DESTINATION CUBA

Full country name: Republic of Cuba
Area: 110,860 sq km
Population: 11 million
Capital city: Havana (pop 2,200,000)
People: 60% Spanish descent, 22% mulatto, 11% African descent, 1% Chinese
Language: Spanish
Religion: 47% Catholic, 4% Protestant, 2% Afro-American Spiritist
Government: Communist republic
Head of State: Fidel Castro

Friendly Cuban faces (20K)

Environment

Cuba is part of the West Indies, and is situated within the Antilles Archipelago. Havana is a mere 170km from Florida's Key West, in the USA, and Pinar del Río Province is 210km from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Cuba's other close neighbors are Jamaica, the Bahamas and Haiti, 77km away across the Windward Passage. Cuba's main island is the 15th largest island in the world, measuring 104,945 sq km, 1250km long and 191km wide at its widest point. Cuba also lays claim to the 220 sq km Isla de la Juventud and a further 4200-odd coral cays and islets, most of which are low lying and uninhabited.

Much of Cuba is made up of fertile flatlands, where cattle are grazed and sugarcane, coffee and tobacco are grown. The Oriental, Central and Occidental mountain ranges cover 25% of the country, the highest point being Pico Turquino (1972m). Cuba's longest river is the 343km Río Cauto, although it's barely navigable, even for small boats. The North American and Caribbean tectonic plates meet in the 7200m deep Cayman Trench between Jamaica and Cuba, and the region is thus prone to earthquakes.

There are more than 6000 plant species in Cuba, around half of which are endemic. The ever-present royal palm (Reistonea regia) is represented on the country's coat of arms; there are said to be 20 million palms in Cuba. Cuba's other flora includes the rare and prehistoric cork palm (Microcycas calocoma), a throwback to the Cretaceous Period; the jagüey, a fig which has aerial roots; the palma barrigona (big belly palm); the ceiba, the sacred silk-cotton tree, and the mariposa (butterfly jasmine), the white national flower. Much of the southern coast has mangrove swamps that support small fish and birdlife while the majority of the northern coast is bordered by rugged beaches.

A billowing silk-cotton tree (12K)

Cuba's most abundant land fauna is reptilian, and includes crocodiles, iguanas, lizards, salamanders, turtles and 15 species of nonpoisonous snakes. The largest land mammal is the jutía (Capromys), a tree rat which grows to about 60 cm in length. The world's smallest bird comes from Cuba: the bee hummingbird, or zunzuncito (Mellisuga helenae), is just bigger than a grasshopper and weighs only two grams. The tocororo (Priotelus temnuros) is dubbed Cuba's national bird due to its red, white and blue plumage - the colors of the Cuban flag.

There are no great differences in seasonal temperature in Cuba, its pleasant subtropical climate being augmented by the gentle northeasterly tradewinds. The wet summer season is between May and October, and the drier winter season runs from November through April. The average temperature reaches 27°C (81°F) in July and August and 22°C (72°F) in February. An average of 80% humidity exists all year round, with things just a little more sticky in the wet season.

History

It's thought that humans first came to the Cuban island from South America in around 3500 BC. These people were fishers and hunter-gatherers, and were joined some time later by agriculturalist Arawak Indians (Taino). By the time the Spanish arrived in the late 15th century, three-quarters of Cuba's 100,000 indigenous people were Taino-speaking Arawaks.

Christopher Columbus sighted Cuba on 27 October 1492, and while he was enamored with the 'most beautiful land human eyes have ever seen,' the Spanish ignored it and instead established their first base at Santo Domingo on Hispaniola. In 1512, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar led a 300-member party from Hispaniola to Cuba to claim it for the Spanish Crown, and within two years he'd established seven settlements. The Spanish slaughtered thousands of Indians, despite Velázquez's protestations, and drove others westward. But Cuba had no great gold reserves and after 1516 Velázquez sponsored four expeditions to Mexico, including Hernán Cortés's conquest of 1519 to 1521, and thereby established Cuba as Spain's gateway to South America.

The oldest statue of Christopher Columbus in the Americas (9K)

Large estates were established on the island under the encomienda system, which essentially enslaved the Indians under the pretext that they were receiving religious instruction. By 1542, when the system was abolished, the deadly combination of exploitation and European diseases had slashed the Indian population to around 5000. Unfazed, the Spanish began to import African slaves to bolster slave-labor numbers. Unlike the North American slave trade, Cuba's African slaves were kept together in their tribal groups, and fortunately certain aspects of their culture survived. They were sent to work on cattle ranches, and bovine products - leather and dried beef - were the mainstay of the Cuban economy until the early 18th century, when tobacco became the colony's principle cash crop.

Cuba's tobacco fields (23K)

Increasingly, other European powers began to challenge Spain's colonial grip on the Caribbean: the British took Jamaica in 1655, Haiti fell to the French in 1697 and Cuba was under constant threat of attack. British troops invaded Cuba on 6 June 1762, capturing Havana and occupying it for 11 months. During their stay, the British imported 4000 African slaves and vastly expanded Cuba's trading links. Sugar production became the island's major industry, as American independence in 1783 created new markets and a 1791 slave uprising in Haiti eliminated Cuba's biggest sugar-producing competitor. By 1820 Cuba was the world's largest producer of sugar, thanks to tens of thousands of newly imported African slaves.

Following the revolutionary activities of Simón Bolivár in South America between 1810 and 1825, Cuba and Puerto Rico found themselves the only remaining Spanish colonies in the Western Hemisphere. Spanish loyalists fled the former colonies and arrived in Cuba in droves. Cuba's first War of Independence was launched in October 1868, and was headed by a Creole planter, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. After ten years and 200,000 deaths, however, the rebels were finally spent and a pact was eventually signed granting them amnesty. The Spanish tried to placate the Creole community, who were seeking internal autonomy, while the USA prepared to annex the colony. Meanwhile, a group of Cuban rebels exiled to the USA began plotting the overthrow of the Spanish colonial government. Within their ranks was José Martí, a poet and essayist who would become a national hero. Martí and his military commander, General Máximo Gómez, landed on eastern Cuba in 1895, and just a few weeks later Martí, conspicuous on his white horse, was shot and killed during a skirmish with the Spanish.

Gómez and rebel leader Antonio Maceo pushed westward, burning everything that they came across - sugar fields, plantations and towns. Spain sent in the ruthless military man Valeriano Weyler to quell the rebellion, which had now reached civil war proportions, and although his measures were successful, Cuba's agriculture-based economy was in ruins. In June 1897 the Spanish prime minister, Antonio Cánovas, a hard-line opponent of Cuban independence, was assassinated by an anarchist with Cuban connections and the new Spanish government sought a more conciliatory approach.

The time was now ripe for the US government to annex Cuba. In America, the tabloid press stirred up war fever following the January 1898 explosion of the US warship Maine, anchored just outside Havana harbor. The USA declared war when Spain rejected its offer to purchase Cuba for $300 million. Hostilities lasted for three months until the Spanish surrendered. The USA's declaration of war had stipulated that it would respect Cuba's right to self-determination, and while it annexed Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, it had to be content with militarily occupying Cuba.

The USA installed a governor of Cuba, General John R Brooke, and he and his successor began a series of public works projects, building schools and improving public health, all clearly designed to tie Cuba to the USA. The Platt Amendment gave the USA the right to intervene militarily in Cuba's domestic affairs at the discretion of the USA, and given the choice of accepting the Platt Amendment or remaining indefinitely under US military occupation, Cubans chose the lesser of two evils. In 1903, the USA used this amendment to oversee American interests in Cuba by building a naval base at Guantánamo Bay. Today this symbol of US imperialism remains - an insult to Cuba and a mockery of the USA's alleged respect of Cuba's right to self-determination.

By the 1920s US companies owned two-thirds of Cuba's farmland, and while tariffs crippled Cuba's own manufacturing industries, tourism based on gambling and prostitution flourished during America's flirtation with prohibition. The collapse of commodity prices due to the 1930s depression led to civil unrest, which was violently quelled by President Gerado Machado y Morales. In August 1933 Morales was overthrown in a coup, and army sergeant Fulgencio Batista seized power. Over the next 20 years, the corrupt Batista won, lost and stole power, while Cuba crumbled and its assets were increasingly placed into foreign hands. The years of political corruption and social injustice finally came to a close after a three-year guerilla campaign led by young lawyer Fidel Castro. Batista fled Cuba for the Dominican Republic, taking with him US$40 million of government funds.

Castro was named prime minister, and immediately began reforming the nation's economy, cutting rents and electricity rates, and nationalizing any landholding larger than 400 hectares. Relations with the USA deteriorated as US interests were directly affected by the nationalization of US-owned petroleum, telephone and electricity companies and sugar mills. In response the Americans cut Cuban sugar imports and the CIA trained and armed a counter-revolutionary army to overthrow Castro. The Soviet Union bought up Cuba's sugar surplus and sent trade and technical delegations. A massive exodus of Cuba's middle class began almost immediately Castro took power. Most of these exiles settled just across the water in Miami, where they have since orchestrated virulent anti-Castro campaigns and had a powerful impact on US foreign policy.

In a speech honoring the Cuban forces that repelled the disastrous April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion by 1400 Cuban émigrés and US servicemen trained and armed by the CIA, Castro said for the very first time that the Cuban revolution was socialist. Castro and Che Guevara began actively supporting guerilla groups in South America and Africa, sending troops and advisers to assist peoples' insurgencies in Zaire, Angola, Mozambique, Bolivia (Guevara was killed in Bolivia in the presence of US advisers) and Ethiopia. The US response was to support the dictators in many of those countries, and to launch an embargo against Cuba, severely restricting trade and travel between the two countries.

Despite massive Soviet aid, the Cuban economy was in ruins, and the country's plight worsened when Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989, as Russia soon withdrew its 11,000 military personnel and technicians. America kept up its draconian trade bans and Cuba was quickly isolated - both politically and economically. In December 1991, the Cuban Constitution was amended to remove all references to Marxism-Leninism. Castro avowed his continuing loyalty to communism but reforms of the Soviet model were already under way. In 1993, laws passed that allowed Cubans to own and use US dollars, allowed self-employment in 100 trades and farmers' markets were opened. Taxes on dollar incomes and profits were levied in 1994, and in September 1996 foreign companies were allowed to wholly own and operate businesses and purchase real estate. The US responded to this new openness by stiffening its decades-old embargo in 1996 with the Helms-Burton Act, allowing US investors to take legal action against foreign companies utilizing their confiscated property in Cuba, and advising against loans for Cuba.

The Cuban government has been criticized for its human rights record over the past three decades. Political repression has resulted in at least 500 'prisoners of conscience' currently in Cuban jails simply for criticizing Cuba's present leadership or for attempting to organize political opposition. While this situation is deplorable, it must be viewed in the context of the continuous threat of destablization Cuba faces from its powerful neighbor to the north. Pope John Paul II recognized this during his visit to the island in January 1998, condemning both the Cuban government's heavy hand and the US government's embargo. The pope's visit brought out crowds of over half a million people. It also encouraged the US government to lift a two-year-old ban on direct flights between the US and Cuba.

The September 1998 visit of Hurricane Georges was not as welcome as the Pope's. Though only a handful of people died, many thousands were left homeless when their homes were destroyed by the fierce winds, and many more were evacuated to avoid the widespread flooding caused by the storm.

Economic Profile

GDP: US$20.3 billion
World GDP ranking: 64th
GDP per head: US$1880
Major industries: Sugar, minerals, tobacco, agricultural, medicine & tourism
Major trading partners: Western Europe, Latin America, Russia, China, Iran & North Korea

Culture

African slaves brought rhythms and ritual dances to Cuba where they were blended with Spanish guitars and melodies and then appropriated and developed throughout the Americas (the USA in the 1920s jumped to rumba rhythms, and these, fused with jazzy horn sections and drums, became the big-band sound). The conga-line dance was developed by slaves shackled together, while much of contemporary Cuban dance has important associations with Afro-Cuban Santería religion. The most popular Cuban music today is son, which developed in the hills of the Oriente before the turn of the century and incorporates guitars, tres (a small Cuban stringed instrument with three pairs of strings), double bass, bongos, claves, maracas and voice. Mambo, bolero, salsa and chachachá music also derived from this form. The most famous exponents of Cuban music were Pérez Prado and Benny Moré, but Cuban music continues to evolve and there are a great many artists still making great music.

The country's most famous literary figure is José Martí, whose life, ideas and martyr's death confirmed him as a national hero, but other Cuban literary greats include Cirilo Villaverde y de la Paz (1812-94), Alejo Carpentier (1904-80), Nicolás Guillén (1902-89) and Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929-). Cuba's film makers include Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (1928-96), whose Strawberry and Chocolate was highly lauded, and Humberto Solás, whose works also received much international acclaim. Painters Wilfredo Lam (1902-82) and Marianao Rodríguez (1912-90) are amongst the most important the country has produced, and Manuel Mendive (1944-) is regarded as Cuba's foremost living painter.

After the revolution the arts were actively supported by the government: many theatres, museums and arts schools were founded, musicians were guaranteed a salary and a national film industry was established. The government has sought to redress the influence of North American mass culture by subsidizing Afro-Cuban cultural groups and performing ensembles.

Historically, Roman Catholicism has been the dominant religion in Cuba and it remains so, with around 40% of Cubans at least nominally Catholic. Around 4 % are of the population are Protestant and 2% are Afro-American Spiritist - devotees of Santería. The loose institutional organization of Santería's adherents hides the fact that a majority of Cubans are affiliated with this Afro-Catholic religious fusion in one way or another, and their numbers have grown since the government ended its official atheism in 1992. True to the country's mestizo culture, Cubans grafted catholicism onto African religions brought over by slaves, resulting in Afro-Cuban equivalent gods for the major Catholic saints - and the occasional animal sacrifice. When Pope John Paul II crowned Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, Cuba's patroness, devotes of Santería swelled with pride, for they identify the Virgin of Cobre with their very own Ochun, goddess of love and abundance.

Cuban cuisine is a mix of Spanish and African techniques, using local produce. Dishes like Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christian; black beans and rice), arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) and picadillo (minced beef and rice) are common, as are soups made with plantains, chick-peas or beans. There are, however, food shortages in Cuba and eating out can mean long waits at state-run restaurants or hotel dining rooms. Cuban beer (cerveza) is excellent and the cocktails are legendary.

Doing the restaurant crawl, Camagüey (11K)

Events

Cuba's carnivals, held in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Varadero, were discontinued after 1990 because of economic hard times, but attempts are under way to revive Havana's carnival with outdoor performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings throughout February. The Jornadas de la Cultura Camagneyana is scheduled for the first two weeks of February, and the Havana International Jazz Festival happens every second year in February. April sees the Semana de la Cultura celebrated in Baracoa and the Electroacoustic Music Festival in Varadeao. The first week of May has the Romería de Mayo in Holguin, and at the end of June Trinidad hosts the Fiestas Sanjuaneras. The Festival of Caribbean Culture is celebrated in June or July, October has the 10-day Havana Festival of Contemporary Music, and the Semana de la Cultura Trinitaria happens in Trinidad in late November. The International Festival of Latin American Film is held in Havana in December of each year.

If ya got it... (12K)

Public Holidays
1 January - Liberation Day
1 May - Labor Day
25-27 July - Celebration of the National Rebellion
10 October - Day of Cuban Culture
Note that Christmas Day is not a public holiday in Cuba.

Facts for the Traveler

Relative costs:

• cheap meal: US$2-3
• restaurant meal: US$10-15
• cheap room: US$10
• hotel room: US$20-30

Credit cards and travelers checks issued by US companies such as American Express, Citibank and Diners Club, or travelers' checks that are cleared through New York, are not negotiable in Cuba. Eurocheques are also unacceptable. If you want to use credit cards, you need the likes of a Visa or MasterCard issued by a non-US bank. Thomas Cook and Visa travelers' checks in US dollar denominations are also fine, as long as they're not issued by a US bank.

Tipping is not essential and was once actively discouraged but if you feel you've been well looked after in a hotel or restaurant, a dollar tip is a welcome sign of appreciation.

When to Go

Attractions

Havana

Havana has a swinging nightlife, with cinemas, historic theatres, cabarets, nightclubs and music venues that will exhaust even the most hardened campaigner. There's less traffic and less commercialization than choke your average Latin American city. But from the rough brilliance of Old Havana to residential areas ranging from shabby to demanding demolition, the exuberant friendliness of Havana's inhabitants is what shines through.

The marble-covered El Capitolio Nacional, Havana (15K)

Santiago de Cuba

Royal Palms popping out of the greenery at Viñales (12K)

This is perhaps the most beautiful part of Cuba, and there are terrific scuba-diving opportunities off the province's coast with excellent yacht anchorages, clear waters, spectacular corals and great expanses of empty white-sand beaches.

Off the Beaten Track

Bayamo

Activities

There are terrific hiking and trekking possibilities on the Cuban island and the three-day trek over the Sierra Maestra from Alto del Naranjo to Las Cuevas, crossing Pico Turquino, Cuba's highest mountain, is a highlight for many energetic travelers. Marked walking trails, maps and professional guides are almost nonexistent but local residents will usually guide you for just a few dollars.

Horse riding is also popular among visitors, and special tourist ranches have been established at Baconao and Trinidad. The northeasterly tradewinds bring good swells between December and April, but surfers will have to bring their own boards as none are locally available for rent. Cuba is endowed with wonderful areas for scuba diving and the 30-odd dive centers across the country offer organized dives, courses and equipment for hire. Deep-sea fishing is also popular in Cuba's waters.

Getting There & Away

Almost all visitors to Cuba arrive by air, with scheduled flights arriving from Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Europe. There are direct flights available from the USA, but US citizens will need the permission of the US Treasury Department, which restricts travel to Cuba to journalists, researchers and a handful of other groups.

Thanks to the US blockade of Cuba, very few cruise ships call into Cuban ports, and there are no scheduled passenger ships that service the country. Private yachts regularly call into Cuba's plentiful harbors and anchorages.

Getting Around

Cuba has an extensive domestic air network that services all of the regional centers, and flights within the country are not very expensive. Most domestic flights are on smaller propeller aircraft and they are 25% cheaper if booked in conjunction with your international ticket.

Since 1991 long-distance bus services have been wound back and nowadays getting a ticket can be difficult - an in-person advance purchase will be required as will an in-person reconfirmation two hours prior to departure. Although train travel is now much more viable there are still some important connections that are only serviced by bus. Some enterprising locals have converted large trucks (camiones) into public transport vehicles and offer trips along the popular bus runs.

The demise of the Jamaican railway in 1992 means that Cuba is now the only Caribbean country with a functioning railway. Trains service all of the regional capitals and are a much more reliable and hassle-free way of getting around Cuba than the buses. Tickets are easy to get and Cuban train travel can be a relaxing and colorful way to see the country.

Cuba boasts Latin America's most extensive system of roads, and driving a rental car is perhaps the easiest way to see the country (there are many car-rental outlets to choose from). Many Cubans hitchhike as a means of getting around and locally the activity is known as hacer botella (literally 'to make a bottle' with the hand). Government vehicles are legally required to pick up hitchhikers if they have the room, and town exits and major crossroads often have yellow-clad amarillo officials armed with clipboards to organize the Cubans waiting for a ride.

Recommended Reading

• At nearly 1700 pages, Cuba, or The Pursuit of Freedom, by Hugh Thomas, is a weighty tome and covers Cuban history between 1762 and 1962. Thomas is not a fan of Castro and his revolution but his book is still a valuable resource.
• Herbert L Matthews, the New York Times editorial writer, interviewed Castro in the Sierra Maestra in 1957 and his book Revolution in Cuba sympathetically explores the personalities, motivations and achievements of the Castro revolution. His is one of the lone American voices that has any common sense about the Cuban/American hostilities.
• Peter Bourne's Castro: A Biography of Fidel Castro, Tomás Borge's Face to Face with Fidel Castro and Beatriz Pagés' Can Cuba Survive? An Interview with Fidel Castro are just some of the better books on this icon of the 20th century.
• Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson is considered the best book on the mysterious Argentinian. Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution: Writings and Speeches of Ernesto Che Guevara, edited by David Deutschmann, is an excellent collection of Che's thoughts and speeches. Guevara's own works include Guerilla Warfare (1960), Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War (1963) and Man and Socialism in Cuba (1965). Deutschmann is also the editor of Che - A Memoir by Fidel Castro in which Fidel describes his relationship with Guevara.
• James A Michener and John Kings' Six Days in Havana is a worthwhile read and Pico Iyer's Cuban impressions in Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World are very amusing. Iyer's first novel, Cuba and the Night, is very good.
• Dreaming in Cuban, by Cristina García, is an interesting novel about real and imaginary worlds, Afro-Cuban religion and their impact on a Cuban family. Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana is a funny story about a British vacuum-cleaner salesman.

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