"text":"<p>The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European encounter of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement and occasional rebellions were harshly suppressed. US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from Spain in 1898 and, following three-and-a-half years of subsequent US military rule, Cuba became an independent republic in 1902 after which the island experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his authoritarian rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He handed off the pesidency in February 2008 to his younger brother Raul CASTRO. Cuba's communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Miguel DIAZ-CANEL Bermudez, hand-picked by Raul CASTRO to succeed him, was approved as president by the National Assembly and took office on 19 April 2018. DIAZ-CANEL was appointed First Secretary of the Communist Party on 19 April 2021 following the retirement of Raul CASTRO, and continues to serve as both president and first secretary.</p> <p>Cuba traditionally and consistently portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source of its difficulties. As a result of efforts begun in December 2014 to reestablish diplomatic relations with the Cuban Government, which were severed in January 1961, the US and Cuba reopened embassies in their respective countries in July 2015. The embargo remains in place, and the relationship between the US and Cuba remains tense.</p> <p>Illicit migration of Cuban nationals to the US via maritime and overland routes has been a longstanding challenge. On 12 January 2017, the US and Cuba signed a Joint Statement ending the so-called \"wet-foot, dry-foot\" policy – by which Cuban nationals who reached US soil were permitted to stay. Irregular Cuban maritime migration has dropped significantly since FY 2016, when migrant interdictions at sea topped 5,000, but land border crossings continue. In FY 2021, the US Coast Guard interdicted 838 Cuban nationals at sea. Also in FY 2021, 39,303 Cuban nationals presented themselves at various land border ports of entry throughout the US.</p>"
"text":"large population clusters found throughout the country, the more significant ones being in the larger towns and cities, particularly the capital of Havana"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"the east coast is subject to hurricanes from August to November (in general, the country averages about one hurricane every other year); droughts are common"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"largest country in Caribbean and westernmost island of the Greater Antilles"
"text":"<br>La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> folk religions include religions of African origin, spiritualism, and others intermingled with Catholicism or Protestantism; data is estimative because no authoritative source on religious affiliation exists in Cuba"
"text":"large population clusters found throughout the country, the more significant ones being in the larger towns and cities, particularly the capital of Havana"
"text":"illicit emigration is a continuing problem; Cubans attempt to depart the island and enter the US using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, direct flights, or falsified visas; Cubans also use non-maritime routes to enter the US including direct flights to Miami and overland via the southwest border; the number of Cubans migrating to the US surged after the announcement of normalization of US-Cuban relations in late December 2014 but has decreased since the end of the so-called \"wet-foot, dry-foot\" policy on 12 January 2017"
}
},
"Environment":{
"Environment - current issues":{
"text":"soil degradation and desertification (brought on by poor farming techniques and natural disasters) are the main environmental problems; biodiversity loss; deforestation; air and water pollution"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands"
"text":"name derives from the Taino Indian designation for the island \"coabana\" meaning \"great place\""
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"communist state"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Havana"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"23 07 N, 82 21 W"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November; note - Cuba has been known to alter the schedule of DST on short notice in an attempt to conserve electricity for lighting"
"text":"the sites of Spanish colonial cities often retained their original Taino names; Habana, the Spanish name for the city, may be based on the name of a local Taino chief, HABAGUANEX"
"text":"15 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 special municipality* (municipio especial); Artemisa, Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Mayabeque, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902); not acknowledged by the Cuban Government as a day of independence"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Triumph of the Revolution (Liberation Day), 1 January (1959)"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"several previous; latest drafted 14 July 2018, approved by the National Assembly 22 December 2018, approved by referendum 24 February 2019"
"text":"proposed by the National Assembly of People’s Power; passage requires approval of at least two-thirds majority of the National Assembly membership; amendments to constitutional articles on the authorities of the National Assembly, Council of State, or any rights and duties in the constitution also require approval in a referendum; constitutional articles on the Cuban political, social, and economic system cannot be amended"
"text":"Prime Minister Manuel MARRERO Cruz (since 21 December 2019); Deputy Prime Ministers Ramiro VALDES Menendez, Ines Maria CHAPMAN Waugh, Jorge Luis TAPIA Fonseca, Alejandro GIL Fernandez, Ricardo CABRISAS Ruiz (since 21 December 2019), and Jorge Luis PERDOMO DI-LELLA (since 20 April 2021)"
"text":"president and vice president indirectly elected by the National Assembly for a 5-year term (may be reelected for another 5-year term); election last held on 10 October 2019 (next to be held NA)"
"text":"Miguel DIAZ-CANEL Bermudez (PCC) elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 98.8%; Salvador Antonio VALDES Mesa (PCC) elected vice president; percent of National Assembly vote - 98.1%"
"note":"<em>note</em> - on 19 April 2018, DIAZ-CANEL succeeded Raul CASTRO as president of the Councils of State and Ministers; on 10 October 2019 he was elected to the newly created position of President of the Republic, which replaced the position of President of the Councils of State and Ministers"
"text":"unicameral National Assembly of People's Power or Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (605 seats; (586 seats filled in 2021); members directly elected by absolute majority vote; members serve 5-year terms); note 1 - the National Candidature Commission submits a slate of approved candidates; to be elected, candidates must receive more than 50% of valid votes otherwise the seat remains vacant or the Council of State can declare another election; note 2 - in July 2019, the National Assembly passed a law which reduces the number of members from 605 to 474, effective with the 2023 general election"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 11 March 2018 (next to be held in early 2023)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"Cuba's Communist Party is the only legal party, and officially sanctioned candidates run unopposed; composition (as of June 2021) - men 273, women 313, percent of women 53.4%"
"text":"People's Supreme Court (consists of court president, vice president, 41 professional justices, and NA lay judges); organization includes the State Council, criminal, civil, administrative, labor, crimes against the state, and military courts)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"professional judges elected by the National Assembly are not subject to a specific term; lay judges nominated by workplace collectives and neighborhood associations and elected by municipal or provincial assemblies; lay judges appointed for 5-year terms and serve up to 30 days per year"
"text":"five equal horizontal bands of blue (top, center, and bottom) alternating with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white, five-pointed star in the center; the blue bands refer to the three old divisions of the island: central, occidental, and oriental; the white bands describe the purity of the independence ideal; the triangle symbolizes liberty, equality, and fraternity, while the red color stands for the blood shed in the independence struggle; the white star, called La Estrella Solitaria (the Lone Star) lights the way to freedom and was taken from the flag of Texas",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> adopted 1940; Pedro FIGUEREDO first performed \"La Bayamesa\" in 1868 during the Ten Years War against the Spanish; a leading figure in the uprising, FIGUEREDO was captured in 1870 and executed by a firing squad; just prior to the fusillade he is reputed to have shouted, \"Morir por la Patria es vivir\" (To die for the country is to live), a line from the anthem"
"text":"Old Havana (c); Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios (c); San Pedro de la Roca Castle (c); Desembarco del Granma National Park (n); Viñales Valley (c); Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations (c); Alejandro de Humboldt National Park (n); Historic Cienfuegos (c); Historic Camagüey (c)"
"text":"<p>The government continues to balance the need for loosening its socialist economic system against a desire for firm political control. In April 2011, the government held the first Cuban Communist Party Congress in almost 13 years, during which leaders approved a plan for wide-ranging economic changes. Since then, the government has slowly and incrementally implemented limited economic reforms, including allowing Cubans to buy electronic appliances and cell phones, stay in hotels, and buy and sell used cars. The government has cut state sector jobs as part of the reform process, and it has opened up some retail services to \"self-employment,\" leading to the rise of so-called \"cuentapropistas\" or entrepreneurs. More than 500,000 Cuban workers are currently registered as self-employed.</p> <p>The Cuban regime has updated its economic model to include permitting the private ownership and sale of real estate and new vehicles, allowing private farmers to sell agricultural goods directly to hotels, allowing the creation of non-agricultural cooperatives, adopting a new foreign investment law, and launching a \"Special Development Zone\" around the Mariel port.</p> <p>Since 2016, Cuba has attributed slowed economic growth in part to problems with petroleum product deliveries from Venezuela. Since late 2000, Venezuela provided petroleum products to Cuba on preferential terms, supplying at times nearly 100,000 barrels per day. Cuba paid for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela, including some 30,000 medical professionals.</p>"
"text":"internet availability has increased substantially over the past few years, but only about 64 percent of Cubans have Internet access, and even fewer Cubans--about 60 percent of the population--have access to cell phone service; in 2021 the Cuban Government passed a decree that strengthened its authority to censor Internet and telephonic communications; state control of the telecom sector hinders development; Cuba has the lowest mobile phone and Internet penetration rates in the region; fixed-line density is also very low; thaw of US-Cuba relations encouraged access to services, such as Wi-Fi hotspots; access to sites is controlled and censored; DSL and Internet are available in Havana, though costs are too high for most Cubans; international investment and agreement to improve Internet access through cost-free and direct connection between networks (2021)"
"text":"fixed-line density remains low at a little over 13 per 100 inhabitants; mobile-cellular service has expanded to about 59 per 100 persons (2020)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments"
"text":"government owns and controls all broadcast media: five national TV channels (Cubavision, Tele Rebelde, Multivision, Educational Channel 1 and 2), two international channels (Cubavision Internacional and Caribe), 16 regional TV stations, 6 national radio networks, and multiple regional stations; the Cuban Government beams over the Radio-TV Marti signal; although private ownership of electronic media is prohibited, several online independent news sites exist; those that are not openly critical of the government are often tolerated; the others are blocked by the government; there are no independent TV channels, but several outlets have created strong audiovisual content (El Toque, for example); a community of young Youtubers is also growing, mostly with channels about sports, technology and fashion; Christian denominations are creating original video content to distribute via social media (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> private citizens are prohibited from buying computers or accessing the Internet without special authorization; foreigners may access the Internet in large hotels but are subject to firewalls; some Cubans buy illegal passwords on the black market or take advantage of public outlets to access limited email and the government-controlled \"intranet\""
"text":"Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, FAR): Revolutionary Army (Ejercito Revolucionario, ER), Revolutionary Navy (Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria, MGR, includes Marine Corps), Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Forces (Defensas Anti-Aereas y Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria, DAAFAR); Paramilitary forces: Youth Labor Army (Ejercito Juvenil del Trabajo, EJT), Territorial Militia Troops (Milicia de Tropas de Territoriales, MTT), Civil Defense Force; Ministry of Interior: Border Guards, State Security (2021)"
"text":"the Cuban military inventory is comprised of ageing Russian and Soviet-era equipment; the last recorded arms delivery to Cuba was by Russia in 2004; in 2019, Russia approved a loan for approximately $43-50 million for Cuba's purchase of spare parts and armored vehicles (2021)"
"text":"the FAR has a large role in the Cuban economy through several military owned and operated conglomerates, including such sectors as banking, hotels, industry, retail, transportation, and tourism (2021)"
"text":"human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Cuba and Cubans abroad; individuals are forced or coerced into participating and threatened to stay in labor export programs, most notably foreign medical missions; sex trafficking and sex tourism occur within Cuba; traffickers exploit Cubans in sex trafficking and forced labor in South America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, and the US; foreigners from Africa and Asia are subject to sex trafficking and forced labor in Cuba to pay off travel debts; the government uses high school students in some rural areas to harvest crops without pay, claiming that the work is voluntary"
"text":"<p>Tier 3 — Cuba does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government made some efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict sex traffickers and sex tourists and identified and provided assistance to some victims; however, no efforts were made to address forced labor; there was a government policy or pattern to profit from labor export programs with strong indications of forced labor, particularly in foreign medical missions; authorities did not protect potential trafficking victims, leaving them at risk of being detained or charged for crimes their traffickers forced them to commit (2020)</p>"
"text":"<p>Cuba is not a major consumer, producer, or transit point of illicit drugs; strict policing on smuggling, production and consumption; prescription drug abuse is increasing</p>"
