Cuba Y Su Historia

[Cubafro]

After reading HT's new thread regarding my beautifull country (CUBA) I decided to be kind of a trouble maker and start this thread where I'll be posting infos on CUBA..Hope everybody will enjoy the reading
From wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_history


Cuba, the largest of the Caribbean islands, was first inhabited by Indigenous peoples known as the Taíno and Ciboney. On 27 October 1492, Christopher Columbus sighted the island during his first voyage of discovery and claimed it for Spain. Cuba subsequently became a Spanish colony to be ruled by the Spanish governor in Havana, though in 1762 the colony was briefly held by Britain before being returned in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions during the 19th century failed to end Spanish rule, but increased tensions between Spain and the United States, resulting in the Spanish-American War, led finally to Spanish withdrawal, and in 1902, Cuba gained formal independence.
American trade dominated Cuba during the first half of the 20th century, aided by US government policy measures assuring influence over the island. In 1959, de facto leader Fulgencio Batista was ousted by revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro. Deteriorating trade relations with the US led to Cuba's alliance with the Soviet Union and Castro's transformation of Cuba into a declared socialist republic. Castro has remained in power since 1959, first as Prime Minister then from 1976 as President of Cuba. Cuba then became a communist state.


Pre-Columbian Cuba

[edit] Guanajatabeyes

The earliest inhabitants of Cuba were the Guanajatabey people,[1] who migrated to the island from the forests of the South American mainland as long ago as 5300 BC.[2] The Guanajatabeyes, who numbered about 100,000, were hunters, gatherers, and farmers. They were to cultivate cohiba (tobacco), a crop upon which the island's economy would one day depend. Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar later observed that the Guanajatabeyes were "without houses or towns and eating only the meat they are able to find in the forests as well as turtles and fish."[3] Though the Guanajatabeyes are now considered to be a distinct population, early anthropologists and historians mistakenly believed that they were the Ciboney people who occupied areas throughout the Antilles islands of the Caribbean.[4] More recently, researchers have speculated that the Guanajatabeyes may have migrated from the south of the United States, evidenced by similarities of artifacts found in both regions.[3] Some studies ascribe a role to these original inhabitants in the extinction of the islands' megafauna, including condors, giant owls, and eventually ground sloths.[5]

A cabin in the hills near Baracoa with a traditional Taíno palmleaf roof


Further evidence suggests that the Guanajatabeyes were driven to the west of the island by the arrival of two subsequent waves of migrants, the Taíno and Ciboney. These groups are sometimes referred to as neo-Taíno nations.[1] The new arrivals had migrated north along the Caribbean island chain from the Orinoco delta in Venezuela. These two groups were prehistoric cultures in a time period during which humans created tools from stone, yet they were familiar with gold (caona) and copper alloys (guanín).

[edit] Taíno and Ciboney cultures

The Taíno and Ciboney were part of a cultural group commonly called the Arawak, which extended far into South America. Initially the new arrivals inhabitanted the eastern area of Baracoa before expanding across the island. Traveling Dominican clergyman and writer Bartolome de las Casas estimated that the Cuban population of the neo-Taíno people had reached 200,000 by the time of the late fifteenth century. The Taíno cultivated the yucca root, harvested it and baked it to produce cassava bread. They also grew cotton and tobacco, and ate maize and sweet potatoes. According to Las Casas, they had "everything they needed for living; they had many crops, well arranged".[6]
The Taíno agriculturalist and the Ciboney were a self-sufficient society, although their development was not limited to fishing and hunting, farming and production of wooden structures. Taínos and Ciboney took part in similar customs and beliefs, one being the sacred ritual of smoking, often nasally inhaled, narcotized tobacco vapors and particulates called cohoba. Residues of their poetry, songs, sculpture, and art are found today throughout the major Antilles.

[Cubafro]

Conquest of Cuba

[edit] Early Spanish colonization


The route of Columbus's second voyage to the New World. Columbus explored the south coast of Cuba believing it to be a peninsula


The first sighting of a Spanish boat approaching the island was on October 28, 1492, probably at Baracoa on the eastern point of the island.[1] Christopher Columbus, on his first voyage to the Americas, sailed south from what is now The Bahamas to explore the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola. During a second voyage in 1494, Columbus passed along the south coast of the island, landing at various inlets including what was to become Guantánamo Bay. With the Papal Bull of 1493, Pope Alexander VI commanded Spain to conquer, colonize and convert the Pagans of the New World to Catholicism.[7] On arrival, Columbus observed the Taíno dwellings, describing them as “looking like tents in a camp. All were of palm branches, beautifully constructed”.[8]
The Spanish began to create permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, east of Cuba, soon after Columbus's arrival in the Caribbean, but it wasn't until 1509 that the coast of Cuba was fully mapped by Sebastián de Ocampo.[9] In 1511, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar set out with three ships and an army of 300 men from Hispaniola to form the first Spanish settlement in Cuba, with orders from Spain to conquer the island. The settlement was at Baracoa, but the new settlers were to be greeted with stiff resistance from the local Taíno population. The Taínos were initially organized by cacique (chieftain) Hatuey, who had himself relocated from Hispaniola to escape the brutalities of Spanish rule on that island. After a prolonged guerrilla campaign, Hatuey and successive chieftains were captured and burnt alive, and within three years the Spanish had gained control of the island. In 1514, a settlement was founded in what was to become Havana.
Clergyman Bartolomé de Las Casas observed a number of massacres initiated by the invaders as the Spanish swept over the island, notably the massacre near Manzanillo of the inhabitants of Caonao. According to his account, some three thousand villagers had traveled to Manzanillo to greet the Spanish with loaves, fishes and other foodstuffs and were "without provocation, butchered".[10] The surviving indigenous groups fled to the mountains or the small surrounding islands before being captured and forced into reservations. One such reservation was Guanabacoa, which is today a suburb of Havana.[11]

A monument to Taíno chieftain Hatuey, Baracoa, Cuba


In 1513, Ferdinand II of Aragon issued a decree establishing the encomienda land settlement system that was to be incorporated throughout the Spanish Americas. Velázquez, who had become Governor of Cuba relocating from Baracoa to Santiago de Cuba, was given the task of apportioning both the land and the indigenous Cubans to groups throughout the new colony. The scheme was not a success, however, as the Cubans either succumbed to diseases brought from Spain such as measles and smallpox, or simply refused to work preferring to slip away into the mountains.[1] Desperate for labor to toil the new agricultural settlements, the Conquistadors sought slaves from surrounding islands and the continental mainland. But these new arrivals followed the indigenous Cubans by also dispersing into the wilderness or suffering a similar fate at the hands of disease.[1]
Despite the difficult relations between the local Cubans and the new Europeans, some cooperation was in evidence. The Spanish were shown by the Native Cubans how to nurture tobacco and consume it in the form of cigars. There were also many unions between the largely male Spanish colonists and indigenous women. Their children were called mestizos, but the Native Cubans called them Guajiro, which translates as "one of us". Although modern day studies have revealed traces of Taíno DNA in individuals throughout Cuba,[12] the population was effectively destroyed as a culture and civilization after 1515. The local Indian population left their mark on the language and placenames of the island, however. The name of Cuba itself and Havana were derived from neo-Taino dialect, and Indian words such as Tobacco, Hurricane and Canoe continue to be used today.[11]


Arrival of African slaves
The Spanish established sugar and tobacco as Cuba's primary products, and the island soon supplanted Hispaniola as the prime Spanish base in the Caribbean.[13] The expansion of agriculture tempered by the rapid erosion of the native populations [citation needed] meant that further field labor was required. African slaves were then imported to work the plantations as field labor. However, restrictive Spanish trade laws made it difficult for Cubans to keep up with the 17th and 18th century advances in processing sugar cane pioneered in British Barbados and French Saint Domingue (Haiti). Spain also restricted Cuba's access to the slave trade, which was dominated by the British, French, and Dutch. One important turning point came in the Seven Years' War, when the British conquered the port of Havana and introduced thousands of slaves in a ten month period. Another key event was the Haitian Revolution in nearby Saint-Domingue, from 1791 to 1804. Thousands of French refugees, fleeing the slave rebellion in Saint Domingue, brought slaves and expertise in sugar refining and coffee growing into eastern Cuba in the 1790 and early 1800s.
In the 1800s, Cuban sugar plantations became the most important world producer of sugar, thanks to the expansion of slavery and a relentless focus on improving the island's sugar technology. Use of modern refining techniques was especially important because the British abolished the slave trade in 1807 and, after 1815, began forcing other countries to follow suit. Cubans were torn between the profits generated by sugar and a repugnance for slavery, which they saw as morally, politically, and racially dangerous to their society. By the end of the nineteenth century, slavery was abolished.
However, leading up to the abolition of slavery, Cuba gained great prosperity from its sugar trade. Originally, the Spanish had ordered regulations on trade with Cuba, which kept the island from becoming a dominant sugar producer. The Spanish were interested in keeping their trade routes and slave trade routes protected. Nevertheless, Cuba's vast size and abundance of natural resources made it an ideal place for becoming a booming sugar producer. When Spain opened the Cuban trade ports, it quickly became a popular place. New technology allowed a much more effective and efficient means of producing sugar. They began to use water mills, enclosed furnaces, and steam engines to produce a higher quality of sugar at a much more efficient pace than elsewhere in the Caribbean.
The boom in Cuba's sugar industry in the nineteenth century made it necessary for Cuba to improve its means of transportation. Planters needed safe and efficient ways to transport the sugar from the plantations to the ports, in order to maximize their returns. Many new roads were built, and old roads were quickly repaired. Railroads were built early and changed the way that perishable sugar cane (within one or two days after the cane is cut easily crystalizable sucrose sugar has "inverted" to turn into far less recoverable glucose and fructose sugars) is collected and allowing more rapid and effective sugar transportation. It was now possible for plantations all over this large island to have their sugar shipped quickly and easily. The prosperity seen from the boom in sugar production is a major reason that Cuban ethnicity became further enriched by new influx of Spanish migrants. Many Spaniards immigrated to Cuba, calling it a place of refuge.

[Cubafro]

Sugar plantations
Cuba failed to prosper before the 1760s due to Spanish trade regulations. Spain had set up a monopoly in the Caribbean and their primary objective was to protect this. They did not allow the islands to trade with any foreign ships. Spain was primarily interested in the Caribbean for its gold. The Spanish crown thought that if the colonies traded with other countries it would not itself benefit from it. This slowed the growth of the Spanish Caribbean. This effect was particularly bad in Cuba because Spain kept a tight grasp on it. It held great strategic importance in the Caribbean. As soon as Spain opened Cuba's ports up to foreign ships, a great sugar boom began that lasted until the 1880s. The Island was perfect for growing sugar. It is dominated by rolling plains, with rich soil, and adequate rainfall. It is the largest island in the Caribbean, its relatively low mountains and large plains are suitable for roads, and railroads, and it has the best ports in the area. By 1860, Cuba was devoted to growing sugar. The country had to import all other necessary goods. They were dependent on the United States who bought 82 percent of the sugar. Cubans resented the economic policy Spain implemented in Cuba, which was to help Spain and hurt Cuba. In 1820, Spain abolished the slave trade, hurting the Cuban economy even more and forcing planters to buy more expensive, illegal, [1] and troublesome slaves (as demonstrated by the events surrounding the ship Amistad). Some Cubans seeking freedom from Spain began to support annexation to join the United States. For a time, Cuban ports served as bases for ineffective Confederate blockade runner ships [2].

[edit] Cuba under attack


El Morro fortress in Havana, built in 1589


Cuba had long been a target of buccaneers, pirates and French corsairs seeking Spain's new world riches. Repeated raids meant that defences were bolstered throughout the island during the 16th century and Havana was furnished with the Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro (El Morro fortress) to deter potential invaders which included English privateer Francis Drake, who sailed within sight of Havana harbour but did not disembark on the island.[14] Havana's inability to resist invaders was dramatically exposed in 1628, when a Dutch fleet led by Piet Heyn plundered the Spanish fleet in the city's harbor.[15] In 1662, on the eastern part of the island, English admiral and pirate Christopher Myngs captured and briefly occupied Santiago de Cuba in an effort to open up Cuba's protected trade with neighbouring Jamaica.[15]
Nearly a century later, the English were to invade in earnest taking Guantánamo Bay during the War of Jenkins' Ear with Spain. Edward Vernon, the British Admiral who devised the scheme, saw his 4,000 occupying troops capitulate to local guerrilla resistance, and more critically, debilitating disease, forcing him to withdraw his fleet to British owned Jamaica.[16] Seven years later, in 1748, tensions between the three dominant colonial powers; Britain, France and Spain, were transported to the Caribbean. A skirmish between a British squadron and a Spanish squadron off the coast of Cuba became known as the Battle of Havana.[16]
The Seven Years' War, which erupted in 1754 in three continents, eventually arrived at the Spanish Caribbean. Spain's alliance with the French pitched them in direct conflict with the British, and in 1762 an expedition set out from Portsmouth of 5 warships and 4000 troops to capture Cuba. The English arrived on June 6, and by August had Havana under siege.[17] When Havana surrendered, British Admiral of the fleet George Keppel, the 3rd Earl of Albemarle, entered the city as conquering new governor, taking control of the whole western part of the island.

The British fleet closing in on Havana in 1762


The arrival of the British immediately opened up trade with their North American and Caribbean colonies, causing a rapid transformation of Cuban society. Food, horses and other goods flooded into the city, and thousands of slaves from West Africa were transported to the island to work on the under manned sugar plantations.[17] Though Havana, which had become the third largest city in the new world, was to enter an era of sustained development and closening ties with North America, the British occupation was not to last. Pressure from London by sugar merchants fearing a decline in sugar prices forced a series of negotiations with the Spanish over colonial territories. Less than a year after Havana was seized, the Peace of Paris was signed by the three warring powers thus ending the Seven Years' War. The treaty gave Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba on the recommendation of the French, who advised that declining the offer could result in Spain losing Mexico and much of the South American mainland to the British.[17]

[edit] Antislavery movements and the Conspiración de La Escalera

In 1812, a mixed race abolitionist conspiracy arose, organized by José Antonio Aponte, a free black carpenter in Havana. He and others were executed [3].
Cubans began to have an interest in abolishing slavery, and a number of plots and rebellions occurred. One of the most significant was the 'Ladder Conspiracy' (Conspiración de La Escalera), which occurred circa 1840-1844. This event, once viewed [4] as an excuse to rid the Island of rebellious abolitionists, is now viewed as a real, if frustrated, plot. (See comments in new translation of Villaverde's "Cecilia Valdés.") The Spanish reacted strongly and many were executed, including one of Cuba's greatest poets, Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, now commonly as "Placido" [5]. José Antonio Saco one of Cuba's foremost thinkers was expelled from Cuba [6].
Following from the 1868-1878 rebellion Ten Years' War, all slavery was abolished by 1884, making it the second to last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery (Brazil was the last).


Minor wars
Inspired by the successes of Simón Bolívar, a movement to overthrow Spanish rule arose; with nominal support from mercenary English troops, Spain was first defeated in the Battle of Carabobo in 1821. Blacks and whites then began acting together to overthrow slavery and colonial rule. In 1826, the first armed uprising for independence took place in Puerto Príncipe (Camagüey Province), led by Francisco de Agüero and Andrés Manuel Sánchez. Agüero (white) and Sánchez (mulato, of mixed African and European ancestry) were executed, becoming the first martyrs of Cuban independence [7].
After the English capture of Havana, perhaps the second most significant military action to that date was the landings of Narciso Lopez.

[edit] Independence from Spain


José Martí


Cuban independence from Spain was gained after three wars: La Guerra de los Diez Años (aka Ten Years' War; 1868-1878), La Guerra Chiquita (aka the Small War; 1879-1880), and the War of '95. On 10 October 1868, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes freed his slaves and thus started the Ten Years' War when other plantation owners and guajiros joined in the guerrilla fighting in the Eastern regions. The Spanish were able to exploit the mistrust among the rebels to reach a settlement on 10 February 1878 with the Pact of Zanjón. After that, José Martí, who had been exiled after an attempt to back up the rebels in the West, started campaigning in the United States, where there was a sizeable community of Cuban exiles. In 1880, there was another significant rising, the so called "Guerra Chiquita", but bad coordination between Antonio Maceo and Calixto Garcia doomed it to failure.
On 24 February 1895, the insurrection was resurrected when several important Cuban independence fighters landed near Baracoa, starting the second major War of Cuban Independence, commonly called the War of '95. Soon, Martí was killed, but Máximo Gomez and Antonio Maceo fought on, defeating the Spanish Governor Arsenio Martínez Campos, himself the victor of the Ten Year War, and killing his most trusted general at Peralejo. In a brilliant cavalry campaign, they invaded every province [8].

Depiction of the Battle of Cienfuegos, 11 May 1898, during the Spanish-American War


Maceo was killed in Havana province while returning from the west [9], but Calixto Garcia, escaped to Spain and was soon at it again, taking the Spanish strongholds with cannon and infantry. As the war went on, the major obstacle to Cuban success was weapons supply. Although weapons and funding came from within the US, the supply operation violated American laws, which were enforced by the US Coast Guard; of 71 re-supply missions only 27 got through, 5 were stopped by the Spanish but 33 by the US Coast Guard [10].
Riots in Havana by rowdy pro-Spanish "Voluntarios" gave the United States a reason to send in the warship USS Maine to indicate high national interest. American opinion was outraged at news of Spanish atrocities, and President William McKinley demanded reforms or independence. When the US battleship Maine blew up on 15 February 1898, tensions escalated, and the U.S. would no longer accept Spanish promises of eventual reform. The U.S. declared the Spanish-American War. American naval and military forces were immediately successful, as the Spanish put up a weak resistance.
On 17 July 1898, the Spanish surrendered and, on 10 December 1898, they signed the Treaty of Paris. The treaty recognized Cuban independence (the United States did not annex Cuba because of the restrictions imposed in the Teller Amendment to the U.S. Congressional resolution approving the war) and gave to the U.S. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines (Spain received $20 million of compensation from the US for the Philippines). After Spanish troops left the island in December 1898, the United States occupied Cuba until 1902, and as promised in the Teller Amendment did not attempt to annex the island. The U.S. Army began a massive public health program to eradicate disease, and a complex modernization program of upgrading the infrastructure of ports, roads, and communications. However, under the Platt Amendment, which replaced the Teller Amendment, important decisions of the government of Cuba remained subject to override by the United States. This suzerainty bred resentment toward the U.S.

[edit] Cuba in the early 20th century

In 1902, the United States handed over control to a Cuban government that as a condition of the transfer had included in its constitution provisions implementing the requirements of the Platt Amendment, which among other things gave the United States the right to intervene militarily in Cuba. Land that was in ruins was acquired by U.S. investors, enabling the United States to control roughly three-quarters of the Cuban sugar, the foundation of the Cuban economy. Havana and Varadero became tourist resorts, adorned with casinos and strip-clubs. The Cuban population gradually recovered economic power from both Spanish and U.S. interests, and enacted civil rights anti-discrimination legislation that ordered minimum employment quotas for Cubans.
President Tomás Estrada Palma was elected in 1902, and Cuba was declared independent, though Guantanamo Bay was leased to the United States as part of the Platt Amendment. The status of the Isle of Pines as Cuban territory was left undefined until 1925 when the United States finally recognized Cuban sovereignty over the island. Estrada Palma, a frugal man, governed successfully for his four year term; yet when he tried to extend his time in office, a revolt ensued. In 1906, the United States representative William Howard Taft, notably with the personal diplomacy of Frederick Funston, negotiated an end of the successful revolt led by able young general Enrique Loynaz del Castillo [11], who had served under Antonio Maceo in the final war of independence. Estrada Palma resigned. The United States Governor Charles Magoon [12] assumed temporary control until 1909. In this period in the area of Manzanillo, Agustín Martín Veloz, Blas Roca, and Francisco (Paquito) Rosales founded the embryonic Cuban Communist Party [13].
For three decades, the country was led by former War of Independence leaders, who after being elected did not serve more than two constitutional terms. The Cuban presidential succession was as follows: José Miguel Gómez (1908-1912); Mario Garcia Menocal (1913-1920); Alfredo Zayas (1921-25) [14].
In World War I, Cuba declared war on Imperial Germany on April 7th, 1917, the day after the US entered the war. Despite being unable to send troops to fight in Europe, Cuba played a significant role as a base to protect the West Indies from U-Boat attacks. A draft law was instituted, and 25,000 Cuban troops raised, but the war ended before they could be sent into action.
President Gerardo Machado was elected by popular vote in 1925, but he was constitutionally barred from reelection. Machado, who determined to modernize Cuba, set in motion several massive civil works projects such as the Central Highway, but at the end of his constitutional term held on to power. The United States, despite the Platt Amendment, decided not to interfere militarily. The communists of the PCC did very little to resist Machado in his dictator phase; however, practically everybody else did. In the late 1920s and early 1930s a number of Cuban action groups, including some Mambí, staged a series of uprisings that either failed or did not affect the capital. After much complex rebellion, Machado was asked to leave by the Cuban Army and senior Cuban civil leaders in 1933. After Machado was deposed there was a confused short interregnum.

[Cubafro]

Military coup
About six months later still, in September 1933, there was a successful mutiny by enlisted soldiers and non-commissioned officers, taking the lower ranks of the Cuban Army to power. A key figure in the process was Fulgencio Batista, an army sergeant holding a key post as a telegraph officer. Then Batista with his straight Taíno hair and very dark skin, often lightened in later photographs, was known at "El Mulato Lindo;" he was probably the first noticeably colored ruler of Cuba since the Spanish conquest. He gradually assumed total command. As this revolutionary process, and because it would limit Batista’s power, the Platt Amendment was repealed. Still, American pressure forced Cuba to reaffirm the agreement which was imposed on the country in 1903 which leased the Guantanamo Bay naval base to the United States for a nominal sum, under terms which many Cubans at the time found (and some still find) objectionable and colonialistic.
To consolidate power, Batista suppressed a series of revolts. Notable are that of Blas Hernandez at the Atares Castle, and that of the regular army officers at the Hotel Nacional. With encouragement from U.S. Ambassador Sumner Welles, he separated the Cuban military from the student-labor component of the new revolutionary government, and as Army Chief of Staff became the country's de facto leader behind a series of puppet presidents. In 1940, Batista became the country's official president in an election which many people considered to be rigged.[citation needed] Batista was voted out of office in 1944.

[edit] Elections resume in Cuba

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President Carlos Prío Socarrás (left), with US president Harry S. Truman in Washington, 1948.


He was succeeded by Dr. Ramón Grau San Martín, a populist physician, who had briefly held the presidency in the 1933 revolutionary process. President Grau passed a number of populist measures favoring workers and also had been instrumental in passing the 1940 Constitution, which has been widely regarded as one of the most progressive ever written in terms of worker protection and human rights.[citation needed]
Grau was followed by Carlos Prío Socarrás, also elected democratically, but whose government was tainted by increasing corruption and violent incidents among political factions. Around the same time Fidel Castro had become a public figure at the University of Havana. Eduardo Chibás was the leader of the Partido Ortodoxo (Orthodox Party), a liberal democratic group, who was widely expected to win in 1952 on an anticorruption platform. Chibás committed suicide before he could run for the presidency, and the opposition was left without its major leader.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Batista, who was running for president in the 1952 elections, but was only expected to get a small minority of votes, seized power in an almost bloodless coup three months before the election was to take place. President Prío did nothing to stop the coup, and was forced to leave the island. Due to the corruption of the past two administrations, the general public reaction to the coup was somewhat accepting at first. However, Batista soon encountered stiff opposition when he temporarily suspended the balloting and the constitution, and attempted to rule by decree. Elections were held in 1953 and Batista was elected. Opposition parties mounted a blistering campaign, and continued to do so, using the Cuban free press during all of Batista's tenure in office. Although Batista was intent on lining his pockets, Cuba did flourish economically during his regime.

[edit] The Cuban Revolution

Main article: Cuban Revolution

Fidel Castro, a young lawyer from a wealthy family, who was running for a seat in the Chamber of Representatives for the Partido Ortodoxo, circulated a petition to depose Batista's government on the grounds that it had illegitimately suspended the electoral process. However, the petition was not acted upon by the courts. On July 26, 1953, Castro led a historic attack on the Moncada Barracks near Santiago de Cuba, but failed. Many soldiers were killed by Castro's forces. Castro was captured, tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, he was released by the Batista government in 1956, when amnesty was given to many political prisoners, including the ones that assaulted the Moncada barracks. Castro subsequently went into exile in Mexico where he met Ernesto "Che" Guevara. While in Mexico, he organized the 26th of July Movement with the goal of overthrowing Batista. A group of over 80 men sailed to Cuba on board the yacht Granma, landing in the eastern part of the island in December 1956. Despite a pre-landing rising in Santiago by Frank Pais and his followers of the urban pro-Castro movement, most of Castro's men were promptly killed, dispersed or taken prisoner by Batista's forces. Castro managed to escape to the Sierra Maestra mountains with about 12-17 effectives, aided by the urban and rural opposition, including Celia Sanchez and the bandits of Cresencio Perez's family, he began a guerrilla campaign against the regime. Castro's main forces supported by numerous poorly armed escopeteros, and with support from the well armed fighters of the Frank Pais urban organization who at times went to the mountains the rebel army grew more and more effective. The country was soon driven to chaos conducted in the cities by diverse groups of the anti-Batista resistance and notably a bloodily crushed rising by the Batista Navy personnel in Cienfuegos. At the same time, rival guerrilla groups in the Escambray Mountains also grew more and more effective.
Although a lame duck president--the constitution prohibited him from running again--with a corrupt and ineffective military, dispirited by a U.S. Government embargo on weapons sales to Cuba and public indignation, Batista fled on January 1, 1959. Within months of taking control, Castro moved to consolidate power by brutally marginalizing other resistance groups and figures and imprisoning and executing opponents and former supporters. As the revolution became more radical and continued its persecution of those who did not agree with its direction, hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled the island.
In July 1961, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI) was formed by the merger of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Revolutionary Movement, the People's Socialist Party (the old Communist Party) led by Blas Roca and the Revolutionary Directory March 13th led by Faure Chomón. On March 26, 1962, the ORI became the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC) which, in turn, became the Communist Party of Cuba on October 3, 1965, with Castro as First Secretary.

[edit] Revolutionary Cuba

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Relations between the United States and Cuba deteriorated rapidly as the Cuban government, in reaction to U.S companies' refusal to refine Soviet oil in refineries located in Cuba, expropriated U.S. properties, notably those belonging to the International Telephone and Telegraph Company (ITT) and the United Fruit Company. In the Castro government's first agrarian reform law, on May 17, 1959, it sought to limit the size of land holdings, and to distribute that land to small farmers in "Vital Minimum" tracts. In compensation, the Cuban government offered to pay the landholders based on the tax assessment values for the land, in reality little or no compensation was paid. Reasons for this include that actual payment would be with twenty-year bonds paying 4.5% interest (instead of the then U.S. investment grade corporate bond rate of 3.8%). Landholders from most other countries settled on this basis. The problem was with the tax assessed values. Most of the large landholdings had been acquired in the 1920 period when world sugar prices were depressed, and the land could be bought at bargain-basement prices. In the intervening period, former Cuban governments friendly to these interests had kept these bargain prices as the basis for calculating property taxes, thus insuring that those taxes would be kept low. However, as Castro's control of the island's assets tightened and more nationalization campaigns took place, promises such as these were not honored.
In response to the seizure of American properties, the continued executions and violations of human rights, the U.S. broke diplomatic relations on January 3, 1961 and imposed the U.S. embargo against Cuba on February 3, 1962. The embargo is still in effect as of 2007, although some humanitarian trade in food and medicines is now allowed. At first, the embargo didn't extend to other countries and Cuba trades with most European, Asian and Latin American countries and especially Canada. But now the United States pressures other nations and U.S. companies with foreign subsidiaries to restrict trade with Cuba. This hinders Castro's historical argument of blaming the United States for Cuba's grave economic situation. Then again, due to Cuba's location, such trade is hindered by high transportation costs. Also, the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 makes it very difficult for companies that do business with Cuba to also do business in the United States, effectively forcing internationals to choose between the two.
The establishment of a Socialist system in Cuba led to the fleeing of many hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles to the United States and other countries since Castro's rise to power. One major exception to the embargo was made on November 6, 1965 when Cuba and the United States formally agreed to start an airlift for Cubans who wanted to go to the United States. The first of these so-called Freedom Flights left Cuba on December 1, 1965 and by 1971 over 250,000 Cubans had flown to the United States. In 1980, another 125,000 came to US during six-months period via Mariel boatlift, some of them criminals and people with psychiatric diagnoses. It was discovered that the Cuban government was using the event to rid Cuba of the unwanted segments of the society. Currently, there is an immigration lottery allowing 20,000 Cubans seeking political asylum to go to the United States legally every year. Perhaps a thousand or more take the risk of traveling by sea on small crafts.

[Cubafro]

Bay of Pigs invasion
Main article: Bay of Pigs Invasion
The United States then sponsored an unsuccessful attack on Cuba, using conservative political groups as the main source of support. The attack began on April 15, 1961, when exiles, flying planes provided by the United States bombed several Cuban air force bases. This attack did not succeed in destroying all of Castro's air force.
Castro declared Cuba a socialist state in a speech on April 16, 1961.
On April 17, 1961, a force of about 1,500 Cuban exiles, financed and trained by the CIA, landed in the south during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The CIA's assumption was that the invasion would spark a popular rising against Castro. Castro's forces were forewarned of the invasion and had arrested hundreds of thousands of suspected "subversives," before the invasion landed (Priestland, 2003). Castro executed high level defectors from his own ranks notably William Morgan and Sori Marin.[18] There was no popular uprising. Most of the invasion force made it ashore; however, all their supplies did not. Despite some initial advances during which thousands of Castro militia died, the CIA's forces were quickly defeated as President Kennedy did not allow the U.S. Navy--already on site--to provide the air support he had promised. Many believe that the invasion, instead of weakening Castro, actually helped him consolidate his grip on power.
For the next 30 years, Castro pursued closer relations with the Soviet Union until its demise in 1991. Castro cast a big shadow in the Cold War, disproportionate to the size of his country. Castro’s enemies often died violent deaths. Castro-directed overt and covert operations undertaken throughout much of the world.
The Organization of American States, under pressure from the United States, suspended Cuba's membership in the body on January 22, 1962 and the U.S. Government banned all U.S-Cuban trade a couple of weeks later on February 7. The Kennedy administration extended this on February 8, 1963 making travel, financial and commercial transactions by U.S. citizens to Cuba illegal.[19]

[edit] The Cuban Missile Crisis

Main article: Cuban missile crisis
Tensions between the two governments peaked again during the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis. The United States had a much larger arsenal of long-range nuclear weapons than the Soviet Union, as well as medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) in Turkey, whereas the Soviet Union had a large stockpile of medium-range nuclear weapons which were primarily located in Europe. Cuba agreed to let the Soviets secretly place SS-4 Sandal and SS-5 Skean MRBMs on their territory. Reports from inside Cuba to exile sources questioned the need for large amounts of ice going to rural areas, which led to the discovery of the missiles, confirmed by U-2s. The United States responded by establishing a cordon in international waters to stop Soviet ships from bringing in more missiles (designated a quarantine rather than a blockade to avoid issues with international law). At the same time, Castro was getting a little too extreme for the liking of Moscow, so at the last moment the Soviets called back their ships. In addition, they agreed to remove the missiles already there in exchange for an agreement that the United States would not invade Cuba. Only after the fall of the Soviet Union was it revealed that another part of the agreement was the removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey. It also turned out that some submarines that the U.S. Navy blocked were carrying nuclear missiles and that communication with Moscow was tenuous, effectively leaving the decision of firing the missiles at the discretion of the captains of those submarines. In addition, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian government revealed that FROGs (Free Rocket Over Ground) armed with nuclear warheads and IL-28 Beagle bombers armed with nuclear bombs had also been deployed in Cuba, to be used in the event of a US invasion.
The United States has honored this agreement by not attacking Cuba again, but the CIA has continued to support anti-Castro groups by mounting an extensive international campaigns and several botched assassination attempts throughout the 1960s. And the agreement was specifically about Cuban territory. Cuba has in turn provided military support to revolutions in Angola, Nigeria and parts of South America. During one such campaign, Ernesto Che Guevara was captured by U.S.-trained commandos in Bolivia in 1967 and ultimately executed. He has since become a symbol of revolution worldwide, remembered for his ideology and untimely death on one hand, and for the Sierra Maestra blood purges and his role in executions after Castro gained power on the other. A stylized likeness of him later become popular on t-shirts and posters.

[edit] Marxist Leninist Cuba

Castro did stop openly supporting insurrectionary movements against Latin American governments, although pro-Castro groups continued to fight the military dictatorships which then controlled most Latin American countries. The insurgency in Nicaragua which lead to the demise of the Somoza dynasty in 1979, was openly supported by the Cuban government, who provided aid, training, military weapons and refuge to Sandinista fighters. Cuba supported the Sandinista government, providing medical aid and soldiers with the support of the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. Castro lost the support of the Nicaraguan government when the Sandinistas were defeated by the pro U.S. party in the 1990 election.

[edit] Cuba after the Soviet Union

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
This section has been tagged since June 2006.
When the Soviet Union broke up in late 1991, a major boost to Cuba's economy was lost, leaving it essentially paralyzed because of the Cuban economy's narrow basis, focused on just a few products with just a few buyers. Also, supplies (including oil) almost dried up. Over 80% of Cuba's trade was lost and living conditions worsened. A "Special Period in Peacetime" was declared, which included cutbacks on transport and electricity and even food rationing. In response, the United States tightened up its trade embargo, hoping it would lead to Castro's downfall. But Castro tapped into a pre-revolutionary source of income and opened the country to tourism, entering into several joint ventures with foreign companies for hotel, agricultural and industrial projects. As a result, the use of U.S. dollars was legalized in 1994, with special stores being opened which only sold in dollars. There were two separate economies, the dollar-economy and the peso-economy, creating a social split in the island because those in the dollar-economy made much more money (as in the tourist-industry). However, in October 2004, the Cuban government announced an end to this policy: from November U.S. dollars would no longer be legal tender in Cuba, but would instead be exchanged for convertible pesos (since April 2005 at the exchange rate of $1.08) with a 10% tax payable to the state on the exchange of U.S. dollars cash - though not on other forms of exchange.
Extreme shortages of food and other goods as well as electrical blackouts led to a brief period of unrest, including numerous anti-government protests and widespread increases in crime. In response, the Cuban Communist party government formed hundreds of “rapid-action brigades” to confront protesters. According to the Communist Party daily, Granma, "delinquents and anti-social elements who try to create disorder and an atmosphere of mistrust and impunity in our society will receive a crushing reply from the people."
Some non-violent initiatives have been launched by Cubans in the island, aiming at political reform. In 1997, a group led by Vladimiro Roca, a decorated veteran of the Angolan war and the son of the founder of the Cuban Communist Party, sent a petition, entitled La Patria es de Todos ("the homeland belongs to all") to the Cuban general assembly requesting democratic and human rights reforms. As a result, Roca and his three associates were sentenced to jail, from which they were eventually released.
In 2001, a group of activists collected thousands of signatures for the Varela Project, a petition requesting a referendum on the island's political system. The process was openly supported by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter during his historic 2002 visit to Cuba. The petition gathered sufficient signatures, but was rejected on an alleged technicality. Instead, a plebiscite was held in which it was formally proclaimed that Castro's brand of socialism would be perpetual.
In 2003, seventy-five anti-government activists were arrested and summarily sentenced to long jail terms. Cuban officials described it as a response to provocative actions by the head of the U.S. interests section in Cuba, who had been traveling around the country holding publicized meetings and press conferences with the dissidents. Castro's action was widely criticised by mainstream human rights organizations and even by U.S. leftists generally otherwise sympathetic to his government.
In an unrelated matter, three men were sentenced to death for hijacking a ferry with guns and knives, steering it into international waters where it ran out of fuel, and threatening to kill the passengers. Some accounts confused the two and accused Castro of sentencing dissidents to death, something which did not happen.

2006 Cuban transfer of presidential duties
Main article: 2006 Cuban transfer of presidential duties

Cover of Granma, 1 August 2006, containing the proclamation.[20]


On July 31 2006, Fidel Castro delegated his duties as President of the Council of state, President of the Council of Ministers, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party and the post of commander in chief of the armed forces to his brother and First Vice President, Raúl Castro. This transfer of duties has been described as temporary while Fidel Castro recovers from surgery undergone after suffering from an "acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding". Fidel Castro was too ill to attend the nationwide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Granma boat landing on December 2, 2006, which fuelled speculations that Castro had stomach cancer,[21] though Spanish doctor Dr. García Sabrido stated that his illness was a digestive problem and not terminal, after an examination of the subject on Christmas Day.[22]
On January 31, 2007, footage of Castro meeting with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez was broadcast, where, according to international media reports, Castro "appeared frail but stronger than three months ago",[23] and the Cuban leader made a lengthy surprise appearance by phone on Chávez's radio talk show Aló Presidente the following month.[24] Though Castro loyalists in the Cuban government have maintained that he will stand in the 2008 elections to the Cuban National Assembly, speculation has continued as to whether he will ever return to power.[25]

Even I'm pretty sure some of you knows a bit or knows the cuban history, I hope this will maybe start more interest on CUBA...Talking about women, politics, musics, religions, ethnicities, racism, way of life, anything, I think would be interesting to be discussed and will be more than happy to share and bring my knowledge on the subject

CUBITA

[Cubafro]

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to keep posting few infos on Mi cubita linda and this is for where I'm from MATANZA ..Hope you will enjoy the reading


Cuba's western province of Matanzas, whose capital dates to the 17th century, treasures many riches linked to the origin and development of that territory, which is full of natural beauties, history and cultural traditions.
Matanzas, also known as Cuba's Athens, has a one-of-a-kind attraction, the so-called Pharmaceutical Museum, which is housed in a drugstore that was founded in January 1882 and functioned as such until 1964.
The French drugstore, the only one of its kind still preserved in the world, exhibits instruments used in that epoch to produce medications, as well as many porcelain bottles decorated by hand.
Visitors can also see recipe books containing over one million original formulas, and a bronze medal won by experts at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
The Museum of Art is dedicated to the most diverse cultural manifestations, with a large exhibit of paintings, engravings, sculptures, decorative works and furniture, among other valuable exponents.
Visitors express special interest in the halls dedicated to paintings and engravings of Matanzas, which were created in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as works of universal art from France, England and Holland.
Junco PalacePharmaceutical MuseumLibraryAnother hall recreates the province's history through furniture, paintings, glassware and European ceramics.
The Palacio de Junco, a small palace built in 1838 in a Spanish colonial setting, has housed the Provincial Museum since 1980. During their tours, visitors can see the lifestyle during the colonial period, and compare the life of Cuban aristocrats with that of slaves who worked in sugar and coffee plantations.
An outstanding exponent of Matanzas' urbanization in the 19th century, the building was seriously damaged by a fire in 1845 - the famous fire of La Marina Neighborhood -, but it was reconstructed two years later.
Its halls treasure the most varied artifacts, covering over 10,000 years of Cuba's development, from aboriginal communities to present days.
Among the buildings dedicated to preserve the region's historic wealth is El Morrillo, housed in one of the fortresses built in the 18th century to protect the city from attacks by corsairs and pirates.
The museum exhibits archeological artifacts from aboriginal cultures, since it was built on the largest aboriginal settlement. It also shows personal objects of Antonio Guiteras and Carlos Aponte, the latter from Venezuela, who were outstanding political figures during the first half of the 20th century.
With that variety of attractions, just to mention some, Matanzas can reveal its secrets to thousands of vacationers who visit the city every year, taking advantage of its closeness to the world-famous beach resort of Varadero and of the region's natural richness.
RELATED SERVICES


CUBA

[Cubafro]

SANTIAGO DE CUBA

Santiago de Cuba is of the utmost importance to Cuban history. Its founder Diego Velázquez Cuellar's body lies in the city's cathedral. During the first half of the 16th century it was the capital of the island, and at the time, had a population of 1,000 Spaniards, as well as the indigenous population--a figure quite remarkable for the time.

Its bishopric first, and later its archbishopric, made Santiago a centre of great religious importance. The Villa de Santiago de Cuba, founded towards the end of 1514, was a strategic centre of the island during the first years of the 'Conquista'. From the waters of its bay, among the most beautiful and unspoiled in the world, many expeditions departed: Grijalva, Narváez, De Soto and Hernán Cortes, who would become the city's first mayor.

Little can be said of its indigenous inhabitants. They were brutally and unashamedly exterminated by the greed and ferociousness of the colonizers, who left not a trace of the taíno and siboneye ways of life, culture and habits.

During the wars of independence, Santiago turned a blind eye to the arms and medicine dealing carried out by the 'Juntas' and patriots of the city, in order to provide their rebel brothers in arms against the despotic conquerors, with the equipment necessary to carry out their ploy. Unfortunately, Santiago's open doors also let in the first black slaves brought to Cuba, exploited in order to encourage the incipient wealth of the city. Its coasts were the scene of expeditionary liberator's actions. Within the city's walls, the famous event known as the 'Socapa' took place, with 'Generalísimo' Máximo Gómez in charge of an army force of the famous 'División de Cuba'. The heroic actions of Santiago's citizens Narciso Silva, Enrique Collazo and Capitán 'Flor Crombet' brought the victory. In its waters, with the impressive historical and archaeological 18th century monument known as the 'Morro' in sight, the decisive naval battle in the North American war of Spain against Cuba took place, with the triumph over the Cervera's Spanish fleet.

In order to understand the economic importance of Santiago, it is necessary to point out that it is Cuba's second port, and its intense trading activity has played an essential role in the development of Santiago and the Eastern province in general.

The city, as well as, to some extent, its inhabitants, has features that clearly distinguish it from the rest of the country. This beautiful deep valley, with its rivers and mountains, is home to a characteristic type of Cuban: proud, rebellious, down-to-earth and not in the least boastful. This is evident from its history, but particularly from certain episodes in such history. A clear example of this character is the battle against the pseudo-republic encouraged by the USA, in support of the actions of the brave youths of the 26 de Julio movement. Later it was in support of the Granma expeditionary men, who took shelter in the Sierra Maestra to await the final battle which would eventually lead to the triumph of the Revolution on the 1st January, 1959.

Santiago was built on the sea plateau formed during the Pleistocene era, and now rises majestically between the tall peaks of the Sierra Maestra which surround the city. The heavy French immigration towards the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, has, over the time and due to their relationship with the native population, contributed to shape its inhabitants peculiarities and cultural development. It was the French immigrant population who built the first important theatre in Santiago in 1799. Other historically important events and places in Santiago are its Cathedral--the first one in Cuba (1522); the first lithographic workshop, founded by Don Juan Meta and Tejada, the first one in the world. In 1843 the railway of Punta de Sal de Cobre was opened. In 1580, the first musical band on the island got together. Other distinguished institutions such as 'La Antigua Filarónica' (later known as Sociedad Filarmónica Cubana), 'El Liceo de Santiago', 'La Sociedad Beethoven' are also well worth visiting and getting to know a little about their history. Santiago's fine arts academies also contributed to making Santiago de Cuba what it is today: the birthplace of eminent musicians, and a city with a cultural and economic development which make it one of the most important cities in America


CUBA

[Cubafro]

Cienfuegos City "The Pearl of the South"
Capital city ofCienfuegos Province
Cienfuegos City is called "The Pearl of the South" because of the impressive beauty of its bay; because of its seductive city which provokes the wonder of all who know it, and because of that innate nobility which characterizes those born in Cienfuegos.
The history of Cienfuegos possesses interesting antecedents and is rich in aborigine and Hispanic legends. Before the Spanish came to America, the zone was settled by indigenous people and was known as the Cacicazgo de Jagua .

In order to protect its magnificent bay from corsairs and pirates, who ploughed the Caribbean, the third most important fort was erected in 1745. It was called the castle of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Jagua, situated right in the canyon of the entrance to the bay.
The foundation of Cienfuegos occurred in 1819, when French colonists settled in it, calling it Fernandina de Jagua, in honor of King Ferdinand VII and because of its aborigine origin. A rosette in the José Martí Park serves as a reminder of the place where the founding took place, and which served as the center for the urban design/layout. This park, which was the ancient Arms Square, is ample and rich in monuments, from which protrudes the only existing Arch of Triumph of Cuba. In its surroundings coexists, harmoniously, buildings from the end of the XIX century and the first half of the XX, in eclecticism dominated by neoclassic cannons. This historical center has been declared a National Monument for its exclusive patrimonial value. The Jose Martí Park communicates with a pedestrian walk known as the Cienfuegos Boulevard to the principal artery of the city, the Paseo del Prado. This is the longest street lined with trees in Cuba and leads the traveler to the Cienfuegarian Malecón. Further on, the residential zone and recreative area of Punta Gorda continues with nautical and traditional sport and marine clubs.

This peninsula which enters the bay and terminates in La Punta, has as well been declared a National Monument, because of its wooden large houses close to the sea, and other important buildings. Amongst the most important is the Palacio del Valle, an elegant eclectic mansion that combines the styles of Mudejar, Byzantine, Venetian, Gothic and Baroque.The French influence is notable in many cultural traits and Cienfuguerian customs, particularly in architecture, where arcs, stained-glass windows and bars prevail and it is common to find palaces and mansions .The streets, of perfect design, are wide and straight, and give Cienfuegos, the flavor of being an enchanting city.To Do
Antiguo Ingenio CarolinaMonument
Carretera de la Refinería de Petróleo
Arco de Triunfo Monument
Parque José Martí Boulevard Ave. 54, e/. 29 y 37
For Cuban standards alot of shopping to do here.
Check out the list below
Cienfuegos eventsAprilFestival de Camaron (shrimps)

22, Foundation of Cienfuegos

AugustCarnival

Every other year "Beny More Festival"

Casa Almacén José García de la Noceda Monument
Ave. 52 #2913-15
Casa de la Cultura Benjamin Duarte(1918) Formerly Palacio de Ferrer
Calle 25 #5403
Casa de Vivienda del Antiguo Central Soledad

Monument
Real #204, Pepito Tey

Casa de los LeonesMonument
Calle 37 No. 5804-5806-5808
Colegio de San LorenzoMonument
Ave. 56, e/. 27 y 29 Casa del FundadorMonument
Calle 29, esq. a Ave 54
Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Jagua Monument Nacional
At the entrance of the Cienfuegos Bay
The Castillo de Jagua is a fortress near the entrance to the Bahia de Cienfuegos (bahia meaning "bay"), Cuba. This fortress was erected by spanish king Carlos V. in the 1740s to protect the bay where Caribbean pirates used to landed before the town of Cienfuegos was settled

Casona "Maroya" del Fondo Cubano de Bienes CulturalesAve. 54, e/. 25 y 27
Cathedral de la Purisma ConceptionAv 56 #2902 y Calle 29
tel:432-5297
Open on Monday and Sunday morning
Was builded between 1833-1869. One of the important buildings at the central square. The church features wonderful stained-glass work imported from France.
Cementerio de ReinaMonument Nacional
7ma. e/. ave. 50 y 52, Reparto de Reina

The general open Cementorio De Reina is situated at the western side of the city. Found between 1830 and 1840 and very Neoclassical. The most famous grave statue is named La Bella Durmiente (The Sleeping Beauty)
Cienfuegos has two picturesque cemeteries, featuring elaborate marble headstones, mausoleums, and aboveground burial crypts. The Cementerio de Reina is the older of the two and located on the western extreme of the city beyond the downtown center. The Cementerio Tomás Acea is in an eastern suburb of the city and features an elaborate entrance modeled after the Parthenon in Greece.
Centro Provincial de ArteAve. 56, e/. 25 y 27
Delfinario Carretera a Pasacaballo, km. 18
Dolphin Show; Tel:432/54-8120Near Playa Rancho Luna, is the new Delfinario. Captive and trained dolphins and sea lions perform several times daily here. Although the amphitheater around a penned in saltwater lagoon is spiffy, we find these types of shows and facilities depressing. This place is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9am to 5:30pm, and has a reasonably priced little restaurant. Admission is 5CUCfor adults, 3CUC for children. It will cost you an extra 1CUC to take photos, 2CUC to shoot video, and 3CUC to get a kiss with a dolphin. A 15- to 20-minute swimming session with a dolphin costs 30CUC.
Galería de Arte ProvincialAve. 54 No. 3310
e/. 33 y 35 (Boulevard)
Jardín Botánico Soledad de CienfuegosMonument Nacional
Calle Central 136, Pepito Tey,
Cienfuegos
Tel: 432/54-5334
This Botanical Garden, owned by Instituto de Egocolica y Sistematic, is another good offer of the province. In its 97 hectares -seven of which cover a nature reserved forest area- visitors will find more than two thousand plant species comprising 670 varieties and 125 families.
It is the largest and most extensive botanical garden in Cuba. The grounds are beautiful to walk around, and there's usually good bird-watching here, although everything tends to be overgrown and unkempt, and markings are sorely lacking. The gardens are located 17km (11 miles) east of downtown, via the road to Trinidad. They are open daily from 8am to 4pm; admission costs 3CUC for adults, 1CUC for children
Jardines de la Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC)Calle 25, e/. 54 y 56
Museo de la Clandestinidad “Hermanas Giral”Ave. 42 3709
Museo del DeporteSala Polivalente Gernika, (antiguo Frontón Jai Alai)
Calle 37, e/. 48 y 50
Museo Historico Naval NacionalAv 60 y Calle 21, Cayo Loco
Tel: 432-9143
North-East of Parque Marti on the peninsula Cayo Loco you will find the shipping museum of Cuba. Famous because of its documents about the revolution against Batista at September 1957 and because of its collection about the Cuban marine.
Museo Provincial Furniture
Av 54 y Calle 27
T el:432-9722
This museum is housed in the old Casino Espanol builded in 1896. By looking at the old Cienfuegos furniture and porcelain, you can see how rich the Cienfuegos people were in the 19th century.
Necropolis Tomas Acea Av 5 / de Sieptembre
Monumental and in different styles variated cemetery at the east of Cienfuegos city. Designed as if it is a big garden with lanes and fruit trees. At the entrance you will find a replica of the Panhenon in Athene.
Palacio de AyuntamientoAt Parque Marti
is the place of the Provincial Administration.
Palacio de BlancoAve. 54
No. 3303-05-07
Palacio FerrerAve 54 esq. Calle 25
Tel: 432-6584 / 432/51-9722

In this building the Casa Provincial is housed and has a tower from which you can take great pictures from the city. In this building you will find the Casa Provincial de la Cultura. It is build at the beginning of the 20th century. This is a good place to find out if there are any interesting art exhibits or concerts going on while you're in town.
Palacio de Gobierno (1898) (Formerly Ayuntamiento today Poder Popular Provincial)
Parque Jose Marti Palacio de GoitizoloMonument
Ave. 60 #2917
Palacio de Valle(1917) All the way down Calle 37 #3501 Paseo del Prado
Punta Gorda
Cienfuegos
The most original building in Cienfuegos, designed by Cuban and foreign architects rented by sugar baron Acisclo del Valle Blanco, one ofthe richest men in Cuba. Builded in 1913-1917. It's a 2 story building decorated Gotic Venetian and neo-Morish. The three towers are standing for love, power and relegion.
Palmira Yorubá PantheonAfrocuban religions chapters.
The municipal museum recreates the religious syncretism and the afrocuban folklore.
Parque José Martí Parques Monument Nacional
Antigua Plaza de Armas
The middle of Cienfuegos is in the middle of Parque Marti, the former Plaza Armas. In the middle of the paque you will find the zero km point. This parque is a national monument of Cuba because of the beautiful buildings among this parque.
Paseo del Prado Beautiful old buildings and monuments
Prado was constructed in 1922. The street goes all the way to Punta Gorda, the south of Cienfuegos citySanta Isabel de Las LajasNative city of Benny Moré, the great one of Rhythm, emblematic figure of the Cuban culture. The Municipal museum pays homage to him in his Rincón Querido (Favorite Corner)
Santa Iglesia CatedralDe la Purísima Concepción
Ave. 56 No. 2902
Teatro Tomas TerryParque Marti.Ave. 56 # 2703 y Calle 27
Cienfuegos
Tel:432-3361
Go inside to see the beautiful frescos and architecture.
Officially called Teatro de Cienfuegos, named after a rich sugar-baron who came to Cuba as a poor immigrant from Venezuela.
Inaugurated in 1890, the theater has been wonderfully maintained. It has been declared a national monument, and stars such as Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, and Ana Pavlova performed here. Check to see if there are any performances while you're in town; if not, you can tour the facility during the day. Admission is 1CUC and includes a quick, guided tour.

General InformationBanksBanco Finaciero Internacional
Av 54 Calle 29
Open Mo / Fri 8 am to 3 pmBanco de Credito y Comercio
Av 56 y Calle 31Cadeco (Casas de Cambio)
Av 56 #3314 Send mail?Post Office
Esq Av 56 y Calle 35 Make a phonecall?Etecsa
Calle 37 #4820MedicalClinica Internacional
Calle 37 #202

Farmacia
Santa Elena
Calle 37 #202 (open 24 hours)
OpticaÓptica Miramar Cienfuegos
Óptica
Ave. 54 No. 3504, e/. 35 y 37 (Boulevard), Cienfuegos
Shops

Almacenes Cuba
Ferretería
Calle 33 No. 5407,
e/. 54 y 56, CienfuegosDITA
Electrodomésticos
Ave. 54, e/. 31 y 33,
CienfuegosEl Aeropuerto
Tienda Departamental
Aeropuerto Internacional
“Jaime González”
Carretera a Caunao, CfgosEl Embajador
Tabaquería
Ave. 54, esquina a 33
CienfuegosEl Encanto
Tienda Departamental
Calle 33, e/. 54 y 56,
CienfuegosEl Fundador
Artesanías
Calle 29, esquina a 54
CienfuegosEl Gallo
Artesanías y otros artículos
Ave. 54, esquina a 31,
CienfuegosEl Paraíso
Mercado
Calle 33, esquina a 58,
CienfuegosEl Prado
Tienda Departamental
Calle 37, e/. 54 y 56,
CienfuegosFantástico
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 54, e/. 31 y 33,
CienfuegosFoto Vídeo Prado
Fotografía
Calle 37, e/. 52 y 54,
CienfuegosGlamour
Boutique
Calle 35, esquina a 56,
CienfuegosJardín Botánico
Tienda Departamental
Jardín Botánico,
CienfuegosLa Avenida
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 37, e/. 12 y 14,
Punta Gorda, CienfuegosLa Calzada
Tienda Departamental
(Ave. 64) Calzada de
Dolores, e/. 49 y 52,
CienfuegosLa Casa Grande
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 64 y Alegría,
Caunao, CienfuegosLa Casa Mimbre
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 60 No. 3311, e/ 33 y 35,
CienfuegosLa Casa Rusa
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 62, e/. 37 y 41,
CienfuegosLa Esmeralda
Tienda Departamental
(Ave. 64) Calzada de
Dolores, e/. 59 y 61,
CienfuegosLa Habana
Mercado
Ave. 58 No. 3102, e/ 31 y 33,
CienfuegosLa Francia Moderna
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 54, e/. 33 y 35,
CienfuegosLa Lucha
Boutique
Ave 62, e/. 41 y 43,
CienfuegosLa Nueva
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 54 No. 3522,
e/. 35 y 37, CienfuegosLa Nueva Isla
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 54, esquina a 35,
CienfuegosLa Oriental
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 62, e/. 37 y 41,
CienfuegosLa Perla
Boutique
Calle 33, e/. 54 y 56,
CienfuegosLa Princesa
Tienda Departamental
Hotel Faro Luna,
CienfuegosLa Valenciana
Ferretería y
electrodomésticos
Calle 37, esquina a 54,
CienfuegosMundo Mágico
Tienda Departamental
Ave. 54, e/. 31 y 33,
CienfuegosPasacaballo
Tienda Departamental
Hotel Pasacaballo,
CienfuegosPasacaballo
Tienda Departamental
Carretera a Pasacaballo,
km. 22, CienfuegosPastorita
Tienda Departamental
Reparto Pastorita,
CienfuegosPhotoservice Guanaroca
Fotografía
Calle 37 y Avenida 2,
Punta Gorda, CienfuegosPhotoservice Jagua
Fotografía
Ave. 54, e/. 31 y 33,
CienfuegosPueblo Griffo
Tienda Departamental
Reparto Pueblo Griffo,
CienfuegosPunta La Cueva
Tienda Departamental
Hotel Punta La Cueva,
CienfuegosRancho Luna
Tienda Departamental
Hotel Rancho Luna,
CienfuegosRanchón de Aguada
Tienda Departamental
Autopista Nac., km. 172,
Aguada de Pasajeros,
CienfuegosTienda ARTex
Palmarito
Música y souvenirs
Coto de Caza Palmarito,
Abreus, CienfuegosTienda ARTex
Casa Arco
Música y souvenirs
Ave. 54, e/. 31 y 33,
CienfuegosTienda ARTex Jagua
Música y souvenirs
Hotel Jagua, CienfuegosTienda ARTex
El Topacio
Música y souvenirs
Ave. 54, e/. 35 y 37,
CienfuegosTienda ARTex
La Aguada
Música y souvenirs
Autopista Nac., km. 172,
Aguada de Pasajeros,
CienfuegosTienda ARTex
Rancho Luna
Música y souvenirs
Hotel Rancho Luna,
CienfuegosVenus
Peletería
Ave. 56, esquina a 31,
CienfuegosVídeocentro
Juguetes
y electrodomésticos
Ave. 54, e/. 31 y 33,
Cienfuegos


Hey TB this is where I would like to go with you and anybody ready to join me ....


CUBA

[Cubafro]

Good day to everyone,
I don't know (but I guess so) if there is ART amateur in the forum...Check this out, in Montreal there will be an exposition from JAN 31 2008 to JUNE 8 2008 on CUBA'S ART AND HISTORY SINCE 1868 to today...It took so many years apparently to organise this event so for those who will be able to go there and enjoy that GO FOR IT !!!!
Here is the link !!

http://www.mmfa.qc.ca/en/expositions/exposition_46.html


CUBA

[JMitch1959]

Thanks for the report.

It would be interesting to visit some day.