Cuba is an island state in the Caribbean. Due to its history and current political situation, Cuba is considered a very special travel destination. Cuba has a highly celebrated culture that includes music, dance, cigars, Spanish colonial buildings and, last but not least, the 1959 revolution, but also wonderful beaches for a beach holiday.
Cuba is divided into a total of 14 provinces and a
special administrative region (Isla de la Juventud).
West (Cuba
occidental). The most densely populated region around the capital Havana
and the tourist hotspot Varadero. Provinces of Matanzas with the Zapata
Peninsula, Mayabeque, Pinar del Río and the capital province of La
Habana.
Center. Provinces of Camagüey, Ciego de Ávila, Cienfuegos,
Sancti Spíritus and Villa Clara.
East. Provinces of Granma,
Guantánamo, Holguin, Las Tunas and Santiago de Cuba.infoedit
Isla de
la Juventud . The largest secondary island of Cuba along with the
smaller islands of the Canarreos archipelago.
1 Varadero . Main tourist center. Hotels are lined up
on this peninsula like pearls on a string.
2 Pinar del Río . Centre
of the cigar industry.
3 Havana (La Habana) . the capital with decay
and nightlife.
4 Cienfuegos . the city on the Caribbean coast is
known for its city centre.
5 Santa Clara . here is the monumental
mausoleum for the fallen of the 1956-1959 revolution, which also
contains Che Guevara's grave.
6 Trinidad - small city whose Spanish
buildings in the centre are a world cultural heritage site. One of the
biggest tourist attractions is the Plaza Mayor, whose atmosphere is
still reminiscent of the colonial era. All of the important museums are
located around this square, such as the Museo Romántico in the former
Palacio Brunet and the Architecture Museum. The colonial centre, with a
diameter of around 600m, has been largely preserved and most of the
houses are inhabited. Destinations near Trinidad include the Topes de
Collantes National Park in the Sierra de Escambray, the Valle de los
Ingenios sugar cane valley and the Ancón peninsula with sandy beaches
and snorkeling opportunities.
7 Camagüey . the third largest city has
the second largest preserved old town after Havana. In 2008, the
historic center of Camagüey was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
8 Santiago de Cuba . the second largest city in the country. Santiago de
Cuba can be described as the cultural center of eastern Cuba, which has
a wide range of culture and attractions, such as museums, palaces,
colonial-style public squares, avenues, churches, cinema, theater and
the annual carnival in July. Many colonial buildings now house museums.
1 Jardines del Rey . with the islands 2 Cayo Coco and
3 Cayo Guillermo - beachfront hotels of several large chains. In
addition to the diverse bird life (red ibises) and the tropical forests,
the corals off the islands are particularly worth seeing.
4 Cayo
Largo del Sur . small island, preferred by nudists. The coral reefs to
the west are the main attraction for the dominant diving tourism.
Crystal clear water, white sandy beaches and wildlife to watch also
attract tourists to Cayo Largo.
5 Archaeological landscape of the
first coffee plantations in the southeast of Cuba (Paisaje arqueológico
de las primeras plantaciones de café de Cuba) . Remains of historic
coffee plantations that were founded in the 19th century by French
settlers from the island of Hispaniola. These are the remains of
buildings, reconstructed and partly... T. preserved facilities and
cultivation areas of the first coffee plantations in Cuba.
6 Valle de
Vinales (Valle de Viñales) . is considered one of the most beautiful
landscapes in Cuba.
7 El Salto de Soroa waterfall. Nice little
excursion with a cool swim under the waterfall. In the "dry season",
when it hasn't rained for a long time, it can dry out.
8 Parque
Nacional La Güira . Wooded mountainous area. It is considered one of the
most beautiful places in Cuba. A river has worked the rock and formed
three interconnected caves. The caves are large and easily accessible.
9 Ciénaga de Zapata . National park in an extensive swamp area.
10
Topes de Collantes (Gran parque natural Topes de Collantes) . Gran
parque natural.
11 Pilon waterfall. You can reach the waterfall in
about 1 hour with rented horses from the Tres Cruces Park, where the
excursion starts, but there are also carriages. You can swim in the
waterfalls, one above the other, with small lakes, especially in the
second level or in the even higher pool.
12 Vegas Grande Waterfall.
Beautiful waterfall. You have to buy a ticket at the visitor center, the
price is 10 cuc per person. It is a nice hike to the waterfall, but the
way back is a bit challenging. You can swim in the lake, but the water
is really cold. The road to the visitor center is also beautiful with
many viewpoints.
13 El Cubano Natural Park. Really a magical place.
Cool waterfall over a cave with a nice pool for swimming and jumping.
14 Caguanes National Park (Parque nacional Caguanes)
15 Desembarco
del Granma National Park (Parque nacional Desembarco del Granma) .
protects a unique coastal landscape: the largest and best-preserved
marine terrace system in Cuba.
16 Turquino National Park (Parque
nacional Turquino) . The park has tropical forest habitats, including
the lower Cuban moist forests and higher Cuban pine forests.
17
Sierra Cristal . The park is characterized by pine-covered slopes and
deep gorges created by rivers.
18 Baconao Park
19 Alexander von
Humboldt National Park (Parque nacional Alejandro de Humboldt) . The
biodiversity is among the highest in the world, with an estimated
1800-2000 species. The national park is considered the most important
biological refuge in the Caribbean. The national park's visitor center
is located at the "Bahía de Taco". Here visitors can get a brief
overview of the protected area and book guided tours of the park,
including an exploration of the bay's mangrove forests in a rowboat.
Guided tours can also be booked from Baracoa.
20 El Nicho Falls
Cuba is a developing country. Many people call it “the most developed
third world country”: Cuba ranks 68th in the world with its Human
Development Index of 0.775, and is therefore considered “highly
developed” (see Human Development Index). Above all, medical care and
the level of literacy are high for a developing country (literacy levels
in comparison: Austria 98%; Dominican Republic 85%; Cuba 97%).
However, organizations such as Amnesty International criticize the
precarious human rights situation (Kuba-Kogruppe.de):
Opposition
members are severely punished for their activities.
Even those who
exercise their right to freedom of expression, assembly and association
may face arrest if the regime does not like it. Arrest often means
solitary confinement in cells measuring 2m².
Organizations such
as Reporters Without Borders criticize the lack of press freedom in
Cuba. Out of 166 countries, Cuba is ranked 163rd in the international
rankings. The only other countries that have similarly poor conditions
for reporters are North Korea, Myanmar and Saudi Arabia.
The
major Christian churches are represented in Cuba. Cuba is not listed in
the so-called World Watch List. Afro-Cuban religions have always been
and are currently widely practiced.
Furthermore, Cubans do not
have freedom of movement (free choice of place of residence and place of
residence).
But unlike neighboring islands such as Haiti, where
many of these restrictions do not exist, Cubans do not have to sell
their children as household slaves, have free education and health care
and a secure, albeit low, income and pension.
The time zone in which Cuba is located is UTC-4h, i.e. Central European Time minus 6 hours. Daylight saving time in Cuba begins every year on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.
EU citizens need a passport that is valid for another six months and
a so-called "tourist card", which is best obtained in advance from the
Cuban consulate (for individual travelers) or from the travel agency or
at the service desk of larger airports. For people from Switzerland, the
quickest way to get a tourist card is the Swiss visa service for Cuba.
Tourist cards will no longer be available after June 30, 2025, only
eVisas.
Since summer 2024, it has been possible to submit the
visa application online. The responsible consulate must be selected,
which will then process it and to which the fee must be transferred. In
this way, there are only 90-day entry permits that are intended to
arrive by air.
In addition, an electronic registration must be made
on the D'Viajeros portal (Spanish only), which is mandatory up to 7 days
before, but no later than 48 hours after entry.
In some cases,
the card is also issued on the flight (Air Canada). Be sure to check
before departure: The "tourist card" must have a stamp from the travel
agency or tour operator on the left and right back (a simple company
stamp is sufficient). If this is missing through negligence, the card
may not be accepted and you will have to buy another one at Cuban
customs. When entering Cuba, the "tourist card" is registered with a
stamp, and your passport is also stamped. The tourist card allows you to
stay for 90 days; a one-time extension for a further 90 days is
available at any immigration office. A token, proof of insurance, a
flight ticket and a passport must be presented. Poorly dressed people
(especially those wearing flip-flops) will not be served at immigration.
Tourists who do not have a valid return ticket, e.g. because they
want to decide on site how long they want to stay on the island, may be
denied entry due to illegal immigration. A return flight must therefore
be booked before starting the trip. The airline usually refuses to take
them and an overpriced return flight has to be booked at short notice.
However, this is often checked by the airline at the departure airport.
The actual entry can take a while because every passport is checked
carefully. There are hardly any exceptions; as a rule of thumb, people
with a passport from a friendly country have to wait significantly less
than Americans (as an example of very long waiting times, Mexicans also
have to expect longer waiting times at the moment). Europeans and
Chinese, on the other hand, can usually enter the country without any
problems (but after a serious check). The controls are always friendly
and correct, at least Spanish and English are always spoken, and usually
German and French too; "US" interrogation methods are not known.
Tourists are now photographed when entering and leaving the country to
make it more difficult for Cuban citizens to escape using foreign
passports.
A severed half of the "tourist card" must be kept
together with the passport until departure, and e.g. B. must be
presented in the hotel or Casa Particular, as it is the only proof of
legal entry. If it is lost, this can be problematic at the border. For
travelers traveling in the country, it may be advisable to take clear
photos of all documents with a digital camera for safety. For many
purposes (e.g. purchasing an ETECSA card), a copy of the passport is
sufficient, so that the actual passport can be safely stored in the
hotel safe.
Cuba charges an exit tax, which is already included
in the ticket price for airline tickets. In general, entry formalities
have now (December 2019) become much more relaxed. The most
time-consuming part of entry is baggage claim (Havana airport) and can
take up to an hour.
The Cuban government has stipulated that all foreigners entering Cuba
from May 1, 2010 and Cubans living abroad must present a health
insurance policy when entering Cuba. To meet this requirement, every
traveler must have travel insurance that includes medical treatment in
Cuba or health insurance that covers the cost of treatment in Cuba. The
policy must have been purchased in the country of current permanent
residence. Travelers who do not have sufficient insurance coverage at
the time of entry can obtain a policy issued by a Cuban insurance
company at the airport or port. Insured persons who have a policy issued
by insurance companies in Cuba and those with policies from almost all
international insurance companies can benefit from the services of the
Cuban company Asistur 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. Experience has
shown that 80% of people entering Cuba already have insurance issued in
their country of origin that covers medical costs in Cuba.
US
citizens who travel directly to Cuba are required to purchase a Cuban
insurance policy in their home country, marketed through the
Havanatur-Celimar network, as other US insurance companies cannot
guarantee coverage of medical costs incurred in Cuba.
Travelers
who are subject to checks upon entry must be able to present a health
insurance policy or travel insurance with health insurance coverage,
each covering the period of their planned stay in Cuba. Visitors who
come to Cuba should not only be able to enjoy the natural beauty of the
island and the proverbial hospitality of the people, but also
comprehensive security, which of course also includes well-being and
health care. With a dense network of polyclinics and hospitals that
offer their services in the most remote corners of the country, the
Cuban health system guarantees professional care in medical emergencies
of all kinds. Primary medical care is offered in the vast majority of
hotel complexes. Further information on planning your trip to Cuba can
be obtained from the embassy or the nearest Cuban consulate or a tourist
office of the Cuban Ministry of Tourism. You can also use the website of
the insurance company Asistur (http://www.asistur.cu).
Prohibited:
Import and export of more than 2000 Cuban pesos.
Foreign currency over US$ 5000 must be declared.
Import of drones.
Import of fresh food
For cigars see below
For drugs and the strict
penalties see below
Export of "cultural goods" or antiques. In case
of doubt, permits are available for a small fee: Bienes Culturales,
Calle 17 #1009, entre10 y 12, Vedado
Prohibited:
400
cigarettes or 500 grams of tobacco or 50 cigars
2½ liters of alcohol
Items of personal use, if there are several electrical devices, a closer
look is taken
Gifts up to US$ 50
As of 2025, there are only a few direct flights from German-speaking
countries due to a sharp drop in demand. Condor will fly from Frankfurt
am Main to Havana, Varadero and Holguin several times a week until May
2025, but will then discontinue these connections without replacement.
The Lufthansa subsidiary Edelweiss Air will also only fly to Havana via
Zurich until the end of February 2025; its seasonal connection to
Varadero has already been canceled. Other large domestic airlines such
as Lufthansa, Austrian, SWISS, Discover or TUIfly no longer fly to Cuba
from German-speaking countries. In addition to the collapse in demand,
the airlines also cite increasing problems with the local infrastructure
as reasons for removing the country from their route network.
From German-speaking countries, connections with a single change are
available via Canada or Mexico, from where there are relatively numerous
scheduled flights to the largest Cuban airports in Havana and Varadero.
Cuba is still a popular holiday destination, especially for Canadians.
There are also scheduled flights with Iberia via Madrid and Air France
via Paris, which can be booked as connecting flights from several
German-speaking airports.
Due to embargoes in the USA, it is not
possible to book and use tourist flights via the United States. There
are direct flights from the USA (especially Miami) to Cuba, but these
are not accessible to German tourists.
There are no regular ship connections to Cuba.
Cuba, for
example the port of Havana, is also visited by cruise ships.
Foreign sailing yachts are only allowed to dock at approved marinas.
Those where immigration and customs formalities are also completed are
in Cienfuegos, Hemingway Marina (Havana), Marina Cayo Largo, Marina Los
Morros, Puerto de Vita, Santiago de Cuba, Varadero. In these ports, you
may also receive a despacho de navegacion - Costera from the coast guard
(Guarda Frontera) to continue sailing in Cuban waters. There is no
clearance in the marinas of Baracoa, Casilda (Trinidad), Cayo
Coco-Guillermo, Isla de la Juventud, Maria La Gorda, Santa Lucia. The
bays in the north are all restricted areas. Together with the ban on
owning larger boats, this is intended to prevent people fleeing the
republic to the USA. According to American law, US citizens are no
longer allowed to travel to Cuba by yacht since 2019.
Cuba's
meteorological institute puts (sea) weather forecasts online.
A rental car is practical but expensive, although it is better to
choose a newer model over the beautiful vintage cars that are prone to
damage. Repairs are possible almost everywhere; as long as you are not
driving to remote areas, no special precautions are necessary, but you
should always carry enough cash with you. Night driving should be
avoided if possible, as there are hardly any street lights to light the
way. The German driver's license is recognized for tourist stays for
three months.
Petrol prices are set by the state and uniform: 156
pesos/liter of super, but US$ 1.30 for foreign tourists and rental cars.
(As of February 2024)
There is a ban on drinking alcohol while
driving. Passengers are also prohibited from consuming alcohol in the
passenger compartment of a car.
You should also definitely have
good road or maps with you, as the signage is extremely patchy. If you
speak a little Spanish, it is often a good idea to pick up local
hitchhikers. They usually know exactly where to go (see also Safety). In
the meantime, GPS-enabled devices of all kinds are officially permitted,
so there should no longer be any problems with navigation.
Main
risks on the roads (according to a bus driver):
during the day and in
general: new rental cars with old tires (make sure to check the tire
profile when picking them up) or mixed tires (check the tire
dimensions), potholes (there are stretches with potholes that are about
4 meters in diameter and make up almost the entire width of the road)
at night: unlit horse-drawn carts, cyclists without reflectors (tip:
bring bicycle reflectors as a gift), pedestrians, unattended animals.
In the event of accidents involving personal injuries involving foreign
travelers, a travel ban of several weeks and possibly even pre-trial
detention can be imposed. If people are injured or killed, foreign
drivers are sometimes given draconian prison sentences.
For local
transport in the cities, you can also use local means of transport, such
as carriages, trucks converted into buses or massive bicycle rickshaws.
For short distances, scooters or bicycles are recommended (see below).
City buses in Havana run regularly and are very cheap. However, they can
be overcrowded at peak times. Also an experience!
The rail
connections are very slow and unreliable (exception: Hershey train).
However, new Chinese carriages have been purchased since 2019. Trains
take about twice as long and are very cheap as on the road. Tourists are
only taken on Astro buses in exceptional cases. The Viazul bus service
is reliable and quite comfortable. This service is aimed at tourists and
must be paid in CUC.
Hitchhiking (hacer botella) is still
popular; tourists are often given a lift for distances of up to about
30km; as a rule of thumb, you should pay about 1 USD per 5km.
Taxis usually seem overpriced at first glance. Taxi drivers have to
make a monthly turnover in CUC and are therefore entitled to negotiate
the price. Taxi drivers initially demand absurdly high prices, which you
do not have to accept. Halving the quoted price as a counter offer is
therefore by no means outrageous. Ironically, in communist Cuba, taxi
prices are governed by the laws of the free market, while in most
"capitalist" areas of the world they are regulated by the state. If you
have a price in mind for a certain route because you have already driven
the route or heard it from friends, you can state your price offer
without beating around the bush without waiting for an offer from the
taxi driver.
Tip: For longer distances, ask a neutral person
about the normal price beforehand and then negotiate the price down to
the normal price with one or more taxi drivers (stay firm).
In Cuba, intercity buses are operated by two different state-owned companies: Viazul's service is aimed more at tourists. The modern and comfortable buses travel between all the important cities in Cuba and are paid for in CUC. Prices are moderate but not cheap. The buses are quickly booked up. A ticket should be bought in advance (passport is required). It is important to check in at the terminal 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the location) beforehand, otherwise the ticket will expire. They are quite punctual and reliable and can therefore be used without hesitation instead of the (much) more expensive rental car. There are also buses from the Transmetro and Bus Nacional, which are used almost exclusively by locals. The rolling stock is mostly from the Soviet era.
Cuba is well suited to bicycle trips, which is primarily due to the fact that there is usually still little car traffic. (Even using the motorway is possible and occasionally quite practical). However, moving through the black exhaust clouds of motorized traffic is not everyone's cup of tea. Taking bicycles on long-distance buses is often possible, but this must be clarified at the ticket counter (see above) and costs extra. Loading bicycles onto a taxi using a roof rack is also a good way to cover longer distances - after consulting the taxi driver. It is generally very difficult to get spare parts locally!
The local airline, Cubana de Aviación, offers reliable service at fair prices (Havana–Nueva Gerona, 1 hour, approx. 60 CUC).
In Cuba, Latin American Spanish is spoken in various dialects and
with local peculiarities. So it can happen that even someone whose
native language is Spanish has difficulty understanding. Anyone staying
outside of a package hotel should definitely know at least the basics of
Spanish (this applies especially to individual travelers), as English or
other languages are not (yet) very common. Even in many casas, people
often do not speak English or speak very poorly. Otherwise, because of
the many French tourists, French is still common as a foreign language,
at least in tourist regions. However, Cubans are very sociable. Cubans
over the age of 35 are also likely to speak German, as major exchange
projects were underway with the GDR.
Rule of thumb (in all of
Latin America except Brazil): “If you speak English, all doors open. If
you speak Spanish, hearts open too.” But the following also applies to
Latin American countries: "If you speak English well, you pay twice as
much, but it's better if you speak Spanish badly."
Until the end of 2020, Cuba had two currencies, each with a complete
set of notes and coins: the Convertible Peso (CUC) and the Cuban Peso
(CUP), often also called "Moneda Nacional" (MN). Wages, basic
foodstuffs, public transport, etc. were paid in CUP. The CUC is required
for imported goods (Tienda divisa) and in tourist facilities. The CUC
was pegged 1:1 to the USD, i.e. the cost of a holiday in Cuba fluctuated
with the dollar exchange rate.
Since the beginning of 2021, price
controls have largely been lifted and there is now only one currency.
This led to massive inflation in the first year, so that many peso
prices rose six to ten times.
Since August 2022, the state bank
has been buying dollars at realistic exchange rate of 120 pesos/dollar,
which roughly corresponds to the daily rate in (illegal) street shops.
The official rate was previously 24:1.
Since mid-2021, CADECA
branches have been selling "value cards" for tourists, fee US$ 5. They
can be topped up at a price of US$ 200, 500 or 1000. The customer then
sets a PIN and can withdraw pesos from Cuban ATMs at the official rate.
Valid for 2 years, no replacement if lost. Certainly not the most
sensible offer.
The Cuban state controls the exchange of foreign currency. Usually,
these can only be exchanged in the country. The state banks "Banco
Financero International" (BFI) and "Banco de Credito y Comercio"
(BANDEC), as well as the state exchange offices called "CADECA", are
responsible for this. A valid ID document (passport) is required to
exchange here. CADECA also has branches in many hotels and airports,
although sometimes with strange opening times. In addition, some hotels
also exchange money directly at reception. However, they usually charge
an additional fee for this, which, combined with the state-regulated
exchange rates, makes exchanging money here very expensive.
Credit card transactions are usually billed in US$, with a commission
added: 3.0% at the ATM, 3.36% at BANDEC and 3.47% at BFI. The credit
card companies bill the US$ at the favorable exchange rate. If the
credit card does not charge any fees for cash withdrawals and foreign
use (which some German banks offer), this is the cheapest and safest way
to get cash in Cuba. At the banks and exchange offices mentioned above,
you can withdraw cash at the counter with your credit card by presenting
your passport. There are BANDEC branches in every district town
(municipio).
If you are bartering on the black market and someone
approaches you, you should be careful not to sell you old CUC notes.
They differ from pesos not only in the inscription, but especially in
the fact that there are no faces on them. You should also be suspicious
if the seller makes you nervous and wants to move on quickly. Popular
tricks include folded bills in a bundle or counting out a large number
of small denomination bills, where a few of them quickly disappear
through sleight of hand.
In Cuba, goods and services are almost always paid for with cash.
While debit cards are unknown and generally not accepted, there is the
option of paying with credit cards in a very few places.
If cash
is the cheapest option, it is important to estimate how much cash you
will need. The following rule of thumb applies: Since prices in the
package tourist centers are about the same as in Europe, you should plan
on the same amount for food, taxis, excursions, vehicle rental, etc. For
a family with two adults and two children, this is around €1,000 per
week. If you stay in an all-inclusive hotel, you can get by with half
that amount (for excursions and mobility), since eating out is less
often necessary. The estimated amount plus a safety cushion should be
taken in cash (e.g. euros, Swiss francs, CAD or USD) and stored safely
(hotel safe). Since the official CADECA branches do not charge fixed
exchange fees, you should only exchange as much there as you foreseeably
need. The import and export of pesos is not permitted, but this is not
strictly controlled when entering and leaving the country.
In
some tourist areas, you can also pay with euros (Varadero, Jardines del
Rey, St. Lucia, Playa Covarrubias and the beach regions of Holguín). But
the goods will not be cheaper this way!
IMPORTANT: When flying
back to Havana airport, make sure you have cash euros or dollars with
you, as only these two currencies are accepted in the international area
of Havana airport. In addition, you will get a much worse deal with
euros, as the prices there are displayed in Yankee dollars and the same
amount is charged (e.g. a beer costs 2 US$, but you also have to pay 2
euros for it). Change is usually only given in USD.
The exchange rate of the peso has fluctuated since January 2021
within the official range of 24.00-24.75 per dollar controlled by the
central bank. The black market rate was 15/US$ at the beginning of
August 2022.
It is always important to compare prices carefully,
as tourists (unfortunately) often end up paying significantly more than
usual.
State-run cigar shops in the big cities are geared towards
professional storage and advice. In smaller shops, it is advisable to
check the condition of the goods; sometimes the humidors are not in the
best condition. The prices are almost the same as in specialist shops in
Europe (depending on the current exchange rate; at the moment (January
2020) these are around 30% cheaper in Cuba). Taking 20 cigars with you
is permitted without any further customs restrictions or requirements.
50 cigars can be exported in original packaging (with hologram); more
than 50 cigars can only be exported with a valid invoice from a
state-authorized dealer.
Cigars are often offered on the street.
These are almost always counterfeit (= inferior quality) or (very
rarely) goods stolen from the factory (= good quality); cigar rollers in
the factories receive two cigars a day free of charge. However, these do
not have a banderol. Stickers with a hologram that is difficult to forge
indicate official and legal cigar boxes. Fake boxes usually lack the
factory stamp (letter code and date) on the bottom. However, it is
strongly advised not to buy cigars on the street, as they are (almost)
always fakes that are filled with cheap tobacco, banana leaves or even
newspaper. In addition, the export of fake cigars is strictly
prohibited, as the Cuban state fears that the reputation of the cigars
will deteriorate.
So you should definitely buy cigars in one of
the large (state-run) shops (Casa del Tabaco, or Casa del Habanos),
where they are more expensive but almost certainly original. Even in a
state-run shop, it can happen that you are ripped off when buying
individual (and therefore unsealed) cigars by being sold fake cigars.
This is how the mostly underpaid employees supplement their often meager
wages. There is only a guarantee of getting original cigars if you buy
larger units of 5 or more in the closed and sealed original box (see the
picture above). The box must have a tax stamp (top left). In addition
(applies to hand-rolled cigars) it must also have the angled "Habanos"
sticker. Only if these two stickers are attached is there a guarantee
that the cigars are not counterfeit. Wooden boxes (50 cigars or more)
also have various stamps on the bottom. If these are missing, it may be
a fake. It is therefore advisable to only buy them in the box if you are
taking them to Europe.
Good quality hand-rolled farmer's cigars,
usually wrapped in banana leaves, are best bought on a trip to Pinar del
Rio or Vinales (ask your tour guide if necessary). These are cheaper
than in the shop and often of very good quality.
Cubans love to eat and eat a lot. Often the food is one of the
following: rice with chicken, chicken with rice or cheese pizza.
Typically the rice (there are rice fields in many areas that you
wouldn't expect) is mixed with black beans (arroz con frijoles or
congris for short). The meat (pork, chicken) is usually fried and is
accordingly often fatty. Banana or potato chips, sliced and fried
plantains or yucca are often served as a side dish. Dessert is usually
fruit such as pineapple, papaya, watermelon or banana.
Many
hotels offer so-called "all-inclusive holidays". As a tourist you
receive a colored bracelet that is difficult to remove without
destroying it. This entitles you to eat (breakfast = desayuno, lunch =
almuerzo, dinner = cena), drink (with and without alcohol) and engage in
all leisure activities that do not use petrol (e.g. archery, surfing,
snorkelling, sailing) throughout the hotel complex. The price usually
includes all meals (including snacks) and local drinks (Bebida
nacional), while imported drinks are usually offered at an additional
cost.
The selection of food is limited, however, and many hotels
repeat the menu more than once a week. It also happens again and again
that certain products have run out for one or more days (no hay = there
is none).
Important: If you stay in an all-inclusive hotel, you
have practically no opportunity to eat out:
there are almost no
state-run or private restaurants outside the hotel complexes
the
other hotels charge hefty half-day usage fees (media jornada of e.g. CUC
45 per person)
Lobster is offered relatively frequently in Cuba,
but it is not lobster but crayfish. The crayfish meat tastes quite
similar to lobster and is also easier to eat because it does not have
claws.
The national drink is of course rum (Ron), which is available neat or
in a cocktail. In addition to the internationally known brand Havana
Club, there are also a few smaller brands (e.g. Ron Santiago; Mulata;
Santero; Caney). The prices are significantly lower than those in Europe
and significantly lower than those in North America. A bottle of Havana
Club 3-year-old rum usually costs US$5.55 in the supermarket, an Añejo
around US$8.
Cocktails are offered almost everywhere you can eat,
including in cafes and snack bars, and are much more interesting than
the food. Mojitos, daiquiris and Cuba Libres are just a few examples of
Cuban mixing, the results of which are often much better than what you
get under the same name in Europe. It is important to ask for the price
before(!) ordering or to look at the menu (if there is one at all),
otherwise you can end up paying US$6-10 per cocktail. Otherwise, the
"standard cocktails" are very cheap and can cost between US$1.50 in
remote regions and US$4 in Havana.
Soft drinks: Cuban versions of
cola (Tu Cola), Fanta (Refresco Naranja), Sprite (Refresco Limon),
Schweppes (Tonica) are available, the originals are relatively expensive
Beer: beer from the Cuban brand Cristal (approx. 4.9%) is usually
served; there is also Bucanero (approx. 5.4%) and the slightly cheaper
Mayabe (4.0%), foreign beers are usually Heineken and Becks, which cost
about twice as much.
Wine: white and red wine imported from Spain
in 10-liter containers is usually served, which is cheaper; However, you
can also get bottled wine from Spain, Italy, France, Australia, Chile,
etc. What many Cubans don't know: there are also Cuban wines. Spirits:
Cuban rum in various variations is very cheap. Gin, vodka, etc. are also
available, but are imported and therefore significantly more expensive.
Cuba Libre ("free Cuba") is not a Cuban cocktail, but an invention of
the exiled Bacardi clan.
In the tourist hotspots there are nightclubs and discotheques that
often have dance shows on their program.
Of course there are also
numerous cocktail bars, ranging from international standard to fairly
improvised. It is curious that many bars and nightclubs are also
state-run and therefore exude a certain "bureaucratic charm" (e.g. no
service to guests without a seat). However, there are bars and
restaurants everywhere with excellent live music.
A Cuban
specialty are the so-called carbarets. These are live shows in larger
hotels (especially in Havana) that take place every evening and last
around 2 hours. A carbaret is a dance show with a large number of
dancers, interludes and music, similar to a musical. The most famous
carbaret is the "Carbaret Tropical" in Havana. Entry to a carbaret is
quite expensive, starting at 25 CUC (the Tropicana costs around 60 CUC),
and the price usually includes a welcome drink. After the carbaret, from
midnight, these turn into discos that are open until the early hours of
the morning.
For package tourists, there is a wide range of hotel categories in
Cuba. However, many of the beach hotels are concentrated in certain
areas, some of which are only accessible to foreign tourists, far away
from larger cities; for example on the Varadero peninsula or on the
various Cayos. There are no first-class city hotels except in Havana.
If you are going on an individual trip in Cuba and want to get up
close and personal with the locals, the best place to stay is in the
so-called “casas particulares”. These can be found in practically every
village, no matter how small. You can recognize the private rooms of
families by the white stickers with a blue symbol on the front doors.
This also means that these landlords have a state license to rent them
out. (A sticker with a red symbol indicates that they only rent to
Cubans.) The price is negotiable. You usually have the opportunity to
have a hearty breakfast there with lots of fresh fruit and the
obligatory rice and beans. Or even an evening meal, for example a fresh
lobster. Both of these are of course for an additional charge. Casa
Particulares must meet a minimum standard (otherwise the license may be
revoked) and are usually very clean and well-maintained. In addition,
the service and food are often better than in (state-run) hotels.
As the license is very expensive and the landlords have to give part
of their income to the state, there are obviously not only legal but
also illegal, i.e. unregistered, accommodations. People often ask you on
the street whether you are still looking for accommodation. The legal
accommodations and restaurants are at a great disadvantage compared to
the illegal ones because of the high license fees that have to be paid
to the state. Officially, you can expect good treatment from the legal
ones. Because any complaint from tourists can cost them their license
and they make a lot of effort accordingly.
If you also speak a
few words of Spanish, nothing stands in the way of an interesting
conversation with the open, warm-hearted and spirited locals, as even in
many casas English is not spoken.
Unfortunately, one of the
annoyances when staying in Casas Particulares are the agents
(Jineteros), who often intercept tourists as soon as they arrive in town
and offer their services in a very pushy manner. This usually results in
an agency fee of around $5 per night. It is therefore advisable to
choose accommodation in advance and possibly reserve it. The private
landlords are also always happy to recommend a landlord in the next
destination and reserve the room. So you are basically passed from
landlord to landlord.
One of the many ways to book a Casa in
advance is mycasaparticular.com. Once you have chosen a Casa, the
operators of the site ask the Casa directly whether it is still
available during the desired period. You usually receive a response
within 48 hours. There is a booking fee, but this only has to be paid
once per booking. So if you reserve 10 Casas with one booking, the fee
only has to be paid once. Many of the Casas on offer are also
recommended in various travel guides. It's worth paying attention to
reviews.
A hostel culture has also developed in the meantime.
However, this is only the case in larger cities such as Havana. In the
countryside there are still only casas (with single rooms), which
unfortunately makes a trip to Cuba quite expensive for (frugal) solo
backpackers.
Cuba has an excellent education system, but it is difficult to organize exchange years or similar there, except through personal contacts. Please always check with the relevant consulate. It is possible to study in Cuba. However, depending on your nationality, tuition fees can be quite high, as these are based on the GDP of the country of origin.
Cuba is considered a relatively safe country to travel to. However,
there will always be pickpocketing in large crowds. Due to the socialist
system, the government probably only publishes the data that it wants to
see published. In other words, there is of course crime in Cuba too,
even if the government likes to portray it differently. So everyone
should think carefully about where they go after dark or not (actually
it goes without saying, as this certainly does not only apply to Cuba).
In recent years, particularly in tourist areas such as Varadero,
there has been a tough crackdown on the so-called jineteros (Spanish
horsemen). The penalties for this have been drastically increased, but
even so, when walking around the cities, there is hardly a street where
you won't be approached with "Wanna buy cigars?". Even in tourist
markets, especially the notorious Spanish market in Havana, you
shouldn't be too alarmed if you are asked more often. A simple "no" is
usually enough to get rid of the dealers. If the jinetero is not put off
by this, you should say “No necesito nada” (“I don’t need anything”).
Usually they will let you go. Tourists are worth a certain risk for
them, and with the opening of Cuba, certain laws have become less of a
deterrent, especially since Cuba wants to present itself as the
friendliest country possible towards the USA, including in terms of how
it treats its own population. Jineteros can be found in all tourist
hotspots such as Havana, Trinidad and especially Pintar del Rio.
Some examples of petty crime that occurs are:
Money exchange:
cheating is very common when exchanging money. This usually happens in
various hotels or exchange offices. The trick is that the cashier does
not give you a receipt and pays out too little, or that he gives you the
receipt but then gives you a lot of coins that are not the right amount
(so always count your coins and ask for the receipt). Or they simply say
that the hotel is keeping a fee of x%, even though this is not permitted
- there is no receipt with the fee in this case. It is also quite easy
to give out CUP instead of CUC, especially in the first few hours
(taxi).
Exchanging money at the airport: When exchanging money back,
the cashier is simply billed; i.e. change from the difference to the
currently set exchange rate is simply kept. Insist on change.
Theft
of clothing: Clothes are stolen from your suitcase. This can also
happen, or especially so, in good hotels.
Sales: Goods in state-run
shops are usually marked with a price. This is then hidden so that you
have to look for it; the seller states a much higher price, the
difference of which he then probably keeps himself.
Sales: Goods in
state-run shops are not marked. The price "fluctuates" every hour
depending on the mood of the seller when asked. When paying, it is
definitely higher than expected. A receipt is only given when paying by
credit card. This is why, for example, For example, when buying cigars,
always do the math carefully; the seller could have made a "small"
calculation error when multiplying - to his advantage, of course.
In addition, if you pay with CUC in peso shops, the prices quoted
(in CUC) are much higher than the actual exchange rate. Therefore,
always use an app to calculate the exact exchange rate and show it to
the seller.
Smugglers: In Havana, etc., you meet nice Cubans on
the street, usually couples - they are pregnant or with children. Small
talk ensues. You usually end up in a bar and the Cubans await the
invitation and drink quickly and a lot. The bill is pretty high at the
end.
Collectors: Where there are a lot of tourists, there are
also a lot of collectors who ask you for soap, pens, shaving equipment,
cosmetics, but also televisions, clothing and shoes and fill their bags
to the brim. However, this is not for their own use. There is no
question that the "poor" population needs them. These people, however,
collect the items in order to then sell them to their fellow countrymen
- a lucrative business. So if you really want to help, you should give
gifts directly to those in need.
Hitchhikers: As the situation with
public transport is notoriously bad for locals, there are many
hitchhikers on the streets. In principle, there is nothing wrong with
picking up hitchhikers (a good opportunity to have a chat with locals),
but you should be careful of jineteros (mostly young men) who try to
pick up or steal from tourists in this way. So you shouldn't leave
anything valuable lying around in your car and secure accessible travel
bags.
"Even if small quantities of drugs are found for personal
use, drastic penalties can be expected. Possession of small quantities
by foreign nationals is also punished as drug smuggling. The penalty for
this is four to thirty years in prison, and in particularly serious
cases the death penalty is imposed"
No special vaccinations are necessary for Cuba. Everyone should
already be vaccinated against tetanus and diphtheria. Malaria is also
not common. Important: Dengue fever occurs in Cuba. In the rainy season,
there is a risk of contracting the fever, especially in the swampy
regions, which are rarely visited by tourists. Hepatitis A and B
vaccinations are recommended for longer stays or close contact with the
population or simple accommodation.
Further current health
information is available from the Federal Foreign Office: Health
information from the Federal Foreign Office
The drinking water in
large hotels and tourist restaurants is usually perfect, but you should
avoid ice (cubes) in simple restaurants or hotels. In 2013, there were
also cases of cholera - including among tourists. Here you can protect
yourself by only using packaged drinking water.
The free health
system is only accessible to Cubans. There are special doctor's offices
for tourists (in all holiday resorts as part of the hotel complex or in
the big cities). However, these must be paid for privately. The state
pharmacies are often inadequately stocked and not accessible to
foreigners. Therefore, especially as an individual traveller, you should
take a minimal first aid kit (for fever, diarrhea, throat lozenges,
aspirin, antibiotics, plasters) with you. Other medicines are extremely
popular with hosts as gifts. In the case of minor ailments, the
landlords of the casa particular are often touchingly concerned and
unofficially call a doctor from the neighbourhood.
AIDS is still
a taboo in Cuba. Recently, however, there have been major efforts by the
government and the media (e.g. large, forceful posters on the motorways,
television commercials and, since the beginning of 2006, a telenovela
that dealt with la SIDA (AIDS) in a family). Tourists who are interested
in sexual services in particular often contract this or another disease
through unprotected sex. Tip: The often poor quality condoms available
in the country are not popular. The abortion rate, especially among
young people, is accordingly high. Even if you have no sexual
intentions, it is a good gesture to give a few high-quality condoms from
Europe as a gift.
You can generally travel to Cuba all year round. Since it is close to the equator and surrounded by warm seas, temperatures remain relatively constant. Frost is practically non-existent, but in winter an unpleasant cold wind sometimes blows from the north, which can sometimes push temperatures down to 10 degrees. September Remember is what many states in the Caribbean and on the Gulf of Mexico say. This refers to the annual hurricane season, which reaches its peak in September. In contrast to many underdeveloped countries, Cuba can deal with such events relatively well, particularly because of its strict regime. Even if the local population loses possessions (which is very rare), tourists are never left alone, but rather transferred to safe hotels.
Cuba is still a socialist country that takes particularly good care
of its inhabitants. Criticism of socialism or of Fidel Castro as a
person may not be particularly dangerous, but one should still hold
back. However, it is definitely worth paying attention to the nuances in
a conversation with locals. Many Cubans are very open about criticizing
the system. However, you should be considerate of your tour guide and
not put him in a "distress" by asking too open questions. As a tourist,
you have nothing to fear, but the locals are at risk of reprisals.
Travelers to Cuba will quickly notice the colorful mix of skin
colors, which is not necessarily typical even for the Caribbean. Due to
Cuba's long history in the slave trade and the comparatively early
abolition of slavery, there is a happy variety of colors in this regard
today. Consequently, racism is also less of an issue.
Cuba is served almost everywhere by Cubacel. Everyone should check
with their own mobile phone provider whether they already have a roaming
contract. If so, you can now expect coverage in large parts of the
country, although you may have to look for a good location locally to
get enough signal strength. Data services also work. Unfortunately, all
roaming services are very expensive and not every provider even has a
roaming agreement with Cubacell. In 2021, Deutsche Telekom charges
€2.99/min. for calls to Germany in "country group 3", €1.79/min for
incoming calls. SMS costs 39 or 49 ¢. O2 is slightly cheaper, 50 MB of
data is available for €4.99. Vodafone Germany does not offer any roaming
at all.
For tourists, there is the Cubacel Tur SIM card. This
must be ordered online in advance. You then pick it up at the airport in
Havana. The issuing counter is in Terminal 3 before passport control or
in the ETECSA branch (until 5 p.m.). It is only valid for 30 days, which
cannot be extended. The basic package for US$ 25 includes 2.5 GB of
data, 20 SMS and 20 minutes of phone calls; you cannot purchase more
than 12 GB of data.
Cuba is one of the countries in the world with the worst internet
connections. Mobile data has been available since 2018, and private
WiFi, which requires a permit, has been permitted since mid-2019. US
propaganda on social media, etc. is blocked from time to time by
temporarily shutting down individual sites.
Recently, over 100
internet cafes have been opened where you can only access the web very
slowly, and often only email works. The state telephone company runs
so-called “Salas de Navegación” (a directory of public hotspots).
WiFi is available in more and more hotels and casas, but even there
it is only available for a fee. Since 2015, WiFi has increasingly been
available in public places. Etecsa sells vouchers for this using NAUTA
prepaid cards in their shops (available in every city). You buy credit
by the hour for around one dollar/h. But, in “typical Cuban” fashion,
you have to expect long queues and bureaucracy. This means that you can
only buy a maximum of 6 cards per day and person. You also have to prove
your personal details using your passport or ID card, sometimes a
screenshot is enough.
You can scratch off your access code on the
cards. If you want to log out before the purchased credit runs out, type
in the address 1.1.1.1 in the browser, then the remaining credit and the
button with the question “cerrar sesión” will appear. If you are only
logged into the WiFi, it is also sufficient to switch off the WiFi on
your mobile phone.
You can recognize public WiFi (directory) by
the large group of people standing around with their smartphones.
Unfortunately, the more people there are standing around, the slower the
WiFi is. This is why the network strength of these hotspots often
fluctuates. Accessing social media (Facebook, Instagram) is often
possible, but streaming (YouTube) is rather difficult. In nearby hotels,
you can often buy vouchers for guests of the café. The black market for
cards is also flourishing in almost every place. Since it is very
difficult for a tourist to obtain a card officially, black market
traders offer the cards.
Free WiFi in cafes is almost
non-existent. Only in Vinales are there a few bars that offer it. This
is often very slow and often breaks down.
Anyone who wants to communicate from Cuba by post must leave their mail at the post offices or hotels, as there are no mailboxes in Cuba. Postcards take at least two months to arrive. Letters to Europe cost 24.30 pesos (postal fee schedule) up to 100g at the end of 2021.
EU citizens who get into difficulties can get support, albeit reluctantly granted, from the consular departments of their embassies in Havana.
After his arrival, Columbus initially named the island Juana after
Prince Don Juan. In 1515, his father, Fernando II, King of Spain,
ordered the renaming to Fernandina, because only one island in the
Bahamas (today: Long Island) had been named after him.
The name
"Cuba" probably comes from the language of the Caribs or the Taíno. The
words coa (= place) and bana (= large) mean something like "large
place". Columbus wrote that he landed in a place that the indigenous
people called Cubao, Cuban or Cibao. These names obviously referred to a
mountainous region near the landing site in eastern Cuba.
In
1964, the Cuban writer and etymologist José Juan Arrom described the
following word origin: According to him, in the Arawak language there is
the term kuba-annakan or cubanacán, which means something like "country
or province in the middle". It can therefore be assumed with certainty
that "Cuba" meant something like "country" or "province" in the language
of the locals.
Another naming theory focuses on the town of Cuba
in the Alentejo in Portugal; Columbus was born here as an illegitimate
offspring of the Portuguese royal family.
Archaeological finds show that Cuba's first human settlement probably
took place around 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. It probably occurred in
several waves, but the timing is very uncertain.
Around 1500, the
indigenous population was distributed as follows: Cuba consisted of a
total of 29 tribal chiefdoms. The Siboney lived in the west of Cuba, and
the Guanahatabey in the far west. Central and eastern Cuba was populated
by the Taíno. They were already growing the crops still used in Cuba
today: manioc, sweet potatoes, peanuts and tobacco. The Taino lived in
huts (bohío) made of palm wood, like those that can still be found in
the countryside today. The indigenous people have also left their mark
in today's language. Many place names in Cuba can be traced back to
indigenous words, as most of the earlier Taíno settlements developed
into colonial towns and they retained their previous names. Examples of
this are Havana, Batabanó, Camagüey, Baracoa and Bayamo. The Spanish
word for hurricane (huracán) also comes from the language of the
Caribbean indigenous people and means something like 'god of the wind'.
Christopher Columbus discovered the island on his first voyage when he landed in the Bay of Bariay in the northeast of the island on October 27th or 28th, 1492 and took possession of it for Spain. From 1511 to 1515, the island was conquered by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar on behalf of King Ferdinand. He and his followers broke the first resistance of the indigenous people under the leadership of the cacique Hatuey. Most of the indigenous people died as a result of wars against the Spaniards, imported diseases (smallpox), forced labor and malnutrition. Efforts by the church, especially the Dominican Order, and the Spanish state to protect the Indians from the arbitrary actions of the colonists had little success. Bartolomé de las Casas, who had taken part in the conquest as a field chaplain, renounced his encomienda in 1514 for reasons of conscience and campaigned against the oppression of the indigenous people. At his instigation, King Charles V ordered the gradual abolition of the encomiendas in 1542, which was implemented relatively quickly in Cuba. Cuba became part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and had the status of a Captaincy General (Capitanía General).
The first goal of the Spaniards was to exploit the gold resources,
which were, however, soon exhausted. As a result, many emigrated to the
Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico). Cuba remained sparsely populated. The
economy was based on extensive agriculture (cultivation of Indian crops,
livestock farming, beekeeping) and the export of tropical wood from the
still largely forested island. The parts of the country away from Havana
lived mainly from self-sufficiency and some smuggling. In the 17th
century, the interior of the country was developed in a second wave of
settlement and further towns were founded.
With the relocation of
the governor's seat in 1607, Havana became the political center of the
island. The city also gained increasing economic importance due to its
location. From there, access to the Gulf of Mexico could be controlled
and, using the Gulf Stream, sailed across the Atlantic to Europe. From
the 1560s, the port of Havana was the gathering point for fleets from
the Spanish colonies of America, which brought silver and other goods to
Seville and Cadiz. Havana was the bridgehead of the New World in
transatlantic trade. Cuba's economy was geared towards supplying Havana
and the fleets with food and goods.
Cuba's colonial society can be divided into the following legal and
socio-cultural aspects. Whites soon became the majority. But only those
who were born, raised and educated in Spain, the so-called peninsulares,
could rise to higher administrative and church offices. This group of
people also dominated trade. The descendants of Spaniards born in Cuba,
the Creoles, made up the majority of the population. The families that
traced their origins back to the first settlers were often able to
expand their land into large estates, which they managed as cattle
breeders or planters. Land ownership formed the basis of their power,
which they exercised as an oligarchy in local offices in politics and
the church. There were also a large number of medium and small farmers
who farmed the land between the large estates and gradually opened up
the more remote areas as well.
The general shortage of labor in
Cuba was compensated for by the introduction of slaves from Africa.
Slaves were used in all sectors of the economy, as domestic servants, in
small rural and urban production plants, or as miners. Here, too, a
distinction was made between Spanish-speaking black Creoles born in Cuba
and bozales born in Africa. The legal system allowed slaves to own
property, the opportunity to buy themselves and their families free, the
freedom to choose a spouse, and even the search for a new master. Slaves
could join together in associations called cabildos, which were formed
by blacks of the same ethnic or similar cultural background. This
institution enabled them to preserve and pass on African cultural
elements, including religious ideas that mixed with Catholicism (every
slave had to be baptized) to form syncretic Afro-Cuban cults such as
Santería, which are still widespread today.
Free blacks occupied
an intermediate position. Special legal and social conditions in Cuba
enabled a pronounced mixing of ethnicities and cultures. Here there was
a considerable number of free blacks who descended from freed or
ransomed slaves. In contrast to the Spanish-Creole upper class, the
lower white classes paid no attention to "blood purity" and mixed with
Indians and free blacks. Mixed marriages were not uncommon and - albeit
to a limited extent - accepted. Mulattos and free blacks mostly worked
as craftsmen or tradesmen, professions that were avoided by whites
because of their low status. They made up the lower and middle classes
of the cities. In the countryside, especially in the east, they lived as
small farmers.
Indians and mestizos were soon no longer recorded
as a separate group in the census; they had been absorbed into the
population groups of Creoles and colored people. On the fringes of
colonial society were runaway slaves (so-called Cimarrones) and
remaining groups of Indians who lived in seclusion in remote areas.
In the Caribbean, tensions arose between Spain and Britain over
trade, smuggling and piracy. These culminated in June 1762 with the
siege of Havana by the British fleet. After the surrender, the British
occupied western Cuba for eleven months; the centre and the east
remained under Spanish control. The British governor lifted trade
restrictions, and civil administration and jurisdiction were retained.
Shipping traffic in the port of Havana increased sixfold and trade
flourished. The brief period of free trade gave the Creole bourgeoisie
in Cuba an idea of how much they could earn without the colonial
shackles of Spain, because the Spanish colonial system directed all
trade through Spanish ports and imposed high import and export taxes
even on trade among Spanish colonies. A year later, Cuba was returned to
Spain in the Peace of Paris in exchange for Florida.
In the
course of the revolutionary slave revolt in Haiti in 1791, many French
landowners who had owned sugar and coffee plantations there fled to
Cuba. Under their influence and with their technical knowledge, Cuba
became for Spain what Haiti had previously been for France: the island
of sugar and coffee. Economic growth and the industrial use of slaves
were the result.
After the independence struggles in South and
Central America in the 19th century, Cuba became Spain's most important
colony. But even on the "ever-loyal island" of Cuba, the Creoles'
dissatisfaction with Spanish rule increased, while on the other hand,
the slave-owning sugar plantation owners feared a slave revolt along the
Haitian model that would eliminate their privileges. Between 1812 and
1844, eight major slave revolts occurred, which failed due to the
military superiority of the Spanish colonial troops and the slave
owners' militias, but especially due to the military inexperience of the
slaves.
During this time, various parties with different goals
emerged on the island:
the autonomists wanted greater independence
for Cuba while maintaining Spain as a protecting power.
the
annexationists fought for Cuba to join the USA.
the separatists were
in favor of Cuba's complete separation from Spain and the creation of a
Republic of Cuba.
the monarchists campaigned for Cuba's continued
affiliation with Spain.
In 1868, a delegation of leading representatives of the Cuban Creoles failed in its attempt to achieve greater independence for the island in Madrid. The delegation was kept waiting in Madrid and was ultimately only supposed to make a courtesy visit to the royal family without being able to present their demands. After their return, the delegates reported the hopelessness of reforms or even autonomy. The result was a strengthening of separatist tendencies among the Cubans. The proclamation of the Republic of Cuba by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in the Grito de Yara (War Cry of Yara) can be seen as a direct reaction to the failure of the delegation. As a result, newspapers such as La Aurora, the first Cuban workers' newspaper, which existed from 1865 to 1868, were subjected to strict censorship.
In the 19th century, both Cuban and American sides considered
annexing Cuba to the USA.
On the Cuban side, this interest came
particularly from the owners of sugar plantations in the West, who on
the one hand felt that their economic interests were restricted by
Spanish colonial rule, but on the other hand were afraid that without a
strong military protector (Spain or the USA) they could suffer the same
fate as the plantation owners in Haiti: the seizure of power by the
numerically superior slaves.
On the American side, it was initially
the plantation owners in the southern states who hoped that a new
federal state of Cuba would strengthen their position within the USA.
After the American Civil War, the economic interest of the USA and the
interest in the strategic importance of Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico
increased.
Since 1842 there have been repeated military invasion
attempts without official support from the USA, which were intended to
lead to Cuba's annexation to the USA. Gaspar Cisneros Betancourt can be
seen as the spiritual leader of Cuban annexationism, Narciso López as
the leader of the military activities. On the other side were the
staunch supporters of a sovereign Cuban nation state such as José
Antonio Saco and later José Martí.
After a 30-year guerrilla war, Cuba gained independence as the penultimate major Spanish colony. The war of the so-called Mambíses against Spain began in 1868 after all attempts by the Cuban bourgeoisie to obtain greater freedom from Spain, especially in foreign trade, had failed. The war of independence can be divided into three phases:
The Guerra Larga began with the Call of Yara (Grito de Yara) and
ended with the Peace of Zanjón.
On October 10, 1868, Carlos
Manuel de Céspedes called the Cuban people to war against the Spanish
colonial power in the War Cry of Yara from the Oriente province in
eastern Cuba. He freed his slaves and occupied the city of Bayamo with a
small army. When the Spanish troops tried to recapture Bayamo, the
town's inhabitants set fire to their own houses and joined the rebels. A
poem celebrating this event became the Cuban national anthem, La
Bayamesa. Within a month, the revolutionary army grew from 147 to over
12,000 men, including many slaves.
A short time later, strong
revolutionary military units were also formed in Camagüey in central
Cuba (Ignacio Agramonte and others) and Las Villas in western Cuba
(Eduardo Machado, Carlos Roloff). However, due to resistance from the
sugar plantation owners under the leader of the Havana reformists, José
Morales Lemus, the planned and strategically decisive attack on the west
of the island did not take place.
The Parliament of the Republic
in Arms, as the Cuban underground movement called itself, consisted
largely of large landowners in its political leadership who hoped that
Cuba's independence would lead to free trade with foreign countries,
especially the USA. They always resisted the demand to extend the war to
the west of Cuba, where the large sugar cane fields were located, from
which Spain drew the necessary financial resources to fight the
insurgency. After many failures, the Spanish general Arsenio
Martínez-Campos succeeded in weakening the insurgency in a political and
military offensive. In 1878, the Peace of Zanjón was signed. It granted
the Cubans representation in the Spanish Cortes and established a
gradual emancipation of slaves, but Cuba remained without real autonomy.
Slavery was finally abolished in Cuba in 1886.
The Guerra Chiquita began with the protest of Baraguá and ended with
Maceo's exile.
The deputy commander-in-chief of the revolutionary
forces, Antonio Maceo, refused to recognize the capitulation and
declared at a meeting with Arsenio Martínez-Campos that the fight for
Cuban independence (Protesta de Baraguá) would continue. In 1880,
however, he too had to stop fighting and went into exile in Mexico.
The War of Independence began with the Grito de Baire (War Cry of
Baire) and ended with the occupation of Cuba by the USA.
Between
1879 and 1895, Cuban exile groups in the USA and Mexico prepared to
return to Cuba. The poet, journalist, revolutionary and freemason José
Martí was particularly active in organizing this and finally managed to
bring the two former commanders-in-chief of the revolutionary forces,
Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, back to the table. The Manifesto of
Montecristi (Manifesto de Montecristi) laid down the conditions for a
resumption of the struggle. In 1895, the revolutionaries landed in
eastern Cuba by ship. José Martí, who had no military experience, was
killed in one of the first battles with the Spanish colonial army. The
Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo sent an army of
200,000 soldiers under Captain General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau to the
island. His draconian methods were militarily successful, but sparked
outrage around the world, so Weyler was recalled in 1897, a separate
ministry for Cuba was created, and the island was granted extensive
autonomy. The Cubans, however, demanded complete independence. This time
Spain did not succeed in stopping the uprising, especially since the
struggle was spread across the whole of Cuba from the start, including
the west of the island, which was particularly economically important
for Spain. When Spain was already publicly talking about withdrawing
from Cuba, the USA intervened in 1898 and provoked the Spanish-American
War (explosion on the battleship "Maine" and sinking in the harbor of
Havana with 268 deaths). Historically, this date marks the entry of the
USA into the circle of imperialist world powers.
Instead of
gaining its independence, Cuba came under the rule of the USA after the
peace negotiations between Spain and the USA in Paris, in which the
Cuban independence movement was not allowed to participate. The USA only
formed the Republic of Cuba on May 20, 1902 with the installation of its
first president, Tomás Estrada Palma.
The USA had been Cuba's main economic partner since 1880. During the
occupation period, it invested a further 30 million dollars in the
island. It was the dominant market and determined foreign trade. This
made Cuba extremely dependent on the goodwill of the USA. The productive
sectors, especially the sugar industry, were still in Cuban hands.
Politically, Cuba was divided. In addition to the Republic in Arms
that emerged from the wars of independence, there was a pro-Spanish
autonomous government. The USA exploited this political stalemate.
Under pressure from the USA, the Cuban constitution of 1902 was
given an additional article, the so-called Platt Amendment, which
guaranteed the USA the right to intervene militarily if it saw its
interests or US property in Cuba in danger. This meant that the newly
founded Republic of Cuba lacked the most important prerequisite of an
independent state: sovereignty. Tomás Estrada Palma became the first
president of the republic.
In 1903, the Platt Amendment also
secured the USA two military bases on the island: Bahía Honda, which was
returned in 1912, and Guantánamo Bay, which is still occupied by the US
military and has been used to illegally detain prisoners of war since
the war in Afghanistan.
Between 1906 and 1919, the USA intervened militarily in Cuba several times (gunboat policy) in order to "protect US property". One of these was the invasion of October 1906, which lasted until 1909. The Republic of Cuba, which had no sovereignty due to the Platt Amendment, became a pseudo-republic in which the most important decisions were made by the US embassy, including the decision on whether an elected president could remain in office. For example, the US intervened to prevent the election of Alfredo Zayas in 1917. When Zayas was re-elected in 1920, he had to submit his entire cabinet to US General Crowder for approval.
In 1925, General Gerardo Machado y Morales became president. Major US companies (Rockefeller, Guggenheim and Morgan) invested a total of one million dollars in his election campaign. Machado represented an extremely nationalist course, which also earned him the name "tropical Mussolini". From the first day of his presidency, he persecuted political opponents, having them murdered or driven into exile, including his predecessor Mario García Menocal. A broad political movement soon emerged, from the bourgeois upper class to the workers' movement. The radical resistance organization ABC, which was mainly recruited from bourgeois youth, carried out numerous attacks on figures in the Machado government, after which Machado had several times as many political prisoners murdered. Under Machado, the garrote was reintroduced as a means of executing the death penalty. A murderer of 44 times became head of the military police, and serious criminals were armed in prison to kill 70 political prisoners. In 1929, Machado held a sham election in which he was the only candidate. The population's hopes of getting rid of the dictator by voting him out were dashed and resistance grew. On August 12, 1933, the dictator Machado was overthrown by a broad popular movement through a general strike and replaced by an interim government under Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada.
However, on September 4, 1933, the interim government was overthrown
by the so-called "Revolt of the Noncommissioned Officers," led by
Sergeant Fulgencio Batista. Batista became the "Leader of the
Revolution" and commander-in-chief of the army from 1933 to 1939. After
the coup, Ramón Grau San Martín was appointed president on September 10,
1933, but was overthrown by Batista on January 14, 1934. Grau then
founded the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Auténticos). Supported by the
Cuban army and the ever-present threat of intervention by the USA,
represented by Ambassador Jefferson Caffery, Batista installed various
puppet presidents from 1934 to 1940 (Carlos Mendieta (1934/1935), José
Barnet (1935/1936), Miguel Mariano Gómez (1936) and Federico Laredo Brú
(1936–1940)), until he was finally elected president himself in 1940
with a large majority and appointed, among others, two members of the
Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) to the government cabinet. Previously,
with Batista's support, the Constituent Assembly had enshrined numerous
social reform goals of the popular uprising against dictator Machado in
1933 in the new constitution of 1940, which was considered exemplary by
international comparison.
As in other countries, women's suffrage
came to Cuba with a revolution: the removal of the dictator Gerardo
Machado from power led to Cuba becoming the fourth Latin American
country to grant women's suffrage. After gaining formal independence,
the (provisional) Ley Constitucional of January 2, 1934 already provided
for universal male suffrage. On February 3, 1934, women's suffrage was
included in the provisional constitution. But women's suffrage only came
into effect with the adoption of the 1940 constitution; the other
provisional constitutional texts did not change women's suffrage.
In the 1944 election, Batista was replaced as president by Grau San
Martín, the candidate of the Partido Revolucionario Cubano
(Auténticos)/PRC(A), and left Cuba to go to Florida. A strong opposition
party, which the young Fidel Castro also joined, emerged in 1947 in the
Partido del Pueblo Cubano (Ortodoxos), founded by Eduardo Chibás, who
had previously left the ruling party PRC(A) citing rampant corruption.
In the 1948 election, however, the Auténticos' presidential candidate,
Carlos Prío, won again.
Also in 1948, Batista ran for a seat in
the Cuban Senate and invested large sums in his election. He placed his
middlemen, including communists, in the major organizations and found
support in the army, among entrepreneurs and bankers. Given the low
prospects of his own presidential candidacy in the elections scheduled
for June 1952 against the candidates of the Ortodoxos and Auténticos,
and great dissatisfaction with the state of the Cuban state among the
officers, Batista undertook a military coup on March 10, 1952. He
established an authoritarian regime under which the 1940 constitution
was partially suspended and the opposition was suppressed.
Fidel
Castro, a young lawyer and member of the Orthodox Party of Chibás, sued
Batista for his military coup before the Supreme Court. After the
lawsuit was rejected, Castro declared that the right of resistance
enshrined in the constitution had now come into force after all legal
means had been exhausted and prepared the violent overthrow of Batista.
On July 26, 1953, a guerrilla force led by lawyer Fidel Castro Ruz
launched an attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago, but the attack
failed. This was the beginning of the revolution led by the 26th of July
Movement (M-26-7). The movement's stated goals were social reform,
democracy and the restoration of the 1940 constitution. After being
pardoned by Batista after almost two years in prison, Castro went into
exile in 1955 (first to the USA, later to Mexico). He returned in
December 1956 with 82 guerrilla fighters.
On January 1, 1959,
Fulgencio Batista fled into exile, after which Castro's revolutionaries
took power. Fidel Castro took office as Prime Minister on February 13.
For a long time, Cuba's communists were very skeptical of the
revolutionary movement and condemned it as "petty-bourgeois terrorism".
The declared aim of the revolution, in reference to the Cuban folk
hero José Martí, was to secure the "transformation, independence,
justice and dignity of the Cuban nation". This was to include small
farmers, agricultural workers, workers in the cities and the middle
class, as long as they were prepared to support the new processes.
Martí's particular concern was a "radical degree of social equality".
At first, civilian opposition politicians also occupied the highest
offices in the state. José Miró Cardona of the Auténticos became prime
minister and thus the highest government representative. Fidel Castro
initially contented himself with the post of commander-in-chief of the
armed forces and head of the M-26-7. The old congress was dissolved, as
were the parties represented there. The only ones now allowed were the
M-26-7, the Directorio Estudiantil (Student Directorate) and the
Communist Party of Cuba, which was renamed the Partido Socialista
Popular (PSP) in 1944. In February 1959, a new constitution abolished
all municipal autonomy and concentrated power in the executive branch of
the state. Activists and supporters of the Batista regime were sentenced
in summary trials and mostly executed, which according to official
figures cost the lives of more than 500 people and caused the first
major wave of emigration.
In February 1959, Fidel Castro was
elected head of government by "mass acclamation". One of his first
official acts was an agrarian reform that limited land ownership to a
maximum of 400 hectares. This was entirely in line with the progressive
constitution of 1940, which was never implemented in practice. Large
parts of the middle class, which had previously supported the
revolution, were against this law. US agricultural companies, which
owned a large proportion of the sugar factories, were particularly
affected. In June 1959, the first president of the revolutionary
government, Urrutia, resigned. He was replaced by radical
revolutionaries such as Che Guevara, who now took over the post of
Minister of Industry, although he knew little about economics. A short
time later, Guevara also became head of the state bank. A new, partly
armed resistance was organized within Cuba against the M-26-7. Even
revolutionary commanders such as Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo took part. An
armed uprising against the Castroists broke out in the Escambray
Mountains. The former guerrilla leader Comandante Huber Matos was
arrested on suspicion of planning a similar thing in Camagüey and
sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Since the M-26-7 was small in
number and had a weak power base among the people, it looked for allies.
There were two relatively strong potential partners. Firstly, the trade
unions, which tended to be anti-Castro, and secondly, the communist PSP.
Despite winning union elections, the union leaders were unable to secure
their power because newly formed militias loyal to Castro opposed them.
One of the consequences was a worker-friendly wage policy that brought
increasing difficulties to the middle class, previously the pillar of
the Cuban economy. In March 1959, rents for apartments were halved and
the telephone company was nationalized. The purchasing power of Cubans
increased while production fell. The government did not opt for a
"classic" solution to the problem through a policy of austerity and
consolidation, but for massive redistribution in favor of the previously
disadvantaged lower classes, which helped the Castro supporters to
stabilize their power. They were able to win further union elections,
which gave the government influence over urban companies.
In
1960, the agricultural institute INRA was founded, which had the task of
distributing expropriated land to cooperatives and state-owned
companies. It also had a monopoly on lending to all agricultural
businesses, which eliminated the influence of banks and other lenders.
There was massive unrest in the countryside, which in some regions
almost reached civil war proportions. The armed insurgents in the
Escambray were supported by large farmers from other regions. In
addition, tensions with the USA increased over the expropriation of US
property. US-owned oil refineries refused to process Soviet oil, which
was responded to by expropriating these refineries. This ultimately led
to the trade embargo that is still in force today and was gradually
tightened during this period. In compensation, ties with the Soviet
Union were increasingly strengthened and a credit and trade agreement
was concluded.
The conflict with the USA escalated into a serious
crisis in the context of the Cold War. After the embargo was imposed,
Castro had the US sugar companies expropriated. In addition, all banks
and companies with more than 25 employees were nationalized. The
country's economy was now largely controlled by the state. While the
USA, under the leadership of the CIA, began to train Cuban exiles
militarily and planned assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, Cuba
moved ever closer to the other superpower. US President Eisenhower
ordered the planning of an invasion that would lead to a popular
uprising against the Cuban government. Cuba, on the other hand, stocked
up on weapons. In 1961, now under President Kennedy, there was an attack
by Cuban exiles on Playa Girón on the Bay of Pigs. Regular US troops
were ready on naval ships, but Kennedy was reluctant to use them. In the
run-up to the attack, only military targets such as airports were bombed
by the US Air Force. Castro was prepared for the attack, so the invaders
were quickly crushed. The expected popular uprising failed.
To
ward off counter-revolutionary activities, the Comités de Defensa de la
Revolución (Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, or CDR for
short) were founded in 1960. Today they have around eight million
members, practically all Cubans over the age of 14. These neighborhood
organizations have the function of both mutual surveillance of the
population and social control.
On April 17, 1961, Cuban exiles invading from Guatemala failed in an attack in the "Bay of Pigs." On December 2, 1961, the Socialist Republic was proclaimed on the basis of Marxism-Leninism. In a nationally broadcast address, Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist and called for the formation of a Cuban unity party to introduce communism. In February of the following year, the United States imposed a total embargo on all imports from Cuba.
Armed resistance against Castro almost came to a standstill after the
failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Fighting continued only in the
Escambray until 1966. However, acts of sabotage, including by Cuban
exiles who were secretly smuggled into the country, continued. The
government tried out the first export of revolution based on the
theories of Che Guevara, who wanted to create a so-called New Man
through a world revolution, who would no longer pursue individual,
egoistic goals, but would put all his strength into the service of
society. A massive literacy campaign took place throughout the country.
Books and telephones were now free. On the one hand, there was a
creative phase in art and culture, but on the other hand, the first
reprimands were imposed on critical artists. The slogan "Everything in
the revolution, nothing against the revolution" was born. The previously
lower classes could now study at the country's universities, the level
of education gradually increased, while at the same time the
universities lost their autonomy. The term Permanent Revolution emerged,
which is intended to illustrate that Cuba is (still today) in the
opinion of the Cuban leadership in an ongoing revolutionary process. In
practice, however, a progressive bureaucratization of the revolutionary
process could be observed. Only Fidel Castro's charismatic leadership
style gave the government legitimacy.
In January 1962, Cuba was
expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS) under pressure
from the USA, after which all Latin American states, with the exception
of Mexico, broke off their diplomatic relations with Cuba. The sanctions
against Cuba by the Organization of American States were ended on July
30, 1975.
In October 1962, the world was on the brink of nuclear
war. US reconnaissance aircraft discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on
Cuban territory that had a range as far as New York. The USA imposed a
naval blockade on Cuba to prevent the stationing of further nuclear
weapons in Cuba. A 13-day war of nerves began between the major powers,
which finally resulted in the Soviet Union giving in and withdrawing its
nuclear weapons from Cuba. Fidel Castro, who did not agree with this
decision at all, accused Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev of having "no
balls" in front of students at the University of Havana, who then
"spontaneously" chanted: "Nikita, mariquita, lo que se da no se quita",
which means "Nikita, you little faggot, what's given is given, repeating
is stealing".
After the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, presidential consultations under Kennedy, which are no longer classified, included consideration of attacking Cuba again, this time using direct US troops. What was missing was a suitable pretext to justify the attack on Cuba, which was in violation of international law. After the Bay of Pigs invasion, the USSR stationed nuclear missiles in Cuba, which served, among other things, to deter an invasion by the USA. Since the USA had also stationed nuclear missiles on the Turkish-Soviet border, the Soviet Union saw this step as a "drawing level" in the sense of the deterrence doctrine of the Cold War. After long deliberation by presidential advisers, the discovery of Soviet missile bases in Cuba in September 1962 seemed to be the pretext they were looking for to attack Cuba. In October 1962, the USA imposed a total blockade on Cuba and threatened Soviet merchant ships on the open sea with warning shots. Nuclear war between the USA and the Soviet Union seemed imminent. After secret negotiations to dismantle American nuclear missiles in Turkey, the Soviets agreed to eliminate the missile bases in Cuba as well. However, nothing was known about this secret agreement in public, so that the US government under Kennedy emerged from the October crisis as a stronger victor. The USA publicly promised not to prepare any further attacks on Cuba.
After political power was more or less secured in the early 1960s,
the problems of economic transformation arose. In order to increase real
incomes in the centralized economy, everyone was expected to voluntarily
contribute as much as possible to social progress and act as a role
model for others. Numerous services were offered virtually free of
charge. Even the complete abolition of money was considered. The result,
however, was a massive drop in labor productivity and a disregard for
public installations such as telephone booths, which were increasingly
inoperable in many areas. The goal of replacing imported products with
domestic production was clearly missed. The result was a long-term
dependency on subsidies from the Soviet Union. The US embargo did the
rest, although it was not primarily to blame. The state was no longer
able to ensure the supply of the population with agricultural products
or the transport issue.
Agriculture was a particular problem. The
increasing education of the rural population meant that they preferred
to seek employment in the cities rather than accept the harsh working
conditions in the countryside. Gigantic, centrally managed state farms
alienated those employed there from the rural way of thinking. The
attempt to breed new breeds of cattle proved to be a gigantic failure,
which to this day has had a negative impact on the population's supply
of milk and beef. Increased pressure from the state on the farmers had
the opposite effect. They responded by refusing to produce or by turning
to informal markets. The anti-Castri resistance was further
strengthened.
The government responded in 1963 with another, now
far more radical land reform. All land over five caballerías (67
hectares) was now expropriated. In addition, a military offensive was
launched against the insurgents in the Escambray Mountains, which
involved the relocation of parts of the local population. General
conscription was introduced.
Although these measures were able to
calm the situation and put down the insurgents, they did not promote
productive agriculture. Uneconomical, socialist state-owned enterprises
were created and small farmers were pushed back. The government launched
an ideological offensive. The Partido Unido de la Revolución Socialista
de Cuba was re-formed into the PCC in 1965. Political opponents as well
as homosexuals and critical artists were forced to do "useful work" for
which labor camps, known in Cuba as Unidades Militares para Ayudar a la
Producción (Military Units to Support Production, UMAP for short), were
created.
Several economic models were discussed in the
government, with two positions emerging: Che Guevara favored direct
financing of state-owned enterprises from the state budget and moral
incentives, while a group of economists favored the Soviet model, which
provided for pay based on performance. A large number of intellectuals
voted against the Soviet model, among other things because it did not
work there either. They also felt it was too undemocratic. Guevara
abruptly resigned from all public offices in 1965 and left Cuba forever.
He went to fight in the guerrilla war in Bolivia and was killed there in
1967. However, his economic views were taken up by Fidel Castro in 1966
and led to a voluntarism that lasted until 1970. However, the initial
euphoria of the Cuban people had long since faded. Cuban life became
increasingly ritualized. There was no longer a democratic exchange of
ideas. Supply shortages and discontent among the population increased.
In terms of foreign policy, Castro welcomed the invasion of Warsaw Pact
troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968 as part of the Prague Spring. Any
remaining private property in the form of craft businesses or small
restaurants was almost completely abolished. 90% of the approximately
15,000 Jews who had lived in Havana in the 1950s – mostly as businessmen
– left Cuba, partly because they were insulted as “capitalists”. Uniform
wages were introduced regardless of the value of the work. All
able-bodied Cubans had to have a job. A campaign began against
supposedly work-shy gays and artists.
All of this culminated in
the Gran Zafra campaign in 1970. The stated goal was to harvest 10
million tons of sugar in that harvest season, which would have been a
record. The mass mobilization that went with it was intended to prove
Cuba's political and economic independence. All human and material
resources were made available to achieve this goal. This had dramatic
consequences for the rest of the economy, as production dropped
dramatically. As a result, supplies to the population also continued to
collapse. Despite all efforts, only 8.4 million tons of sugar were
harvested. A record harvest was ultimately achieved, even if the actual
goal was missed. Nevertheless, this activism caused serious damage to
the Cuban economy because financial resources and workers were withdrawn
from other important sectors of the economy.
The failure of the Gran Zafra forced Cuba's government to continue to
bind itself to the Soviet model. It was recognized that Cuba could not
survive on its own. The education system was based on Marxism-Leninism,
free-thinking artists encountered increasing difficulties and
participatory democracy died out completely.
For ordinary Cubans,
however, personal economic circumstances began to improve. Expenditure
on education increased 21-fold between 1959 and the mid-1970s. Life
expectancy and infant mortality increasingly reached the level of
first-world countries. At the same time, the "revolution" began to
institutionalize. The first party congress of the PCC took place in
1975. Although the party statutes stipulate a five-year rhythm, these
party congresses were also held only at irregular intervals in the
future.
The new constitution, which came into force in 1976, was
adopted at this party congress. Fidel Castro was given absolute power,
the so-called mando único. He now combined all the important offices of
the state in one person. He was both head of state and head of
government, general secretary of the Central Committee of the PCC and
commander-in-chief of the army. Neither the formally desired
participatory democracy nor any healthy competition for political office
took place anymore. The rhetoric of the "permanent revolution" took its
place.
In the economy, a phase of "Sovietization" followed, also
combined with a certain decentralization. Companies that worked for
municipal or provincial governments were placed under their command.
Cost accounting was introduced, something that Che Guevara had strongly
opposed during his active time in Cuba. In July 1972, Cuba joined the
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), the economic organization
of the Eastern Bloc states. After the times of shortages in the 1960s,
fixed sugar prices, transfer ruble deals and regular deliveries of oil
and materials led to a modest prosperity for the Cubans. So-called
microbrigades of voluntary workers were supposed to create housing,
which they then lived in themselves. In 1980, free farmers' markets were
permitted. Food and other agricultural products could be sold there at
higher prices than those set by the state. Private cooperatives suddenly
increased. However, the state was unable to solve the transport problem
between the countryside and the city, which is why an illegal network of
traders was established that began to announce monopoly prices. In 1986,
the private farmers' markets were banned again.
The connection to
Comecon was also a technological step backwards. Cuba had previously
focused on technical and consumer goods from the USA. These gradually
became unusable. Soviet oil began to be resold in order to be able to
buy higher-quality Western goods. During Jimmy Carter's presidency,
relations with the USA also eased. There was a lively exchange with the
new sister states. Cuba became a holiday paradise for Eastern Bloc
officials. Young people from the GDR and the other Eastern Bloc states
were also allowed to study in Cuba and experience a touch of the Western
way of life in Havana. This "internationalism" was often used by Cuban
officials as an excuse for the poor standard of living of the Cubans.
Fidel Castro himself loved to present himself as a foreign policy
visionary in order to distract from domestic misery.
The 1970s
were the beginning of a sad, "grey" decade (decada gris) for artists and
cultural workers in particular. With the establishment and
bureaucratization, artistic development was severely restricted. The
slogan issued by Fidel Castro in 1961, "everything for the revolution,
nothing against the revolution", was now consistently implemented from
the perspective of those in power. The trigger was the so-called Padilla
affair, named after the poet Heberto Padilla, which cost Cuba a lot of
sympathy abroad. In 1971, Padilla published his volume of poetry Outside
the Game, which was awarded a prize by a jury of the national writers'
association UNEAC. The association's leadership, however, did not want
to follow suit. The book contained "ideological elements that were
clearly opposed to the thinking of the revolution". The book expressed
the "author's self-exclusion from Cuban life." Although this volume by
Padilla was still allowed to be published, later works were banned.
Boosted abroad as a central figure of the resistance, Padilla was
arrested in March 1971 for alleged contacts with foreign secret
services, which marked the beginning of the so-called "gray five-year
period" (quinquieno gris), a period of harsh persecution of artists and
other people who deviated from the state line. The university sector and
the party newspaper Granma were also purged of unorthodox left-wing
schools of thought. One of the most well-known opposition figures today,
Elizardo Sánchez, then a professor of Marxist philosophy, was among
those affected. Today, the entire decade of the 1970s is referred to as
the gray decade because it buried the "beautiful revolution" of
left-wing artists and intellectuals.
In 1974, the so-called
Carnation Revolution took place in Portugal. Following this, the then
Portuguese colony of Angola sought independence. A civil war broke out
between the Marxist-oriented MPLA and UNITA, which was supported by
racist South Africa. At the end of 1975, Cuba intervened in the conflict
on behalf of the MPLA rebels, which resulted in the Angolan government
being somewhat stabilized, Namibia gaining independence, and South
Africa being forced to negotiate.
In 1973, Cuban troops provided
small-scale support to the Arab armies of Egypt and Syria in their
attack on Israel in the Yom Kippur War. In 1978, Cuba supported Ethiopia
in its fight against Somalia for the Ogaden region. Six days after the
assassination of Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, US forces
occupied the Caribbean island of Grenada, a British overseas dominion,
on October 25, 1983. After the controversial invasion, which led to the
overthrow of the government of the socialist New Jewel Movement, the
armed forces took the Cubans, most of whom worked in airport
construction, prisoner.
In Cuba itself, however, economic
problems worsened, which the foreign policy successes could hardly
disguise. Supply problems and a lack of housing led to frustration among
the population. The resulting social tensions led to the occupation of
the Peruvian embassy in Havana in April 1980. The Cuban government then
authorized the landing of boats from the USA to take in refugees and
transport them to the United States. As a result, a good 100,000 Cubans
fled to the USA, mostly via the port of Mariel, including numerous
blacks, who until then had not been among those facing the greatest
pressure to emigrate. The event went down in history as the Mariel boat
crisis.
Falling sugar prices in the early 1980s further
exacerbated the crisis. Although Cuba received annual subsidies of
around two billion dollars from the Soviet Union, along with 13 million
tons of oil, the country was still barely able to keep its head above
water. Growing debts increased its dependence on the USSR. The state's
distribution policy via the Libreta was able to mitigate the crisis to
some extent.
Even Cuba's highly praised education system was in
crisis. Secondary school students were usually taught in rural boarding
schools far away from their parents' homes. There was a lack of
well-trained teachers, so older students often taught younger ones. In
addition, there was a rapid decline in the traditional values of the
Cuban family. The number of teenage pregnancies increased significantly.
The goal of "the greatest possible education for all" could only really
be achieved by lowering the general educational standard. Suddenly there
were no more cleaning workers in the country. Other services, especially
craft services, flourished and "fed" themselves mainly from illegally
snatched goods. However, the military-run businesses were a certain
exception.
When Mikhail Gorbachev announced the so-called
perestroika in the mid-1980s, which also aroused enthusiasm among the
Cuban population, Fidel Castro opposed it. He considered this a return
to capitalism. In 1986 he called for the so-called rectificación,
correction of mistakes. The result was reforms that ran counter to any
free-market character. Although market forces were given more freedom in
the meantime, this policy prevailed until the end of Fidel's term in
office. Che Guevara's ideas were revived, according to which the PCC
took on the avant-garde function that ensured mass mobilization.
However, the prescribed voluntarism only worked to a limited extent. In
1988, Castro directly criticized the events in the Soviet Union. In
Cuba, socialism and independence were inseparably linked. As a result,
private farmers' markets were banned in Cuba.
From 1988 onwards,
the successful Angola fighters returned to their homeland. The esprit de
corps that probably arose was a thorn in the government's side. The
result was a downsizing and simultaneous professionalization of the
military. During this time, the USA accused Cuba of promoting drug
trafficking. Show trials were held, including against the popular Angola
veteran General Arnaldo Ochoa. Ochoa and three close associates, also
highly decorated Angolan officers, were sentenced to death and shot.
Cuba's involvement in Angola began in the 1960s, when it first
established relations with the left-wing Angolan anti-colonial
liberation movement MPLA. The MPLA was the main organization in the
fight for independence from Portugal. There was also the
western-oriented UNITA and the FNLA. After the Carnation Revolution, the
Portuguese withdrew from Angola unexpectedly quickly after 400 years of
colonialism, and the MPLA had the best conditions to take power in
Angola. Negotiations had failed to reach agreement on the interim
presidency until the first scheduled elections. In order to prevent the
MPLA from taking over the government, the USA and South Africa had
provided support to UNITA and FNLA. Until the declaration of
independence on November 11, 1975, it was essential for them to take the
capital Luanda.
In August 1975, the South African army marched
into Angola with the secret approval of the USA to support UNITA and
FNLA. A much larger invasion followed in October. With the approval of
the MPLA, Cuba began a massive intervention with combat troops, but
without coordinating with the USSR. This last-minute support was crucial
in repelling the attacks on Luanda in the Battle of Kifangondo, in
reducing the FNLA to insignificance, and in the MPLA taking over the
government.
After another invasion by the South African army to
support UNITA and persecute SWAPO, a major battle took place in
1987-1988 near the southeastern Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale. This
battle was the largest on the African continent since the Second World
War. Again without coordinating with the USSR, Cuba sent a large
contingent of troops to fight on the side of Angola and SWAPO against
the South African army and UNITA. The battle became a turning point in
the fight against apartheid and a beacon for Namibia's independence.
While neither side was able to achieve a clear victory on the
battlefield, the South African apartheid regime recognized that the
conflict could not be won in its favor.
As a result of this
success on the battlefield, Cuba participated directly in the
negotiations between Angola and South Africa. On December 22, 1988,
Angola, Cuba and South Africa signed the Tripartite Agreement of New
York, which provided for the withdrawal of South Africa, the
independence of Namibia and the withdrawal of Cuban troops within 30
months.
The Cuban withdrawal ended 13 years of military presence
in Angola. At the same time, the Cubans withdrew from Pointe Noire
(Republic of Congo) and Ethiopia.
From the beginning, the Cuban revolution defined itself as
internationalist and had a global focus. This foreign policy survival
strategy resulted in military and civilian operations in the southern
hemisphere just one year after the triumph of the revolution in Cuba.
Although it was still a developing country itself, Cuba supported
African, Latin American and Asian countries in the military, medical and
educational fields. These "overseas adventures" not only irritated the
USA, but also often led to gnashing of teeth in the Kremlin. Due to the
need to build stable economic relations with Western states, Cuban
involvement was initially restrained in order to avoid being accused of
exporting revolution; in the second half of the 1970s, Cuba increased
its international work. For Latin America, the Department of America
under the leadership of Manuel Piñeiro played a special role.
A
major success in Latin America from the Cuban perspective was the
Sandinista uprising in Nicaragua, which led to the overthrow of the
Somoza regime in 1979. This was openly supported by Cuba. Cuban support
for other underground movements in Latin America, the USA's backyard,
was less successful. The situation was very different on the African
continent, where Cuba supported a total of 17 liberation movements or
left-wing governments - sometimes by sending troops - and was able to
record a whole series of successes, including in Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau
and Mozambique. Angola holds a special position among these countries.
In 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell, Cuba conducted a good 85% of
its foreign trade through the socialist states of the Eastern Bloc.
Their implosion triggered a catastrophic economic crisis with
significant supply shortages because economic aid and the very favorable
trade relations with the former allies for Cuba collapsed. The Soviet
Union had been gradually reducing its economic aid to Cuba since 1986.
After the failed coup in Moscow in 1991, in which the Cuban leadership
had once again placed its hopes, foreign trade with the CIS states
collapsed almost completely. In 1992 it was only 6% (approx. 65 million
US dollars) of the previous year's figure. Oil deliveries from the
former Soviet Union fell from 13 to four million tons annually, which
triggered a serious energy crisis in Cuba. The delivery of industrial
and consumer goods on preferential terms also came to a standstill.
As a result, the so-called Período especial en tiempos de paz
(Special Period in Peacetime), a kind of war economy, was declared. This
was followed by total rationing of all goods. Any political or economic
reform was initially rejected. The sugar harvest fell from seven million
tons (1992) to 3.3 million tons (1995). Import volumes fell to a fifth
of their pre-crisis levels. Private car traffic almost completely came
to a standstill due to a shortage of petrol. The health system could
barely maintain its basic services due to the lack of medicines and
materials. The supply of food through state-run outlets was reduced to
an absolute minimum. Many products that had previously been generally
available were now only available on the black market for dollars. The
"revolution" seemed to have come to an end. Gross domestic product had
fallen by at least 40% by 1993. The USA tried to exploit this situation
and, in the hope of an imminent popular uprising, tightened the trade
embargo with the Torricelli Act of 1992.
In response to the
economic collapse, the Cuban government had to accept the hated US
dollar as the official second currency in 1993, possession of which had
previously been punishable. At the same time, Cubans were now allowed to
receive transfers in foreign currency from abroad. These measures
primarily benefited members of the former (mostly white) middle and
upper classes. The main winners of the revolution, the black population,
which had been severely underprivileged in pre-revolutionary times, were
now among the main losers, as they were underrepresented in the Cuban
exile community abroad and were therefore less able to benefit from
transfers from abroad. There was a growing divide in the economy between
the peso and foreign currency economy. The foreign currency sector was
opened up to foreign investment. Market mechanisms were also introduced
here, but these were unable to alleviate the extreme supply situation.
On August 5, 1994, violent unrest broke out in Havana for the first
time since the revolution due to the miserable living conditions during
the special period. As a result, on August 7, Castro ordered the lifting
of coastal surveillance, triggering the largest mass exodus from Cuba,
which went down in history as the Balsero Crisis. Apart from this
incident, the coup attempts against the Castro regime that were desired
and expected from the USA, especially from Florida, which is inhabited
by Cuban exiles, failed to materialize.
The Cuban government
legalized the private food markets, which had only been banned in 1986,
after which the food supply situation began to stabilize at a low level.
The overall economy also began to grow thanks to the foreign exchange
sector.
On March 25, 1995, Cuba joined the Treaty of Tlatelolco,
which prohibited the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Latin America.
In February 1996, the Cuban Air Force shot down two civilian US aircraft
belonging to the Brothers to the Rescue, a Cuban exile organization in
Miami, after they violated airspace, when they were probably already
over international waters. As a result, the Torricelli Act was tightened
again in the USA by the Helms-Burton Act, which, according to historian
Michael Zeuske, may well have been in the interests of the hardliners
within the Cuban government. The shooting down of the two aircraft took
place on the very same day that a Cuban opposition group was planning a
protest to mark the 20th anniversary of the constitution. Cuba's
government wanted to use this to make a plausible connection between
internal opposition and external US aggression. The governments were
well aware that this would have political consequences in the USA, as
Fidel Castro himself explained in a newspaper interview. President
Clinton, who originally wanted to veto the Helms-Burton Act, ultimately
signed this law under pressure from political events.
While the
economic crisis, which particularly affected agriculture and industry,
continued, tourism experienced a major upswing. Private homeowners were
allowed to rent rooms to foreign tourists in 1995. These
bed-and-breakfast-like accommodations are called casas particulares
(private houses) in Cuba. The main beneficiaries of this new regulation
were members of the former, mostly white, middle class, as well as party
officials who had suitable rentable living space. Although relatively
high flat-rate fees for such rentals were introduced in 1997, landlords
often compensated for this by offering tourists meals in exchange for
foreign currency, the ingredients for which were purchased at low local,
sometimes subsidized prices. Many Cubans found illegal work in these
rental properties, for example as cooks or cleaners. Since 2010, these
employment relationships can be registered legally. And in contrast to
the often extremely dilapidated building fabric in Cuba, these houses
are usually relatively recently renovated.
From 1997, after the
Cuban economy had recovered somewhat from the shock and was now
preparing to follow the example of the tiger states in Asia, the Cuban
government began to dry up the market economy reforms. However, the
domestic economy remained weak. Agricultural production, especially
sugar, continued to decline.
From January 21 to 25, 1998, Pope
John Paul II visited Cuba. As a result, Christmas became an official
holiday in Cuba again. Party members were now allowed to profess
Christianity again. The relationship with the Catholic Church relaxed
significantly and in the years to come it was increasingly accepted as a
discussion and negotiation partner.
In May 2005, Cuba and
Venezuela founded ALBA, the Bolivarian alternative to ALCA, the
US-dominated economic community. While Venezuela receives support from
Cuba in building up its health and education systems, Venezuela is
involved in building up the Cuban economy.
On July 31, 2006,
Fidel Castro underwent gastrointestinal surgery in a hospital in Havana
after suffering an intestinal hemorrhage. He initially temporarily
handed over his offices to his 75-year-old brother Raúl Castro, who was
first vice president of the government, second secretary of the Central
Committee of the PCC and commander of the armed forces. On February 24,
2008, Raúl Castro was elected chairman of the Council of State and
Council of Ministers by the newly elected National Assembly, after Fidel
had previously announced that he would no longer run for these offices
due to illness. He announced economic reforms while maintaining
socialism. On June 3, 2009, the General Assembly of the Organization of
American States revoked Cuba's 1962 expulsion from the organization.
At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Cuba is facing
numerous crises. The biggest of these is probably the extremely
dilapidated infrastructure, some of which has not been renovated since
the 1960s. This mainly affects the dilapidated buildings, water and
sewage systems, electricity supply and telecommunications network. Some
new technologies, such as the Internet, are deliberately neglected by
the government for political reasons and are also heavily controlled.
Rising prices for food on the world market, most of which Cuba has to
import, did not make the situation any easier.
With his election
as head of state and government on February 24, 2008, Raúl Castro
finally took over the reins of government from his seriously ill brother
Fidel. In his inaugural speech, Raúl announced economic reforms to lead
the country out of its serious economic crisis. In addition, some
"senseless bans" for Cubans are to be gradually lifted. However, the
government wants to continue on the path of socialism.
Cubans
were now allowed to stay in hotels that had previously been reserved for
foreign tourists and which had previously been closed to locals. They
were also allowed to rent a car, take out a mobile phone contract and
buy DVD players and other previously prohibited electrical household
appliances, such as microwaves.
The country is also now deviating
from the strict socialist course economically and market economy
elements are being introduced. For example, previously unused
agricultural land is being given to cooperatives. These are allowed to
cultivate the fields on their own account. In addition, the state
purchase prices for important agricultural goods are being raised in
order to provide an incentive for increased production. Despite
relatively favorable climatic conditions, Cuba has had to import a large
proportion of its food from abroad.
However, the consequences of
the reforms were and are growing social inequality within the
population, which actually runs counter to the declared Cuban socialist
goal. Since the 1990s, the population has increasingly divided into two
parts: those who can benefit from the growing tourism or who are
otherwise protected by the state, such as doctors and the military, and
those who have neither access to the privileged activities nor can
otherwise participate in the new opportunities. Many of the achievements
of the revolution that Cuba is so proud of, such as the education and
health systems, gradually deteriorated, but did not disappear
completely. The functioning of Cuban society became increasingly
informal, with black market transactions playing an increasing role.
On December 17, 2014, Raúl Castro and US President Barack Obama
agreed to establish diplomatic relations and to reorient Cuban-US
relations. The US government plans to re-establish a US embassy in
Havana. In addition, some embargo relief came into force, which fell
within the competence of the US President and did not require the
approval of Congress. These included easier travel for US citizens to
Cuba and less bureaucracy for travel permits, although travel for purely
tourist purposes remained prohibited for US citizens. On May 29, 2015,
Cuba was removed from the list of states supporting terrorism, which it
was placed on in 1982 during Reagan's presidency because it supported
left-wing Latin American guerrilla organizations. There were hopes for
further financial and trade relief for Cuba, but Obama's successor Trump
put Cuba back on the list.
On March 20, 2016, Barack Obama became
the first US president to visit Cuba in 88 years. The last visitor
before that was Calvin Coolidge in 1928. On March 25, the Rolling Stones
gave a free concert in Havana in front of around half a million people.
It was the largest concert in Cuban history and the first by an
English-speaking rock band since the revolution. Until the end of the
1970s, Western rock and pop music was considered a frowned-upon Western
decadence.
From the end of 2016, mysterious symptoms of illness
began to appear among US and Canadian diplomats in Cuba, which were
later called Havana Syndrome. The Trump administration then withdrew
almost all embassy staff and stopped all consular services in Cuba.
Later, numerous embargo reliefs under Obama were withdrawn and at the
end of the Trump presidency, in January 2021, Cuba was put back on the
list of states supporting terrorism.
In April 2018, Raúl Castro
resigned from his posts as head of state and government, as announced at
the 7th PCC Party Congress, but remains the most powerful man in the
state as chairman of the PCC. His successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was
elected president for the first time, a man born after the revolution.
He is considered a "pale technocratic party cadre" whose primary task is
to hold the top leadership elite together. Economic and social
development must take a back seat in case of doubt.
A new
constitution, which was discussed by parliament in 2018 and then in a
popular consultation (referendum, popular vote), was adopted by the
people at the end of February 2019 and allowed forms of private property
and, to a limited extent, foreign investment. The office of prime
minister was thus also reinstated. In the same year, the opposition San
Isidro movement of government-critical artists was founded to protest
against a new gag law.
At the beginning of 2021, the convertible
peso was abolished as the official parallel currency to the cuban peso.
The reform was combined with a wage and price reform. The convertible
peso was introduced in 1994 as the national equivalent of the US dollar
circulating in the country. From 2004 onwards, it had completely
replaced it in official payments. From the second half of 2020, however,
the so-called MLC shops were introduced as a replacement for the shops
where you had to pay in convertible pesos and a better range of goods
than the shops that only accepted the "simple" pesos. MLC stands for
moneda libremente convertible. You can only shop there with foreign
credit cards or with national debit cards that have been loaded in
freely convertible currency. The currency of the "MLC" is not explicitly
defined. However, the balance on the debit cards corresponds to the US
dollar. Foreign credit cards are also charged.
In February 2021,
popular Cuban musicians such as Yotuel and Gente de Zona released a song
called Patria y Vida (Fatherland and Life), a counter to the
revolutionary slogan Patria o muerte (Fatherland or Death), which
quickly gained popularity. In July 2021, the first mass protests against
the government in Cuba in decades took place. They marked the beginning
of further, albeit much smaller, anti-government protests in the
following years. Thousands of people in numerous cities denounced
shortages and oppression. The slogan Patria y Vida was chanted in large
numbers alongside "Libertad" (Freedom). The direct cause of the
demonstrations was the lack of medicine and food. According to Amnesty
International, security forces arrested at least 115 people. One man was
killed during a demonstration on the outskirts of Havana. The government
described the protests as provocations by counter-revolutionaries
financed by the US to destabilize Cuba. The Cuban government then passed
a law that criminalizes the spread of what it considers "fake news."
According to official figures, there were 381 convictions for the
protests, including 16 minors, and 297 prison sentences, 36 of which
were between five and 25 years. The charges that led to the verdicts
included "sabotage, robbery, assault, disrespect for authority and
public unrest." Among those convicted was the German-Cuban Luis Frómeta
Compte, who happened to be in Cuba at the time in question and filmed
the demonstrations and shared the videos on social media. He was
sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In October 2022, a new family
law was approved by referendum, which, among other things, allows
marriage for people of the same sex, surrogacy, joint adoption and sperm
donation for these couples. Previously, in July 2022, a tightening of
the criminal law, especially with regard to political offenses, was
passed. The people were not consulted on this.
On October 18,
2024, there was a nationwide power outage that lasted more than two
days. The cause was an accident at Cuba's largest power plant, Antonio
Guiteras, which then went offline and destabilized Cuba's national power
grid and caused it to collapse completely. At the same time, on October
20, Hurricane Oscar passed over Cuba's extreme east, causing severe
damage, especially in the province of Guantánamo, and claiming seven
lives.
The archipelago belongs to the Greater Antilles. In addition to the
main island of Cuba, the largest island in the Caribbean, it consists of
the Isla de la Juventud (formerly Isla de Pinos) and around 4195 smaller
and smallest islands with a total area of 109,884 km².
The
maximum extent of the main island is 1250 kilometers from west (Cabo San
Antonio) to east (Punta Maisí). The narrowest north-south extent is 31
kilometers. The distance to Key West (USA) is 154 kilometers, the
distance to Yucatán (Mexico) is 210 kilometers. Because the outline is
vaguely reminiscent of a crocodile, Cuba is also often referred to as
the "green caiman" (Spanish: caimán verde).
The Cuban humid
forests are an ecoregion of tropical rainforests on Cuba and the Isla de
la Juventud.
The highest point is the Pico Turquino (1974 m above
sea level) in the Sierra Maestra.
The capital Havana is the
largest city in Cuba with around two million inhabitants, followed by
Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey and Holguín.
In the southeast of the
island, on Guantánamo Bay, is the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, a naval
base of the US Navy. The legal basis is a treaty from 1934, the validity
of which is disputed between Cuba and the USA.
Cuba's time zone
is UTC−5, during summer time UTC−4.
The climate is tropical and is influenced by the northeast trade
winds. There is a drier season from November to April and a rainy season
from May to October.
Cuba lies in the catchment area of
tropical cyclones, which form annually from June to November over the
Atlantic and in the Caribbean. It is not uncommon for a severe hurricane
to hit the Cuban mainland and cause severe devastation, hitting
economically weak Cuba particularly hard. Private houses, which are
mostly built using lightweight construction, are particularly vulnerable
to the strong winds. However, Cuba has a very well-functioning disaster
protection system, so that, unlike its neighboring islands, there are
rarely a large number of deaths.
The 2008 hurricane season, with
three severe hurricanes hitting Cuba - Gustav, Ike and Paloma - was one
of the worst natural disasters in the last 50 years. Hundreds of
thousands of homes were destroyed, infrastructure was severely damaged
and large parts of the crops were destroyed. The total damage is
estimated at around ten billion US dollars, around twenty percent of
Cuba's gross domestic product in 2007. Seven people died.
The
highest temperature since weather records began in Cuba was measured on
April 11, 2024 at 40.1 °C in the province of Granma. The previous record
dates from April 12, 2020 in the same province, where 39.7 °C was
recorded.
In Cuba, numerous musical styles and dances have emerged, some of
which have spread internationally. These include the son, the mambo, the
salsa, the danzón, the rumba, the cha-cha-cha and the old and new trova
(nueva trova).
Due to the migration of many South and Central
Americans to the USA during the Second World War, a slight mixture of
Cuban rhythms and jazz quickly developed. After 1945, Cuban music also
became very popular in West Africa and influenced the highlife.
Towards the end of the 1990s, Wim Wenders' film Buena Vista Social Club
triggered a Cuba wave. In addition to the modern Cuban music that had
already spread internationally by then, the music of the 1940s once
again became an export hit. The film reports on the work of Ry Cooder
with a group of Cuban musicians, almost all of whom had already reached
retirement age. As a result, some of the musicians involved released
their own solo albums, which became international sales successes.
Around 2005, reggaeton, modern Cuban music mostly by young groups,
experienced a brief, intense boom worldwide. Reggaeton originated in
Puerto Rico and Panama. Some of these hits, with mostly raunchy lyrics,
even appeared in European charts at the time. Just a few months later,
at least the global hype was over. However, stylistic elements of
reggaeton were subsequently used again and again and influenced numerous
international hits, especially in the mid-2010s.
In classical
music, the Sauto Teater in Matanzas is worth mentioning, where the
Italian opera star Enrico Caruso, the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia
and the Cuban violinist and composer José White performed.
Before the revolution, there was no independent film production in
Cuba. The few films that were produced in Cuba imitated the style of
American productions.
In 1959, the Cuban Film Institute Instituto
Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC) was founded, which
initially produced mainly documentaries, animated films and educational
films. Its founding director was Alfredo Guevara, a close confidant of
Castro's since their time as students together, who remained the central
figure of Cuban film culture until his death in 2013. The poetic short
film PM, which documented Havana's nightlife, was banned by
revolutionary censorship in 1961 and sparked a debate affecting the
entire cultural sector, which Fidel Castro ended with his "Words to the
Intellectuals", in which he subordinated their artistic freedom to the
interests of his government. The film I Am Cuba, shot in Cuba in 1964,
was a Soviet-Cuban co-production with Mikheil Kalatosov as director; the
Cuban film actors and crew of the film later established an independent
Cuban film style. Directors such as Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Death of a
Bureaucrat – Muerte de un Burócrata, 1964) and Humberto Solás (Lucia,
1968) led to international recognition of Cuban film, and not only among
film buffs. In 1977, the ICAIC produced 10 feature-length films and 61
short films within a year. Due to the economic crisis at the beginning
of the 1990s, Cuban film and television production was scaled back, so
that in the 1990s almost only films were financed from abroad,
especially from Spain. Notable is the Oscar-nominated film Strawberry
and Chocolate (1993), based on a short story by Senel Paz, which
skilfully addresses the subject of homosexuality in Cuban society. Only
recently has there been an independent Cuban film production again,
which continues the traditions of Cuban film with films such as Suite
Habana (directed by Fernando Pérez, 2003).
Since 1986, the
International Film and Television School in San Antonio de los Baños,
co-founded by Gabriel García Márquez, has been in existence, where
students from all over the world, but especially Latin Americans and
Cubans, are educated.
In 2017, around 3,000 Cuban film posters
were added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
Selection of well-known Cuban writers:
Reinaldo Arenas (1943–1990)
Miguel Barnet (* 1940)
Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929–2005)
Onelio Jorge Cardoso (1914–1986)
Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980)
Jesus Díaz (1941–2002)
Pedro Juan Gutierrez (* 1950)
Nicolás
Guillén (1902–1989)
José Lezama Lima (1910–1976)
José Martí
(1853–1895): The song Guantanamera by José Joseito Fernández Diaz based
on a poem by the Cuban national poet about a girl from Guantánamo
province is a classic of folk music.
Leonardo Padura (* 1955)
Zoé
Valdés (* 1959)
Cirilo Villaverde (1812–1894)
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana.
Fundacion Ludwig de Cuba
in Havana
Museum of the Revolution in Havana
Museum Palacio
Brunet, in Trinidad
Museum Galerie Pedro Esquerre, in Matanzas
Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish, African and Caribbean cuisine.
The recipes have many spices and techniques in common with Spanish and
African cooking, with some influence from the Caribbean in terms of
seasoning and aroma. However, there are major differences from Mexican
cuisine, for example. On the other hand, there is a small but notable
influence from Chinese cuisine.
Due to historical circumstances,
the Cuban population was not evenly distributed across the island.
African slaves made up the majority in the sugar cane plantations, but
they were a minority in most cities. The tobacco plantations were mainly
populated by poor Spanish farmers, mostly from the Canary Islands. The
eastern part of the island also saw a large number of French, Haitian
and Caribbean immigrants, mainly during the Haitian Revolution, as well
as seasonal workers for the sugar harvest, while this was not the case
in the western part. Instead, until the 1950s, it was mainly European
immigrants who lived there. Thus, Cuban cuisine developed under local
conditions and specific demographic influences.
For historical
reasons, many recipes describe spice mixtures. The basis of most dishes
is rice with black or red beans, called congrí or moros y cristianos
("Moors and Christians"), the ingredients of which are usually easily
available in state-run stores. The supply of other foodstuffs is
sometimes difficult, as state-run stores have only a very limited range
and are often affected by shortages, and free farmers' markets charge
high prices. Many Cubans in the cities obtain scarce or expensive food,
such as meat, through relationships with the rural population or keep
small animals on balconies or roofs. In this respect, Cuban cuisine
today also varies greatly between the country and the city.
Tourists who are staying in the houses of local Cuban families (casas
particulares) have the opportunity to try Cuban cuisine by arrangement.
Cuban restaurants in areas frequented by tourists often offer a menu
with prices listed in the two currencies CUC and Moneda Nacional. The
dishes offered there are often not available and the range is much more
limited than stated on the menu. The "standards" moros y cristiano and
various chicken variants are usually available, however. Alternatives to
these are paladares (German for "palate"), privately run restaurants,
often in private homes, which offer rich and varied cuisine, but at
prices that are only affordable for foreigners and are close to Western
European levels.
In Cuban cities, small stalls are common on the
streets, offering a variety of sandwiches, pizza or Latin American
snacks. They also sell from ground floor windows of apartments. You can
get a small, simple but extremely filling pizza for around 5 pesos
(about 20 euro cents).
Sport is very important in Cuba. Sports such as baseball and boxing
were and are very popular. Today, sport is strongly supported by the
state.
Cuba takes part in numerous international competitions,
such as the Summer Olympics and the Pan-American Games. The sports with
the most medal promise are baseball, women's judo, wrestling
(Greco-Roman), boxing and athletics. Also notable are the successes in
volleyball, handball, freestyle wrestling, diving and platform diving,
chess, track and road cycling, taekwondo and canoeing. Cuba is in second
place on the all-time medal table of the Pan-American Games. The Cuban
national football team has only taken part in a World Cup final once so
far.
Special Olympics Cuba was founded in 1983 and has taken part
in the Special Olympics World Games several times.
In April 2017,
Austrian Jacob Zurl was the first to cross the main island of Cuba
lengthways in a car-assisted non-stop long-distance cycling style.
The Cuban mass media are state property according to Chapter VI Article 52 of the 1976 Constitution. The entire media system also serves the propaganda of the state. The management and control of the content disseminated through the media is the responsibility of the Ideology Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, which is headed by Rolando Alfonso Borges. Due to the economic crisis of 1993, the range of print media (newspapers and books) and cinemas in Cuba has been greatly reduced, while other media such as television and the Internet have increased, although not to the same extent.
The Cuban press is under the sole control of the government, the
Communist Party of Cuba and the communist mass organizations (unions,
women's federation, etc.). The following Cuban newspapers have the
greatest circulation, all of which also have a partially multilingual
Internet version. Despite their circulation only gradually increasing,
the newspapers and magazines have a large number of readers, as they are
generally systematically exchanged in the neighborhood and have a de
facto monopoly position. The following newspapers and magazines are
mentioned:
Granma (central organ of the Communist Party of Cuba
PCC)
Juventud Rebelde (organ of the Communist Youth UJC)
Trabajadores (newspaper of the trade union association CTC)
Bohemia
(weekly magazine)
Independent journalism is consistently pursued.
In particular, reports on the situation in Cuba or their passing on to
foreign media are strictly prohibited. Critical independent journalists
publish their texts on foreign websites such as CubaNet. On the other
hand, the government also tries to prevent citizens from obtaining
information from sources critical of Cuba; Radio Martí, a US government
radio station in Spanish, is constantly disrupted and websites are
filtered.
There are five state television channels in Cuba (Cubavisión, the two
educational channels Canal Educativo 1 and 2, Tele Rebelde and
Multivisión), which can be received by the entire population via analog
antenna. Almost all Cuban households have television sets, although some
of them are very old. For reception abroad, the satellite-broadcast
channel Cubavisión Internacional broadcasts a 24-hour program.
In
June 2013, test operations of digital television according to the
Chinese DTMB standard began with 45,000 households in Havana. In 2016,
it went into regular nationwide operation. A receiver or a suitably
equipped TV set is required for reception. In May 2023, the first two
analog channels began to be switched off in Havana. At that time,
nationwide coverage of digital SD reception was 77 percent and HD
coverage was 48 percent. The 700 MHz frequency band that will be freed
up will be used to expand 4G mobile communications. It is also hoped
that this will result in significant energy savings.
The
satellite broadcaster telesur has been broadcasting its program for
Latin America since July 2005, in which Cuba has a 19% stake. In Cuba
itself, only daily summaries of the program were initially shown on the
Canal Educativo 2 channel. Since January 2013, the program has been
broadcast live in two time slots from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 8
p.m. to 1 a.m.
Satellite reception and the possession of
reception dishes are prohibited for private individuals in Cuba. For
tourist facilities such as hotels, a selection of international
satellite programs, including DW-TV and CNN, are fed into a national
television cable network operated by the state-owned company Telecable.
The Spanish-language CNN en Español was removed from the list of
channels in January 2011.
In addition to numerous radio stations with mixed programs and pure music stations, there is, among others, what it claims to be the oldest 24-hour news station, Radio Reloj (Radio Clock), with a constant time announcement. Foreign stations can be received freely, as far as technically possible (with the exception of the constantly disrupted US station Radio Martí).
Until the agreement between the USA and Cuba to resume diplomatic
relations in 2014, the Internet in Cuba was only accessible under severe
restrictions, partly due to fears of the state losing its media
monopoly. As part of this agreement, the USA promised to end the embargo
on the export of equipment and services in the field of
telecommunications. The Cuba DATA Act, introduced in the US Congress in
mid-2015, is intended to create the legal basis for the involvement of
American telecommunications companies in Cuba. Since then, two US
companies, Sprint and Verizon, have already announced voice and data
services for Cuba.
The beginnings of the Cuban Internet date back
to 1994, when a backbone for the entire island was installed with the
help of UNESCO, which was intended solely to connect doctors to national
and international medical databases and was subject to state control.
Even today, private Internet access is practically non-existent in Cuba.
The only exceptions are the doctors, scientists and government-loyal
journalists mentioned above. Otherwise, Cubans have been forced to use
public access options. These have been greatly expanded since 2015. In
addition to hotel connections, which cost up to $10 per hour, there is
now an increasing option of dialing into one of the WiFi hotspots. The
number of these started at 35 and reached around 60 by the end of 2015.
At a cost of two dollars per hour, however, the tariff is still beyond
what an average Cuban earner with a monthly income of $25 can afford.
In 2011, Cuba was connected to the international fiber optic network
from Venezuela via ALBA-1. Before that, communication was via slow
satellite connections. However, the cable did not officially go into
operation until two years later. Since then, Cubans' access to the
Internet has slowly but steadily improved. Previously, it was only
possible to go online in tourist hotels for six to ten convertible pesos
(CUC), or to write international emails on post office computers for
1.50 CUC per hour. Now, numerous Internet cafes run by the state
telecommunications company ETECSA have been set up where you can go
online for 4.50 CUC per hour. In 2014, the mobile email service Nauta
was set up, which allowed you to send and receive international emails
via the GPRS mobile data service. In mid-2015, Nauta was expanded to
include WiFi hotspots in several large cities, where, depending on the
level of expansion, 50 to 100 people can go online at the same time. In
July 2015, access prices were reduced from 4.50 CUC to 2 CUC per hour.
Given the average Cuban income of 20 to 25 CUC per month, these remain
prohibitive prices for the majority of the Cuban population, who are
thus still cut off from the World Wide Web. An offer from Google to
provide Cuba with free WiFi antennas was rejected by the government. The
aim was not to provide Cubans with Internet, but to undermine the
revolution. Nevertheless, the number of Internet users in Cuba has risen
sharply, especially since the opening of WiFi hotspots. Cubans with
relatives in the USA and a growing number of people working in the
tourism industry in particular have access to foreign currency and can
afford Internet access with their own tablets, smartphones or laptops.
In 2014, based on data from the ITU, 27 percent of the population in
Cuba had Internet access. However, the majority of them only have access
to email services and the state intranet. According to estimates, only
5% of the population had access to the international World Wide Web in
2015, which is the lowest rate in all of Latin America. In 2011, there
were around 7 computers per 100 inhabitants, but the vast majority of
these are in government institutions and only 60% are connected to the
network.
On World Day Against Internet Censorship (March 12), the
human rights organization Reporters Without Borders listed Cuba (in
2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, among others) as one of the twelve countries
that are considered enemies of the Internet.
In February 2007,
Cuba released the beta version of its own search engine 2x3. 150,000
official pages are available, from the state press to Fidel Castro's
speeches. In December 2010, the Cuban wiki-based online encyclopedia
EcuRed was launched with around 20,000 articles that show the official
Cuban view of the world.
The government under Raúl Castro has
announced that, despite the temporary lifting of the ban on private
individuals buying computers, the restrictions on Internet access will
not be lifted any time soon. The main reasons are the limited technical
and economic capacities. Most households do not even have a telephone
connection. In 2008, the restrictions on the purchase and use of mobile
phones were relaxed.
Cuban law threatens a prison sentence of up
to 20 years for posting illegal content on foreign websites. Illegal
access to the Internet is punishable by five years in prison. The
renowned University of Computer Science (UCI) is responsible for the
practical implementation of Internet censorship.
Despite all the
restrictions, in recent years the Internet has increasingly developed
into a medium for exchanging non-governmental information, primarily by
email, even within Cuba. At the same time, a regime-critical blogger
scene developed from around 2007. Among the most internationally
well-known bloggers are Yoani Sánchez, her husband Reinaldo Escobar and
Claudia Cadelo. Although the Cuban authorities tolerated these blogs
being read abroad, access to them was blocked within Cuba until February
2011. Other blogs include Havana Times, published by the American
Circles Robinson, with numerous young and older authors from Cuba, Voces
Cubanas, published by Reinaldo Escobar, and La Joven Cuba.
However, as their involvement expanded to the Cuban public, the bloggers
increasingly encountered problems with the security apparatus. The range
of repressions ranged from threats to brief arrests to so-called Actos
de Repudio (literally "acts of rejection", but in fact they are about
intimidation).
Later, the Cuban government's strategy changed:
around a thousand "revolutionary" bloggers loyal to the government were
installed to counter the dissident bloggers. Among other things, they
accuse Yoani Sánchez and her colleagues of being paid by the US
government. Rumors about the private lives of bloggers are also often
published with the aim of damaging them. The USA is accused of waging a
so-called "cyber war" against Cuba. This is not being waged with "bombs
and bullets, but with information, communication, algorithms and bytes".
This is "a new form of invasion that comes from the developed world".
The "cyber dissidents" around Yoani Sánchez are being set up as part of
this war.
At the end of 2011, a clone of Facebook called Red
Social (social network) was activated in Cuba. This is only accessible
on the Cuban intranet and is intended to offer students in particular an
alternative to foreign social networks on the Internet such as Facebook
or Twitter, which, although also widely used by official bodies in Cuba
itself, are described as part of the so-called "cyber war" against
revolutionary Cuba. The purpose is probably to better control the flow
of information and to make access to the free information available on
these networks more difficult or even impossible.
Ignacio
Ramonet, Castro's authorized biographer and considered close to Fidel
Castro, also criticized the limited access of the Cuban population to
the Internet: "Without a sufficiently broad access to the World Wide
Web, the island risks losing touch with international developments,"
said the editor of Le Monde diplomatique.
Since February 9, 2015,
the American online video store Netflix has also been available in Cuba.
In 2024, Cuba's Internet was listed as the slowest and most
expensive in Latin America.
The Old Man and the Sea, 1958, film adaptation of the novella of the
same name by Ernest Hemingway
Before Night Falls, 2000, film
biography based on the autobiographical novel (1990) by the Cuban writer
Reinaldo Arenas entitled Antes que anochezca (Before Night Falls) and
dealing with Arenas' life.
Buena Vista Social Club
Germany/USA/UK/France/Cuba 1999: documentary film by Wim Wenders about
Cuban "Soneros" musicians of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. The focus is on
the concert by the troupe of the same name, made up of old men who play
rather young, and which Ry Cooder brought back into the spotlight.
Strawberry and Chocolate, Mexico/Cuba/Spain 1994: internationally
award-winning feature film. 'Prisma-online' writes: "Based on the short
story of the same name by the well-known Cuban writer Senel Paz - who
also wrote the screenplay - directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, an
impressive picture of Cuban society was created that shows a friendship
that can overcome socio-political taboos (homosexuality is still one of
them in Cuba)."
Havana, feature film 1990: With Robert Redford as
Jack Weil, a poker player in love in the turmoil before the revolution.
Soy Cuba - I am Cuba Soviet Union/Cuba 1964: Aesthetically sophisticated
propaganda film by Mikhail Kalatosov: Five episodes from the suffering
and struggle of the Cuban people at the time of the revolution.
At the end of 2023, Cuba had around 10 million inhabitants, of which
over two million lived in the capital Havana. Between 2021 and 2023, the
population fell by a good million. Of these, only 120 thousand are due
to the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths
(birth rate: 8.9 per 1,000 inhabitants vs. death rate: 14.7 per 1,000
inhabitants). The majority is due to emigration due to the current
economic crisis.
The number of births per woman in 2022 was
statistically 1.4, while that of the Latin America and Caribbean region
was 1.8. The median age of the population in 2021 was 41.2 years. In
2023, 15.6 percent of the population was under 15 years old, while the
proportion of people over 64 was 16.1 percent of the population. At the
beginning of the 2010s, Cuba was the first country in Latin America to
experience an accelerated population aging process.
Through a Spanish law, the Ley de Memoria Histórica (Law of
Historical Remembrance), from which the children and grandchildren of
refugees from the Spanish Civil War benefit, 150,000 to 200,000 Cubans
are entitled to Spanish citizenship.
In 2017, 0.1% of the
population were migrants. Cuba thus has one of the lowest proportions of
foreigners in the world.
According to self-reported figures from
those surveyed in the 2012 census, the Cuban population is divided as
follows:
64.1 percent white
9.3 percent black
26.6 percent
mulatto and mestizo.
The large regional differences are striking:
while in the western provinces an average of 70-80 percent describe
themselves as white, in the eastern provinces of the country this figure
is significantly lower. In Santiago de Cuba, for example, only 25.6
percent of the inhabitants describe themselves as white, 60 percent as
mulatto or mestizo and 14.4 percent as black. In Havana, the picture is
more varied: 58.4 percent describe themselves as white, 26.6 percent as
mixed and 15.2 percent as black.
With Cuba's transformation into
a quasi-monopoly supplier of sugar and the resulting need for labor, a
large number of African slaves came to the island, six to eight hundred
thousand in the 19th century alone. Between 1890 and 1930, one million
immigrants migrated to Cuba alone, mainly from Spain, so that Cuba had
three million inhabitants by 1930.
The pre-Columbian Taíno
people, who settled on the island before the arrival of the Spaniards,
have died out.
Spanish is spoken in Cuba. However, the variant spoken there has some
peculiarities compared to the standard language spoken in Spain and also
to the Spanish dialects spoken in the rest of Hispanic America. However,
most of these varieties can also be found in other Spanish-speaking
countries in the Caribbean, particularly in the Dominican Republic,
Puerto Rico and the Caribbean coastal areas of Colombia and Venezuela.
Minority languages, such as Indian languages, practically do not exist.
The grammatical peculiarity that the language has in common with the
rest of Latin America is the use of ustedes (they) in the 3rd person
plural instead of vosotros (their - 2nd person plural).
The
pronunciation is similar to that of the other Spanish-speaking countries
in the Caribbean and probably has its historical roots mainly in the
regions of Spain from which the first major wave of immigration came,
namely the Canary Islands and southern Spain, and is characterized,
among other things, by the so-called seseo. The sounds /θ/ (English th)
and /s/, which are different in standard Spanish, are always pronounced
like /s/. Swallowing some consonants, such as /s/ at the end of
syllables and words, and /d/ and /b/ between vowels, is also typical.
/l/ is also often pronounced (especially by East Cubans) instead of /r/
at the end of syllables: puerta (door) then becomes puelta and por favor
(please) becomes pol favol.
In 1992, Cuba was changed from an atheist state to a secular one
through a constitutional amendment, which allowed believers to join the
Communist Party (PCC).
Cuba's main religions are Catholicism and
Santería, a mixed religion (syncretism). It is based on the traditional
religion of the West African Yoruba and is heavily mixed with Christian
elements. As a non-political and unorganized form of religious practice,
Santería has received state support for several years. It is estimated
that around 35 percent of Cubans are baptized Catholic, including many
Santería followers. According to the Vatican, 60 percent of the
population are Catholics. Cuba's patron saint is the Virgen de la
Caridad del Cobre (Merciful Virgin of El Cobre), who in Santería also
represents the goddess of rivers and love Ochún.
In addition to
the Catholic Church, numerous Cuban Protestant communities have emerged
in recent years, and there are now more than 96,000 Jehovah's Witnesses.
Judaism in Cuba is a religious minority that had around 500 members in
2020.
In political science, Cuba is considered a bureaucratic-authoritarian state. There is no separation of powers here. According to the Marxist-Leninist ideology of the ruling Communist Party of Cuba, this is a positive version of a dictatorship of the proletariat. Since the population has no choice of possible political alternatives, we can only speculate about the approval rate.
The formally highest-ranking and legislative body is the parliament
(Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular), which elects the Council of State
(Consejo de Estado) and the Council of Ministers. In fact, the
parliament, which only meets twice a year, is relatively powerless and
its main task is to approve decisions and formally relieve the
government of its duties. Since the introduction of parliament in 1976,
with one exception, there has not been a single dissenting vote by the
approximately 600 members of parliament to a draft presented by the
political leadership, even though the new president Raúl Castro
criticized the unanimity customary in the Cuban political system in a
programmatic speech in 2008 as "usually fictitious", something he has
repeated on several occasions since then. In December 2013, LGBT
activist and president's daughter Mariela Castro voted against the
government's draft of a new labor code because she felt it did not
sufficiently recognize the rights of HIV-infected people and transgender
people.
The actual political decision-making power lies
exclusively in the Council of State and the Council of Ministers.
Because these bodies are usually made up of the same people who also
hold the highest positions in the only permitted communist party, the
exercise of power is limited to a few people. The Cuban government draws
its legitimacy primarily from a nationalism that stems from centuries of
foreign control and hostility towards the USA, which further reinforces
this feeling through its embargo and interference policy. The USA's
attempt to build up opposition groups immediately exposes critical
voices to suspicion of counter-revolution and treason and thus
legitimizes their repressive persecution.
Elections take place
under government control: The Council of State appoints the National
Election Commission to organize, conduct and evaluate them, which in
turn appoints the provincial election commissions - a chain of control
that continues down to the commissions responsible for the individual
electoral districts. Every Cuban over the age of 16 can vote (active
right to vote) and be elected (passive right to vote). The minimum age
for members of the National Assembly is 18 years. At the lowest level of
municipal parliaments, between two and eight candidates are available
for each parliamentary seat. The election between the candidates takes
place openly by a show of hands in residents' assemblies organized by
the local CDR. For the election of the provincial parliaments and the
supreme National Assembly, there is exactly one candidate per
parliamentary seat. 50 percent of each is determined by the respective
subordinate People's Assembly, the remaining 50 percent is elected
directly by the people.
The members of parliament are selected by
a committee of the PCC or the mass organizations. They are not allowed
to campaign and must commit themselves to the socialist system in
accordance with the constitution. Voters are only given a few basic
details of the candidates: name, age, occupation, formal level of
education. At 55.7% in 2024, the proportion of women in the Cuban
parliament is ranked second in international comparison after Rwanda.
However, in the Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the
Communist Party, which sets the political guidelines of the state, only
3 women are represented among the 14 elected members at the VIII Party
Congress in 2021, which corresponds to a percentage of 21.2. About five
percent of the votes are regularly marked as white (against all
candidates).
For almost 50 years, revolutionary leader Fidel
Castro combined the central political offices in his person. Most
recently, he was President of the State, Chairman of the Council of
State and the Council of Ministers, Secretary General of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and also Commander-in-Chief of
the Armed Forces. He handed over the posts of President of the Council
of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Communist Party
General Secretary to his brother Raúl Castro on August 1, 2006 due to a
life-threatening intestinal disease.
On February 24, 2008, Raúl
Castro was elected President and Prime Minister by Parliament and has
since represented a line of political continuity while simultaneously
concentrating on measures to remedy the extremely critical economic
situation. In April 2011, Raúl Castro also took over the office of
General Secretary of the Communist Party. In addition to the change in
personnel, some observers also see a change in the system from a
"charismatic socialism" under Fidel to a "bureaucratic socialism" under
Raúl Castro, which relies less on mobilizing the population and promises
more administrative efficiency and economic reforms. In 2013, a change
in the head of state and government was announced for spring 2018; Raúl
Castro would therefore only remain in the (powerful) presidency of the
Communist Party. After his partial recovery and his declared decision
not to return to leadership responsibility, Fidel Castro occasionally
appeared in public again from July 2010 until his death in November
2016.
A new Council of Ministers was appointed in December 2019.
In simple civil and criminal proceedings at the lower levels, lay
judges, otherwise professional judges, make up the majority. All judges
are elected by the people's representatives at their respective level.
Courts and the legal profession are not independent. The Cuban legal
system does not meet Western standards, especially in political
proceedings, but it ensures a functioning judiciary. The highest court
is the "Supreme People's Court", whose president is nominated by the
Chairman of the Council of State and elected by the National Assembly.
Rubén Remigio Ferro has been President of the Supreme People's Court
since 1998, after serving as its Vice President since 1997 and
previously as a cadre in the Central Committee of the Communist Party
and in mass organizations dependent on it.
Lawyers who provide
direct legal assistance to private individuals, i.e. who are not
employed by public authorities or companies, are organized in Cuba in
lawyers' collectives (Spanish: Bufetes Colectivos, 'collective law
firms'). These were created at the beginning of the socialist regime at
the instigation of lawyers who sympathized with the egalitarian goals of
the revolution in order to guarantee public access to legal services. A
law of 1973 institutionalized these collectives, which means that
lawyers who are not organized in this way can only represent private
individuals in exceptional cases. These collectives have a certain
organizational independence, but income and expenses are handled
centrally by the Organización Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos, which also
sets certain administrative guidelines. This is led by elected
representatives of the collectives, but is under the supervision of the
Ministry of Justice. The collectives' declared aim is to contribute to
socialist development through their work, which can conflict with their
mandate to represent the interests of their clients. However, according
to a specialist article published in 1998, no case is known in which
exclusion from the collectives' system occurred for ideological reasons.
The death penalty only exists formally; it was last pronounced and
carried out in 2003 for the armed hijacking of a passenger ferry. At the
end of December 2010, the last death sentence to be carried out was
commuted to a prison sentence by Cuba's Supreme Court. Furthermore, the
death penalty may not be carried out on people under the age of 20 or on
women who are pregnant at the time of the crime or at the time the
sentence is served.
The situation in Cuban prisons is considered unsatisfactory.
Political prisoners in particular regularly report unacceptable prison
conditions. According to reports from former prisoners, primitive living
conditions, denied medical care, solitary confinement, mistreatment and
sometimes torture are the order of the day. The government denies
international human rights groups and local independent organizations
access to the prisons. Although the Cuban government claims that Cuba is
free of torture - apart from the US prison camp at Guantanamo -
independent observers such as Amnesty International, the International
Red Cross or the UN Special Reporter on Torture have not been allowed
into the country for years to inspect the situation in the prisons.
In May 2012, the Cuban government provided information on the total
number of prisoners for the first time in an article in the daily
newspaper Granma: 57,337. This means an extremely high proportion of
prisoners in relation to the total population (510 per 100,000), which,
according to global comparative studies, is only exceeded by six
countries, including the USA and Russia. The government did not give any
possible reasons for the high number of prisoners; instead, the
newspaper article praised the Cuban penal system as exemplary:
resocialization is a central element of the system. To this end, the
government runs programs that enable prison inmates to receive further
education, play sports and take part in cultural activities. According
to government figures, in 2012 around 27,000 prison inmates, almost half
of all the country's prisoners, took advantage of these educational
programs, and 24,000 attended specialized courses. According to this
figure, 23,000 inmates also do social work on a voluntary basis.
Concerts are also held in the prisons. In 2008, after 49 years of
prohibition, the Cuban government authorized the Catholic Church to hold
Christmas services in several prisons for the first time. Young people
between 16 and 18 who commit crimes are only placed in special youth
prisons, where they are entitled to education to promote their social
reintegration. Since 2007, the Cuban government has been investing
heavily in prison infrastructure, with the aim of improving prison
conditions by 2017.
According to the constitution, the leading role in the state is
assigned to the Communist Party of Cuba (Partido Comunista de Cuba),
which it exercises together with the mass organizations. It sees itself
as the vanguard of the Cuban nation. Other parties are not permitted.
The PCC has over 600,000 members. Party membership promotes
professional and social advancement. Party membership is a prerequisite
for higher positions in business, the military and the state. The 1st
National Party Conference of the PCC met in Havana on January 28/29,
2012. The basis of the conference was a draft from October 2011 that had
been discussed in over 65,000 meetings of party members. 78 of 96 points
were modified and five new ones were added to the document. The content
of the conference, which saw itself as a continuation of the policy of
the VIth Party Congress, was the future role of the PCC in Cuban society
and its internal working style. The more than 800 delegates reaffirmed
their commitment to the one-party system, but at the same time decided
to expand internal democracy. It was decided that discrimination based
on gender, skin color or religious beliefs should be combated. In
addition, high government posts will be limited to two five-year terms.
Raúl Castro expressly agreed to this. In addition, party and government
offices will be more separated. The party will be the country's
political, not legal, leader. The media will be provided with more
information and the connection to young people will be strengthened. In
the next few years, 20% of the Central Committee members will make way
for young talent. The fight against corruption was also announced, which
is a much greater enemy for the revolution than the USA's acts of
sabotage.
The parliamentary system in Cuba consists of the so-called Assemblies
of People's Power (Asamblea del Poder Popular). They are divided into
three levels: the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional del Poder
Popular), the People's Assemblies at the provincial level and at the
level of the municipalities (districts). The Cuban government describes
the elections as "free, secret and equal". Cuban citizens can vote from
the age of 16 and can be elected from the age of 18.
At the two
upper levels, the candidates for the respective parliament are selected
by an electoral commission made up of representatives of the six mass
organizations. According to the constitution, these are under the direct
control of the Communist Party (PCC), which has the leading role in
society. According to the will of the Cuban government, the election
itself should take place by a single vote for all candidates (voto
unido) - there is exactly one candidate for each parliamentary seat. A
blank vote (voto en blanco), i.e. the election of none of the candidates
on the ballot paper, as well as deletions or comments are considered
invalid.
At the municipal level, candidates are elected in
citizens' assemblies organized by the Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution (CDR). Every citizen has the right to propose candidates.
These candidates are voted on in an open, not secret ballot. Only those
who receive at least 50% of the votes in such a citizens' assembly are
allowed to stand as candidates in the election to the Assembly of
People's Power. Opposition candidates have practically no chance.
The legislative period is five years at the national and provincial
level and two and a half years at the municipal level. The elected
representatives must regularly answer questions from their voters; their
mandate can be withdrawn at any time. Voters can submit suggestions or
problems in their area to the municipal parliaments at any time.
According to information from the Cuban parliament, a total of 209,000
of these petitions were submitted in the 2010-12 election period, and
solutions were found for more than 60%.
Election advertising is
only permitted in the state media, not for individual candidates. Only
passport photos and short CVs are published, but not their political
positions or political plans. According to the Cuban government, this is
to ensure that the candidate with the most money does not win, but that
the entire population is represented in parliament in proportion to its
share. Nevertheless, "workers, farmers, blacks and low-level service
workers" are underrepresented, especially in higher-level popular
representatives. And although only five percent of the Cuban population
are party members, their share among the deputies of the Asamblea
Nacional is almost one hundred percent. In fact, the electoral system
serves to secure the rule of the revolutionary elite around the Castro
brothers.
The UN Human Rights Commission assessed the elections
in Cuba as undemocratic because the results were practically
predetermined.
An organized opposition to the government and the Communist Party is
not provided for in Cuba's political system, and parties or civil
society organizations that do not conform to the government are illegal.
The internal Cuban opposition is basically trying to achieve a
transformation in Cuba, but there are sometimes major ideological and
strategic differences of opinion among competing groups. In addition,
the government has effective instruments of control and repression (see
the section on the human rights situation).
The most prominent
representatives of the opposition currently include the human rights
group "Ladies in White", the organization Unión Patriótica de Cuba
(UNPACU, whose leading members include the former political prisoners
Guillermo Fariñas and José Daniel Ferrer) and the journalist and blogger
Yoani Sánchez, who is particularly well-known abroad. A large number of
opponents of the government are active in exile, which is gaining
further support as the government no longer impedes the emigration of
Cuban opposition members. However, political statements or actions by
Cubans abroad are hardly noticeable on the island.
The Catholic
Church in Cuba is the only Cuban institution that acted as a mediator
between the government and the opposition in a few isolated cases during
Raúl Castro's presidency. The most important example of this was the
release of dozens of political prisoners, the vast majority of whom were
flown into exile in Spain with their families in 2010. The church offers
limited freedom within its own buildings, publications and events for
political expressions that may deviate from the government's position.
These statements range from tolerated demonstrations by the "Ladies in
White" on church grounds to the Bishops' Conference's own pastoral
letters to the organization of social science colloquiums.
Trade unions under the leadership of the Central de Trabajadores de
Cuba, Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (Comités de Defensa
de la Revolución, CDR), the women's association and youth associations
such as the pioneer organization José Martí, the Young Communists and
the Federation of University Students form mass organizations that
integrate almost every Cuban into the state system and at the same time
control their social behavior ("eyes and ears of the revolution"). The
mass organizations, like the PCC, are hierarchically structured.
With the help of the mass organizations, the government achieves a
strong mobilization of the population. In demonstration campaigns
lasting weeks, it brings almost every adult Cuban onto the streets at
least once (record: seven million participants). For the 1976
constitutional referendum to establish socialism, the CDR collected the
signatures of almost 93 percent of the population.
Employee
organizations outside the state trade union federation are banned.
Many civil and political rights, particularly those to freedom of
expression, freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of
assembly and freedom of movement, are severely curtailed. There is no
independent judiciary. Human rights associations are not permitted. The
Cuban constitution guarantees many basic rights, such as freedom of art,
freedom of opinion and freedom of religion, with the only restriction
that their exercise must not be directed against the revolution or
socialist goals. Cuba was and is the only socialist country in which
freemasonry is not banned. There are around 30,000 freemasons here.
HIV-infected people and homosexuals have long been discriminated
against in Cuba, and HIV-infected people have been subjected to violent
reprisals while in prison. Although the situation has improved
significantly in recent years, those affected continue to complain of
police attacks on sexual minorities.
International human rights
organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International
document in particular the politically motivated arrest and conviction
of government critics. Of the 75 political dissidents who were sentenced
to 28 years in prison after their arrest in 2003, 55 were still in
prison in 2008, suffering from poor medical care and mistreatment. In
mid-2010, the Catholic Church in Cuba, under the negotiation of Cardinal
Jaime Ortega, obtained a promise from the Cuban government to release
all 52 remaining prisoners listed by Amnesty International as
non-violent political prisoners. By the end of 2010, 41 political
prisoners had been released. All but one were deported to Spain, along
with their immediate family members, which agreed to accept the
dissidents. At the end of March 2011, the remaining prisoners of the
group of 75 arrested during the Black Spring of 2003 were released. Two
of them were allowed to stay in Cuba. On December 24, 2011, President
Raúl Castro announced an amnesty that would affect around 3,000
prisoners, mainly non-political prisoners. Since then, the Cuban
government has increasingly relied on short-term arrests of government
opponents. Five political prisoners recognized by Amnesty International
as non-violent prisoners of conscience were released in January 2015,
three of them on probation. At the time, one political prisoner was
still serving his one-year prison sentence for "public disturbance."
However, repression against opposition members continued.
Independent journalists and human rights activists are regularly
harassed, intimidated and temporarily arrested. There are reports of
abuse through kicking and beating. The prison conditions are harsh and
sometimes lead to physical problems for the prisoners. Opposition
members are also regularly subjected to so-called Actos de Repudio. An
organized mob gathers in front of the opposition member's house and
loudly insults him and his family for hours, calling them "worms"
(Spanish: gusanos) and traitors. In some cases, this goes as far as
destroying the property of those affected without punishment.
The
institutional racism of former Cuba was abolished after the victory of
the revolution. However, racist mindsets and latent discrimination
against the black part of the population have not been overcome since
then. Whites are disproportionately represented in prestigious
leadership positions or in jobs that promise foreign currency income,
such as tourism. Blacks are also indirectly disadvantaged when it comes
to licensing for small private businesses or when receiving money
transfers from emigrated relatives abroad. The socialist leadership is
hesitant to tackle this problem because it touches on a core aspect of
its revolutionary legitimacy. As a result, Cuba's national statistics
office (ONE) publishes little data on the growing socioeconomic gap.
However, a scientific survey shows the structural disadvantage of the
Afro-Cuban population.
Since the end of 2007, isolated public
criticism of the situation has been tolerated. Raúl Castro, then interim
head of state, called for a discussion on the future development of the
country, and the Cuban Yoani Sánchez reported publicly on the everyday
problems of Cubans in a blog from Cuba. Nevertheless, according to
Amnesty International in a statement from August 2013, in which it named
five new Cubans as non-violent prisoners of conscience, the human rights
situation has not improved significantly under Raúl Castro. The
political prisoners known by name represent only "the tip of the
iceberg" of everyday state repression. The only positive exception is
the migration law that came into force in January 2013, which now also
allows government critics to travel abroad.
Social human rights
are partially well implemented in Cuba. For example, the right to
education is considered exemplary for the region, as is health care. The
general standard of living, however, is low compared to industrialized
countries. This applies above all to housing and the supply of everyday
goods. According to Amnesty, the US embargo against Cuba is also partly
to blame for this. In July 2011, the international program coordinator
of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Cuba, Jesús Robles,
highlighted the work of the Cuban government in promoting and protecting
women, young people and children. The state guarantees mothers maternity
leave with pay compensation and the right to return to work afterwards.
Parents of newborns are given one fully paid day off per month for the
first year to check the child's health in the children's clinic.
One of the main goals of the revolution was equality between men and
women. In 1953, 13.9% of women worked, in 1980 this figure was 31.1%,
and in 2008 it was 38% . The proportion of women in technical
professions is 65.7%, and the proportion of female managers is 39.1%.
65% of university graduates are women. Nevertheless, here too there is a
difference between official government discourse and actual practice.
Most women are faced with the stressful dual role of work and household.
The higher the management level in the world of work or within the
government, the lower the proportion of women. In 2012, there was only
one woman in the 15-member Politburo. There is probably not a single
woman among the most influential people in Cuba. Women's rights
activists still complain about the "decision-making bodies in which
patriarchal and macho patterns still prevail." These and other problems
are regularly addressed and discussed at conferences and meetings of
mass organizations, such as the women's association FMC, but the
possibilities for bringing about real, far-reaching changes are very
limited. In case of doubt, the interests of the state or party take
precedence over the representation of interests, particularly at the
official level.
On June 21, 2010, Cuba was elected to the vice
presidency of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Havana's
ambassador to the UN, Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez, was appointed to the
office.
In January 2013, an internationally acclaimed amendment
to the travel law came into force, which fundamentally made it much
easier for Cubans to travel abroad, which had previously been hampered
by high bureaucratic hurdles. The measure had been long awaited since
the government announced in May 2011 that it would review the previous
restrictive regulations. The reform abolished the exit permit that
Cubans had previously needed for every single trip abroad, which was
expensive and required an invitation from abroad. In addition, minors
were allowed to travel abroad for the first time, the maximum permitted
stay abroad was extended to 24 months, and numerous Cubans who had fled
Cuba were allowed to return home after certain deadlines had expired.
Several opposition members who had previously been prevented from
leaving the country were also able to leave the country for temporary
stays abroad from February 2013, although others were still denied a
passport for political reasons. There is still no fundamental right to
leave the country. The law gave the authorities the express option of
denying a person the right to leave the country for reasons of "public
interest" that were not further defined. A passport is unaffordable for
large parts of the population: it costs 100 CUC, around five average
monthly salaries, and must be renewed every two years at the same price.
Legally leaving Cuba, whether for tourism or emigration, was only
possible after a complex authorization process, which was made much
easier and cheaper for most Cubans following an amendment to the
immigration law that came into force in mid-January 2013. The Cuban
penal code provides for prison sentences of one to three years or fines
for unauthorized departures or attempted departures. The USA is the
preferred destination for emigration.
In total, hundreds of
thousands of Cubans fled to the USA in the years following the victory
of the revolution. In the first wave, up to around 1962, these were
largely families from Cuba's upper and upper middle classes. However,
many members of the middle and working classes followed.
A large
wave of emigration occurred in 1980, when news was broadcast on US
channels that the Peruvian embassy in Havana was issuing visas for
departure to Peru, which would allow onward travel to the USA. In view
of the rush of tens of thousands of people wanting to leave the country,
some of whom had long held passports, the Peruvian ambassador requested
police protection. When a group broke through this police protection,
applied for political asylum in the embassy and was not extradited by
the Peruvians, the Cuban government lifted the sealing off of the
Peruvian embassy. The intolerable conditions on the embassy grounds were
ended on April 17th when Fidel Castro gave a speech announcing the
possibility of leaving the port of Mariel for the USA by ship without a
visa. The ships were escorted to the 12-mile zone off the US coast. By
October 31st 1980, around 125,000 Cubans had left the country. In a
speech on May 1st 1980, Fidel Castro, supported by chants from the
audience, described the embassy refugees as work-shy scum. Juan Carlos
Zaldívar processed the events of that time in the documentary film 90
Miles.
In order to end this wave of immigration, the US
government under President Carter concluded an agreement with the Cuban
government that was intended to regulate legal entry through fixed
quotas, but this was no longer adhered to by the subsequent Reagan
administration.
Another large wave of emigration occurred in
August 1994. On August 5, the difficult supply situation during the
special period, which reached its peak in the summer of 1994, led to
riots in Havana that became known as the Maleconazo. Although the
situation de-escalated relatively quickly, partly because the still
highly respected and charismatic head of government Fidel Castro
appeared in person to calm the situation, Castro ordered the lifting of
coastal surveillance on August 7, thereby triggering another large mass
exodus from Cuba, also known as the Balsero (raftsman) crisis, during
which more than 33,000 Cubans fled to the USA.
The United States
under the administration of Bill Clinton then negotiated a migration
agreement with Cuba. The USA agreed to issue 20,000 visas each year to
enable legal immigration. In return, the USA committed to immediately
deporting all illegal refugees it caught at sea back to Cuba (wet feet,
dry feet policy). However, the actual number of visas issued was usually
significantly lower. In 2007, there were 15,000.
Since the end of
2021, Cubans have been leaving the country in large numbers again,
mainly for the USA. It is now the largest wave of emigration in the
country's history. By the end of July 2022, the US border authorities
had already registered around 160,000 Cubans, and 30 to 35,000 more are
arriving every month. The main reasons are the poor supply situation and
the lack of prospects, especially for young people on the island. The
escape route usually leads via Nicaragua, which is reached by legal
scheduled flight. Then it heads towards the US border with the help of
smugglers. In November 2021, the governments of Cuba and Nicaragua
agreed on visa-free travel for Cubans entering Nicaragua. Even then, it
was suspected that this was done with the intention of repeatedly using
migration as an internal valve and as a means of pressure against the
USA. Even the official press cannot avoid acknowledging that one of the
most frequently expressed wishes of Cuban young people is to emigrate.
Since 1962, Cuban emigrants were not allowed to sell most of their
property or take it abroad, and if they exceeded the approved duration
of a temporary stay abroad, any property left behind was nationalized.
These provisions expired when the amended Migration Law came into force
in mid-January 2013.
With the severe economic crisis that
followed the corona pandemic, emigration reached a new peak. According
to official figures, more than a million people emigrated between 2021
and 2023 alone, which represents a population decline of more than 10
percent. 80 percent of these were people of productive age between 15
and 59 years. According to US authorities, around 8,500,000 Cubans
settled in the USA between October 2021 and September 2024. The trend is
expected to continue in the near future.
Towards the end of the 1950s, the USA supported a group of Cuban
exiles who wanted to militarily eliminate the new government and carried
out the unsuccessful invasion of the Bay of Pigs in April 1961. As a
result, the USA imposed a comprehensive economic, trade and financial
blockade against Cuba, which was portrayed as a reaction to the
expropriation of US citizens in Cuba. The Torricelli Act, passed in
1992, tightened the sanctions, followed by the Helms-Burton Act, which
came into force in 1996.
The embargo is condemned by the United
Nations. Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has passed an annual
resolution calling for the lifting of all sanctions against Cuba - most
recently in November 2023: 187 votes in favor, two against (USA and
Israel), one abstention (Ukraine).
In 2000, the US side greatly
relaxed the embargo on the export of food and medicine through the Trade
Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act. However, many other trade
restrictions remained in place. The Cuban government estimates that the
blockade has caused damage to Cuba to date at around 89 billion US
dollars. However, Cuban opposition members and other critics of the
Cuban government strongly doubt the effectiveness of the US trade
embargo. On the contrary, it serves only as a pretext to justify the
"conditions that violate international law", the main cause of which
lies in the "collective mode of production". The historian Michael
Zeuske assumes that the Cuban government, despite the massive economic
damage, is not interested in lifting the embargo, otherwise it would
probably no longer exist long ago. In fact, by polarizing the national
consciousness of the Cuban population, it has ensured the survival of
the Castro government to this day. Raúl Castro also rejects the
one-sided attribution of blame for Cuba's economic difficulties to the
"blockade". Structural problems in the central state economy are more to
blame, as he noted in a speech to the National Assembly in December
2010.
Despite the embargo, the USA has become an important
trading partner for Cuba, and is now in sixth place in terms of imports.
The Cuban state imports food and animal feed worth half a billion
dollars from the USA every year. The Cuban economy receives around one
billion US dollars annually from remittances from Cuban exile
communities in the USA to their family members, which roughly
corresponds to the income of the Cuban tourism industry. Previous upper
limits on remittances from US citizens to immediate family members in
Cuba, which were recently lowered by President George W. Bush, were
lifted by President Obama in 2009.
The US government supports
parts of the opposition in Cuba. In 2006, 15 million US dollars were
earmarked in the budget to support Cuban opposition groups and Cuban
exile organizations in Miami (source: USAID Cuba program), some of which
is paid directly to the target organizations by the US interest group in
Havana or distributed via the exile organizations in Miami. In 2014, it
was announced that between 2010 and 2012, the USA attempted to use the
microblogging service ZunZuneo to set up a communications network not
controlled by the Cuban government, which was also planned in the long
term as a tool for coordinating anti-government actions.
In
December 2014, a new phase of bilateral relations was initiated. An
exchange of prisoners was agreed between USAID employee Alan Gross and
the three remaining Miami Five, among others. A resumption of diplomatic
relations was also announced.
At the end of May 2015, it was
announced that the USA would soon open an embassy in Havana. Cuba is
removed from the list of states that support terrorism, which it was
previously on. This means that numerous sanctions against the country
are no longer in place. On July 20, 2015, both countries resumed
official diplomatic relations. The United States Embassy in Havana was
officially reopened on August 14, 2015. Since September 17, Cuba has
once again officially had an ambassador in the USA, the previous head of
the Cuban Interests Section.
Cuba has a close alliance with Venezuela, which was shaped by the
late President Hugo Chávez. The country supplies oil to Cuba at prices
below world market prices. In return, Cuba sends medical personnel and
literacy workers to Venezuela. In 2006, thousands of Venezuelans were
operated on in Cuba during Operation Milagro. Another joint project is
the Bolivarian Alternative for America (ALBA). Cuba also has good
relations with Bolivia, which was previously ruled by Evo Morales, and
with the People's Republic of China. On April 29, 2006, the presidents
of the states of Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia signed the Peoples' Trade
Treaty. In December 2008, Cuba joined the Rio Group. Cuba is also a
member of CELAC. Cuba also maintains friendly relations with Vietnam and
North Korea, with the latter in particular in the military field.
Cuba is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.
From the beginning, the Cuban revolutionaries were internationalist
and globally oriented and wanted to spread the revolution to as many
other countries as possible. Although Cuba itself was still a developing
country, the government was involved in military, medical and
educational activities in African, Latin American and Asian countries.
From the mid-1960s, Africa became the focus of foreign policy
activities, with African revolutionaries such as Patrice Lumumba,
Amílcar Cabral and Agostinho Neto (see also Cuban military intervention
in Angola) asking the Cubans for support for their movements. For
example, they supported the South African liberation troops with
diplomatic and military means in overthrowing the apartheid regime.
Among the most important, although not always best known, despite the
high Cuban death toll, the country's solidarity commitments in Africa
include those in Guinea-Bissau (from 1966) and Angola (from 1975), which
have remained the basis for the good Guinea-Bissau-Cuban and
Angolan-Cuban relations that continue to this day.
Despite its
own economic problems, Cuba supports other developing nations,
particularly in the medical field. As part of Operación Milagro
("Miracle"), eye operations are carried out in Cuba for people from
developing countries. By May 2009, 24,000 Ukrainian children, victims of
the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, had been treated free of charge in
Cuba. The cost of this was estimated at around 350 million US dollars
for the medication alone.
Cuban doctors and nurses were and are
usually deployed abroad for two years (or under a one-year contract in
some cases), primarily in other Latin American countries, including
Cuba. in Haiti, Venezuela, Bolivia, Central America and since 2013 – as
part of the “Mais Médicos” (more doctors) program to provide care for
rural regions – in Brazil. There are also disaster relief missions,
including after the earthquakes in Kashmir in 2005 and in Pakistan in
2008. After the earthquake disaster in 2010 and to combat the cholera
epidemic, around 1,200 Cuban doctors and helpers were sent to Haiti. In
October 2014, Cuba sent 165 doctors and nurses to Sierra Leone to combat
the Ebola epidemic. However, the quality of Cuban mass training of
doctors is increasingly being questioned internationally.
Cuban
foreign engagements are an important source of foreign currency
earnings. Annual earnings were estimated at around 4.6 billion US
dollars in 2015. Cuba normally charges the host country around 2,500
dollars per month for a doctor working abroad; Brazil pays around $4,000
a month. The wages of Cuban employees are transferred directly to the
Cuban government, which keeps up to 93% of the payments, according to a
study by the doctors' organization "Solidaridad Sin Fronteras"
(Solidarity without Borders). In Brazil, Cuban doctors and nurses keep a
good 10% of their wages. As a result, more and more Cuban doctors are
"deserting" in Brazil and especially from Venezuela, where more than
10,000 of them are deployed (as of 2015). Hundreds, if not more than
1,000 of them have fled from service in Venezuela to Colombia. The
doctors sent to around 60 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic also
work under slave-like conditions, as only a tiny part of the money paid
by the hosts goes into their pockets. The UN therefore potentially
classifies the missions as "modern slavery". Cuba responded that the
doctors were paid for their expenses in the host countries and an
additional salary in Cuba. The remaining money also went to health care
and education, which Cuba used to maintain a free medical school. Haiti
is one of the few countries that does not have to pay for Cuba's medical
services. Insofar as the Cuban doctors in Haiti work exclusively on
projects financed by foreign aid organizations, it is those aid
organizations that cover the costs.
Education is free in Cuba and there is a 9-year compulsory education
system. Cuba has a three-tier education system consisting of primary,
middle and high school.
Cuba's education system is one of the
best in Latin America, both before and after the revolution. In 2001,
Cuban fourth and fifth grade students were far ahead of other Latin
American countries in a UNESCO test. The school enrollment rate is 100
percent, and illiteracy is almost zero. According to the UNESCO
Education for All Development Index, Cuba is one of the world's most
highly developed countries in the field of education with a
well-educated population.
In recent years, however, there has
been an increasingly acute shortage of teachers. Despite their good
training, many teachers, as well as many doctors and other highly
qualified people, prefer to work in the tourism sector because the tips
alone are many times higher than a Cuban salary. Cuba also lends many
teachers to various friendly Latin American countries in exchange for
cheaper oil from Venezuela, to help them build a functioning education
system. The Cuban government is trying to compensate for this shortage
of teachers with so-called "emergency teachers", 16 to 18-year-old
school leavers who are prepared for their tasks in crash courses, and
with teleclasses, i.e. lessons via video cassette. In addition, retired
teachers are to be lured back into active teaching. The proportion of
young emergency teachers has now risen to almost 50 percent, which makes
qualified teaching almost impossible. Nevertheless, there have also been
repeated attempts in recent times to maintain the education system and
make it more efficient.
Through an initiative to promote culture,
more than two million students will receive theater, music, drawing and
other artistic lessons in the period 2011-2012. In addition, there have
been salary increases for the country's teachers in recent years.
The school system also serves as pre-military training for boys, and
older students learn how to handle weapons. Teachers must give each
student and their parents a written assessment of their political
orientation and political activities every year.
Studying in Cuba
is free, but all students must complete three years of community service
for the state after graduating. In Cuba, the proportion of women among
students is higher than in any other Latin American country. Cuban
students also perform better in mathematics, science and languages
than their fellow students in Latin America.
Part of the Cuban
education system is that pupils and students are regularly sent to rural
boarding schools, where they work unpaid in agriculture alongside their
education.
The Cuban state guarantees medical care to every Cuban citizen.
Medical treatment is generally free for Cubans, but patients have to pay
extra for medication from the pharmacy. Many medicines are only
available in dollars.
The Cuban health system is characterized by
good preventive care, a high density of doctors (theoretically 160
residents per doctor, but a third of them work abroad) and a high level
of integration (polyclinics). Each settlement has a so-called "family
doctor". Family doctors reside in buildings that follow an identical
building plan throughout the country. These contain both the doctor's
office and his apartment, which is intended to ensure 24-hour
availability.
Infant mortality is one of the lowest (2010, 4.5
babies per 1,000 births) and life expectancy is one of the highest in
the entire American continent. According to the Cuban doctor and
dissident Darsi Ferrer, however, this figure is achieved by an
extraordinarily high number of abortions of high-risk pregnancies. 99.9%
of Cuban children are born in public health facilities. According to
UNICEF, the coverage and quality of child and mother-friendly hospitals
in Cuba are among the highest in the world. According to the UNICEF
representative for Cuba, José Juan Ortiz Brú, the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child is best implemented in this country.
According to a 2012 WHO report, Cuba is one of the countries with the
lowest rate of tuberculosis in the world, with 7 cases per 100,000
inhabitants. Investments have also continued in occupational safety. The
number of occupational accidents per 1,000 workers in Cuba fell from 5.2
in 1999 to 1.6 in 2011. According to a ranking by the NGO Save the
Children, Cuba is the Latin American country that offers the best
conditions for mothers. The study took into account factors such as
general health conditions, education levels and the economic and
political status of mothers. The wealth of children, the mortality rate
under five years of age and the percentage of undernourished children
were also taken into account.
However, there are problems:
although Cuba theoretically has one of the highest doctor densities in
the world, many medical facilities are dilapidated and the medical
equipment is often outdated and in poor condition. Important medicines
are often missing and the hygienic conditions leave much to be desired.
There are long waiting times in the polyclinics because around 40,000
doctors work abroad, bringing the state 6 billion euros a year. The
number of family doctors fell by 62% between 2009 and 2014, from over
32,000 to under 13,000. The doctors are not paid any more than other
workers and employees and only receive a fraction of what they cost
abroad. There is no reliable emergency service. There is also a lack of
medicines such as antibiotics and medical equipment in surgery and
dentistry. The existing medical infrastructure can only be used to a
limited extent. There are major deficits in the training of doctors in
modern high-tech medicine.
The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in
Cuba is putting the health system of the socialist Caribbean island to
the test, which it ultimately appears not to have been able to
withstand. Originally brought to the island by tourists and Cubans
returning from abroad, the virus has spread rapidly throughout the
island; around 1,000 cases of infection were recorded in mid-April. The
country has a broad health system with a very high density of doctors
(COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba). The problems mentioned above are
exacerbated by the current situation. In addition, there are sometimes
dramatic supply bottlenecks, including for sanitary products and water
supplies. Due to the high age structure, around a quarter of the
population is considered to be a risk group. Despite the critical
situation on the island itself, Cuba has sent medical brigades to a
number of countries to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, including northern
Italy and numerous Caribbean states. In mid-2021, at the height of the
Delta wave and when only a few people in Cuba had been vaccinated, the
health system in Cuba had practically collapsed. The hospitals could no
longer cope with the masses of patients and the cemeteries could not
keep up with the burials. While the official press tried to downplay the
drama, social media was full of cries for help. Although according to
official statistics, only around 8,500 people had died as a result of a
Covid infection by July 2022, Cuba's statistics office ONEI reported an
excess mortality of 52,000 people for 2021, which corresponds to
approximately 50%. Child mortality also increased by about the same
factor.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba (Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias - FAR) comprised around 49,000 men in 2022. There is
compulsory military service for men. The number of members of the
regular armed forces has fallen sharply since the end of the Cold War.
At that time, their strength was around 300,000 men. 430,000 Cuban
soldiers were deployed in the Angola conflict alone. No other Latin
American country was so heavily involved militarily outside its own
continent.
There are also paramilitary militias for territorial
defense (MTT - Milicias de Tropas Territoriales), which have around a
million men. Their members are civilians and have access to weapons in
their residential and working areas. They are trained for guerrilla
warfare against possible invaders and form part of the military forces
in times of war, with the task of tying down the enemy forces and thus
giving the regular army units time to mobilize.
The army is also
responsible for civil defense. Originally set up to organize the
population in the event of defense, today's main tasks are to protect
the population from the consequences of natural events, especially the
annual hurricanes. This is done very efficiently, so that despite
sometimes immense material damage, hardly any people are usually harmed.
Before the revolution, Cuba was one of the richest countries in Latin
America in terms of GDP per capita. Since the 1870s, incomes have been
among the highest in South America. Its infrastructure, such as the
transport and telecommunications network, was state-of-the-art. Its
health and education systems were also comparable to those of the first
world. Cuba was the world's largest exporter of sugar, and the United
States bought a large and guaranteed amount of sugar every year at fixed
prices. However, there were huge imbalances in the distribution of
national wealth both between social classes and between urban and rural
areas, especially between the capital Havana and the easternmost parts
of the country. The influence of US direct investors on the Cuban
economy was still quite large, but steadily declining.
Today,
Cuba is one of the last remaining socialist economies. After the end of
the Soviet Union, the loss of Cuba's most important trading partner in
1991 led to an economic crisis (called período especial en tiempo de paz
= special period in peacetime; in short: período especial/special
period), which continues to this day. The CMEA states had bought Cuba's
agricultural products above market price and provided financial aid; the
Soviet Union alone recently paid 5 billion dollars annually.
Due
to the great economic difficulties, the US dollar became the official
means of payment alongside the peso in 1993. Since November 8, 2004, the
US dollar was replaced by the convertible peso until it was abolished in
2021.
The desolate economic situation forced the government to
implement market economy reforms in order to ensure basic supplies for
the population. In addition to the planned economy, a second economic
sector with market economy elements emerged. For the first time, family
and one-person businesses (trabajo de cuenta propia - work on your own
account) were permitted, some state-owned businesses were run according
to business management principles and farmers were allowed to sell some
of the goods they produced themselves. Later, these cautious reforms
towards a market economy were not completely reversed, but the granting
of licenses was handled much more restrictively. Many existing family
businesses could no longer meet the increasingly restrictive
requirements and had to close. A company holding company, GAESA, was
founded under the control of the armed forces, which gained increasing
influence under Raúl Castro's presidency and now controls a large part
of Cuba's foreign exchange economy, from tourism and foreign trade to
retail and construction. It evades all state control and is considered a
state within a state.
Joint ventures with Cuban state-owned
companies were founded to use foreign investment capital, the latter in
turn being controlled by the military due to their strategic importance.
Joint ventures with foreign companies are subject to restrictions. They
are not allowed to choose their Cuban employees themselves and must pay
their wages to the government in dollars. The employees receive the
normal Cuban wage in pesos. A large part of the wages are paid in this
way.
In September 2010, the Cuban government announced
comprehensive reforms to address structural economic problems through a
gradual expansion of market mechanisms and independent work. This
course, which Raúl Castro described as the only alternative and which is
reminiscent of the reform policies of China and Vietnam, was confirmed
by the National Assembly in December 2010. The planned measures include
the dismissal of 500,000 civil servants, more than ten percent of the
staff employed in the state sector, by March 2011. Unemployment benefits
of up to 60% of the basic monthly wage are only available to long-term
employees, but for a maximum of five months, depending on the length of
employment. According to Raúl Castro, the state has a surplus of over a
million employees. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of workers,
particularly in agriculture, construction and industry. There are also
negative developments among academics. Too many people have been trained
in ways that do not meet the national economic needs, and this must now
be corrected. Access to universities is to be made more difficult and
the standard of higher education is to be raised. However, there is a
lack of qualified teachers to train specialists to meet demand. The
government also hopes that many of those laid off will now find
employment in the private sector. To this end, the conditions for
working on one's own account have been relaxed - non-family employees
can now also be employed - and the possible sectors have been expanded
to include beauty salons and hairdressers, for example. With government
approval, around 310,000 employees had become self-employed by mid-2011,
most of them in food production and sales. The up-and-coming private
sector is primarily receiving start-up capital from remittances from
family members abroad. This results in a structural disadvantage for
Afro-Cubans, who have significantly fewer family members abroad. The
most lucrative business sectors, such as restaurants and accommodation,
are run primarily by "whites". While the official unemployment rate is
around 2.5 percent, even trade unionists close to the government
estimate that the actual unemployment rate is probably ten times higher,
at around 25 percent. During the biannual parliamentary session in July
2014, however, the government was disappointed with the results to date.
Economic growth had not lived up to expectations.
Experts had
numerous concerns about the planned economic reforms. On the one hand,
they doubted that this half-hearted opening towards a market economy
would work in the long term while maintaining as much central government
control as possible. In addition, the planned elimination of up to 50
percent of state jobs was not matched by an adequate offer in the
private sector, in which the laid-off workers and employees were to look
for new employment. Only around 180 relatively simple fields of activity
were permitted there, so that men and women alike would largely work far
below their qualifications.
At the instigation of the USA, Cuba
is practically excluded from the international financial system
dominated by the IMF and the World Bank. A cooperation agreement with
the EU has not yet been concluded. Cuba unilaterally broke off
negotiations in 1999. Nevertheless, the EU initially remained one of
Cuba's most important trading partners. In 2000, more than half of both
direct investments and imports came from EU countries. Venezuela and
China are now Cuba's most important trading partners and creditors.
Cuba has been in an extreme economic crisis since around 2009,
caused by the 2008 hurricane season and Cuba's inefficient economy. In
contrast to earlier times, since Raúl Castro took office, official
discourses of the Cuban government, especially by the head of government
himself, no longer cite external circumstances such as the US blockade
or unfavorable world market as the main cause of the economic problems,
but rather refer more to structural problems of the centrally controlled
state economy. Above all, it is important to combat mismanagement and
corruption in state-run companies. The constitutional amendment, which
Raúl Castro also sought in 2018 and which was approved by the people in
2019, was intended to restore forms of private property in Cuba to a
limited extent and to open up marriage to all.
Until the end of 2020, there were two official currencies in Cuba:
the Cuban Peso (CUP or MN for Moneda Nacional) as the original currency
in which state wages are paid and essential domestic staple foods and
simple services are paid for, and the Convertible Peso (CUC), which is
directly linked to the value of the US dollar as a substitute foreign
currency and is required in particular for imported goods and
higher-value services. Since its introduction, the number of everyday
items that are only sold in CUC and thus at prices that are difficult
for consumers without direct access to foreign currency to afford has
increased. The demand for everyday goods for national currency clearly
exceeds supply, even according to official figures.
The exchange
rate set by the state since March 2005 was 1:24 when buying Cuban pesos
for CUC and vice versa 25:1 if you wanted to exchange Cuban pesos for
convertible pesos. However, in the national accounts, a ratio of 1:1 is
assumed between the two national currencies. At the end of July 2013,
Raúl Castro announced that the two currencies would be merged because
their duality was hindering economic reforms. On October 22, 2013, the
cabinet approved a timetable for a transition process.
In the
course of 2020, shops were introduced where you can only make cashless
purchases in freely convertible currency. In Cuban jargon, they are
called "MLC shops," where "MLC" stands for Moneda Libremente
Convertible, or "freely convertible currency." To do this, a Cuban has
to get a type of debit card from a Cuban bank or from American
International Services (AIS), where you can only pay in foreign
currencies such as US dollars or euros. The range of services in the
former CUC shops, which have not yet been converted to MLC shops, has
been reduced accordingly. The prices in the MLC stores correspond to the
US dollar, although not officially stated. Foreign credit cards are
charged in this currency accordingly. The US dollar is thus the
quasi-official parallel currency in Cuba, albeit cashless. Since there
is no way for Cubans without foreign contacts to legally obtain foreign
currency in order to be able to shop in the MLC stores, there is a black
market for exchanging cash from Cuban currency for foreign currency, the
rate of which is significantly higher than the official exchange rate of
1:24.
With effect from January 1, 2021, the CUC was officially
abolished. The reform was combined with a wage and price reform. Since
it was no longer officially possible to buy foreign currency in banks, a
thriving black market for foreign currency developed, where it was
sometimes traded at up to five times the official rate. In order to dry
up this, according to the government's language, illegal foreign
exchange trading, new purchasing rates for foreign currencies were set
with effect from August 4, 2022. Foreign currencies are therefore bought
from banks by natural persons at the equivalent of a rate of 1:120 to
the US dollar.
Since the currency changeover, the Cuban peso has
been subject to strong price pressure. The official inflation rate was
77% in 2021, and 39% in 2023. However, informal inflation is estimated
to be much higher and is based on the street exchange rate for foreign
currencies. Accordingly, the US dollar and euro will trade against the
peso at a rate of around 1:400 in May 2024. Officially, the independent
portal El Toque, which regularly publishes the peak black market rates,
is accused of fueling inflation.
In August 2023, it was announced
that cashless payments would be massively expanded by 2024. Mobile
payment apps such as Transfermóvil are to play a central role in this.
The official goal is to limit inflation and prevent corruption and tax
evasion. In fact, there are massive problems with the supply of cash due
to inflation. For legal entities, such as companies, withdrawals from
ATMs are limited to 5,000 CUP per day.
Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) has recovered from the
economic crisis of 1993 (0.7 percent) to three percent in 2004.
According to government figures, the economy grew by 11.8 percent in
2005 (ECLAC estimate: 3 percent), and by 12.5 percent in 2006. The Cuban
Ministry of Economic Affairs reported growth of 7.5 percent for 2007,
and 8 percent is forecast for 2008. The official figures are unsuitable
for comparison with other countries, as Cuba uses its own,
internationally unrecognized method of calculating GDP, the "PIP Social
Sostenible" (Sustainable Social GDP), which takes into account free or
heavily subsidized state services. Other sources estimate economic
growth in 2006 to be lower (7.6 percent, 8 percent and 9.5 percent).
By 2009, production had fallen to 48% of the 1989 value. Cuba's
foreign trade balance is heavily negative, the country has to import
more goods than it can export. In the first quarter of 2009, 80% of
foreign trade was made up of imports. The foreign debt and trade deficit
were the highest in Latin America in 2009. Liabilities to foreign states
and investors can only be partially serviced.
Ultimately, the
high official growth rates since the turn of the millennium are probably
mainly due to the high subsidies from Venezuela and the high nickel
price until 2008. Julio Borges put the amount of subsidies from
Venezuela at 35 billion dollars within 15 years, at which point they
reached 12% of the gross domestic product, according to Carmelo
Mesa-Lago. However, the economic growth hardly had any impact on Cubans'
private consumption. In 2011, Cuba worked on revising the statistics in
order to be able to provide comparable data in the future.
In
2020, Cuba's gross domestic product was around 107.35 billion US
dollars. However, the Corona crisis has caused GDP per capita to fall
significantly.
Nickel production is now gaining in importance, with the current high
steel prices having a positive effect. The following raw materials are
also mined in larger or smaller quantities: chrome, cobalt, copper,
iron, manganese, gold and silver, as well as small quantities of crude
oil and natural gas.
According to estimates by the state-owned
oil company CUPET, Cuba has oil reserves of up to 20 billion barrels off
its coast, which is roughly equivalent to the USA's remaining reserves
and almost twice the reserves of Mexico. The US Geological Survey
estimates Cuba's oil reserves at around 9 billion barrels and around 60
billion cubic meters of natural gas. Despite considerable investment -
including in 2012 in the use of an oil rig with a drilling depth of over
3.6 kilometers - previous test drilling by various foreign oil
production companies has not yet shown any possibility of profitable oil
production, which is why more investment is now being made in production
on the mainland. Estimated crude oil production in 2014 was less than 30
percent of consumption.
In agriculture, sugar is still the most important export, followed by
tobacco. In 2000, Cuba exported 2.9 million tons of sugar, of which the
main buyers were Russia with 42%, western industrialized countries with
31% and China with 9%. However, sugar production fell from 9 million
tons in 1987 to 2.5 million tons in 2006. In 2010, Cuba had the worst
sugar cane harvest in more than 100 years, producing about one million
tons of sugar. In theory, Cuba is a fertile country where three harvests
could be made per year. The country's geography, with predominantly flat
or hilly land and favorable soil conditions, offers almost ideal
conditions. However, much land lies fallow and Cuba imports more than
half of its food, in some years even sugar from Brazil. Cuba spent up to
2.5 billion US dollars annually on food imports. In 2008, 84% of food
had to be imported, including around 80% of basic foodstuffs worth
around one billion dollars, which are distributed through the Libreta
system for rationed and subsidized goods, including rice, potatoes,
beans and meat.
The centrally controlled industrial agriculture,
which was highly mechanized and operated with chemical support before
the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting shortage of fuel and
financial resources, had to completely reorient itself in the early
1990s. There was a sudden lack of fuel for agricultural machinery as
well as fertilizers and pesticides. State production of agricultural
goods collapsed. In response to the need, an increasingly better
functioning, privately based urban agriculture emerged. It supplied 80%
of the population with largely locally produced organic products and
thus inadvertently made Cuba the world leader in organic farming. The
Asociación Cubana de Agricultura Orgánica (ACAO - Cuban Association for
Organic Agriculture), founded in 1992, was awarded the Right Livelihood
Award, known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, in 1999 for its pioneering
work in this field. A few months later, the Cuban government banned the
ACAO, which now has 30,000 members. However, the largely organic farming
has continued to this day and could serve as a model for the adaptation
of agriculture in other countries with oil shortages.
The
subtropical climate provides good conditions, but also causes
considerable problems: the increasing occurrence of high-intensity
hurricanes and the recurring droughts often destroy large parts of the
harvest. Cuba's food production declined overall from 2001 to 2007.
Poultry production, for example, had almost halved after the main
difficulties of the special period had been overcome. After a decline of
6% in 2006, the agricultural sector was able to recover in 2007. With
growth of 22.4%, it was the fastest growing economic sector in Cuba in
2007, with overall economic growth of 7%. This was evidently due to the
measures taken to reduce the state's payment arrears to producers, the
increase in purchase prices for their products and favorable climatic
conditions.
Of the 3.5 million hectares of land, around half is
not used or is used inadequately. Only 32 percent of the land is
cultivated by cooperatives, the rest by private farmers. Around 900,000
people work as farmers or in cooperatives, and in 2015 there was only
one tractor for almost 15 employees. In addition to tractors that are
mostly 30 years old, oxen and horses are still used in 2016. In order to
boost agricultural production and reduce dependence on expensive
imports, unused agricultural land has been allocated to landless workers
and farmers since September 2008. For private individuals, the leases
are for ten years and for cooperatives for 25 years. The rights of use
cannot be inherited or sold. Cuban experts consider the selective
reforms carried out so far to be inadequate and instead call for
structural reforms towards a more market economy. Agricultural
production could not be increased significantly by 2012 and dependence
on imports could not be reduced.
In 2011, agricultural production
(excluding the sugar industry) grew by 8.7%, after a decline of 2.5% in
the previous year, but was still below the 2005 level. The plan for
urban agriculture was exceeded by 105%. 1,052,000 tons of vegetables
were harvested. Production of 1,055,000 tons was planned for 2012.
At that time, more than half of the agricultural land lay fallow.
This also meant that up to 85 percent of the food had to be imported,
often from the USA.
By 2016, despite the eight-year permit
granted to small farmers to lease arable land for 20 years, food
production had hardly increased. The farmers lacked seed, machinery and
fertilizer to cultivate the fallow land, and they still had to sell most
of their yields to the state at below market prices. According to
Carmelo Mesa-Lago, this is in contrast to Vietnam, which was able to end
its dependence on imports through more consistent privatization with
50-year lease periods and free prices. A good 70 percent of basic
foodstuffs alone were still imported in 2016. Even later, the dependence
on imports did not decrease, but continued to increase. Monthly food
imports from the USA alone rose from $28 million in June 2021 to $23
million in 2022 and then to $37 million. These recently included sugar
and coffee, products for which Cuba was previously an export nation.
Agricultural production fell by 35 percent between 2019 and 2023.
The beginning of mass tourism in Cuba was triggered by Prohibition in
the United States in the early 1920s. Cuba became a popular travel
destination for Americans because it was close to Florida and was not
subject to gambling restrictions and prohibition like in the USA. Nobel
Prize winner Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Cuba from 1939 to 1960,
contributed greatly to the "myth of Cuba" and it still serves as a
tourist magnet today.
After the victory of the revolution in
1959, only a small number of guests, especially from the Soviet Union
and the Eastern Bloc countries, traveled to Cuba in the following thirty
years. Due to the embargo, US citizens, who made up the majority of
visitors before the revolution, are prohibited from tourism in Cuba.
Many Americans circumvent this ban by traveling to Cuba via third
countries. There are very few direct transport links between the USA and
Cuba, which are mainly used by Cuban exiles to visit relatives, but
these are also regulated.
After the dissolution of the Eastern
Bloc and the economic crisis in Cuba, the government looked for new
sources of foreign currency for Cuba. With the help of international
tourism companies, joint ventures were founded in the early 1990s that
built and operated hotels and tourist facilities mainly in the main
tourist areas. The high tips in foreign currency attracted many highly
qualified Cubans to jobs in the tourism industry. Tourism employees are
also specially trained at universities in the country with specially
established courses.
Today's package tourism is concentrated in a
few areas, in particular Varadero, the Havana region, the Valle de
Viñales, Cayo Coco and the north coast near Holguín (Playa
Guardalavaca). With a large number of doctors and a developed health
system, Cuba offers good conditions for health tourism. Tourists combine
their vacation with medical treatment or travel to Cuba for special
treatments such as eye surgery and dental treatment.
Today,
tourism has taken a leading position in the country's economy and has
become the most important source of foreign currency. In order to
increase the number of tourists, which has recently been falling,
various measures have been adopted, such as lowering landing fees at
airports, lowering kerosene prices to world market levels and speeding
up the processing of tourists upon entry. Although the majority of
hotels are state-run, estimates suggest that around two thirds of the
income from tourism goes directly abroad. This is due, among other
things, to the fact that a large proportion of tourist consumer goods
have to be imported.
In 2010, the number of foreign visitors rose
by 4% compared to the previous year, to 2.5 million tourists (2009: 2.4
million). Canadians make up by far the largest proportion of tourists,
with 945,000 visitors in 2010. After that, travelers from the USA,
mostly Cuban-Americans visiting family, obviously come - not shown
separately in the official statistics - with around 400,000 visitors,
the highest number since the victory of the revolution in 1959.
By 2019, the number of tourists rose to 4.3 million annually, only to
collapse completely with the corona pandemic, when Cuba completely
closed itself off to the outside world. But even after that, tourism
recovered only very slowly and, with 1.6 million visitors in 2022, fell
well short of expectations. The main reason is the ongoing supply crisis
that the country has been suffering from for years.
Cuba's industry is largely not internationally competitive. The
demand for industrial goods cannot be met by domestic production.
Industrial production in 2006 was only half as high as in 1989.
Cuba has a highly developed biotechnology which, for example, promotes
organic farming methods in agriculture due to a lack of energy,
synthetic fertilizers and plant treatments. The Cuban pharmaceutical
industry markets numerous Cuban drug patents worldwide. Cuba is one of
the first countries to develop vaccines against meningitis B and C,
hepatitis B, a therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer and a drug for
the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. Medical products have become
Cuba's second most important export, with a volume of 350 million US
dollars (2007).
There is also a modern production facility for
solar modules.
The most important trading partners are Venezuela and China.
Wages and especially pensions are considered very low by the majority
of Cubans, so most have to make an effort to earn extra money in the
informal sector or steal from their companies' production. According to
internal Cuban calculations, in 2002 the average Cuban family needed
around twice its regular income to survive. Cuban President Raúl Castro
also noted in a speech in 2007 that a Cuban's salary was clearly
insufficient to meet all the necessities of daily life. According to
official figures, the average monthly income for working people rose
from 455 pesos to 640 pesos per month between 2011 and 2016, i.e. from
around 19 US dollars to 26 US dollars. Medical personnel in particular
benefited from substantial wage increases. The minimum pension for
working people in 2005 was around 150 pesos (around 7 US dollars) per
month. Cubans who do not benefit from regular dollar remittances from
relatives abroad, which applies to more than half of the population, are
at risk of poverty.
There is a kind of ration card system, called
libreta, which allows the rationing of subsidized goods, mainly food.
However, these only last for about 10 to 14 days a month. The rest of
daily necessities must be bought on the open market or even in foreign
currency shops, which is extremely difficult with an average income of
about 15 euros per month.
The United Nations Development Program
has described Cuba as a country with "high human development" based on
the Human Development Index over the past 10 years. Cuba has been
particularly successful in the areas of education and health. In
addition, compared to the rest of Latin America and parts of the rest of
the world, Cuba has a lower child mortality rate (only 5.5 out of 1000
children die), a higher life expectancy (79.3 years - 4.6 years more
than the average in Latin America) and practically no illiteracy.
Cuba's high ranking in the HDI, which the government likes to cite,
has been criticized by academics. Cuba's methods for calculating gross
domestic product are not internationally recognized, mainly because
sales in the two national currencies are not correctly calculated. This
makes calculating the gross national income per capita adjusted for
purchasing power difficult. The UNDP, which publishes the HDI and the
much more detailed Human Development Report (HDR), has therefore
developed its own method for estimating purchasing power parity.
Canadian economist Archibald Ritter considers Cuba's statistics in the
HDR to be "opaque". The economist and sociologist Hans-Jürgen Burchardt
warns against drawing conclusions about the true standard of living of
the Cuban population from these studies alone, since the government,
despite undeniable successes in the social sector, deliberately
optimizes the statistical values contained therein. The International
Journal of Epidemiology also asked why, for example, child mortality is
at the level of industrialized countries, but the number of stillbirths
is significantly higher, and suspects that cases are shifted from one
index represented in the HDR to another.
At the end of January
2006, Cuba received a certificate from the UN World Food Programme
confirming that it is the only country in Latin America and the
Caribbean without malnourished children. Only two percent show signs of
iron deficiency. This was also confirmed by UNICEF in 2011.
Nevertheless, Cuba is not free of hunger. In addition, the censorship
prevailing in the country means that it is not possible to independently
check in individual cases whether the information provided by the
government is correct. During the supply crisis in the 1960s and the
special period in the 1990s in particular, large parts of the population
were affected by a poor nutritional situation. The 2008 financial crisis
has caused this phenomenon to recur more frequently. Older people in the
cities with low pensions and no access to agriculture or the dollar are
particularly at risk. Overall, the number of Cubans who can afford a
maximum of one meal a day is likely to be between 30 and 35 percent
around 2012, according to estimates by historian and Cuba expert Michael
Zeuske. In 2024, Cubans will have to spend an average of more than 70
percent of their income on food alone. Malnutrition is an increasing
cause of death. The reported rate rose by almost 75% from 2022 to 2023.
In other areas, too, prosperity growth stagnated or fell behind
other Latin American countries (telecommunications, automobile supply,
electricity and food supply). Many houses are old, in need of renovation
and overcrowded. There is an acute housing shortage. Some residential
areas resemble problem areas in cities in other Latin American
countries, such as the Brazilian favelas or the Argentinian Villas
Miserias, where in some cases even medical care is lacking. Dilapidated
drinking water supply systems, favored by heavy rainfall and high
temperatures, led to the first outbreak of cholera in 130 years in the
summer of 2012. The disease was actually considered eradicated in Cuba.
While official reporting on the true extent of the epidemic is very
cautious, independent journalists who address this issue are prosecuted.
Many consumer goods are still rationed and often not available even
with food ration cards. Meat in particular is rare. However, access to
foreign currency, especially through tourism and relatives abroad,
mostly in the USA, has a much stronger impact. Many everyday goods and
almost all high-quality products, such as electronic devices, are only
available in state-run foreign currency shops. Cubans who do not have
relatives abroad who regularly support them with money transfers or who
do not otherwise have access to foreign currency can hardly afford this.
In Cuba, this is unofficially referred to as economic apartheid. The
deep economic crisis resulting from the corona pandemic has exacerbated
these developments and made the question of adapting state social policy
to the new realities even more urgent.
For officials of the
Communist Party and officers of the armed forces, there is an
independent, privileged welfare system, their own clubs and special
holiday resorts where they and their families can go on inexpensive
holidays.
In addition to the state, the Catholic Church in Cuba
also operates a social network within the scope of its possibilities.
However, social aid outside the state is not welcome and is prevented
wherever possible. Exceptions only apply to political development aid
from the numerous solidarity associations outside Cuba that are willing
to work with the state. At the end of February 2024, the Cuban
government had to ask the UN World Food Programme for help with the
delivery of milk powder. Due to the ongoing economic crisis, there have
been frequent protests against the government since 2021.
The Cuban authorities do not provide internationally comparable
information on the national budget. According to published estimates by
the US CIA, the 2016 budget included expenditures of the equivalent of
58.59 billion US dollars, compared to revenues of the equivalent of
52.37 billion US dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 7.7% of
GDP. Cuba has one of the highest government spending ratios in the
world.
The national debt - also according to CIA estimates - was
32.7% of GDP at the end of 2016 (compared to 34.6% in the previous
year). Cuba's credit rating was unchanged at Caa2 by Moody's at the end
of 2015. The last official figures on national debt date from 2008 and
are not usable because they are given in non-convertible Cuban pesos
(which have no value abroad): 11.6 billion pesos or 19.1% of Cuban GDP.
According to research by the European Union, Cuba's debt in 2008
(excluding debt to the former Soviet Union, estimated at $28 billion)
was $31.7 billion, of which $20 billion is no longer being serviced by
Cuba. Regarding foreign debt, Cuba was able to conclude a kind of debt
restructuring agreement with Mexico, Russia, China and Japan in 2013,
with around $29 billion of debt being forgiven in the case of Russia
alone.
In 2020, the share of government spending (in % of GDP) in
the following areas was:
Health: 12.5%
Education: unknown
Military: 4.2% (estimated)
The Cuban infrastructure was hit hard by the special period at the beginning of the 1990s. Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, spare parts were no longer available at short notice and fuel could only be obtained on the world market for foreign currency. Public transport by train and bus had to be severely restricted. Thanks to Cuba's economic recovery, the situation has now largely returned to normal.
The state railway company Ferrocarriles de Cuba operates the only state railway network still in operation for passenger transport on a Caribbean island. It is one of the oldest in the world (since 1836) and covers over 4,500 kilometers (excluding routes for sugar transport).
Cuba has a well-developed road network, including a motorway, which
is not very busy due to the low level of motorization. However, some of
the roads are in very poor condition. Traffic in Cuba is on the right.
Intercity buses are operated by the company Astro, which also
operates the Viazul buses for tourists.
Since the revolution,
Cubans have not been allowed to own private cars; the exception was
vehicles that were already in the country before the 1959 revolution.
Due to this special situation, there are a lot of vintage cars, mostly
American, in the country. In April 2011, the used car trade was
liberalized, and since 2014 Cubans have also been allowed to buy new
cars. However, the state retains the import monopoly and offers the
vehicles at many times the price that is usual in Europe, for example.
The Cuban airlines Cubana, Aerogaviota and Aerocaribbean operate a dense network of domestic flights from Havana's José Martí airport as a hub, as well as international flights to destinations such as Canada, Mexico and Spain. After a 55-year break, scheduled flights between Cuba and the USA have resumed since August 31, 2016.
The importance of shipping is limited to ferry connections to Isla de
la Juventud and other offshore islands, as well as ferries across the
harbor bays of Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and Havana.
By 2013,
the port of Mariel is to be expanded to become the largest container
port in the Caribbean. The construction is being carried out by a joint
venture with the Brazilian company Odebrecht and the Cuban company
Almacenes Universal S.A. The total investment is US$600 million. The
port entrance is to be 700 meters wide, which will allow two large
container ships to be accommodated at the same time. In addition, the
port will be accessible to ships with a draft of up to 15 meters (in
comparison: the port of Havana only allows a draft of 11 meters). At the
end of the expansion work, the terminal should be able to manage a
capacity of 850,000 to 1 million containers (port of Havana: 350,000
containers). This expansion will enable Mariel to receive large
container ships that travel from Asia to Cuba via the Panama Canal.
Mariel will also offer optimal conditions for US containers. Mariel will
thus replace the port of Havana for freight tasks, but in the future it
will only be used for tourism.
The national energy supplier is the state-owned company Sistema
Eléctrico Nacional, to whose network 96% of Cuban households are
connected. The sockets are 110 volts. In many areas (e.g. hospitals,
tourist hotels) 220 volts are also used.
The energy supply is
based almost exclusively on fossil fuels. Almost half is generated using
heavy oil. If you add generation from local diesel and other combustion
engines, the fossil share rises to 86%. In addition, almost 10% comes
from gas-fired power plants. The share of renewable energy is therefore
very low. Domestic oil production was neglected during the Soviet
oversupply, so that it was no longer competitive and Cuba had to rely on
expensive imports. Energy efficiency suffers greatly from the outdated
power plants and power grids. The cost of generating electricity for the
Cuban state is 15.75 euro cents (as of 2014). By comparison, the
levelized cost of electricity in Cuba is 14.75 euro cents (as of 2014).
For example, wind energy in Germany costs between 4.5 cents/kWh in very
good locations and 10.7 cents/kWh in very poor locations, depending on
the quality of the location.
The maximum total output of all
Cuba's power plants is 5852.5 MW, and the electricity demand at peak
times is around 2500 MW. In 2010, 17,395.5 GWh of electricity was
generated. The country's energy supply is considered dilapidated and
outdated, which is why there are regular power outages.
The first
projects to use wind energy, hydropower and photovoltaics are underway.
Since February 2007, a pilot plant costing 3.4 million dollars, supplied
by the French wind turbine manufacturer Vergnet, has been feeding a
total of 1.65 MW into the grid east of Nueva Gerona on the Isla de la
Juventud. Due to the high risk of tropical storms, the 275 kW generators
can be automatically lowered to the ground.
The "energy
revolution" (Revolución energética) announced in 2006 also aimed to
reduce electricity consumption. To this end, incandescent bulbs were
replaced with energy-saving bulbs. In addition, over 2.5 million
outdated refrigerators were replaced with more modern models. The
purchase price of more than an average annual salary can be paid off
with a 10-year loan with interest dependent on income. The number of
power outages had decreased since then. However, since mid-2016,
large-scale power outages have been occurring more frequently after
Venezuela reduced the supply of subsidized oil by 40 percent due to the
extreme economic crisis prevailing there. In the wake of an economic and
financial crisis, power outages increased again from 2021, especially in
the summer. This crisis was further exacerbated by a fire in a large
tank farm for crude oil and fuels in Matanzas.
On October 18,
2024, the power went out across the country after the country's largest
power plant, the Antonio Guiteras, repeatedly went offline. The day
before, the government had announced restrictions on public life and
non-essential work in order to save energy. Schools were also closed.
The next day, Cuba's power grid collapsed again.
The Cuban telephone network is in a poor state, as is almost all
other infrastructure. Telecommunications traffic is subject to strict
controls. Cell phone network coverage was over 75 percent in 2013.
The state-owned telecommunications company ETECSA is responsible for
the telecommunications network. The mobile network is operated by the
subsidiary Cubacel (identifier C_Com) and covers almost the entire
island. The GSM frequencies of 850 and 900 MHz are used, as well as
TDMA, which is particularly common in North America. The UMTS network
was also put into operation in March 2017. The network coverage
initially mainly included Havana, the provincial capitals and some
tourist regions.
The penetration of telephones or cell phones
among the Cuban population is low. In 2007, with a population of 11.2
million, there were only around 910,000 private telephone lines;
according to official statistics, there were 330,000 cell phones. At the
end of 2008, around 480,000 active cell phone contracts were reported.
In mid-2013, there were 1.7 million active cell phones and 1.2 million
private telephone lines in Cuba. The removal of government restrictions
(Cubans have been able to open a cell phone contract without
bureaucratic hurdles since the end of 2008), tariff reductions (cheaper
SMS and free calls from home and abroad), and the simplified option of
topping up Cuban cell phone cards via the Internet from abroad were also
decisive factors.
Internet access has improved significantly
since the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States
in 2014. In July 2015, the price for one hour of Internet access was
reduced from 4.50 CUC to 2 CUC. In addition, Cubans have since been
allowed to use ETECSA WiFi HotSpots and are no longer dependent on the
outdated ETECSA Internet terminals. According to official figures, 32.4%
of the population had access to internet services in 2016. 5% of
households have an internet connection.
An undersea fiber optic cable connection between Venezuela and Cuba,
which had been planned since 2008, began operations a year late in
mid-2012. Although it was functional according to employees of the state
telecommunications company ETECSA, the cable, which cost 70 million
euros, was not used for almost two years according to Venezuelan
sources. Corruption was cited as the reason. Connections with the Arab
Spring are also suspected, according to which the Cuban regime suddenly
fears unregulated internet access again.
In January 2013, the
commissioning of the submarine cable for internet traffic was confirmed,
after it had initially been used to transmit international telephone
traffic. Since June 4, 2013, Cubans have been able to access the
internet at a speed of at least 2 Mbit for 2 CUC per hour in 118 Nauta
internet cafes. The import of WiFi routers has been made easier.
The cable has a bandwidth of around 3,000 times that of the satellite
channels that previously connected Cuba to the global data network, runs
between the Venezuelan city of Camuri on the seabed and reaches Cuba in
Siboney near Santiago de Cuba. It is 1,602 kilometers long - eleven
times the shortest possible distance to the continental mainland
(Florida: 144 km). The Cuban government refused to route its Internet
traffic through the USA "for security reasons", although the Internet
and telecommunications are exempt from the embargo regulations.
Cuba is one of the first countries in the world to include the
requirement for environmentally friendly economic development in its
constitution. Comprehensive environmental protection legislation
combined with environmental education programs and numerous
environmental protection projects contributed to Cuba being the only
country to be certified as having "sustainable development" by the WWF
in 2003, which means that Cuba has a developed standard of living while
at the same time being ecologically sustainable. Nevertheless, economic
development clearly takes priority over environmental policy when in
doubt.
In 2011, 10.4% of total investments went into
environmental protection, with the investment amount increasing from 233
million pesos in 2006 to 452 million in 2011. The main goals of the
investments are the protection of water bodies (68.4%) and reforestation
(16.5%).
Due to the oil shortage after the dissolution of the Soviet Union,
Cuba was forced to make many rationalizations and savings. The sharp
reduction in private transport, the replacement of agricultural
machinery with oxcarts, the replacement of outdated motors in vehicles
and new ways of generating energy, for example through solar energy,
have greatly improved the ecological balance. The savings and reductions
in electricity consumption that began in 2005, especially through
government campaigns, such as replacing incandescent light bulbs with
energy-saving bulbs, have been successful. In addition, there is a
general shortage of raw materials, which leads to extremely low use of
packaging materials. The extensive use of chemicals in agriculture has
been limited by the lack of imported fertilizers.
The area of
natural forest has increased since 1990, contrary to the global trend.
In 2007, Cubans planted 136 million trees. In 2012, 27.3 percent of
their island was reforested. By 2015, forests are expected to cover 29.3
percent of the island. In comparison, in 1959, 13.6 percent was
forested.
The commitment made in the Montreal Protocol to
eliminate 50 percent of the substances that cause serious damage to the
ozone layer by the end of 2007 was fulfilled with 74 percent removal in
September 2007.
According to the Cuban government, Havana's
harbor bay, which was classified by the United Nations at the end of
1980 as one of the most polluted and unsalvageable in the world, was
successfully cleaned up, with 17,000 barrels of usable crude oil being
recovered from the water in the harbor bay.
Nickel mining in the Moa area on the northeast coast is causing particular environmental problems due to insufficiently treated contaminated residues. The age of many of the companies means that environmental protection standards are low and industrial waste is poorly disposed of.
In Cuba, a total of 211 areas are under special nature protection.
This means that 20 percent of Cuba's surface is ecologically protected.
The system of protected areas in Cuba is well developed and divided into
different categories:
National parks
Ecological reserves
Special natural objects (Elemento Natural Destacado)
Reserves for
plants (Reserva Floristica Manejada)
Animal protection areas (Refugio
de Fauna)
Landscape protection areas (Paisaje Natural Protegido)
Protected areas for the management of resources (Area Protegida de
Recursos Manejados).
In total, there are 73 nature reserves in
Cuba with different protection statuses, such as: 14 national parks and
six biosphere reserves In the east of Cuba, in the provinces of Holguín
and Guantánamo, is the island's most famous nature reserve, the
Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, named after the German naturalist
Alexander von Humboldt, who spent almost three months in Cuba in the
winter of 1800-1801.
The 5000 km² wetland on the Zapata
Peninsula, with dozens of endemic animal and plant species, is
considered by experts from the UN Environmental Agency for Latin America
and the Caribbean to be the best-kept in the region.