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Theme Week Cuba

Monday, 25 April 2016 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik
Category/Kategorie: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  13 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Cuba is comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It is south of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 110,860 square kilometres (42,800 sq mi), and the second-most populous after Hispaniola, with over 11 million inhabitants. Prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, which led to nominal independence as a de facto United States protectorate in 1902. As a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batista’s ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, which afterwards established a government under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Since 1965, the country has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A pawn during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war nearly broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America. It is a multiethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves, and a close relationship with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

The Cuban state claims to adhere 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. Any firm wishing to hire a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn will pay the employee in Cuban pesos. The average monthly wage as of July 2013 is 466 Cuban pesos, which are worth about US$19. Before Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, Cuba was one of the most advanced and successful countries in Latin America. Cuba’s capital, Havana, was a “glittering and dynamic city”. The country’s economy in the early part of the 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. Cuba also ranked 11th in the world in the number of doctors per capita. Several private clinics and hospitals provided services for the poor. Cuba’s income distribution compared favorably with that of other Latin American societies. However, income inequality was a profound issue between city and countryside, especially between whites and blacks. Cubans lived in abysmal poverty in the countryside. A thriving middle class, according to PBS, held the promise of prosperity and social mobility. According to Cuba historian Louis Perez of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “Havana was then what Las Vegas has become.” 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. The removal of these subsidies sent the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as the Special Period. 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 (the organopónicos) to compensate for the end of food imports from the Soviet Union. It’s widely viewed that the U.S. embargo which initiated as a result of discontent with nationalization of U.S.-citizen-held property and later perceived human rights violations hurts the Cuban economy. Despite the adverse external circumstances Cuba’s economic problems are primarily given due to internal obstacles. Since mid-2014 a very cautious rapprochement between the US and Cuba is carried out, which shall lead to the normalization of relations between the two states.

Cuban culture is influenced by its melting pot of cultures, primarily those of Spain and Africa. After the 1959 revolution, the government started a national literacy campaign, offered free education to all and established rigorous sports, ballet and music programs. 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. 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.

Tourism in Cuba was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as “enclave tourism” and “tourism apartheid”. Contacts between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were de facto illegal between 1992 and 1997. 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. Cuba has tripled its market share of Caribbean tourism in the last decade; as a result of significant investment in tourism infrastructure, this growth rate is predicted to continue. 1.9 million tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of US$2.1 billion. Cuba recorded 2,688,000 international tourists in 2011, the third-highest figure in the Caribbean (behind the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico). The medical tourism sector caters to thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian, and American consumers every year.

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Read more on CubaTravel.cu, LonelyPlanet.com – Cuba, Cuban cuisine, History, Culture, Tourism, Visa policy of Cuba, Cuba–United States relations, Economy, Human Rights, Foreign relations of Cuba, Wikivoyage Cuba (Los Aangeles Times, 20 April 2019: Shortages hit Cuba, raising fears of new economic crisis, The New York Times, 20 September 2020: Cuba’s Economy Was Hurting. The Pandemic Brought a Food Crisis., Reuters, 17 December 2020: Cuban economy shrank 11% in 2020, government says, DW, 7 February 2021: Cuban government opens up economy, BBC, 7 February 2021: Cuba opens up its economy to private businesses, Arab News, 12 February 2021: Squeezed by sanctions, pandemic, Cuba finally opens up economy, France24, 16 April 2021: A retiring Castro to bring younger face to Cuba’s communists, DW, 16 April 2021: How Cubans earn a living from standing in line, The Hill, 16 April 2021: Cuba readies for life without Castro, France24, 16 April 2021: A page turns in Cuba as Raul Castro makes way for next generation, Al Jazeera, 17 April 2021: As Cuba turns page on Castro era, economic reform gains urgency, France24, 18 April 2021: Cuban economy, internet on party agenda ahead of Castro exit, The New Yorker, 28 April 2021: Cuba After the Castros, Reuters, 1 May 2021: Pandemic and economic crisis dampen May Day in Cuba, NPR, 4 May 2021: In The CIA’s 1st Plot Against The Castros, Fidel Wasn’t The Target, France24, 11 July 2021: Thousands join rare anti-government protests in Cuba, Miami Herald, 11 July 2021: ‘We are not afraid!’ Cubans take to the streets to demand freedom, food, vaccines (it is and remains a tragedy. The regime has all options at hand, but blocks them time and time again. The country could already prosper for a long time and, with appropriate planning, offer relative prosperity for all residents if it weren’t for the corrupt and incompetent leadership. Cuba is and will remain an island, so that imports and exports can be centrally controlled and customs duties can be levied in order to generate additional and permanent income, so that the disproportionate dependence on tourism and aid from Cubans in exile can be reduced. For everything else there are very well-functioning, private-sector solutions. You just have to allow them. Just reducing the investment backlog, which amounts to at least 50 years (basically the entire island has to be completely renewed/renovated), would be a gigantic economic program with lifelong, relatively well-paid jobs for up to 20% of the population. Instead, the regime continue to rely on reprisals, decay, lack of prospects and resignation. The saloon communists of the West, who for decades have thought they have to pat and kiss the dictatorial regime’s buttocks instead of helping the population, also contribute their share to the catastrophic conditions under which large parts of the population have to live. There is only one point that can be positively attributed to the incompetent regime and that arises from the incompetence of the regime, the associated decay of the entire island infrastructure since the revolution and the hardly ever industrialization of the island: the environment, flora and fauna are in a comparatively good condition), The New York Times, 11 July 2021: Cubans Denounce ‘Misery’ in Biggest Protests in Decades, France24, 12 July 2021: Thousands of Cubans take to the streets in rare anti-government protests, BBC, 12 July 2021: Cuba protests: Thousands rally against government as economy struggles, CNN, 12 July 2021: Cubans take to streets in rare protests over lack of freedoms and worsening economy, Miami Herald, 12 July 2021: Thousands of people flood streets near Little Havana to support protesters in Cuba, The Guardian, 12 July 2021: Thousands march in Cuba in rare mass protests amid economic crisis, NBC News, 12 July 2021: ‘We are no longer afraid’: Thousands of Cubans protest against the government, Reuters, 12 July 2021: Cuba sees biggest protests for decades as pandemic adds to woes, DW, 12 July 2021: Cuba: Thousands turn out to anti-government protests, France24, 7 August 2021: Cuba legalizes small and medium enterprises in boost for private sector, BBC, 7 August 2021: Cuba allows small and medium-sized private businesses, Times of Malta, 7 August 2021: Cuba legalizes small and medium enterprises in boost for private sector) and Wikipedia Cuba. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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