Cuban History

The land Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) discovered in 1492,
later to be called Cuba, was primarily inhabited by the Taino
people, gentle, hospitable folk who welcomed the Spaniards. However,
events on the island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) were soon to
prove a forerunner of what the Tainos on Cuba could expect from the
invading Spaniards.

A Taino chief, Hatuey escaped from Hispaniola, with a few
hundred men, women and children, after experiencing treatment typical
of the conquering Spaniards at that time i.e. murder, rape and looting of
treasures. He described to the Cuban Tainos the treatment they could
expect from the Spaniards and how their God seemed to be merely the
gold and jewels they so eagerly desired. But, appartently his account
was so shocking and unbelievable that few joined his army. His
hit-and-run guerilla tactics did initially bring some success, but as is too
often the case he was betrayed, captured and burned alive at the
stake. On being offered absolution in prerparation for his ascent into
heaven, he asked the priest whether there were any like him in heaven.
When told that there were many like him, Hatuey refused to have any
part with a God who allowed such barbaric deeds in his name.
Tragically, most of the native Indian population were exterminated by the
Spaniards, following Hatuey's execution.

Hatuey was just the first in a long line of Cuban freedom fighters. In
1513, the first recorded African slaves arrive in Cuba from Hispaniola but
it wasn't until 1520 that 300 slaves were shipped in to work in the gold
mines. It was in one of those mines that the slave revolted briefly,
until they were savagely put down and their heads displayed in Bayamo
to reassure the settlers that the army was still in control. Uprisings
continued periodically and, due to Spain's monopolistic strangle hold on
Cuban commerce, unrest started to forment among the merchant classes
and in 1868 serious opposition to the authorities began, with the
charismatic Carlos Manuel de Cespedes at the head. He was a young
lawyer who'd had a brush with an embryonic coup in Spain in 1843,
against Baldomero Espartero. The coup failed, causing him to leave hastily
for Cuba where he was instrumental in starting the rebellion against
Spanish rule, along with the noted rebel commander Antonio Maceo.

Although the rebels consistently beat the Spanish forces, despite having
inferior manpower and weapons, they sued for peace in 1878 and terms
were agreed. Slaves were promised their freedom but this never
materialised, along with other broken promises, and war resumed shortly
afterwards in 1879, known as The Little War, or second war for
independance, which soon faded out. Interestingly, slavery was
abolished by the Spanish in Cuba in 1886 as it took them until then to
work out that it was cheaper to only hire them during the day than having
to pay for their keep all year round.

Further sucesses by the rebels alarmed the Americans, who had their
own designs on Cuba. With the start of the Spanish-American war, U.S.
marines landed at Guantanamo Bay, a name which was to become
famous over 100 years later as a camp to hold suspected Muslim
militants. The Americans later persuade the Cubans to lease it to them
indefinitely or until both governments agree to relinquish it. America
eventually defeat Spain and peace talks are held, to which the Cubans
were not invited. The Treaty of Paris, signed in December 1898 gave
the Americans Cuba, Phillipines, Puerto Rico and Guam and the American
flag is raised in Havana at Moro castle. The Americans, urged on by the
business lobby, start to run Cuba but the Cubans had other ideas,
striking for better pay & conditions and the right to be paid in US dollars
not Spanish money. Strikes become a serious thorn in America's side,
prompting the governor to threaten court martial and execution for
strikers.

American Negro leaders pointed out the folly of annexing Cuba, where
people of all races mix very well, and bringing Cubans into the American
way of life, with its attendant stark colour barriers. This, as was to be
expected when cheap labour is on the agenda, fell on deaf ears. A
Cuban delegation even petitions US Governor General Wood to have the
words 'mulatto, brown and coloured' removed from all official documents
and punishable by law if they should be used. General Wood ignored
them.

Although the Spanish have now gone, there is great political turmoil and
jockeying for position in Cuban society, with various factions fighting each
other to be sitting on the chair of power when the music stops. The factions can be
classified in two broad camps; those rich, industrial landowners
who favour annexation with America and the rest, who do not and that
was the basis upon which the next election was fought. The Democratic
Unionist party do not win a vote in any Cuban city, the winners being
those parties with revolutionary backgrounds and the black popoulation
in general.

Following the elections in 1905, a Constitution is eventually hammered out
and Cubans start to govern themsleves, with America pulling the strings
on the sidelines. However, many parties declared the elections
fraudulent and rebellions started all over Cuba, causing the US Governor
General to request the sending of warships to assist in keeping the
peace. Rebellions flared periodically, rebels were executed, but others
took their place and this continued until the Great Crash in the 1930s
when the price of suger, Cuba's majority export to the USA, fell through
the floor to around half a cent per pound.

Both sides in the conflicts use increasingly vicious assasinations and
brutal government repression to try to gain control. Things come to a
head in 1933 when, in what is known as the 'Sergeant's Revolt', rebels
overthrow the government and Sergeant Ramon San Martin takes the
presidential oath. His government only lasts 100 days but is instrumental
in pushing through some of the most radical reforms in Cuba's history
e.g. reduction of electricity rates by 40%, the vote for women, an 8 hour
working day, university places for the poor. They nullify all treaties with
the USA, except their lease on Guantanamo Bay. These actions are
quickly denounced by the USA as "irresponsible and Communistic" and
a refusal to recognise the government.

Despite the government's revolutionary sweeping changes, there were
still many other factions who opposed them, each for their own reasons,
and serious fighting again broke out in Cuba. Following some tense
moments when part of the Cuban Airforce and an Army unit attacked
the Presidential Palace, and police stations in the capital are captured, the
govenrment forces eventually win out and peace is again restored. The
government's nationalisation of the American Electric Bond and Share
Company seems to have been the straw that broke the Camel's
back, as far as the Americans were concerned. Official USA view of the
revolutionary government was supercilious and scathing, saying the
peasants had been 'misled' by utopian promises of equality and that no
educated or landowning Cuban took this stance. Intense political pressure
forced the government to resign and a government favourable to US
interests is installed and recognised by America.

Fidel Castro first appears on the political scene in 1952 when he
runs for Congress as an Orthadox Party candidate. In 1953 he leads an
attack on an army barracks, which is repulsed resulting in his capture
and imprisonment for 15 years. However, following widespread public
lobbying, he is released under an amnesty in 1955 and leaves for
Mexico, where he and other revolutionaries are arrested. Following his
release, he and Che Guevara take a boat back to Cuba and
commence guerilla activities against Government forces, slowly building
in numbers into a cohesive fighting force, gaining in confidence and
strength with each success.

He is interviewed by various American reporters, much to the fury of the
Batista Government which continues building hotels and casinos
to show that it's 'business as usual'. Scandals linking various
government officials with Swiss bank accounts containing more than
$1million each are reported in a weekly magazine, as well as reports of
huge American profits, while employing only 1% of Cubas population,
continue to fuel national unrest and support for the rebels.

Having captured most towns in Cuba in 1959 Fidel Castro leads his
victorious rebel army into Havana, while President Batista and his family
flee the island by plane. A period of bloodletting commences, with former
government commanders and special forces units being executed, after
military trials. The executions continue throughout 1959, with some let up
during holiday periods and Che Guevara make overtures to the Russian
government. The political style starts to swing towards a more Marxist
type of government. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Mikoyan,
visits Cuba and signs trade deals promising to buy Cuban sugar, in
exchange for oil, wheat, fertilisers and other much needed commodities.

As Cuban relations with Russia wax, their relations with the USA start to
wane, leading to a US embargo of all products, except medicines and
food. In response, Cuba nationalises all American interests but suffers
as thousands of trained professional people, such as doctors, teachers
and lawyers leave Cuba for the US. With reports that the US is planning
to invade, Cuba parades Soviet weapons in Havana to show it is
prepared and the US breaks diplomatic relations.

The famous Bay of Pigs episode in April 1961 where Cuban
exiles, funded and armed by America, landed and tried to start a counter
revolution, was a dismal failure. After three days they gave up and the
survivors were arrested by the Cuban army, many being executed.
Following this failure, the American government steps up its trade
embargo, including products not made in the USA, and the Russians
begin talks to install missiles on Cuban soil, culminating in the Cuban
Missile stand-off, made famous by Khruschev banging his shoe on a
desk at the United Nations. Both Kennedy and Khruschev stared it out
but Khruschev blinked first and the missiles turned back to Russia, under
thinly-veiled threats of nuclear retaliation by the USA.

Sabotage by suspected CIA operatives continued in Cuba to try and
destabilise the Castro regime, with some alledged agents being executed
for sabotage, and the US continues to support exiled Cuban attacks on
selected Cuban towns.

The embargo meanwhile, continues to bite and Castro seeks even closer
ties with Russia, forcing the USA to reject his overtures for peace and a
lifting of the blockade, unless Castro renounces his ties with Russia. This
puts Castro in a difficult situation, as Russia is his only major ally and
outlet for his products. Many a Russian technician speaks fondly of their
bottle of Cuban rum sitting on the shelf at home!

In the ever shifting arena of world politics, US congressmen make the
first unofficial approaches to the Castro government since the trade
embargo was declared. There is, however, a sticking point over Cuba's
operations in Angola and talks end. However, this is a hopeful sign of a
possible American softening of attitude towards Cuba and in 1975, in an
interview in Mexico, Senator Edward Kennedy says it was a mistake to
isolate Cuba and that whatever the reasons were in earlier years, they
certainly were not valid now.

Although US President Carter allows US citizens to holiday in Cuba, and
some other small attempts are made at reciprocal legal agreements,
Cuba's continuing presence in Africa still presents a bar to normalised
relations with America. It now has 20,000 troops in Ethiopia.
In 1980 Cuban farmers are offered a limited 'capitalistic' outlet for their
produce in unregulated farmers markets, selling to private indiviuals
instead of the State.

With US President Reagan's term in office, the trade embargo was once
again tightened up quite harshly and US Navy fleet maneuvers
commence off the Cuba coast, to 'send a message to the Cubans'.
Whatever this 'message' might be it didn't seem to apply to a secret
meeting between Cuban Vice-President Carlos Rodriguez and
Alexander Haig, the US Secretary of State in November 1981. No
agreement was recorded.
The fishing agreement lapses and the travel ban on US citizens is re-established again.

More trade deals and loan financing are put in place with the Soviet
Union and despite some hardships, social reforms and medical care
result in Cuba having a lower infant mortality rate than the USA and the
lowest in South America. A Catholic church conference attracts bishops
from the USA, in defiance of the travel ban and in 1988 the Archbishop
of New York visits with Castro, becoming the first one to do so since
1959.

Disaster strikes Cuba's $6billion annual economy with the Soviet
Union, as the USSR collapses and all subsidies and market outlets are
lost. United Nations votes to end the US embargo show an annual
increase in the numbers of countries voting against the embargo, with
America's stalwart Israel continually siding with the USA and voting to
maintain it, occasionally joined by one or two other economically-dependant countries.

A visit to Cuba by the former US Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders
concludes with the findings that Cuba is better at preventing illnesses
than the US but not as good as the US for treating patients who are sick.
Ironically, a damning indictment, whether she realised it or not, of
Western medicine's adherance to the 'sickness' industry, which treats people after
they get sick, rather than concentrating on prevention.

For may years the US has been hostile to the Castro regime in Cuba,
despite repeated UN resolutions calling for the embargo to be lifted.
Various US senators visit Cuba and call for similar measures, stating that
even Iraq could buy food from America. When the Cuban government, in
2001, offers to recompense American businesses that were nationalised
after the revolution, America refuses. Later that year the first
consignment of goods bought from America, since the blockade started,
arrives.

Relations now appear to be thawing as more US senator and congress
delegations start to talk with the Cuban government and later in 2003 the
Senate and House of Representatives both vote to end the trade
embargo. Paradoxically, at the UN, the US still votes against lifting the
embargo, along with bed-fellows Israel and Marshall Islands, and
President Bush signs a declaration preventing ships travelling to Cuban
ports from US ports. However, the situation in Cuba is still not politically
stable, with some dissidents being released and others arrested, some
foreign companies asked to leave and others invited in.

The history of Cuba since the Conquistadores has been one of slavery,
oppression, revolution, poverty and much bloodshed. It could be said that
American businesses came into Cuba before proper social laws were
set up to regulate their operations and to prevent exploitation of their
Cuban workers, but, in recent years, socialist States have also been
shown not to work. All the former Communist and Marxist states have
either collapsed, imploded or are in the process of doing so. Capitalism is
as old as Mankind and people will always want to improve themselves
and the lives of their families. Governments ignore this fact at their peril.

Cuba will eventually stabilise when the people have tasted some
prosperity and don't feel quite the same desire to revolt. Full stomachs
make poor revolutionaries.

The above information is based on the excellent Timetable History of Cuba
Author J.A. Sierra. Please visit Historyofcuba.com for the full historical story of Cuba.

Real Cuban Cigars