CUBA

officially Republic of Cuba, Spanish Repblica de Cuba island state of the West Indies, consisting of one large island and numerous smaller islands, islets, and cays, and situated in the Atlantic Ocean, 90 miles (145 km) south of the tip of Florida, U.S. Cuba lies just south of the Tropic of Cancer at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico and covers a land area of 42,804 square miles (110,861 square km)more than one-half of the total land area of the West Indies. The capital is Havana. Cuba extends approximately 777 miles (1,250 km) from east to west and has a width of 19 miles (31 km) in the northwest to 119 miles (191 km) in the southeast. The population in 1992 was estimated at 10,797,000. officially Republic of Cuba, Spanish Repblica de Cuba, island state of the West Indies. It comprises the Cuban archipelago, a formation of about 1,600 islands, islets, and cays with a combined area of 42,804 square miles (110,861 square kilometres). The archipelago is situated just south of the tropic of Cancer at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico and forms an important segment of the Antilles island chain, which continues east and then south in a great arc enclosing the Caribbean Sea. The island of Cuba itselfthe Pearl of the Antillesis by far the largest island in the chain, covering 40,519 square miles (104,945 square kilometres). In general the island runs from northwest to southeast and is long and narrow777 miles (1,250 kilometres) long but only 119 miles (191 kilometres) across at its widest and 19 miles (31 kilometres) at its narrowest point. The capital is Havana, on the northwestern coast. Haiti, the nearest neighbouring country, is 48 miles away across the Windward Passage; Jamaica is 87 miles to the south; and the United States is about 90 miles to the north across the Straits of Florida. The Isle of Juventud (Isle of Youth; formerly called Isla de Pinos [Isle of Pines]), is the second largest in the archipelago (849 square miles); it rises to the southwest of Cuba itself. Other archipelagoes are the Los Colorados, to the northwest; Sabana-Camagey, off the north central coast; the Jardines de la Reina (Queen's Gardens), near the south central coast; and the Canarreos Archipelago (technically including the Isle of Juventud), along the southwest coast. Because of its location and natural resources, Cuba was coveted by more than one foreign power over the centuries. A colony of Spain after its discovery by Columbus in 1492, it formally became a republic at the beginning of the 20th century, although with a high degree of political and economic dependence on the United States. On New Year's Day, 1959, revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro won a civil war and took power. In 1961 the Marxist-Leninist nature of the revolution was proclaimed. Revolutionary Cuba developed close links to the Soviet Union, and the dissolution of the latter in 1991 brought economic strain and uncertainty to Cuba. Additional reading Geography Basic information is presented in Cuba, a Country Study, 3rd ed., edited by James D. Rudolph (1985), which includes an extensive bibliography. Antonio Nez Jimnez, Geografa de Cuba, 3 vol. (1972), provides a survey. Sergio G. Roca (ed.), Socialist Cuba: Past Interpretations and Future Challenges (1988), explores, among other topics, demography, religion, and race relations. Problems of population migration and employment are studied in Jos Luis Luzn, Economa, poblacin y territorio en Cuba, 18991983 (1987). Historical aspects of economic development are explored in Lev Marrero, Cuba, economa y sociedad (1972 ), with 14 volumes published by 1989. Studies on contemporary economic conditions include Carmelo Mesa-Lago, The Economy of Socialist Cuba: A Two-Decade Appraisal (1981); Claes Brundenius, Revolutionary Cuba, the Challenge of Economic Growth with Equity (1984); Jorge F. Prez-Lpez, Measuring Cuban Economic Performance (1987); and Andrew Zimbalist (ed.), Cuba's Socialist Economy Toward the 1990s (1987). Cultural developments and policies are surveyed in Armando Hart Dvalos and Luis Bez, Changing the Rules of the Game (1983; originally published in Spanish, 1983). Alejo Carpentier, Ese msico que llevo dentro 3: la msica en Cuba (1987), explores Cuban music; and Michael Chanan, The Cuban Image: Cinema and Cultural Politics in Cuba (1985), discusses the political aspects of filmmaking in the country. History Jaime Suchlicki, Historical Dictionary of Cuba (1988), provides comprehensive information on persons, places, and events from 1492 to 1985 and includes a bibliography. Hugh Thomas, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (1971), is a massive history. Detailed examinations of the historical role of sugar growing and slavery include Manuel Moreno Fraginals, The Sugarmill: The Socioeconomic Complex of Sugar in Cuba, 17601860 (1976; originally published in Spanish, 1964); Franklin W. Knight, Slave Society in Cuba During the Nineteenth Century (1970); and Rebecca J. Scott, Slave Emancipation in Cuba: The Transition to Free Labor, 18601899 (1985). Excellent treatments embracing the achievements of modern historiography include Louis A. Prez, Jr., Cuba Between Empires, 1878-1902 (1983), Cuba Under the Platt Amendment, 19021934 (1986), and Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution (1988). Studies of the 20th century, with special emphasis on Castro and the revolution, include Carmelo Mesa-Lago (ed.), Revolutionary Change in Cuba (1971); Jorge I. Domnguez, Cuba: Order and Revolution (1978); Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Cuba in the 1970s: Pragmatism and Institutionalization, rev. ed. (1978); Tad Szulc, Fidel: A Critical Portrait (1986); and Max Azicri, Cuba: Politics, Economics, and Society (1988). The role of revolutionary Cuba in the world is assessed in Wayne S. Smith, The Closest of Enemies: A Personal and Diplomatic Account of U.S.-Cuban Relations Since 1957 (1987); Barry B. Levine (ed.), The New Cuban Presence in the Caribbean (1983); Cole Blasier and Carmelo Mesa-Lago (ed.), Cuba in the World (1979); and Jorge I. Domnguez (ed.), Cuba: Internal and International Affairs (1982). Administration and social conditions Government Until the adoption of the constitution of Feb. 24, 1976, Cuba had for some 36 years been governed either by the constitution of 1940 or by the postrevolutionary Fundamental Law of Feb. 7, 1959, modeled upon the constitution but centralizing governmental power. The 1940 constitution had been suspended twicefrom 1952 to 1955 by the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and after 1959 when it was supplanted by the Fundamental Law and by legislation that included the Agrarian Reform Law (May 17, 1959), the second Urban Reform Law (Oct. 14, 1960), the Nationalization of Education Law (July 6, 1961), and the second Agrarian Reform Law (Aug. 3, 1963). Drafting of a new constitution to succeed that of 1940 began in 1965 and continued for the next 10 years; a preliminary draft was approved by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1975, and the final version was approved by referendum on Feb. 15, 1976, entering into force on February 24. In October 1976, for the first time in 17 years, representatives for 169 municipal assemblies of the people's power were elected to give the people a more effective role in the running of their urban centres. These 169 assemblies met subsequently in November to elect a 481-member (510 after 1986) National Assembly, as they had somewhat earlier elected delegates to the 14 provincial assemblies; each of the bodies in turn elected executive committees to carry on the day-to-day work of their respective administrative organs. The National Assembly, at its inaugural session in December 1976, appointed a State Council of 31 members, headed by a president, and a Council of Ministers, also headed by the president. The posts of president as well as those of first secretary of the Communist Party and commander in chief of the armed forces were all held by Fidel Castro from 1976. The State Council is the executive body of the state, carrying on the daily administration of the country between the twice-yearly sessions of the National Assembly. Following the revolution, political parties were dissolved, and a single party was created out of the participating revolutionary organizations: the 26th of July Movement, the Popular Socialist Party, and the 13th of March Revolutionary Directorate. In 1965 this single national party was officially designated the Communist Party of Cuba. The mass organizations were created after the revolution to replace former social organizations and are under the supervision of the government. The Confederation of Cuban Workers, reconstituted in 1970, with stated objectives to support the government, is designed to improve managerial performance and labour discipline and to raise the political consciousness of workers. The National Association of Small Farmers is composed of independent farmers, outside the system of collectivized state farms, who own a fraction of the total cultivated land. In 1960 the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, which now enroll most of the adult population, were created to maintain vigilance against enemies of the revolution; they are organized in every city, factory, and place of work and in many rural counties. The objective of the Federation of Cuban Women is to raise the ideological, political, cultural, and scientific level of women in order to incorporate them into the tasks assigned by the revolution. In 1973 Cuba's judicial system was reorganized. The People's Supreme Court, divided into five chambers, became the main body of the new structure. Its jurisdiction includes criminal offenses, civil and administrative offenses, crimes against state security, labour offenses, and military offenses. The Provincial Courts deal with cases that warrant sentences of up to six years' imprisonment. Below the provincial courts are municipal courts, usually the courts of first appeal. Cuban defense is based on the revolutionary armed forces and is equipped with the most advanced weaponry in Latin America. The Ministry of the Interior is charged with the maintenance of public order and state security, rehabilitation of prisoners and prison management, and fire fighting. Education The eradication of illiteracy was given high priority by the revolutionary government. Nationalization of all private schools was accomplished in 1961, and a fundamentally altered, state-directed education system was introduced. It includes general education, 12 or 13 grades (three or four years of intermediate education) preceded by a preschool stage; higher, or university, education; teacher-training education; adult education, directed toward the eradication of residual illiteracy and toward continued study by working people; technical education, parallel to secondary education; language instruction; and specialized education. Education is free at all levels, with supplementary scholarships to cover living expenses and medical assistance. Education expenditures receive high priority, and the number of students enrolled has increased sharply from prerevolution days. Cultural life The cultural life of the Cuban people has undergone a major transformation since the revolutionary government came to power. The government believes that mass culture is essential to the fulfillment of its economic and social aims and since 1959 has played a leading role in cultural life. Since the creation of the Ministry of Culture in 1976, this role has expanded to include a network of professional and amateur cultural organizations throughout the island. Cultural institutions before 1959 were generally limited to Havana (and, to a lesser extent, the provincial capitals) and were almost entirely privately endowed. Before 1959 Cuba had 100 libraries and six museums; today it has approximately 2,000 libraries and 250 museums. The Ministry of Culture directs a program of eduction in music, plastic arts, ballet, dramatic arts, and modern dance, culminating in the university-level Higher Institute of Art. More than 200 neighbourhood cultural centres (casas de cultura) offer workshops in all branches of the arts. Folk culture In 1959 the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore was created within the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, with the aim of collecting and classifying the Cuban cultural heritage. It formed the National Folklore Group, which performs Afro-Cuban dances throughout Cuba and abroad and gives international folklore laboratories each year. The activities of the folklore group are complemented by the Institute of Literature and Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences. The revolutionary government has made a special effort to promote study of the African roots of Cuban culture. The Guanabacoa Museum is the main repository of Afro-Cuban artifacts.