Context of Cuba

 

Cuba ( (listen) KEW-bə, Spanish: [ˈkuβa] (listen); Lucumi: Erekusú), officially the Republic of Cuba (Spanish: República de Cuba [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] (listen)), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. ...Read more

 

Cuba ( (listen) KEW-bə, Spanish: [ˈkuβa] (listen); Lucumi: Erekusú), officially the Republic of Cuba (Spanish: República de Cuba [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] (listen)), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is 109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi) (without the territorial waters) but a total of 350,730 km2 (135,420 sq mi) including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants.

The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney people from the 4th millennium BC with the Guanahatabey and Taíno peoples until Spanish colonization in the 15th century. From the 15th century, it was a colony of Spain, and slavery was abolished in 1886, remaining a Spanish colony until the Spanish–American War of 1898, when Cuba was occupied by the United States and gained independence in 1902. In 1940, Cuba implemented a new constitution, but mounting political unrest culminated in a coup in 1952 and the subsequent dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, which was later overthrown in January 1959 by the 26th of July Movement during the Cuban Revolution, which afterwards established communist rule under the leadership of Fidel Castro. The country was a point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and a nuclear war nearly broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba faced a severe economic downturn in the 1990s, known as the Special Period. In 2008, Fidel Castro resigned after 49 years of leadership of Cuba and was replaced by his brother Raúl Castro.

Cuba is one of a few extant Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist states, in which the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Cuba has an authoritarian regime where political opposition is not permitted. Censorship of information is extensive and independent journalism is repressed in Cuba; Reporters Without Borders has characterized Cuba as one of the worst countries in the world for press freedom.

Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America. It is a multiethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, including the Taíno Ciboney peoples, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of enslaved Africans and a close relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Cuba is a founding member of the United Nations, G77, Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, ALBA, and Organization of American States. It has currently one of the world's few planned economies, and its economy is dominated by the tourism industry and the exports of skilled labor, sugar, tobacco, and coffee. Cuba has historically—both before and especially during communist rule—performed better than other countries in the region on several socioeconomic indicators, such as literacy, infant mortality and life expectancy. Cuba has universal health care, where medical treatments are provided for free to all Cuban citizens.

More about Cuba

Basic information
  • Currency Cuban peso
  • Native name Cuba
  • Calling code +53
  • Internet domain .cu
  • Mains voltage 110V/60Hz
  • Democracy index 2.84
Population, Area & Driving side
  • Population 10985974
  • Area 109884
  • Driving side right
History
  •  

    Before the 1959 revolution, Cuba was one of the richest countries in Latin America. Significant inequalities existed between city and countryside and between whites and blacks. Health care and education were not available to the rural poor, many of whom were seriously undernourished.[1] The country's economy in the middle part of the 20th century, fuelled by the sale of sugar to the United States, had grown wealthy. Cuba ranked 5th in the hemisphere in per capita income, 3rd in life expectancy, 2nd in per capita ownership of automobiles and telephones, and 1st in the number of television sets per inhabitant. Cuba's literacy rate, 76%, was the fourth highest in Latin America although two-thirds of the people received three years of education or less; one-third never attended school and half the adult population could neither read nor write.[2] Cuba also ranked 11th in the world in the number of doctors per capita, although there was massive inequality in the distribution of doctors; for example more than 60% of all doctors lived and worked in Havana in 1958 and even when they worked outside Havana province they typically worked in other provincial capitals.[3]

    US companies dominated the Cuban economy before the Revolution, controlling 80% of Cuba's trade. US firms ran public utilities, the railroad, and all of the oil refineries. Two-thirds of food production came from US-owned agro-business enterprises. US developers owned half of the arable land on the island.[2] Just 8% of landholders owned three-quarters of the land. At least 25% of the population was unemployed. 20% of the population received 58% of the income, while the bottom 20% took in just 2%.[2]

    According to PBS, a thriving middle class held the promise of prosperity and social mobility.[1] According to Cuba historian Louis Perez of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "Havana was then what Las Vegas has become."[4]

    ...Read more
     

    Before the 1959 revolution, Cuba was one of the richest countries in Latin America. Significant inequalities existed between city and countryside and between whites and blacks. Health care and education were not available to the rural poor, many of whom were seriously undernourished.[1] The country's economy in the middle part of the 20th century, fuelled by the sale of sugar to the United States, had grown wealthy. Cuba ranked 5th in the hemisphere in per capita income, 3rd in life expectancy, 2nd in per capita ownership of automobiles and telephones, and 1st in the number of television sets per inhabitant. Cuba's literacy rate, 76%, was the fourth highest in Latin America although two-thirds of the people received three years of education or less; one-third never attended school and half the adult population could neither read nor write.[2] Cuba also ranked 11th in the world in the number of doctors per capita, although there was massive inequality in the distribution of doctors; for example more than 60% of all doctors lived and worked in Havana in 1958 and even when they worked outside Havana province they typically worked in other provincial capitals.[3]

    US companies dominated the Cuban economy before the Revolution, controlling 80% of Cuba's trade. US firms ran public utilities, the railroad, and all of the oil refineries. Two-thirds of food production came from US-owned agro-business enterprises. US developers owned half of the arable land on the island.[2] Just 8% of landholders owned three-quarters of the land. At least 25% of the population was unemployed. 20% of the population received 58% of the income, while the bottom 20% took in just 2%.[2]

    According to PBS, a thriving middle class held the promise of prosperity and social mobility.[1] According to Cuba historian Louis Perez of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "Havana was then what Las Vegas has become."[4]

     
     
    Cigar production in Santiago de Cuba

    After the Cuban Revolution and before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba depended on Moscow for substantial aid and sheltered markets for its exports, valued at $65 billion in subsidies in total from 1960 to 1990. This accounted for between 10% and 40% of Cuban GDP, depending on the year.[5] The loss of these subsidies sent the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as the Special Period, which saw the country's GDP decline by 33% between 1990 and 1993.[6] Cuba took limited free-market oriented measures to alleviate severe shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. These steps included allowing some self-employment in certain retail and light manufacturing sectors, the legalization of the use of the US dollar in business, and the encouragement of tourism. Cuba has developed a unique urban farm system called organopónicos to compensate for the end of food imports from the Soviet Union. The U.S. embargo against Cuba was instituted in 1960 in response to nationalization of U.S.-citizen-held property and was maintained on the grounds of perceived human rights violations. It is widely viewed that the embargo hurt the Cuban economy. In 2009, the Cuban Government estimated this loss at $685 million annually.[7]

    In 2005, Cuba had exports of US$2.4 billion, ranking 114 of 226 world countries, and imports of US$6.9 billion, ranking 87 of 226 countries.[8] Its major export partners are Canada 17.7%, China 16.9%, Venezuela 12.5%, Netherlands 9%, and Spain 5.9% (2012).[9] Cuba's major exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus fruits, and coffee;[9] imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated at $13 billion,[10] approximately 38% of GDP.[11] According to the Heritage Foundation, Cuba is dependent on credit accounts that rotate from country to country.[12] 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.[13] It was announced in 2008 that wage caps would be abandoned to improve the nation's productivity.[14]

    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.[15] Venezuela supplies Cuba with an estimated 110,000 barrels (17,000 m3) of oil per day in exchange for money and the services of some 44,000 Cubans, most of them medical personnel, in Venezuela.[16][17]

     
     
    Cubans are now permitted to own small businesses in certain sectors.

    In 2010[update], 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.[18] There is virtually no homelessness in Cuba,[19][20] and 85% of Cubans own their homes[21] and pay no property taxes or mortgage interest. Mortgage payments may not exceed 10% of a household's combined income.[citation needed].

    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".[22] It would cut more than one million state jobs, including party bureaucrats who resist the changes.[23] The reforms created what some call "New Cuban Economy".[24][25] In October 2013, Raúl said he intended to merge the two currencies, but as of August 2016[update], the dual currency system remains in force.

     
     
    Tobacco fields in Viñales

    In August 2012, a specialist of the "Cubaenergia Company" announced the opening of Cuba's first Solar Power Plant. As a member of the Cubasolar Group, there was also a mention of ten additional plants in 2013.[26]

    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."[27]

    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.[28]

    In June 2019, the government announced an increase in public sector wages of about 300%, specifically for teachers and health personnel.[29] In October, the government allowed stores to purchase house equipment and similar items, using international currency, and send it to Cuba by the Cuban 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.

    On January 1, 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.[30][31][32] Also, in February, the government dictated new measures to the private sector, with prohibitions for only 124 activities,[33] in areas like national security, health and educational services.[34] 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.[31]

    The first problems of the new reform, for the public opinion, were with the electricity prices, but that was amended quickly. Other measures corrected were in the prices to the private farmers.[citation needed] In July 2020, Cuba opened new stores accepting only foreign currency while simultaneously eliminating a special tax on the U.S. dollar[35] to combat an economic crisis arising initially due to economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration,[36] then later worsened by a lack of tourism during the coronavirus pandemic. These economic sanctions have since been sustained by the Biden administration.[37]

    ^ a b "American Experience – Fidel Castro – People & Events". PBS. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2014. ^ a b c Pineo, Ronn (1 March 2019). "Cuban Public Healthcare: A Model of Success for Developing Nations". Journal of Developing Societies. 35 (1): 16–61. doi:10.1177/0169796X19826731. ISSN 0169-796X. ^ Valdés, Nelson P. (1971). "Health and Revolution in Cuba". Science & Society. 35 (3): 311–335. ISSN 0036-8237. JSTOR 40401580. ^ Natasha Geiling. "Before the Revolution". Smithsonian. Retrieved 17 December 2014. ^ Mesa-Logo, Carmelo. How to break with Cuba's economic dependence. New York Times. March 10, 2019. ^ Brundenius, Claes (2009) Revolutionary Cuba at 50: Growth with Equity revisited. Latin American Perspectives Vol. 36 No. 2, March 2009, pp. 31–48. ^ "The Costs of the Embargo | Dollars & Sense". dollarsandsense.org. Retrieved 18 October 2016. ^ "Rank Order Exports". The World Factbook. CIA. 29 June 2006. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2014. ^ a b "Cuba". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 6 April 2009. ^ Calzon, Frank (13 March 2005). "Cuba makes poor trade partner for Louisiana". Center for a Free Cuba. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2009. ^ "Rank Order – GDP (purchasing power parity)". CIA Fact Book. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2006. ^ Cite error: The named reference catholic was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ "Cuba's Sugar Industry and the Impact of Hurricane Michele" (PDF). International Agricultural Trade Report. 6 December 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2006. ^ Glendinning, Lee (12 June 2008). "Cuba to abandon wage caps". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2015. ^ "Cuban leader looks to boost food production". CNN. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2009. ^ "Venezuela's Maduro pledges continued alliance with Cuba". Reuters. Retrieved 19 July 2013. ^ "Cuba Ill-Prepared for Venezuelan Shock". Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013. ^ "Gobierno de Castro otorga a cubanos permiso para construir viviendas "por esfuerzo propio" en". Noticias24.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2010. ^ Alliance, Community (13 September 2011). "Homeless in Cuba? Not Likely". Community Alliance. Retrieved 2 January 2021. ^ "Opinion: Universal healthcare, no illiteracy and other Cuban feats under a U.S. embargo". Los Angeles Times. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2021. ^ Grein, John (1 January 2015). "Recent Reforms in Cuban Housing Policy". International Immersion Program Papers. ^ Cave, Damien (2 August 2011). "Cuba Prepares for Private Property". The New York Times. ^ "Cuba National Assembly approves economic reforms". BBC News. 2 August 2011. ^ Categoría: Lucha de nuestros pueblos (1 April 2014). "Los nuevos lineamientos económicos". Semanarioaqui.com. Retrieved 23 April 2014. ^ "New Cuban Economy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2014. ^ "Cuba to Open Solar Power Plant - Cuba's Havana Times.org". Havanatimes.org. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2013. ^ Study: Cubans don't make much, but it's more than state salaries indicate, Miami Herald, 12 July 2016 ^ "Cuba rations chicken, eggs and rice as economic crisis worsens". National Post. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019. 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. ^ "Cuba announces increase in wages as part of economic reform". NBC News. AP. Retrieved 8 June 2021. ^ "Cuba eliminates the CUC and announces currency unification". Miami Herald. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2022. ^ a b "What will Cuba's new single currency mean for the island?". Al Jazeera. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021. ^ Forde, Kaelyn (16 July 2021). "Cuba protests: The economic woes driving discontent". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 February 2022. ^ "Cuba opens up its economy to private businesses". BBC. 7 February 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021. ^ "Cuba to reform economy, allow more private enterprise". Daily Friend. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021. ^ "Cuba opens foreign currency-only shops, ends tax on dollar". ABCnews. AP. Retrieved 8 June 2021. ^ Chalfant, Morgan (23 September 2020). "Trump announces new sanctions on Cuba". MSNnews. Retrieved 8 June 2021. ^ "Biden administration decided to keep Cuba in the "bad boys" list". 26 May 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
    Read less
Stay safe
  •  
    Stay safe

    Cuba is generally a very safe country. The government punishes crime severely, adding another layer of deterrence. Strict and prominent policing, combined with neighborhood-watch-style programs (known as the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, or CDR) generally keep the streets safe from violent crime.

    Drug laws are incredibly harsh in Cuba, as are the laws against prostitution and the importation, distribution and production of pornography.

    Criticism of the Cuban government, the Communist party, and figures of the revolution is unwise; you never know who might be listening.

    Do not take photographs of policemen, soldiers, and other authority figures without their consent. The authorities may consider it as espionage.

    Women receive a lot of attention from men, especially away from the more touristy centre of Havana. Avoiding cleavage and short skirts will lessen the attention but by no means stop it. Do not get annoyed by the whistles or hissing sounds, as Cuban women often acknowledge and welcome the attention. Acknowledging it too enthusiastically, however, will probably encourage the men.

    Scams

    Common scams include:

    ...Read more
     
    Stay safe

    Cuba is generally a very safe country. The government punishes crime severely, adding another layer of deterrence. Strict and prominent policing, combined with neighborhood-watch-style programs (known as the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, or CDR) generally keep the streets safe from violent crime.

    Drug laws are incredibly harsh in Cuba, as are the laws against prostitution and the importation, distribution and production of pornography.

    Criticism of the Cuban government, the Communist party, and figures of the revolution is unwise; you never know who might be listening.

    Do not take photographs of policemen, soldiers, and other authority figures without their consent. The authorities may consider it as espionage.

    Women receive a lot of attention from men, especially away from the more touristy centre of Havana. Avoiding cleavage and short skirts will lessen the attention but by no means stop it. Do not get annoyed by the whistles or hissing sounds, as Cuban women often acknowledge and welcome the attention. Acknowledging it too enthusiastically, however, will probably encourage the men.

    Scams

    Common scams include:

    Renting a car in Cuba calls for your attention on every single peso you pay. One of the reported scams is referring to the cost of insurance, and it is quite expensive as you may be charged at twice the real cost. The price of insurance depends only on the car model, but the clerk might start to explain the difference between two or three types of policies, at different costs (for the same car class). The more expensive one has full coverage (except for the radio and tires theft). If you choose the more expensive option, you are told that it is not possible to pay the full amount with a credit card. Nevertheless, it is possible to pay a part of it with credit card (exactly the cost of the less expensive one) and pay cash for the difference. You will not get any receipt, nor does this sum appear on the rental contract. This is the exact amount the scammer gets from you. Real-looking discount cigars of dubious authenticity being offered by street touts. Quite often these are genuine articles which have been stolen or collected over a long period of time by cigar workers and are sold at substantial discount on legal and taxed cigars. If you are unable to distinguish genuine cigars then you should only buy from the official cigar dealers. Hotel doormen often offer untaxed (illegal) cigars, around ten times cheaper than taxed cigars a rule of thumb. There is a risk that customs will confiscate these on exit, although this will be unlikely for less than fifty cigars. "Friendly" locals inviting tourists to bars for a drink or to a restaurant; the tourist will be charged two to three times the normal price, and the spoils split between the establishment and the "friend". In Central Havana, a running trick is a young local man or couple, on the pretext of practising English, invite tourists to attend a performance by "Buena Vista Social Club" (no, most of the members of BVSC have passed away and the group has not performed in Havana for many years) while suggesting to go to a nearby bar for a drink while waiting for the show to start. Some locals even demand a few pesos for their company.
     
     
    Taxi in Havana
    Make the price absolutely clear before doing any business, especially if you are not a Spanish speaker. It is not uncommon to reach a destination with a taxi and be asked for much more money than agreed, on a pretext of misunderstanding such as CUP25 instead of CUP5. The advice is to write the price on a piece of paper and show it to the person. In Havana it is important to always be careful when using money. When taking a taxi, ask someone familiar with the system what the approximate fare should be, as many drivers will try to set an artificially high fare before departing. If in doubt, insist that they use the meter. You can almost be sure that any predetermined fare from the airport is higher than it should be, so insist on the meter. Water is often sold around tourist areas. Sometimes these bottles have been filled with local tap water (which can be poisonous) and re-sealed. You can usually see this tampering on the bottle, but not always. In any case, tap water will taste markedly different to bottled water and should be avoided in all cases. In fact, real bottled water (same goes for canned soft drinks) is a luxury even to locals and costs about the same either in CUP (around CUP10) in stores, local or tourist ones alike. If you get one too cheaply, it's probably too good to be true. Locals offer to swap money at a "local bank" where the natives can get the best rates and ask you to remain outside whilst they do the deal as your presence would drive the rate up. If you give them your money, you will never see them again. Credit card scams are common, so money should only be withdrawn in reputable hotels or banks. Ideally, carry cash with you; US dollars, euros and British pounds are almost universally accepted (in order of popularity). Some shop assistants have been known to take advantage of some foreigners when it comes to providing change: Some have been known not to give change and go on serving the next customer, assuming the tourist will not be able to speak enough Spanish to question this. Do not let your credit card out of your hands, and watch as the salesperson passes the card in the machine. If anything seems strange, do not sign. Merchants in small shops may take your card to an adjacent bank counter and use it to take out a cash advance. Look closely at your receipts, if the receipt indicates Venta and a dollar or CUC amount, this means that it has been passed as a cash advance (which will be kept by the dishonest employees). However, credit card facilities are generally so limited to non-existent in shops that it is customary and more practical to pay with cash. Jineteros/jineteras (hustlers) are a problem in larger cities, and will try to sell tourists anything, including restaurants, cigars, sex and drugs. This type of solicitation is illegal in Cuba and most will leave you alone if you ignore them or politely say no for fear of police attention. If you do find yourself in a situation with a more relentless jinetero, tell them that you have been in the country for several weeks, that you are a student at the university, and they will probably leave you alone. Many rely on tourists who are unfamiliar with the system and comparatively rich, so ideally you should try not to fit that part. Even if a tout gets only a few pesos from unsuspecting tourists a day, he or she will probably make as much as a doctor's monthly salary in just a week or two.
    Read less

Phrasebook

Two
Dos
Three
Tres
Four
cuatro
Five
Cinco
Six
Seis
Seven
Siete
Eight
Ocho
Nine
Nueve
Ten
Diez
Help!
¡Ayuda!
What's your name?
¿Cuál es tu nombre?
Where is the toilet?
¿Donde esta el inodoro?

Where can you sleep near Cuba ?

Booking.com
487.364 visits in total, 9.187 Points of interest, 404 Destinations, 49 visits today.