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Cuba
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FactsBackground: The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from the US in 1902 after which the island experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He stepped down as president in February 2008 in favor of his younger brother Raul CASTRO. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country faced a severe economic downturn in 1990 following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba at times portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source if its difficulties. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard intercepted 982 individuals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in fiscal year 2009. note: data are in 2010 US dollars GDP (official exchange rate): $57.49 billion (2010 est.); GDP - real growth rate: 1.5% (2010 est.); 1.4% (2009 est.); 4.1% (2008 est.); GDP - per capita (PPP): $9,900 (2010 est.); $9,800 (2009 est.); $9,700 (2008 est.); note: data are in 2010 US dollars GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4.2%; industry: 22.7%; services: 72.9% (2010 est.); Population below poverty line: NA%; Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%; highest 10%: NA%; Labor force: 5.164 million; note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2010 est.) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 20%; industry: 19.4%; services: 60.6% (2005); Unemployment rate: 2% (2010 est.); 1.7% (2009 est.); Budget: revenues: $46.51 billion; expenditures: $48.89 billion (2010 est.); Industries: sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals; Industrial production growth rate: 0.8% (2010 est.); Electricity - production: 16.89 billion kWh (2007 est.); Electricity - consumption: 13.93 billion kWh (2007 est.); Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.); Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.); Statistics: CIA World Factbook. PressGranma Internacional(Communist Party weekly), Havana Cuba in the NewsDisplaying 1 to 4 of 39 items. Cuba—Where Is It Heading?U.S. Embargo against Cuba: Washington's Sterile StrategyThe U.S. embargo against Cuba is a relic of the Cold War, senselessly cutting both countries off from what could be fruitful interaction. Guantanamo's Manipulators Leading the New JihadJihadism as an ideology does not respond to the political culture of democracy nor are the indoctrinated Jihadists impacted by the moral and legal debate within what they see as the sphere of the infidels. A way out of GuantanamoOne of President-elect Barack Obama's top priorities will be following through on his campaign promises to close the US military prison at Guantánamo, which would be a major symbolic achievement. |
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