![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Cuba-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney<\/a> Ta\u00edno people from the 4th millennium BC until Spanish colonization<\/a> in the 15th century. From the 15th century, it was a colony of Spain until the Spanish\u2013American War of 1898<\/a>, when Cuba was occupied by the United States<\/a> and gained nominal independence as a de facto United States protectorate<\/a> in 1902. As a fragile republic<\/a>, in 1940 Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system<\/a>, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in a coup<\/a> and subsequent dictatorship under Fulgencio Batista<\/a> in 1952. Open corruption and oppression under Batista’s rule led to his ousting in January 1959<\/a> by the 26th of July Movement<\/a>, which afterwards established communist rule under the leadership of Fidel Castro<\/a>. Since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba.<\/a> The country was a point of contention during the Cold Wa<\/a>r between the Soviet Union<\/a> and the United States, and a nuclear war nearly broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962<\/a>. Cuba is one of a few extant Marxist\u2013Leninist socialist states, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of numerous human rights abuses, including short-term arbitrary imprisonment.<\/p>\n Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America<\/a>. It is a multi-ethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, including the aboriginal Ta\u00edno and Ciboney peoples, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves and a close relationship with the Soviet Union<\/a> in the Cold War.<\/p>\n Cuba is a sovereign state and a founding member of the United Nations<\/a>, the G77,<\/a> the Non-Aligned Movement<\/a>, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States<\/a>, ALBA<\/a> and Organization of American States<\/a>. It has currently one of the world’s only planned economies, and its economy is dominated by the tourism industry and the exports of skilled labor, sugar, tobacco, and coffee. According to the Human Development Index<\/a>, Cuba has high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America, though 67th in the world in 2014. It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including health care and education. It is the only country in the world to meet the conditions of sustainable development put forth by the WWF<\/a>.<\/p>\n Historians believe the name Cuba comes from the Ta\u00edno language<\/a>, however its exact derivation is unknown”. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as ‘where fertile land is abundant’ or ‘great place’.<\/p>\n Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Ta\u00edno <\/a>(an Arawak<\/a> people), the Guanahatabey<\/a> and the Ciboney<\/a> people.<\/p>\n The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, with the earliest sites dated to 5,000 BP.<\/p>\n The Ta\u00edno arrived from Hispaniola sometime in the 3rd century A.D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having an estimated population of 150,000.<\/p>\n The Ta\u00edno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers.<\/p>\n After first landing on an island then called Guanahani<\/a>, Bahamas, on 12 October 1492, Christopher Columbus commanded his three ships: La Pinta<\/a>, La Ni\u00f1a<\/a> and the Santa Mar\u00eda<\/a>, to land on Cuba’s northeastern coast on 28 October 1492. This was near what is now Bariay, Holgu\u00edn Province<\/a>. Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias.<\/a><\/p>\n In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Vel\u00e1zquez de Cu\u00e9llar<\/a> at Baracoa<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital. The native Ta\u00edno were forced to work under the encomienda<\/a> system, which resembled a feudal system<\/a> in Medieval Europe. Within a century the indigenous people were virtually wiped out due to multiple factors, primarily Eurasian infectious diseases, to which they had no natural resistance (immunity), aggravated by harsh conditions of the repressive colonial subjugation. In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of those few natives who had previously survived smallpox.<\/p>\n On 18 May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto<\/a> departed from Havana at the head of some 600 followers into a vast expedition through the Southeastern United States, starting at La Florida, in search of gold, treasure, fame and power. On 1 September 1548, Dr. Gonzalo Perez de Angulo was appointed governor of Cuba. He arrived in Santiago, Cuba on 4 November 1549 and immediately declared the liberty of all natives. He became Cuba’s first permanent governor to reside in Havana instead of Santiago, and he built Havana’s first church made of masonry. After the French took Havana in 1555, the governor’s son, Francisco de Angulo, went to Mexico.<\/p>\n Cuba developed slowly and, unlike the plantation islands of the Caribbean, had a diversified agriculture. But what was most important was that the colony developed as an urbanized society that primarily supported the Spanish colonial empire. By the mid-18th century, its colonists held 50,000 slaves, compared to 60,000 in Barbados; 300,000 in Virginia<\/a>, both British colonies; and 450,000 in French Saint-Domingue, which had large-scale sugar cane plantations.<\/p>\n The Seven Years’ War<\/a>, which erupted in 1754 across three continents, eventually arrived in the Spanish Caribbean. Spain’s alliance with the French pitched them into direct conflict with the British, and in 1762 a British expedition of five warships and 4,000 troops set out from Portsmouth<\/a> to capture Cuba. The British arrived on 6 June, and by August had Havana under siege<\/a>.<\/p>\n When Havana surrendered, the admiral of the British fleet, George Pocock<\/a> and the Commander of the Land Forces George Keppel<\/a>, the 3rd Earl of Albemarle<\/a>, entered the city as a conquering new governor and took control of the whole western part of the island. The British immediately opened up trade with their North American and Caribbean colonies, causing a rapid transformation of Cuban society. They imported food, horses and other goods into the city, as well as thousands of slaves from West Africa to work on the underdeveloped sugar plantations.<\/p>\n Though Havana, which had become the third-largest city in the Americas, was to enter an era of sustained development and increasing ties with North America during this period, the British occupation of the city proved short-lived. Pressure from London sugar merchants, fearing a decline in sugar prices, forced negotiations with the Spanish over colonial territories. Less than a year after Britain seized Havana, it signed the Peace of Paris<\/a> together with France and Spain, ending the Seven Years’ War. The treaty gave Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba. The French had recommended this to Spain, advising that declining to give up Florida could result in Spain instead losing Mexico and much of the South American mainland to the British. Many in Britain were disappointed, believing that Florida was a poor return for Cuba and Britain’s other gains in the war.<\/p>\n The real engine for the growth of Cuba’s commerce in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century was the Haitian Revolution<\/a>. When the enslaved peoples of what had been the Caribbean’s richest colony freed themselves through violent revolt, Cuban planters perceived the region’s changing circumstances with both a sense of fear and opportunity. They were afraid because of the prospect that slaves might revolt in Cuba, too, and numerous prohibitions during the 1790s on the sale of slaves in Cuba that had previously been slaves in French colonies underscored this anxiety. The planters saw opportunity, however, because they thought that they could exploit the situation by transforming Cuba into the slave society and sugar-producing “pearl of the Antilles” that Haiti had been before the revolution. As the historian Ada Ferrer has written, “At a basic level, liberation in Saint-Domingue helped entrench its denial in Cuba. As slavery and colonialism collapsed in the French colony, the Spanish island underwent transformations that were almost the mirror image of Haiti’s.” Estimates suggest that between 1790 and 1820 some 325,000 Africans were imported to Cuba as slaves, which was four times the amount that had arrived between 1760 and 1790.<\/p>\n Although a smaller proportion of the population of Cuba was enslaved, at times slaves arose in revolt. In 1812 the Aponte Slave Rebellion<\/a> took place but it was suppressed.<\/p>\n The population of Cuba in 1817 was 630,980, of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 free people of color (mixed-race), and 224,268 black slaves. This was a much higher proportion of free blacks to slaves than in Virginia, for instance, or the other Caribbean islands. Historians such as Swedish Magnus M\u00f5rner, who studied slavery in Latin America, found that manumissions increased when slave economies were in decline, as in 18th-century Cuba and early 19th-century Maryland of the United States.<\/p>\n In part due to Cuban slaves working primarily in urbanized settings, by the 19th century, there had developed the practice of coartacion, or “buying oneself out of slavery”, a “uniquely Cuban development”, according to historian Herbert S. Klein. Due to a shortage of white labor, blacks dominated urban industries “to such an extent that when whites in large numbers came to Cuba in the middle of the nineteenth century, they were unable to displace Negro workers.” A system of diversified agriculture, with small farms and fewer slaves, served to supply the cities with produce and other goods.<\/p>\n In the 1820s, when the rest of Spain’s empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal. Its economy was based on serving the empire. By 1860, Cuba had 213,167 free people of color, 39% of its non-white population of 550,000. By contrast, Virginia, with about the same number of blacks, had only 58,042 or 11% who were free; the rest were enslaved. In the antebellum years, after Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion of 1831<\/a>, Virginia discouraged manumissions and strengthened restrictions against free blacks, as did other Southern states. In addition, there was a high demand for slaves, and Virginia planters sold many in the internal domestic slave trade, who were shipped or taken overland to the Deep South, which had greatly expanded its cotton production.<\/p>\n Full independence from Spain was the goal of a rebellion in 1868 led by planter Carlos Manuel de C\u00e9spedes<\/a>. De C\u00e9spedes, a sugar planter, freed his slaves to fight with him for an independent Cuba. On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory but accepting it in practice and declaring free any slaves whose masters present them for military service. The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Years’ War<\/a>. Two thousand Cuban Chinese joined the rebels. Chinese had been imported as indentured laborers. A monument in Havana honors the Cuban Chinese who fell in the war.<\/p>\n The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American nations did so. In 1878, the Pact of Zanj\u00f3n<\/a> ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879\u20131880, Cuban patriot Calixto Garc\u00eda<\/a> attempted to start another war known as the Little War<\/a> but did not receive enough support. Slavery in Cuba<\/a> was abolished in 1875 but the process was completed only in 1886.<\/p>\n An exiled dissident named Jos\u00e9 Mart\u00ed<\/a> founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York in 1892. The aim of the party was to achieve Cuban independence from Spain. In January 1895 Mart\u00ed traveled to Montecristi<\/a> and Santo Domingo<\/a> to join the efforts of M\u00e1ximo G\u00f3mez<\/a>. Mart\u00ed recorded his political views in the Manifesto of Montecristi.<\/a> Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 24 February 1895, but Mart\u00ed was unable to reach Cuba until 11 April 1895. Mart\u00ed was killed in the battle of Dos Rios on 19 May 1895. His death immortalized him as Cuba’s national hero.<\/p>\n Around 200,000 Spanish troops outnumbered the much smaller rebel army, which relied mostly on guerrilla and sabotage tactics. The Spaniards began a campaign of suppression. General Valeriano Weyler<\/a>, military governor of Cuba, herded the rural population into what he called reconcentrados, described by international observers as “fortified towns”. These are often considered the prototype for 20th-century concentration camps. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the camps, numbers verified by the Red Cross<\/a> and United States Senator Redfield Proctor<\/a>, a former Secretary of War<\/a>. American and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.<\/p>\n The U.S. battleship Maine<\/a> was sent to protect U.S. interests, but soon after arrival, it exploded in Havana harbor and sank quickly, killing nearly three quarters of the crew. The cause and responsibility for the sinking of the ship remained unclear after a board of inquiry. Popular opinion in the U.S., fueled by an active press, concluded that the Spanish were to blame and demanded action. Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April 1898.<\/p>\n Over the previous decades, five U.S. presidents\u2014Polk<\/a>, Pierce<\/a>, Buchanan<\/a>, Grant<\/a>, and McKinley<\/a>\u2014had tried to buy the island of Cuba from Spain.<\/p>\n After the Spanish\u2013American War<\/a>, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898)<\/a>, by which Spain ceded Puerto Rico<\/a>, the Philippines<\/a>, and Guam<\/a> to the United States for the sum of US$20 million and Cuba became a protectorate of the United States. Cuba gained formal independence from the U.S. on 20 May 1902, as the Republic of Cuba. Under Cuba’s new constitution, the U.S. retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment<\/a>, the U.S. leased the Guant\u00e1namo Bay Naval Base<\/a> from Cuba.<\/p>\n Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, Tom\u00e1s Estrada Palma<\/a>, faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces. The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named Charles Edward Magoon<\/a> as Governor for three years. Cuban historians have characterized Magoon’s governorship as having introduced political and social corruption. In 1908, self-government was restored when Jos\u00e9 Miguel G\u00f3mez<\/a> was elected President, but the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. In 1912, the Partido Independiente de Color<\/a> attempted to establish a separate black republic in Oriente Province, but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed.<\/p>\n In 1924, Gerardo Machado<\/a> was elected president. During his administration, tourism increased markedly, and American-owned hotels and restaurants were built to accommodate the influx of tourists. The tourist boom led to increases in gambling and prostitution in Cuba<\/a>. The Wall Street Crash of 1929<\/a> led to a collapse in the price of sugar, political unrest, and repression. Protesting students, known as the Generation of 1930, turned to violence in opposition to the increasingly unpopular Machado. A general strike (in which the Communist Party sided with Machado), uprisings among sugar workers, and an army revolt forced Machado into exile in August 1933. He was replaced by Carlos Manuel de C\u00e9spedes y Quesada<\/a>.<\/p>\n In September 1933, the Sergeants’ Revolt, led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista<\/a>, overthrew Cespedes. A five-member executive committee (the Pentarchy of 1933<\/a>) was chosen to head a provisional government. Ram\u00f3n Grau San Mart\u00edn<\/a> was then appointed as provisional president. Grau resigned in 1934, leaving the way clear for Batista, who dominated Cuban politics for the next 25 years, at first through a series of puppet-presidents. The period from 1933 to 1937 was a time of “virtually unremitting social and political warfare”. On balance, during the period 1933\u20131940 Cuba suffered from fragile politic structures, reflected in the fact that it saw three different presidents in two years (1935\u20131936), and in the militaristic and repressive policies of Batista as Head of the Army.<\/p>\n A new constitution was adopted in 1940, which engineered radical progressive ideas, including the right to labor and health care. Batista was elected president in the same year, holding the post until 1944. He is so far the only non-white Cuban to win the nation’s highest political office. His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of the Communist Party held office under his administration. Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II\u2014though president Batista did suggest a joint U.S.-Latin American assault on Francoist Spain<\/a> to overthrow its authoritarian regime.<\/p>\n Batista adhered to the 1940 constitution’s strictures preventing his re-election. Ramon Grau San Martin was the winner of the next election, in 1944. Grau further corroded the base of the already teetering legitimacy of the Cuban political system, in particular by undermining the deeply flawed, though not entirely ineffectual, Congress and Supreme Court. Carlos Pr\u00edo Socarr\u00e1s<\/a>, a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Grau, became president in 1948. The two terms of the Aut\u00e9ntico Party brought an influx of investment, which fueled an economic boom, raised living standards for all segments of society, and created a middle class in most urban areas.<\/p>\n After finishing his term in 1944 Batista lived in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup<\/a> that preempted the election. Back in power, and receiving financial, military, and logistical support from the United States government, Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Batista outlawed the Cuban Communist Party in 1952. After the coup, Cuba had Latin America’s highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios, though about one third of the population was considered poor and enjoyed relatively little of this consumption.<\/p>\n In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards. On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in Latin America, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure “at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants”, leading to disparities. Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems. Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. The middle class, which was comparable to that of the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions supported Batista until the very end. Batista stayed in power until he was forced into exile in December 1958.<\/p>\n In the 1950s, various organizations, including some advocating armed uprising, competed for public support in bringing about political change. In 1956, Fidel Castro and about 80 supporters landed from the yacht Granma<\/a> in an attempt to start a rebellion against the Batista government. It was not until 1958 that Castro’s July 26th Movement<\/a> emerged as the leading revolutionary group.<\/p>\n By late 1958 the rebels had broken out of the Sierra Maestra and launched a general popular insurrection. After Castro’s fighters captured Santa Clara<\/a>, Batista fled with his family to the Dominican Republic on 1 January 1959. Later he went into exile on the Portuguese island of Madeira and finally settled in Estoril, near Lisbon. Fidel Castro’s forces entered the capital on 8 January 1959. The liberal Manuel Urrutia Lle\u00f3<\/a> became the provisional president.<\/p>\n From 1959 to 1966 Cuban insurgents fought a six-year rebellion<\/a> in the Escambray Mountains<\/a> against the Castro government. The government’s vastly superior numbers eventually crushed the insurgency. The rebellion lasted longer and involved more soldiers than the Cuban Revolution. The United States Department of State has estimated that 3,200 people were executed from 1959 to 1962. According to Amnesty International<\/a>, official death sentences from 1959\u201387 numbered 237 of which all but 21 were actually carried out. Other estimates for the total number of political executions range from 4,000 to 33,000. The vast majority of those executed directly following the 1959 revolution were policemen, politicians, and informers of the Batista regime accused of crimes such as torture and murder, and their public trials and executions had widespread popular support among the Cuban population.<\/p>\n The United States government initially reacted favorably to the Cuban revolution, seeing it as part of a movement to bring democracy to Latin America. Castro’s legalization of the Communist party and the hundreds of executions of Batista agents, policemen and soldiers that followed caused a deterioration in the relationship between the two countries. The promulgation of the Agrarian Reform Law<\/a>, expropriating thousands of acres of farmland (including from large U.S. landholders), further worsened relations. In response, between 1960 and 1964 the U.S. imposed a range of sanctions, eventually including a total ban on trade between the countries and a freeze on all Cuban-owned assets in the U.S. In February 1960, Castro signed a commercial agreement with Soviet Vice-Premier Anastas Mikoyan<\/a>.<\/p>\n In March 1960, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower<\/a> gave his approval to a CIA<\/a> plan to arm and train a group of Cuban refugees to overthrow the Castro regime. The invasion (known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion<\/a>) took place on 14 April 1961, during the term of President John F. Kennedy<\/a>. About 1,400 Cuban exiles disembarked at the Bay of Pigs<\/a>, but failed in their attempt to overthrow Castro.<\/p>\n In January 1962, Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS), and later the same year the OAS started to impose sanctions against Cuba of similar nature to the U.S. sanctions. The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in October 1962. By 1963, Cuba was moving towards a full-fledged Communist system modeled on the USSR.<\/p>\n During the 1970s, Fidel Castro dispatched tens of thousands of troops in support of Soviet-supported wars in Africa. He supported the MPLA<\/a> in Angola and Mengistu Haile Mariam<\/a> in Ethiopia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The standard of living in the 1970s was “extremely spartan” and discontent was rife. Fidel Castro admitted the failures of economic policies in a 1970 speech. In 1975 the OAS lifted its sanctions against Cuba, with the approval of 16 member states, including the U.S. The U.S., however, maintained its own sanctions.<\/p>\n Castro’s rule was severely tested in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse<\/a> in 1991 (known in Cuba as the Special Period<\/a>). The country faced a severe economic downturn following the withdrawal of Soviet subsidies worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually, resulting in effects such as food and fuel shortages. The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines, and cash until 1993. On 5 August 1994, state security dispersed protesters in a spontaneous protest<\/a> in Havana.<\/p>\n Cuba has since found a new source of aid and support in the People’s Republic of China. In addition, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez<\/a>, then-President of Venezuela, and Evo Morales<\/a>, President of Bolivia, became allies and both countries are major oil and gas exporters. In 2003, the government arrested and imprisoned a large number of civil activists, a period known as the “Black Spring<\/a>“.<\/p>\n In February 2008, Fidel Castro announced his resignation as President of Cuba following the onset of his reported serious gastrointestinal illness in July 2006. On 24 February his brother, Ra\u00fal Castro<\/a>, was declared the new President. In his inauguration speech, Ra\u00fal promised that some of the restrictions on freedom in Cuba would be removed. In March 2009, Ra\u00fal Castro removed some of his brother’s appointees.<\/a><\/p>\n On 3 June 2009, the Organization of American States adopted a resolution to end the 47-year ban on Cuban membership of the group. The resolution stated, however, that full membership would be delayed until Cuba was “in conformity with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS”. Fidel Castro restated his position that he was not interested in joining after the OAS resolution had been announced.<\/p>\n Effective 14 January 2013, Cuba ended the requirement established in 1961, that any citizens who wish to travel abroad were required to obtain an expensive government permit and a letter of invitation. In 1961 the Cuban government had imposed broad restrictions on travel to prevent the mass emigration of people after the 1959 revolution; it approved exit visas only on rare occasions. Requirements were simplified: Cubans need only a passport and a national ID card to leave; and they are allowed to take their young children with them for the first time. However, a passport costs on average five months’ salary. Observers expect that Cubans with paying relatives abroad are most likely to be able to take advantage of the new policy. In the first year of the program, over 180,000 left Cuba and returned.<\/p>\n As of December 2014, talks with Cuban officials and American officials, including President Barack Obama<\/a>, resulted in the release of Alan Gross<\/a>, fifty-two political prisoners, and an unnamed non-citizen agent of the United States in return for the release of three Cuban agents currently imprisoned in the United States. Additionally, while the embargo between the United States and Cuba was not immediately lifted, it was relaxed to allow import, export, and certain limited commerce.<\/p>\n The Cuban state claims to adhere to socialist principles in organizing its largely state-controlled planned economy<\/a>. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government and most of the labor force is employed by the state. Recent years have seen a trend toward more private sector employment. Any firm that hires a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn pays the employee in Cuban pesos. The average monthly wage as of July 2013 is 466 Cuban pesos\u2014about US$19.<\/p>\n Cuba has a dual currency system, whereby most wages and prices are set in Cuban pesos (CUP), while the tourist economy operates with Convertible pesos (CUC)<\/a>, set at par with the US dollar. Every Cuban household has a ration book (known as libreta<\/a>) entitling it to a monthly supply of food and other staples, which are provided at nominal cost.<\/p>\n Before Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, Cuba was one of the most advanced and successful countries in Latin America. Cuba’s capital, Havana, was a “glittering and dynamic city”. The country’s economy in the early part of the century, fuelled by the sale of sugar to the United States, had grown wealthy. Cuba ranked 5th in the hemisphere in per capita income, 3rd in life expectancy, 2nd in per capita ownership of automobiles and telephones, and 1st in the number of television sets per inhabitant. Cuba’s literacy rate, 76%, was the fourth highest in Latin America. Cuba also ranked 11th in the world in the number of doctors per capita. Several private clinics and hospitals provided services for the poor. Cuba’s income distribution compared favorably with that of other Latin American societies. However, income inequality was profound between city and countryside, especially between whites and blacks. Cubans lived in abysmal poverty in the countryside. According to PBS, a thriving middle class held the promise of prosperity and social mobility. According to Cuba historian Louis Perez of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “Havana was then what Las Vegas has become.” In 2016, the Miami Herald wrote, “… about 27 percent of Cubans earn under $50 per month; 34 percent earn the equivalent of $50 to $100 per month; and 20 percent earn $101 to $200. Twelve percent reported earning $201 to $500 a month; and almost 4 percent said their monthly earnings topped $500, including 1.5 percent who said they earned more than $1,000.”<\/p>\n After the Cuban revolution and before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba depended on Moscow for substantial aid and sheltered markets for its exports. The loss of these subsidies sent the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as the Special Period. Cuba took limited free market-oriented measures to alleviate severe shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. These steps included allowing some self-employment in certain retail and light manufacturing sectors, the legalization of the use of the US dollar in business, and the encouragement of tourism. Cuba has developed a unique urban farm system called organop\u00f3nicos<\/a> to compensate for the end of food imports from the Soviet Union. The U.S. embargo against Cuba was instituted in response to nationalization of U.S.-citizen-held property and was maintained at the premise of perceived human rights violations. It is widely viewed that the embargo hurt the Cuban economy. In 2009, the Cuban Government estimated this loss at $685 million annually.<\/p>\n Cuba’s leadership has called for reforms in the country’s agricultural system. In 2008, Ra\u00fal Castro began enacting agrarian reforms to boost food production, as at that time 80% of food was imported. The reforms aim to expand land use and increase efficiency. Venezuela supplies Cuba with an estimated 110,000 barrels (17,000 m3) of oil per day in exchange for money and the services of some 44,000 Cubans, most of them medical personnel, in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Cuba’s major exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus fruits, and coffee; imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated at $13 billion, approximately 38% of GDP.<\/p>\n In May 2019, Cuba imposed rationing of staples such as chicken, eggs, rice, beans, soap and other basics. (Some two-thirds of food in the country is imported.) A spokesperson blamed the increased U.S. trade embargo although economists believe that an equally important problem is the massive decline of aid from Venezuela and the failure of Cuba’s state-run oil company which had subsidized fuel costs.<\/p>\n Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as “enclave tourism” and “tourism apartheid”. Contact between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were de facto illegal between 1992 and 1997. The rapid growth of tourism during the Special Period had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba, and led to speculation about the emergence of a two-tier economy.<\/p>\n Cuba has tripled its market share of Caribbean tourism in the last decade as a result of significant investment in tourism infrastructure, this growth rate is predicted to continue. 1.9 million tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of US$2.1 billion. Cuba recorded 2,688,000 international tourists in 2011, the third-highest figure in the Caribbean (behind the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico).<\/p>\n The medical tourism<\/a> sector caters to thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian, and American consumers every year.<\/p>\n Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the northern Caribbean Sea at the confluence with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The United States lies 150 kilometers (93 miles) across the Straits of Florida<\/a> to the north and northwest (to the closest tip of Key West, Florida<\/a>), and the Bahamas 21 km (13 mi) to the north. Mexico lies 210 kilometers (130 miles) across the Yucat\u00e1n Channel<\/a> to the west (to the closest tip of Cabo Catoche<\/a> in the State of Quintana Roo<\/a>).<\/p>\n Haiti is 77 km (48 mi) to the east, Jamaica (140 km\/87 mi) and the Cayman Islands to the south. Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four smaller groups of islands: the Colorados Archipelago<\/a> on the northwestern coast, the Sabana-Camag\u00fcey Archipelago<\/a> on the north-central Atlantic coast, the Jardines de la Reina<\/a> on the south-central coast and the Canarreos Archipelago<\/a> on the southwestern coast.<\/p>\n The main island, named Cuba, is 1,250 km (780 mi) long, constituting most of the nation’s land area (104,556 km2 (40,369 sq mi)) and is the largest island in the Caribbean and 17th-largest island in the world by land area. The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains apart from the Sierra Maestra<\/a> mountains in the southeast, whose highest point is Pico Turquino<\/a> (1,974 m (6,476 ft)).<\/p>\n The second-largest island is Isla de la Juventud<\/a> (Isle of Youth) in the Canarreos archipelago, with an area of 2,200 km2 (849 sq mi). Cuba has an official area (land area) of 109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi). Its area is 110,860 km2 (42,803 sq mi) including coastal and territorial waters.<\/p>\n Cuba built the first railway system in the Spanish empire, before the 1848 start in the Iberian peninsula<\/a>. While the rail infrastructure dates from colonial and early republican times, passenger service along the principal Havana to Santiago corridor is increasingly reliable and popular with tourists who can purchase tickets in Cuban convertible pesos<\/a>. As with most public transport in Cuba, the vehicles used are second hand, and the flagship Tren Franc\u00e9s<\/a> (“French train”) between Havana<\/a> and Santiago de Cuba<\/a> is operated by coaches originally used in Europe between Paris and Amsterdam on the ex-TEE<\/a>. The train is formed by 12 coaches and a Chinese-built locomotive.<\/p>\n With the order of 12 new Chinese locomotives, built specially for Cuban Railways at China Northern Locomotives and Rolling Stock Works, services have been improving in reliability. Those benefiting the most are long distance freight services with the French train Havana-Santiago being the only passenger train using one of the new Chinese locomotives regularly. Various orders are in place for 100 locomotives from China and various freight wagons and passenger coaches.<\/p>\n Metro systems are not present in the island, although a suburban rail network exists in Havana<\/a>. Urban tramways were in operation between 1858 and 1954, initially as horse drawn systems. In the early 20th century electric trolley or storage battery powered tramways were introduced in seven cities. Of these overhead wire systems were adopted in Havana, Guanabacoa<\/a>, Matanzas<\/a>, Cienfuegos<\/a>, Camag\u00fcey<\/a> and Santiago de Cuba.<\/p>\n The total length of Cuba’s highways is 60,858 km, including:<\/p>\n paved: 29,820 km (including 915 km of expressways) There are several national bus companies in Cuba. Viazul operate a fleet of modern and comfortable coaches on longer distance routes designed principally for tourists. Schedules, prices and ticket booking can be done on line, at any of the major international airports or National Terminals across Cuba. There are also other bus lines operated by tourism companies.<\/p>\n AstroBus, a bus service in Cuban National Pesos, designed to bring comfortable air conditioned coaches to Cuban locals at an affordable price. The AstroBus lines operate with modern Chinese YUTONG<\/a> buses, and are accessible to Cuban Residents of Cuba with their ID Card, and is payable in Cuba Pesos. Routes that have benefited most so far are those from Havana to each of the 13 provincial capitals of the country.<\/p>\n In Havana, urban transportation used to be provided by a colorful selection of buses imported from the Soviet Union or Canada. Many of these vehicles were second hand, such as the 1500 decommissioned Dutch buses that the Netherlands donated to Cuba in the mid-1990s as well as GM fishbowl buses<\/a> from Montreal. Despite the United States trade embargo, American-style yellow school buses (imported second-hand from Canada) are also increasingly common sights. Since 2008, service on seven key lines in and out of the city is provided by Chinese Zhengzhou Yutong Buses. These replaced the famous camellos (“camels” or “dromedaries”, after their “humps”) trailer buses<\/a> that hauled as many as two hundred passengers in a passenger carrying trailer.<\/p>\n After the upgrading of Seville’s<\/a> public bus fleet to CNG-powered vehicles, many of the decommissioned ones were donated to the city of Havana. These bright orange buses still display the name of Transportes Urbanos de Sevilla, S.A.M., their former owner, and Seville’s coat of arms as a sign of gratitude.<\/p>\n Since 2009, Cuba has imported sedans from Chinese automaker Geely<\/a> to serve as police cars, taxis and rental vehicles. Previously, the Soviet Union supplied Volgas<\/a>, Moskvichs<\/a>, and Ladas<\/a>, as well as heavy trucks like the ZIL<\/a> and the KrAZ<\/a>. It is estimated that there are some 173,000 cars in Cuba.<\/p>\n Most new vehicles came to Cuba from the United States until the 1960 United States embargo<\/a> against Cuba ended importation of both cars and their parts. As many as 60,000 American vehicles are in use, nearly all in private hands. Of Cuba’s vintage American cars, many have been modified with newer engines, disc brakes and other parts, often scavenged from Soviet cars, and most bear the marks of decades of use. Pre-1960 vehicles remain the property of their original owners and descendants, and can be sold to other Cubans providing the proper traspaso certificate is in place. In 2011, the Cuban government legalized the purchase and sale of used post-1959 autos. In December 2013, Cubans were allowed to buy new cars from state-run dealerships – previously this had not been permitted.<\/p>\n However, the old American cars on the road today have “relatively high inefficiencies” due in large part to the lack of modern technology. This has resulted in increased fuel consumption as well as adding to the economic plight of its owners. With these inefficiencies, noticeable drop in travel has occurred from an “average of nearly 3000 km\/year in the mid-1980s to less than 800 km\/year in 2000\u20132001”. As the Cuban people try to save as much money as possible, when traveling is done, the cars are usually loaded past the maximum allowable weight and travel on the decaying roads, resulting in even more abuse to the already under maintained vehicles.<\/p>\n As a result of the “Special Period”<\/a> in 1991 (a period of food and energy shortages caused by the loss of the Soviet Union as a trading partner), hitchhiking and carpooling became important parts of Cuba’s transportation system and society in general. In 1999, an article in Time magazine claimed “In Cuba[…] hitchhiking is custom. Hitchhiking is essential. Hitchhiking is what makes Cuba move.”<\/p>\n Besides the state owned airline Cubana (Cubana de Aviaci\u00f3n)<\/a>, the two other major Cuban airlines are Aero Caribbean<\/a> and Aerogaviota<\/a>, both of whom operate modern European and Russian aircraft. One other airline is Aerotaxi<\/a>.<\/p>\n Airports with at least one international destination include the following:<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Mart\u00ed International Airport<\/a> <\/p>\n The national flag of Cuba consists of five alternating stripes (three blue and two white) and a red equilateral triangle at the hoist, within which is a white five-pointed star. It was designed in 1849 and officially adopted May 20, 1902.<\/p>\n It is one of the two flags of a currently socialist country (the other being Laos<\/a>) that does not use any communist symbolism<\/a>.<\/p>\n The three blue stripes represent the three departments in which Cuba was divided at that time, the white purity of ideals, the light; the red triangle, originating from the French Revolution \u2013 and the three ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity: red for the blood and the courage; the star was the new state that should be added to the United States.<\/p>\n The poet Miguel Teurbe Tol\u00f3n<\/a> designed the flag alongside L\u00f3pez, based upon the story of L\u00f3pez’s vision. Emilia Teurbe Tol\u00f3n, Miguel’s wife, sewed the first flag. L\u00f3pez and Tol\u00f3n, together with Jos\u00e9 Aniceto Iznaga Borrell, his nephew Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda S\u00e1nchez Iznaga, Cirilo Villaverde and Juan Manuel Macias, settled upon the final design for the flag of Cuba: two white stripes, three blue, a red triangle, a lone star.<\/p>\n Narciso L\u00f3pez<\/a> used this same flag in 1850 to carry out his coup attempt to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule, which resulted in failure. The coastal town of Cardenas<\/a> was the first town that saw the lone star flag hoisted on May 19, 1850, in the taking of the city by Cuban rebels.<\/p>\n A year after the start of the Ten Years’ War<\/a>, the first Constituent Assembly of the Republic of Cuba met arms in Gu\u00e1imaro<\/a>, Camag\u00fcey Province. The debate focused between two flags of great symbolism, the Demajagua \u2013 which was very similar to the Chilean flag \u2013 created by Carlos Manuel de C\u00e9spedes<\/a> to give start to the war of independence, and the Lone Star of Narciso L\u00f3pez, the latter being chosen since Narciso L\u00f3pez had taken the first step for the freedom of Cuba. The Demajagua flag was not scrapped, but instead, was put in the sessions of the House of Representatives and retained as part of the national treasure.<\/p>\n On the morning of May 20, 1902, the day Cuba officially became an independent republic, Generalissimo M\u00e1ximo G\u00f3mez<\/a> had the honor of hoisting the flag on the flagpole of the castles of the Tres Reyes del Morro, Havana; therefore sealing with this act the end of the Cuban revolution, the end of struggle for Cuban independence, and at the same time justifying the sacrifice that so many offered to make this dream become reality.<\/p>\n Both the flag and the coat of arms were designed by Miguel Teurbe Tol\u00f3n. The design of both specifications were established by decree of the first President of Cuba, Tom\u00e1s Estrada Palma<\/a>, on April 21, 1906. The flag has remained unchanged since then even during and after the 1959 Cuban Revolution<\/a>, which established the present-day communist state of the Republic of Cuba.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The national flag of Cuba consists of five alternating stripes (three blue and two white) and a red equilateral triangle at the hoist, within which is a white five-pointed star. It was designed in 1849 and officially adopted May 20, 1902.<\/p>\n It is one of the two flags of a currently socialist country (the other being Laos) that does not use any communist symbolism.<\/p>\n The three blue stripes represent the three departments in which Cuba was divided at that time, the white purity of ideals, the light; the red triangle, originating from the French Revolution \u2013 and the three ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity: red for the blood and the courage; the star was the new state that should be added to the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,59,5,6,7,29,41,18,17,20,10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/City-Map-of-Cuba-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Etymology:<\/h2>\n
History:<\/h2>\n
Pre-Columbian Era:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Hatuey-an-Early-Taino-Chief-200x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Spanish Colonization and Rule (1492\u20131898):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Diego-Vel\u00e1zquez-de-Cu\u00e9llar-233x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Cuba-1680-300x127.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/British-Invasion-of-Havana-1762-300x223.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Cuban-Slave-Unload-Ice-1832-300x194.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Independence Movements:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Calixto-Garc\u00eda-and-William-Ludlow-1898-300x285.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Republic (1902\u20131959):<\/h3>\n
First Years (1902-1925):<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/US-Naval-Base-Guant\u00e1namo-Bay-300x215.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Carlos-Manuel-de-C\u00e9spedes-202x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nRevolution of 1933\u20131940:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/The-Pentarchy-of-1933-300x183.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Constitution of 1940:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Slum-Dwellings-in-Havana-Cuba-in-1954-300x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Revolution and Communist Party Rule (1959\u2013present):<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Che-Guevara-and-Fidel-Castro-1961-225x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Fidel-Castro-and-Members-of-the-East-German-Politburo-in-1972-300x291.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Fidel-Castro-with-South-African-President-Thabo-Mbeki-and-Swedish-Prime-Minister-G\u00f6ran-Persson-2005-300x197.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Ra\u00fal-Castro-and-U.S.-President-Barack-Obama-Havana-Cuba-21-March-2016-300x169.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Cigar-Production-in-Santiago-de-Cuba-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Private-Small-Business-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Export-Map-2009-300x234.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Varadero-Beach-300x199.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Political-and-Relief-Map-of-Cuba-300x207.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Sierra-Maestra-300x114.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Railroads-in-Cuba-300x100.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Via-Blanca-Highway-Near-Matanzas-300x138.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>
\nunpaved: 31,038 km (1999 est.)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Privately-Owned-Truck-Bus-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Camel-Bus-in-Havana-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Official-Hitchhiking-and-Carpooling-Point-Santiago-de-Cuba.-225x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Delta-Airlines-Employees-at-Terminal-3-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>
\nIgnacio Agramonte International Airport<\/a>
\nJardines del Rey Airport<\/a>
\nVilo Acu\u00f1a Airport<\/a>
\nJaime Gonz\u00e1lez Airport<\/a>
\nFrank Pa\u00eds Airport<\/a>
\nSierra Maestra Airport<\/a>
\nAbel Santamar\u00eda Airport<\/a>
\nAntonio Maceo Airport<\/a>
\nJuan Gualberto G\u00f3mez Airport<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Havana-Airport-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Cuba:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Flag-of-Cuba-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/02\/Raising-the-Cuban-flag-on-the-Governor-Generals-Palace-at-Noon-on-20-May-1902-300x208.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>