literacy campaign, offered free education to all and established rigorous sports, ballet, and music programs.{{cite news|title=For Cuba, a Harsh Self-Assessment |last1=Burnett |first1=Victoria |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/world/americas/harsh-self-assessment-as-cuba-looks-within.html |work=The New York Times |date=24 July 2013 |access-date=24 July 2013}}

{{Main|Architecture of Cuba}}

File:CU La Habana 9709 028 (17229424611).jpg in Havana, photo taken in 1997]]

Architecture in Cuba was mainly manifested during the colonial period. It brought the culture of Spain with its Baroque influence. The first villas (settlements) were constituted by a church surrounded by several houses. These houses had an interior or central courtyard and were covered with grilles. There are magnificent religious buildings such as the Basílica de San Francisco of Havana. In addition, large forts were built for defense, preventing the attack of pirates and buccaneers. There are several old historic centers in Cuba that were built during the Spanish colonial period, the most remarkable are the four cities inscribed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, Havana, Camagüey, Cienfuegos and Trinidad, which has great architectural bastions of all currents and trends from Baroque, Neoclassical to eclectic art, and other preserved colonial towns such as Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas or Remedios.

During the Republican period, large buildings were built, such as the Capitol, modeled after the one in Washington, and other large buildings such as the Focsa and the Habana Hilton, later the Habana Libre. One of the most outstanding Cuban architects of the second half of the 20th century was Antonio Quintana Simonetti.

After the triumph of the Revolution, architecture received a strong Soviet influence with its desire for symmetry and space saving, and entire new neighborhoods were built in the style of the working-class quarters of Moscow or Minsk. When the Berlin Wall fell, architecture received more diverse currents and there was a boom in 5 star hotels with impressive glass and steel facades in the style of modern skyscrapers in Manhattan or other Latin American metropolises such as Mexico City or Caracas.

{{Main|Cuban literature}}

Cuban literature began to find its voice in the early 19th century. Dominant themes of independence and freedom were exemplified by José Martí, who led the Modernist movement in Cuban literature. Writers such as Nicolás Guillén and José Z. Tallet focused on literature as social protest. The poetry and novels of Dulce María Loynaz and José Lezama Lima have been influential. Romanticist Miguel Barnet, who wrote Everyone Dreamed of Cuba, reflects a more melancholy Cuba.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070214100357/http://www.tobias-hauser.de/vortraege/?cmd=en Costa Rica – Journey into the Tropical Garden of Eden]

Alejo Carpentier was important in the magic realism movement. Writers such as Reinaldo Arenas, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, and Daína Chaviano, Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, Zoé Valdés, Guillermo Rosales and Leonardo Padura have earned international recognition in the post-revolutionary era, though many of these have felt compelled to continue their work in exile due to ideological control of media by the Cuban authorities. However, some Cuban writers continue living and writing in Cuba, including Nancy Morejón.{{Cite web|title=Nancy Morejón |work=Smith College |url=https://www.smith.edu/academics/poetry-center/nancy-morej%C3%B3n|access-date=2021-07-20}}

{{Main|Music of Cuba}}

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Cuban music is very rich and is the most commonly known expression of Cuban culture. The central form of this music is son, which has been the basis of many other musical styles like "Danzón de nuevo ritmo", mambo, cha-cha-chá and salsa music. Rumba ("de cajón o de solar") music originated in the early Afro-Cuban culture, mixed with Spanish elements of style.{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Robin|title=Nationalizing Blackness: Afrocubanismo and Artistic Revolution in Havana, 1920–1940|year=1997|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|isbn=978-0-8229-5645-7}} The Tres was invented in Cuba from Spanish cordophone instruments models (the instrument is actually a fusion of elements from the Spanish guitar and lute). Other traditional Cuban instruments are of African origin, Taíno origin, or both, such as the maracas, güiro, marímbula and various wooden drums including the mayohuacán.

Popular Cuban music of all styles has been enjoyed and praised widely across the world. Cuban classical music, which includes music with strong African and European influences, and features symphonic works as well as music for soloists, has received international acclaim thanks to composers like Ernesto Lecuona. Havana was the heart of the rap scene in Cuba when it began in the 1990s. In December 2012, the director of the Cuban Music Institute, Orlando Vistel, threatened to bar sexually explicit songs and music videos from public radio and television.{{cite web |url=http://abcnews.go.com/International/cuba-bans-reggaeton-sexually-explicit-songs/story?id=17888666 |title=Cuban Government Censors Reggaeton and 'Sexually Explicit' Songs |publisher=ABC News|location=United States |date=6 December 2012 |access-date=19 July 2013}}

{{Main|Dance from Cuba}}

Cuban culture encompasses a wide range of dance forms.{{cite book|last1=Daniel|first1=Yvonne|title=Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contemporary Cuba|date=1995|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington, IN|page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aek7fmzOnu4C|isbn=9780253209481}} Danzón was the official musical genre and dance of Cuba.Urfé, Odilio 1965. El danzón. La Habana. Mambo music and dance developed originally in Cuba, with further significant developments by Cuban musicians in Mexico and the US. The cha-cha-cha is another dance of Cuban origin,Orovio, Helio 2004. Cuban music from A to Z. p50 while the Cuban bolero originated in Santiago de Cuba in the last quarter of the 19th century.Cristobal Diaz offers 1885: "el bolero, creado aproximadamente para 1885". Diaz Ayala, Cristobal 1999. Cuando sali de la Habana 1898-1997: cien años de música cubana por el mundo. 3rd ed, Cubanacán, San Juan P.R. p24-25 Concert dance is supported by the government and includes internationally renowned companies such as the Ballet Nacional de Cuba.{{cite book | last=John | first=S. | title=Contemporary Dance in Cuba: Tecnica Cubana as Revolutionary Movement | publisher=McFarland & Company | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-7864-9325-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=drE0KI3h-7UC&pg=PA23 | page=23}}

Salsa dancing originated in Cuba and Cuban salsa is danced around the world.

{{Main|Mass media in Cuba}}

File:WiFi Internet Access Havanna.JPG

ETECSA opened 118 cybercafes across the country in 2013.{{cite web|title=Cuba's New Internet Service is Also No Bed of Roses |work=MIT Technology Review |date=16 July 2013 |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/view/517241/cubas-new-internet-service-is-also-no-bed-of-roses/|access-date=19 July 2013}} The government of Cuba provides an online encyclopedia website called EcuRed that operates in a "wiki" format.{{cite web |date=13 December 2010 |title=Cuba launches Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia |url=http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE6BD02E20101214?sp=true |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050027/http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE6BD02E20101214?sp=true |archive-date=4 March 2016 |work=Reuters}} Internet access is controlled, and e-mail is closely monitored.{{cite web |url=http://arabia.reporters-sans-frontieres.org/article.php3?id_article=10611 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110727014516/http://arabia.reporters-sans-frontieres.org/article.php3?id_article=10611 |archive-date=27 July 2011 |title=Internet in Cuba |publisher=Reporters Without Borders }}

Since 2018, access to Internet by mobile data is available. In 2019, 7.1 million Cubans could access the Internet.{{cite news |title=El acceso a internet en Cuba llega a 7,1 millones de usuarios en 2019 |url=https://www.efe.com/efe/america/tecnologia/el-acceso-a-internet-en-cuba-llega-7-1-millones-de-usuarios-2019/20000036-4182015 |access-date=3 June 2021 |agency=EFE |date=26 February 2020}} The prices of connections, since{{clarify|date=June 2021}} WiFi zones, or mobile data, or from houses through "Nauta Hogar" service have been decreasing, especially since the economic reform of January 2021, when all the salaries increased by at least 5 times, and the prices of Internet remain in the same point.{{cite news |title=Internet access in Cuba: How data plans work on the Island |url=https://blog.fonoma.com/internet-in-cuba-cb82c289a491 |access-date=3 June 2021}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.efe.com/efe/america/tecnologia/el-acceso-a-internet-en-cuba-llega-7-1-millones-de-usuarios-2019/20000036-4182015|title=El acceso a internet en Cuba llega a 7,1 millones de usuarios en 2019}} In 2024, it was reported that 8.19 million Cuban people have Internet access.{{cite news |date=23 February 2024 |title=Digital 2024: Cuba |url=https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-cuba |url-status=live |access-date=11 April 2025}} There were 6.68 million mobile connections in Cuba in January 2021.

{{Main|Cuban cuisine}}

File:Cubanfood.jpg

Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish and Caribbean cuisines. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. Food rationing, which has been the norm in Cuba for the last four decades, restricts the common availability of these dishes.{{Harvnb|Alvarez|2001}}. The traditional Cuban meal is not served in courses; all food items are served at the same time.

The typical meal could consist of plantains, black beans and rice, ropa vieja (shredded beef), Cuban bread, pork with onions, and tropical fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to as moros y cristianos (or moros for short), and plantains are staples of the Cuban diet. Many of the meat dishes are cooked slowly with light sauces. Garlic, cumin, oregano, and bay leaves are the dominant spices.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

{{Main|Sport in Cuba}}

Due to historical associations with the United States, many Cubans participate in sports that are popular in North America, rather than sports traditionally played in other Latin American nations. Baseball is the most popular. Other popular sports include volleyball, boxing, athletics, wrestling, basketball and water sports.[https://www.whatcuba.com/cuban-sports.html Cuban Sports] whatcuba.com. Retrieved 23 February 2021. Cuba is a dominant force in amateur boxing, consistently achieving high medal tallies in major international competitions. Boxers Rances Barthelemy and Erislandy Lara defected to the U.S. and Mexico respectively.{{Cite web |url=http://sports.yahoo.com/news/meet-the-cuban-boxer-who-failed-to-defect-38-times-before-realizing-u-s--dream-200229434-boxing.html|title=Cuban boxer defected unsuccessfully 38 times before realizing U.S. dream|publisher=Yahoo Sports|date=18 June 2015 }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.premierboxingchampions.com/news/cuba-world-champion-arduous-defection-continues-drive-erislandy-lara |title=From Cuba to world champion: Arduous defection continues to drive Erislandy Lara |first=Lem |last=Satterfield |website=PBC Boxing |date=10 June 2015}} Cuba also provides a national team that competes in the Olympic Games.{{cite web |url=http://www.olympic.org/cuba |title=Cuba – Comité Olímpico Cubano – National Olympic Committee |publisher=International Olympic Committee |access-date=10 June 2013}} Jose R. Capablanca was a Cuban world chess champion from 1921 to 1927.

{{portal|Cuba|Caribbean|Islands}}

• Index of Cuba-related articles
• List of Caribbean islands
• Outline of Cuba
• The Cuba Libre Story

{{notelist}}

{{Clear}}

{{reflist}}

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• {{Cite journal |last1= Gershman |first1= Carl |last2= Gutierrez |first2= Orlando |year= 2009 |title= Can Cuba Change? Ferment in Civil Society |url= http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/article/can-cuba-change-ferment-civil-society |journal= Journal of Democracy |volume= 20 |number= 1 |pages= 36–54 |doi= 10.1353/jod.0.0051 |s2cid= 144413653 }}
• {{Cite journal

|last= Gleijeses |first= Piero |year= 1996

|title= Cuba's First Venture in Africa: Algeria, 1961–1965

|journal= Journal of Latin American Studies |volume= 28 |issue= 1 |pages= 159–195

|jstor= 157991|doi=10.1017/s0022216x00012670|s2cid= 144610436 }}

• {{Cite journal

|last= Gleijeses |first= Piero |year= 1997

|title= The First Ambassadors: Cuba's Contribution to Guinea-Bissau's War of Independence

|journal= Journal of Latin American Studies |volume= 29 |issue= 1 |pages= 45–88

|jstor= 158071|doi=10.1017/s0022216x96004646|s2cid= 144904249 }}

• {{Cite book

|last= Gleijeses |first= Piero |year= 2002

|title= Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959–1976

|location= Chapel Hill, NC |publisher= University of North Carolina Press

|isbn= 978-0-8078-2647-8}}

• {{Cite book

|last= Gleijeses |first= Piero |year= 2010

|chapter= Cuba and the Cold War, 1959–1980 |title= In Melvyn P. Leffler & Odd Arne Westad, eds., The Cambridge History of the Cold War, Volume II: Crises and Détente

|location= Cambridge |publisher= Cambridge University Press |pages= 327–348

|isbn= 978-0-521-83720-0}}

• {{Cite book |last= Gott |first= Richard |author-link= Richard Gott |year= 2004 |title= Cuba: A New History |location= New Haven, CT |publisher= Yale University Press |isbn= 978-0-300-10411-0 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/cubanewhistory0000gott }}
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|last= Horowitz |first= Irving Louis |author-link= Irving Louis Horowitz |year= 1988

|title= Cuban Communism

|location= New Brunswick, NJ |publisher= Transaction Books

|isbn= 978-0-88738-672-5}}

• {{Cite book |last= McAlister |first= Lyle N. |year= 1984 |title= Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1492–1700 |location= Minneapolis, MN |publisher= University of Minnesota Press |isbn= 978-0-8166-1216-1 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/spainportugalinn0000mcal }}
• {{Cite book

|last= Pedraza |first= Silvia |year= 2007

|title= Political Disaffection in Cuba's Revolution and Exodus

|location= New York, NY |publisher= Cambridge University Press

|isbn= 978-0-521-86787-0}}

• {{Cite book

|last= Ramazani |first= Rouhollah K. |year= 1975

|title= The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz

|location= Alphen aan den Rijn |publisher= Sijthoff & Noordhoff

|isbn= 978-90-286-0069-0}}

• {{Cite book

|last= Roy |first= Joaquín |year= 2000

|title= Cuba, the United States, and the Helms-Burton Doctrine: International Reactions

|location= Gainesville, FL |publisher= University of Florida Press

|isbn= 978-0-8130-1760-0}}

• {{Cite book

|last= Scheina |first= Robert L. |year= 2003

|title= Latin America's Wars, Volume I: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899

|location= Dulles, VA |publisher= Brassey's

|isbn= 978-1-57488-449-4}}

• {{cite book |last1=Scheina |first1=Robert L. |year=2003b |title=Latin America's Wars Volume II: The Age of the Professional Soldier, 1900-2001}}
• {{Cite book

|last= Scott |first= Rebecca J. |author-link= Rebecca J. Scott |year= 2000 |orig-year= 1985

|title= Slave Emancipation in Cuba: The Transition to Free Labor, 1860–1899

|location= Pittsburgh, PA |publisher= University of Pittsburgh Press

|isbn= 978-0-8229-5735-5}}

• {{Cite journal

|last= Smith |first= Wayne S. |author-link= Wayne Smith (diplomat) |year= 1996

|title= Cuba's Long Reform

|journal= Foreign Affairs |volume= 75 |issue= 2 |pages= 99–112

|jstor= 20047491|doi= 10.2307/20047491 }}

• {{Cite book |last1= Smith |first1= Kirby |last2= Llorens |first2= Hugo |year= 1998 |chapter= Renaissance and Decay: A Comparison of Socioeconomic Indicators in Pre-Castro and Current-Day Cuba |chapter-url= http://www.ascecuba.org/c/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/v08-30smith.pdf |title= Cuba in Transition, Volume 8 |url= http://www.ascecuba.org/publications/annual-proceedings/cuba-in-transition-volume-08/ |location= Silver Spring, MD |publisher= ASCE |pages= 247–259 |isbn= 978-0-9649082-7-7 |access-date= 25 March 2013 |archive-date= 6 April 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230406061627/https://www.ascecuba.org/publications/annual-proceedings/cuba-in-transition-volume-08/ |url-status= dead }}
• {{Cite book |last= Sweig |first= Julia E. |author-link= Julia E. Sweig |year= 2004 |orig-year= 2002 |title= Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground |edition= New |location= Cambridge, MA |publisher= Harvard University Press |isbn= 978-0-674-01612-5 |url= https://archive.org/details/insidecubanrevol00juli }}
• {{Cite book

|last= Thomas |first= Hugh |author-link=Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton

|year= 1998

|title= Cuba; or, The Pursuit of Freedom |edition= updated

|location= Cambridge, MA |publisher= Da Capo Press

|isbn= 978-0-306-80827-2}}

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|last= Westad |first= Odd Arne |author-link= Odd Arne Westad |year= 2012

|title= Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750

|location= London |publisher= The Bodley Head

|isbn= 978-1-84792-197-0}}

• {{Cite book

|last1= Whiteford |first1= Linda M. |last2= Branch |first2=Laurence G. |year=2008

|title=Primary Health Care in Cuba: The Other Revolution

|location= Lanham, MD |publisher= Rowman & Littlefield

|isbn= 978-0-7425-5994-3}}

• {{Cite book |last= Wright |first= Irene Aloha |year= 1916 |title= The Early History of Cuba, 1492–1586 |url= https://openlibrary.org/works/OL143127W/The_early_history_of_Cuba_1492-1586 |location= New York, NY |publisher= The Macmillan Company }}

{{Refend}}

{{Sister project links|auto=1|wikt=y|v=y}}

• [https://cubaminrex.cu/en Official site of the Government of Cuba] {{in lang|en}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080830044824/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/cuba.htm Cuba] from University of Colorado Boulder Libraries
• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/ Cuba]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://www.ifs.du.edu/IFs/frm_CountryProfile/CU Key Development Forecasts for Cuba] from International Futures
• {{Wikiatlas|Cuba}}

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