Belgian Amiga Club - ADF Collection/BS1 part 27.zip/BS1 part 27/WorldAtlas2_d2.adf/TEXTA/37

Text File | 1990-04-02 | 2KB | 25 lines

When Columbus discovered Cuba in 1492 it was inhabited by 50,000 Indians.
For the most part, Cuba was a colony of Spain except from 1762-63 when
Britain occupied Havana.  Slave-based sugar plantations produced a great deal
of sugar needed for trade.  Sugar is still the chief cash crop of Cuba.
The Spanish-American War began because the U.S.S. Maine was sunk in
Havana harbor.  After the War of 1898 Spain was defeated and left Cuba.
The U.S. left later but still had a naval base there.  Dictator Batista was
overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959.  Batista fled the country.  Economic and
social reform took place but civil liberties were still denied.  Opponents to
Castro's government were imprisoned or executed.  Many Cubans emigrated to
the U.S. and elsewhere.
Many U.S. companies or properties in Cuba have been taken over by the
nation without compensation.  Cuba is a communist country which receives
financial and military support from the USSR and other communist nations.
The U.S. imposed an export embargo in 1962 and planned a invasion to
overthrow the regime (The Bay of Pigs) through the CIA but failed.
The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the USSR brought nuclear missiles to
Cuba.  The US warned Cuba and the USSR that it was a threat to the US's
security so the missiles were removed.  The US has had various agreements
with Cuba trying to improve relations with them.  However, Cuba has
supported a faction in Angola in its Civil war and many other countries in
Africa and Central America.  This has strained U.S. and Cuban relations.
When the U.S. invaded Grenada in 1983, 24 Cubans died and over 700 were
captured.
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