I.

Introduction

Cuba, formally Republic of Cuba, independent republic located in the Caribbean Sea, some 145 km (90 mi) south of Florida in the United States, comprising two main islands, Cuba and Juventud Island (Isla de la Juventud, formerly Isle of Pines), and more than 1,600 small coral cays and islets. Cuba commands the two entrances to the Gulf of Mexico to the west: the Straits of Florida and the Yucatán Channel. On the east, the republic is separated from the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) by the Windward Passage; Jamaica lies to the south, the Bahama Islands to the north-east, and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico to the west, across the Yucatán Channel. The republic has a total land area of 110,860 sq km (42,803 sq mi), of which almost 95 per cent is accounted for by the island of Cuba. The largest island in the Caribbean and the most westerly of the Greater Antilles group, Cuba is 110,860 sq km (42,803 sq mi) in area, and long and narrow in shape. It has a maximum length of about 1,225 km (760 mi)—between the westernmost and easternmost points, Cabo de San Antonio and Cabo Maisí—and a maximum width of about 191 km (119 m). Juventud Island, lying opposite the Bay of Batabanó on the south-western coast, in the Canarreos Archipelago, has an area of about 2,200 sq km (849 sq mi). Havana (in Spanish, La Habana), on the north-western coast, is the capital, largest city, and chief port of Cuba.

II.

Land and Resources

Cuba is part of a limestone platform, related to the limestone areas of Florida, the Bahamas, and the Yucatán. About one quarter of the island is mountainous or hilly, the remainder consisting of flat or rolling terrain. The mountainous areas are scattered throughout the island and do not stem from a central mass. The principal ranges are the Sierra de los Organos in the west, rising to 750 m/2,461 ft (and containing the karst scenery of the Guaniguánicos hill country with its limestone features and underground rivers); the Sierra de Trinidad in the central part of the island; and the Sierra Maestra in the far east. The Sierra Maestra, which includes the Sierra del Cobre and Macaca ranges, is the most rugged, extensive, and highest of the mountainous areas, rising to the highest point in the republic, the Pico Turquino (1,974 m/6,476 ft) near the south-eastern coast. One of the most notable natural features of the island is the large number of limestone caverns, notably the caves of Cotilla, near Havana. Parts of the coast, especially in the south, are swampy with marshes and mangroves. The largest area of swamp in the country is the Zapata Peninsula, south-east of Havana. The second-largest, the Ciénaga de Lanier, is on the Juventud Island, which is generally flat and low-lying. Most of the numerous rivers of Cuba are short and unnavigable. The chief river is the Cauto (343 km/213 mi long) in the south-east. The coast of Cuba is extremely irregular and is indented by gulfs and bays. Most of the northern coast is protected by reefs and cays. Notable harbours are those of Havana, Cárdenas, Bahía Honda, Matanzas, and Nuevitas on the northern coast, and Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, and Cienfuegos on the southern and eastern coasts.

A.

Climate

The climate of Cuba is semi-tropical, the mean annual temperature being 25° C (77° F). Extremes of heat and relative humidity during the summer season are tempered by the prevailing north-easterly trade winds; the maximum temperature averages 27.2° C (81° F) and maximum humidity, 80 per cent. Annual rainfall averages about 1,320 mm (52 in). More than 60 per cent of the rain falls during the wet season, which extends from May to October. The island is at risk from tropical storms and hurricanes between July and November. In October 1996 central Cuba was hit by Hurricane Lili. A major evacuation operation prevented any deaths, but the storm (the worst in ten years) and the rains that accompanied it did many millions of dollars’ worth of damage to crops and buildings.

B.

Natural Resources

The soil of Cuba, derived predominantly from the action of rain on limestone, is fertile and a wide range of crops is grown. About one quarter of the land is covered with forests of pine and mahogany. The country has significant mineral reserves, including about 10 per cent of the world’s known nickel deposits. There are also deposits of chromite, copper, iron, manganese, gold, silver, sulphur, cobalt, pyrites, gypsum, asbestos, oil, salt, sand, clay, and limestone. Crude oil deposits on the northern coast are exploited commercially.

C.

Plants and Animals

Cuba has a wide variety of tropical vegetation, with some 6,000 species of plant, around half of which are native to the island. Forests cover about one quarter of the island, but original forest is confined to some of the highest peaks in the Sierra Maestra and in the mangrove swamps of the Zapata Peninsula. There are more than 200 species of palm. The royal palm (Resistonea regia) is Cuba’s national tree, and is represented on the republic’s coat-of-arms. The rare cork palm (Microcycas calocoma) is a survivor from the Cretaceous period. Other trees include mahogany, ebony, lignum vitae, ceiba (Kapok), fig, logwood, rosewood, oak, cedar, and pines. There are also many flowering trees and fruit trees, notably the butterfly jasmine, which is the national flower. Cuba’s fauna is equally rich. The country claims to have the world’s smallest of a number of animals: the Cuban pygmy frog, one of about 30 small frogs; the solenodon, a shrew-like insectivore; the butterfly or moth bat; and the bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) or zunzuncito. The largest land mammal is the hutia, a rat-like rodent that grows to about 60 cm (24 in) in length. The forest-dwelling Cuban trogon, or tocororo, is considered to be the national bird because its plumage has the same colours as the Cuban flag—red, white, and blue. There are many hundreds of species of birds, some of which are endangered, such as the carpintero real woodpecker, the ivory-billed woodpecker, the pygmy owl, the Cuban green parrot, and the ferminia. In the Zapata Peninsula alone there are 170 species of native birds, which are joined by many hundreds more species of migrating waterbirds and others. Reptiles are Cuba’s most abundant land fauna, and include frogs, iguanas, crocodiles, lizards, salamanders, and 15 species of non-poisonous snakes, including the boa constrictor. About 10,000 species of insect have been recorded, including many butterflies. Some of Cuba’s varied wildlife is threatened by over-hunting. There are six national parks, including the Zapata Peninsula.

D.

Environmental Concerns

Although Cuba was once almost entirely forested, by the late 1950s only 14 per cent of the country remained under forest cover. As a result of reforestation efforts, this figure has risen to 16.8 per cent (1995). Deforestation and agriculture contribute to soil erosion, another environmental challenge in Cuba. Agriculture is vital to Cuba's economy: food makes up over 89 per cent (1980) of the country's total exports and more than 40 per cent (1997) of the country's area is devoted to arable land and permanent crops. Cuba's integrated pest management programme, an alternative to pesticide use, has made environmental gains while maintaining agricultural output and reducing costs.

Cuba has the greatest biodiversity in the Caribbean, much of it endemic, and the country's vast mangrove swamps and wetlands support a wide variety of marine life. Parks and other reserves protect 17.4 per cent (1997) of Cuba's land. Coastal pollution and excessive hunting present severe threats to wildlife populations, however. Cuba is party to international agreements concerning biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, and ship pollution.

III.

Population

The great majority of Cubans are descended from the Spaniards who conquered and settled the island from the 16th century, and the Africans they brought in as slaves to work the plantations—51 per cent are classified as of mixed origin, 37 per cent as white, and 11 per cent as black. The remaining 1 per cent of the population comprises various ethnic minorities, most notably Chinese. There are no Native Americans left on Cuba. The country’s culture reflects this heritage, especially with regard to music, cuisine, and aspects of religion.

A.

Population Characteristics

The Republic of Cuba has a population of 11,416,987 (2007 estimate), with a population density of 103 people per sq km (267 people per sq mi). Almost all of the population lives on the island of Cuba itself. Juventud Island is the least populated of the republic’s 15 administrative divisions, with about 73,000 people, who live mainly in the north of the island. Most of the small islets and cays are uninhabited. Since 1959 more than 1 million Cubans have emigrated legally, predominantly to the United States. Many thousands more have left illegally, crossing the Straits of Florida to the US mainland in small boats and on makeshift rafts, most notably during August 1994 when some 30,000 are estimated to have left following the government’s decision to suspend travel restrictions. The move followed serious rioting in Havana that had been precipitated by a confrontation between police and would-be illegal emigrants. It was in retaliation to the US administration’s failure to live up to its 1984 agreement to issue 20,000 visas a year to Cubans, thus encouraging the growth of illegal emigration from Cuba. In the decade to July 1994 fewer than 12,000 visas had been issued in total. The US administration failed to stem the upsurge in emigrants despite threats of repatriation. In September 1994 it agreed to grant visas to the 6,000 Cubans on waiting lists and to implement fully the 20,000 annual visa quota, in return for the Cuban administration reimposing border restrictions. Most early emigrants were wealthy landowners and business people whose assets had been nationalized; more recently there has been an increase in migrants fleeing Cuba’s deteriorating economy. As a group Cuban-Americans comprise a powerful lobby in the United States, historically opposed to the administration of Fidel Castro and successfully pressing for the maintenance and, in 1996, expansion of the US trade embargo against Cuba. Despite more recent loosening of restrictions on Cuba, Cuban-Americans remain an important lobbying force.

B.

Principal Cities

About 76 per cent of Cuba’s population live in urban areas, and 20 per cent live in the capital, Havana, which has a population of 2,189,716 (2000 estimate). Other important cities, with their population figures, are Santiago de Cuba, 441,524 (2000 estimate), Camagüey, 306,049 (2000 estimate), Holguín, 259,300 (2000 estimate), Guantánamo, 208,030 (2000 estimate), Santa Clara, 210,100 (2000 estimate), Bayamo, 143,600 (2000 estimate), Cienfuegos, 137,513 (2000 estimate), Pinar del Río, 148,500 (2000 estimate), Las Tunas, 137,331 (2000 estimate), and Matanzas, 124,754 (2000 estimate).

C.

Religion

Cuba has no official religion and about half the people class themselves as non-religious. However, during the 1990s the number of people openly practising some kind of religion has increased, partly because of reforms by the government reducing discrimination against believers. The decision by the Fourth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, held in 1991, to admit adherents to the Christian faith was followed, in July 1992, by constitutional amendments guaranteeing freedom of religion. The number of professed Roman Catholics has declined from more than 70 per cent of the population in the 1950s to about 40 per cent in the mid-1990s, in large part because of the confrontation between Church and State in the early years of Castro’s administration, which led to the departure from the country of the majority of priests and nuns, as well as some Protestant clergy and all rabbis. Relations with the Vatican began to improve during the 1980s and are now cordial; Pope John Paul II accepted an invitation to visit Cuba in 1998. About 4 per cent of the population belongs to Protestant denominations, including the Baptist and Episcopal Churches, Methodism, and Presbyterianism. However, the fastest-growing are the evangelical Pentecostal Churches and the house-church movement. Also important are the Afro-Cuban syncretist religions, notably santería, which was developed originally by people from West Africa, especially Nigeria, brought to Cuba as slaves. Santería blends Catholic belief in saints with the Yoruba belief in orishas, emissaries of God that rule over the forces of nature and human endeavours. Belief in such religions is thought to be more widespread than belief in orthodox Catholicism.

D.

Language

Spanish is the official language and also the language of everyday speech. Lucumi, a Niger-Congo language, is used for rituals (as a second language only) by people of the Santería religion.

E.

Education

Like health, education has been a government priority since the revolution of 1959. It is based on communist principles, combining study with manual work. It is free at all levels and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14, although pupils can continue in school until they are 17. In 1993, 90 per cent of the school-age population was enrolled in school. In addition to a countrywide primary school system, there are more than 2,170 secondary schools and 50 or so tertiary-level establishments. Cuba has 11 universities, the largest being the University of Havana (founded 1728). Other notable establishments include the University of Camagüey (1967), the University of Cienfuegos (1979), the University of Granma (1967), Central University of Las Villas (1952), and the University of Oriente (1947). The government also operates a comprehensive system of nursery provision and adult education and literacy programmes. The adult literacy rate is estimated at 97 per cent, the highest in Latin America. More than 10 per cent of Cubans have degrees or other tertiary-level qualifications, and the country has some 180 technical and scientific research centres. Cuba has a particular reputation in medical research and biotechnology, including genetic engineering. In 1994 Cuba spent 6.6 per cent of the gross national product on education.

F.

Culture

Cuban culture is a combination of Spanish and African traditions. The blending of Spanish guitars and melodies with African rhythms and percussion instruments, especially drums, gives Cuban music its most distinctive forms—such as the rumba, the mambo, and son. Developed around the end of the 19th century and incorporating guitars, tres (a small stringed instrument), double bass, bongos, claves, and voice, son is the most popular contemporary Cuban music. Some Cuban folk music, however, such as the punto, the zapateo, and the guajira, has been greatly influenced by European music. Notable exponents of Cuban music include the musicians Pérez Prado and Benny Moré, the singer-composers Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés, and the composers Ernesto Lecuona, Moisés Simons, and Miguel Matamoros. See also Latin American Music.

Cuba has a rich literary history. The country’s most famous literary figure is the 19th-century poet, writer, and lawyer José Martí, whose death during the war for independence from Spain confirmed him as a national hero. More recently, Nicolás Guillén was adopted as the national poet after the 1959 revolution. His poems, spanning six decades from the 1920s, reflect popular speech and musical rhythms, but look to Latin America rather than Africa. Perhaps the most influential of modern authors is the novelist Alejo Carpentier, who chose to stay in Cuba after the revolution. He is credited with inspiring the coining of the term “magic realism”, used to describe a type of postmodernist fiction, when he asked “What is the story of Latin America if not a chronicle of the marvellous in the real?” Magic realism has been pursued further by other Latin American writers, notably Gabriel García Márquez, of Colombia, who spent much time in Cuba and was heavily influenced by the revolution. Contemporary writers include the poet and novelist Miguel Barnet, José Lezama Lima, and Edmundo Desnoes. The years between 1920 and the revolution saw the emergence of some of the most famous Cuban painters, such as Wifredo Lam, Marianao Rodríguez, René Portocarrero, and Amelia Pelaez. Manuel Mendive is widely considered to be the foremost of the modern generation of Cuban painters. See also Latin American Literature; Latin American Art and Architecture.

The Cuban revolution has had a profound effect on culture and has made it a part of everyday life and not just the preserve of the elite. Nearly all forms of artistic expression, whether music, painting, cinema, theatre, or literature, have been actively supported by the state. Theatres, museums, and art schools were established during the 1960s, and the Cuban National Ballet and a thriving film industry founded. Film-makers of international repute include Santiago Alvares, Humberto Solás, and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (see Latin American Cinema). Probably the most famed of Cuban film-makers, his work includes: La Muerte de un Burócrata (1966; Murder of a Bureaucrat), the first of his films to gain international attention; Memorias del Subdesarrollo (1968; Memories of Underdevelopment); and Fresas y Chocolate (1993; Strawberry and Chocolate), which examines problems of contemporary Cuban society, and which was nominated for an Academy Award. The Cuban National Ballet has an international reputation, as has its founder and director, the prima ballerina Alicia Alonso. However encouraging to the arts, the system has also imposed its own limitations by controlling what people should be exposed to. Many young artists now feel stifled by a cultural bureaucracy and a number have left the country.

Each of Cuba’s 14 provinces has its own theatres, museums, and art galleries. The National Museum in Havana houses collections of both classical and modern art, and relics of indigenous cultures. The Colonial and Anthropological museums are also in Havana. Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second city, has the Emilio Bacardi Moreau Museum of natural history and art, while the Oscar M. de Rojas Museum is in Cárdenas. Cuba is host to a number of important international cultural events, including the Latin American Film Festival, the International Ballet Festival, and the Havana Jazz Festival.

IV.

Economy

Cuba had a gross national product (GNP) in 1991 of about US$17,000 million, giving a per capita income of about US$1,580. Since then both GNP and per capita income have declined as a result of the impact of the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on Cuba.

The revolutionary government that gained power in 1959 subsequently imposed a Marxist-Leninist system on the country, with almost all sectors of the economy state-controlled and centrally planned. Much of the property that was expropriated without compensation after the 1959 revolution belonged to US companies or individuals. The United States in 1962 declared a full economic and political blockade of Cuba. In response to these efforts to isolate it, the Cuban government turned to the Soviet bloc for military, economic, and financial assistance. Cuba became heavily dependent on other Communist countries for trade and aid, particularly the USSR. Sugar and, to a lesser extent, nickel were traded for oil, machinery, transport equipment, and consumer goods. With Soviet assistance, Cuba developed better housing, health, and education than anywhere else in Latin America and the Caribbean, and now has a lower infant mortality rate than many industrialized countries. There are more doctors per head (1 doctor for every 169 people) than nearly anywhere else in the world, and in education Cuba has a lower student to teacher ratio than France, Germany, the United Kingdom, or the United States.

However, the break-up of the Eastern bloc and collapse of the USSR in 1991 had a devastating effect on the Cuban economy that was exacerbated by the tightening of the US blockade during this period. Before 1990 Soviet assistance amounted to more than 20 per cent of Cuba’s gross domestic product (GDP), while the Eastern bloc generally accounted for 85 per cent of the country’s foreign trade. In particular it was the source of cheap imports, especially oil. After 1990 fresh produce and other food, fuel, fertilizers, medicines, agricultural chemicals, and a wide variety of other basic goods were either rationed or unavailable. According to official statistics, GDP fell by 35 per cent between 1989 and 1994, while export earnings fell from US$8.1 billion in 1989 to US$1.7 billion in 1993.

The government was forced to take action and the “special period” was announced, involving the introduction of cautious, market-oriented economic reform. Steps were taken to transform parts of the centrally planned economy into a mixed economy along lines generally recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During 1994 and 1995 IMF representatives paid several unofficial visits to Cuba, underlining the important shifts in policy. In June 1993 restrictions on Cuban exiles travelling to Cuba were relaxed. In September 1993 the government authorized limited individual private enterprise in a range of 117 occupations. In October 1994 agricultural markets were liberalized with the aim of reducing the expanding black market; the move was subsequently extended to consumer goods. Other measures have included cuts in subsidies to inefficient state enterprises, selective price rises, the imposition of new taxes (including income tax on the self-employed), and moves to control the money supply and reduce the huge budget deficit. There were also some currency reform measures: Cubans are now allowed to hold foreign currency and a “convertible peso”, initially at par with the US dollar, has been introduced. It is fully exchangeable with the dollar inside Cuba. The US dollar was made legal tender in 1993. There have also been changes in legislation to encourage more foreign investment, and to allow free-trade zones and export manufacturing centres to be established.

The changes appear to have had a positive impact. According to official figures GDP grew by 7.6 per cent in 1996, compared with 2.5 per cent the previous year. The growth in 1996, despite a devastating hurricane and flooding from subsequent tropical storms, was attributed to increases in sugar and nickel production. The budget deficit was almost halved between 1993 and 1996 to 2.4 per cent of GDP. Although the reforms were important, President Fidel Castro, Cuba’s head of state, insisted that they did not reflect a fundamental change in ideology. Thus, for example, almost all land and all important industrial enterprises are still in state hands. The Central Planning Board (established in the early 1960s) still develops and implements the five-year and annual plans that set prices and production targets for production, imports, and exports.

During the 1990s Cuba has also concentrated on improving its foreign relations, particularly with the EU, Canada, and Latin America, in order to increase trade and investment. More than 400 foreign companies are now operating in Cuba, with capital from 38 countries. The leading investors are Spain, Canada, France, Italy, and Mexico. The United States tried in 1996 to tighten the economic blockade further by passing legislation aimed at curtailing third-country investment in expropriated US property in Cuba, though in 2000 legislation weakening some restrictions was passed (see Commerce and Trade section below).

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

About one fifth of the labour force is engaged in agriculture. Sugar is the most important crop in terms of both volume and value. The crop accounts for almost three quarters of Cuba’s export earnings; the country is, in fact, the world’s largest producer of sugar. Poor weather and shortages of machinery, fertilizers, oil, and spare parts have impaired the annual harvest in recent years—production in 1995 totalled 36 million tonnes, less than half the 1990 harvest of 76.2 million tonnes. Production has since recovered somewhat, and in 2005 12.5 million tonnes was harvested. This upturn reflected the success of a strategic push to reverse the sector’s decline. Large numbers of people were mobilized to help during the harvest, priority was given to mending equipment, especially harvesters, and the government secured foreign credits worth US$135 million to help finance necessary inputs.

Tobacco is another traditional crop, which sustains the local cigarette and cigar industry; Cuban cigars, still hand-rolled, are world-famous for their quality. In 2005 34,500 tonnes of tobacco leaves were harvested. Coffee is grown mostly for domestic consumption, although the country is a member of the International Coffee Agreement; 13,500 tonnes of beans were produced in 2005. Citrus fruits are the second most important agricultural export and production has been encouraged as part of efforts to diversify away from dependence on sugar. Emphasis is now also being placed on fruit and vegetables to supply the domestic market, because foreign exchange is no longer available for imports. Livestock herds have declined significantly, again because of lack of foreign exchange for imports of feedstuffs, as well as fertilizers and pesticides. Animals are now less intensively reared.

During the pre-revolutionary period indiscriminate cutting reduced the forested area of Cuba from more than 40 per cent in 1945 to less than 10 per cent in 1960. The new government initiated a reforestation programme; by the end of the 1980s forests covered about 25 per cent of the island. They contain valuable hardwoods like mahogany and cedar, which is used for making cigar boxes, as well as for a variety of forest products such as dyes, gums, resins, and oils. Roundwood removals total about 2.58 million cu m (91.1 million cu ft) per annum. In 1997 sawnwood production totalled about 220,000 cu m (7.77 million cu ft), of which some 60 per cent is hardwood.

The fishing industry traditionally comprised small, independent operators working in cooperatives. The government has developed a sizeable deep-sea fleet, and fish are now an important export earner as well as food source. The catch has declined sharply, however, during the 1990s, as a result of shortage of fuel and spare parts. Between 1989 and 1993 it fell by more than half from 191,889 tonnes to 93,000 tonnes; in 2004 the catch totalled 64,836 tonnes.

B.

Mining

Cuba has very large deposits of iron ore, estimated at 3.5 billion tonnes, although they are not exploited to a significant extent. The main minerals exploited commercially are copper, chrome, nickel, cobalt, silica, and barite (barytes). Gold and silver are also mined and salt is evaporated from sea water. After sugar, minerals are Cuba’s most valuable export. As with every other sector of the economy, production has been badly affected by the collapse of Soviet financial assistance and markets at the beginning of the 1990s. However, recovery was well under way by 1995. The sector has proved to be one of the most successful in attracting the interest of foreign companies. The new mining law passed in 1994 to attract foreign investment has brought in companies from Canada, Australia, and South Africa to mine for nickel, gold, silver, copper, and base metals. The largest plant is at Moa Bay, where a Canadian and Cuban joint venture produces about half the country’s nickel output, which totalled about 55,800 tonnes in 1996, compared with about 26,000 tonnes at the beginning of the decade.

C.

Manufacturing

In 1996 manufacturing accounted for about 27 per cent of GDP. The most important industrial sectors include textiles, cement, steel, footwear, leather, cigarettes and cigars, tyres, fertilizers and chemicals, buses, refrigerators, and radios. Although the vast majority of the manufacturing sector is state owned and the government still sets objective and production targets, in recent years there have been considerable changes within the sector, precipitated by the ending of Soviet financial support. Private-sector companies have been allowed to set up on a small scale in certain areas, and both private-sector and state concerns producing consumer goods are now allowed to sell directly to the public at market prices, once they have fulfilled their quotas. In addition, subsidies to loss-making companies have been cut substantially, leading to large numbers of redundancies.

D.

Energy

The disruption to oil supplies after the collapse of the USSR has hit the Cuban economy particularly hard. The USSR used to supply about 95 per cent of Cuba’s oil requirements. These imports, which were heavily subsidized, were cut drastically in 1992. The fuel shortage has also been disastrous for electricity generation, as it has been for several other sectors, such as transport. Apart from a few hydroelectric facilities, Cuba’s electricity is generated by thermal plants using mainly oil, but also bagasse (sugar-cane fibres). Efforts have been made to increase local production, which now is sufficient to generate nearly one third of electricity requirements. Output of crude oil in 1992 was 771,000 tonnes.

Foreign companies are exploring for oil both onshore and offshore, and in 1995 Russia agreed to provide finance for the completion of the nuclear power plant at Juraguá. Work on the project, which had been financed by the USSR, was suspended in 1992 owing to lack of funds, with one reactor virtually complete and the other in the early stages of construction. When completed the plant was expected to provide up to 25 per cent of national energy requirements. However, in a meeting in Havana in December 2000, Castro and Russian president Vladimir Putin are reported to have agreed to abandon the project. At present there are still acute shortages of fuel, resulting in both power cuts and severely restricted public transport.

E.

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of Cuba is the Cuban peso of 100 centavos (as of early 2007, 23.15 Cuban pesos equalled US$1 at the official rate). Until the end of 1994 the peso was fixed in parity with the US dollar. In December of that year, however, a “convertible” peso was introduced by Cuba’s central bank, the National Bank of Cuba. The peso is not properly convertible, however. Rather, an official exchange rate is announced daily reflecting any changes in the strength of the US dollar. The US dollar was legal tender in Cuba from 1993 until 2004, when it was withdrawn from circulation.

The National Bank of Cuba was created in 1948, and in 1960 all banks were nationalized. Legislation establishing a national banking system was approved in 1984. There are two state-owned commercial banks, one dealing with overseas financing and one with domestic financing, a savings bank, and three state-run insurance organizations.

F.

Commerce and Trade

Cuba’s principal exports are sugar, which normally accounts for almost 75 per cent of export earnings, minerals, citrus fruit, tobacco, fish, and livestock. Its principal imports are oil and oil products, food, machinery, and chemicals. Although these have not changed much, there has been a dramatic shift in Cuba’s main markets. On the eve of its dissolution, the USSR accounted for more than 80 per cent of Cuba’s exports and 66 per cent of its imports. Today, Russia is an important trading partner still, but other countries, notably Canada, Spain, and Mexico, have taken over as Cuba’s main trading partners. Trade with Latin America has been an important growth area, rising from 7 per cent of Cuba’s foreign trade in 1990 to 20 per cent in 1994.

The impact of the dissolution of the USSR and the Eastern bloc can be seen in the fact that the value of Cuba’s exports dropped to about US$1,300 million in 1994, compared with more than US$8,000 million in 1989. Worsening terms of trade with higher oil prices and lower nickel prices contributed to the declining earnings, as did the US embargo. However, during 1995 and 1996 the situation began to improve somewhat. In 1995 export earnings were up 20 per cent to US$1,600 million, with a further rise expected in 1996 thanks to an improved sugar harvest and increased nickel production. Spending on imports was slashed during the same period, with extremely detrimental effects on local agriculture and industry. Even so, Cuba was still running a significant balance of trade deficit. In 1995 it stood at about US$500 million. In 2001 the total value of exports was US$1,665 million, while imports totalled US$5,251 million.

The influence of right-wing Cuban exile groups in the United States has ensured the US economic blockade of Cuba has been maintained, despite the United States’ lack of international support on this issue. In late 1996, for example, the UN General Assembly voted for the fifth consecutive year for an end to the blockade. All EU members voted for the resolution, which was passed by 137 to 3, with 25 abstentions. The November 2000 UN vote on ending the embargo showed the United States’ isolation even more clearly, with 167 votes in favour and only 3 votes against, with 4 abstentions. Only Israel and the Marshall Islands supported the United States.

In March 1996 the US Congress tightened the blockade further when President Bill Clinton passed the much-delayed Helms-Burton Act. This legislation allows US citizens to sue foreign companies or individuals investing in or profiting from property or businesses in Cuba that were expropriated from US companies or individuals after the 1959 revolution. It additionally provides for such foreign companies or individuals to be barred from entering the United States. The act was strongly denounced by Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean states, and the EU as an infringement of international free trade. Action in the international courts and threats of retaliatory legislation by Canada and the EU, forced Clinton first to suspend implementation of Helms-Burton and then, in January 1997, to waive indefinitely implementation of the third-party provisions within the act. However, in April the US House of Representatives passed legislation tightening the provisions in the act.

Not all United States legislative action on Cuba has been wholly negative though, as the US Congress passed a bill, signed into law by President Clinton in October 2000, which relaxed the US embargo on Cuba by allowing the sale of food and medicine. Some see this as a step towards a full removal of sanctions against Cuba, which farming and business interests in the United States have long lobbied for, in order to gain access to the Cuban market. Cuban-American pressure nevertheless managed to prevent government and private bank financing for the sales, vastly reducing their impact. The law also tightened restrictions on Americans travelling to Cuba. In 2001 food exports to Cuba from the US began again after a period of 40 years.

Cuba’s foreign debt was reported at US$11,000 million in July 1996, equivalent to 46 per cent of GDP. Because of the US blockade, Cuba has been unable to restructure its debt and receive fresh, long-term credits. Instead the country has been forced to rely on short-term, high-interest credits, such as those negotiated with ten European banks to finance inputs for the 1995-1996 sugar crop.

In the past few years Cuba has been pursuing closer economic ties with nations in the Caribbean region. The loss of Soviet financial assistance and trade means Cuba has to look more to its neighbours as outlets for its products. In July 2000, Cuba signed a trade agreement with the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) which will expand trade by eliminating duties on imports. Furthermore, Cuba announced in 2000 that it will seek full membership of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (the ACP Group), an organization Cuba has had observer status with since 1998.

G.

Tourism

Tourism is now seen as the sector with the greatest capacity to generate foreign exchange and provide employment. It is already the largest single foreign exchange earner, generating US$850 million in 1994 and topping US$1,000 million in 1996. Foreign investment has been encouraged and there are many joint ventures. In 1996 the number of visitors rose by 35 per cent to exceed 1 million for the first time, having risen steadily each year during the 1990s despite political upheavals and hurricanes. A target of 2.5 million visitors was set for 2000 though the Cuban tourist industry was hit somewhat by the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. In 1992, three years after first applying, Cuba was admitted to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

H.

Labour

Self-employment was legalized in 1993, but the vast majority of workers are still employed in the state sector, where they are organized into 23 unions grouped in the Workers Central Union of Cuba. Unemployment and underemployment levels have risen markedly since the early 1990s as a result both of the severe economic recession and of the recovery measures instituted by the government, such as the reduction of subsidies to loss-making state enterprises. According to some estimates up to 40 per cent of the workforce is underemployed or unemployed. Under legislation introduced in September 1994, workers made redundant must be assigned to other jobs, or to strategic social or economic tasks. If this is not possible they are paid 60 per cent of their previous salary.

I.

Transport

All of Cuba’s public transport is controlled by the Ministry of Transport. In 1992 there were 4,807 km (2,987 mi) of public railway, 147 km (91 mi) of which were electrified. In 1996 the total length of Cuba’s roads was estimated at 27,700 km (37,814 mi), of which almost half are paved. In 1997 there was a ratio of 32 vehicles for every 1,000 people. There are international airports at Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Varadero, Holguín, and Camagüey. The state airline, Cubana, provides internal and some international flights.

J.

Communications

In Cuba, radio and television is state controlled by Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión. There are five national radio networks, one international network, and several provincial and municipal stations. In 1997 there were an estimated 4 million radios. Two television channels broadcast in Cuba, and in 2000 there were about 3 million televisions. Since 1990 there has been only one national daily newspaper, Granma, which is the official Communist Party organ.

V.

Government

Cuba is governed under a constitution adopted in 1976 and modified in 1992 to remove all mention of Marxism-Leninism, and to allow direct parliamentary elections. It defines the Republic of Cuba as a unitary socialist republic, in which sovereignty rests with the people and is exercised through a variety of linked organs, notably the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and the National Assembly of People’s Power. The head of state and the head of government is the president of the Council of State of the National Assembly of People’s Power. Fidel Castro became Cuba’s first president in 1976, when the post was founded under the new constitution; from 1959, until the post was abolished in 1976, he was prime minister. Castro was also commander-in-chief of the armed forces and first secretary of the PCC.

A.

Executive and Legislative

The supreme organ of state and sole legislative authority is the National Assembly of People’s Power, with 601 deputies elected for five-year terms. Since 1993, election to the assembly has been by direct, secret ballot; all citizens aged 16 or over are entitled to vote. Slates of candidates are drawn up by mass organizations, such as trade unions from lists approved by the PCC. The last elections were held in January 2003. No other parties were allowed to stand. The National Assembly elects a 31-member Council of State to carry out its functions when it is not in session; it meets regularly twice a year and can hold additional sessions. The Council of State is the highest representative of the state and exercises day-to-day legislative control. The president of the Council of State, as already mentioned, is also the head of state and government. Other members include a first vice-president and five other vice-presidents. Executive authority is vested in the Council of Ministers, Cuba’s chief administrative body. Members of the Council of Ministers are appointed by the National Assembly on the proposal of the head of state, who also chairs the council’s meetings. In addition to the president, the first vice-president and the vice-presidents of the Council of State are among its members. Within the Council of Ministers is a smaller executive committee.

B.

Political Parties

The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) is the sole political party. Its origins date from the 1920s when Cuba’s first Communist Party was founded. In its present form it came into existence in 1961 when various left-wing parties and movements merged to form the Organizaciones Revolucionarias Integradas (ORI—Integrated Revolutionary Organizations). The ORI became the United Party of the Socialist Revolution in Cuba in 1963, and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in October 1965. The PCC is described by the constitution as “the leading force of society and the state”. Its highest authority is the party congress, which elects a central committee of 225 members to support the party’s work. The central committee, in turn, elects a political bureau (politburo; 26 members) to direct policy. Castro has been first secretary of the party since 1965.

C.

Judiciary

The People’s Supreme Court is the supreme judicial authority, accountable only to the National Assembly of People’s Power, which also elects its member judges. There are also seven regional courts of appeal, and provincial and municipal judicial districts. Provincial districts have separate courts for civil and criminal actions; municipal courts tend to deal with less serious crime. Judges to the provincial and municipal courts are elected by their respective assemblies of people’s power.

D.

Local Government

The country is divided into 14 provinces, a special municipality (Isla de la Juventud), and 169 municipalities. Members of the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power, which sit for 30-month terms, are elected by direct secret ballots. In turn, the Municipal Assemblies elect the Provincial Assemblies of People’s Power, also for 30-month terms. The assemblies appoint their respective executive committees from lists drawn up by a PCC commission.

E.

Health and Welfare

Life expectancy is almost 75.3 years for males and 80 years for females, while the infant mortality rate is about 6 per 1,000 live births (2007). These rates are the best in Latin America, and not far below those of the United States and other western industrialized nations. They reflect the priority given by the Cuban administration to the provision of universal and free health care and education. In 1990 20.4 per cent of the national budget was spent on education and public health. Around 95 per cent of the population has been vaccinated against 11 diseases; some of these, including polio, diphtheria, measles, and mumps, have been eradicated.

F.

Defence

The president of the republic is head of the national defence council, as well as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Cuba’s armed forces totalled about 49,000 in 2004, including ready reservists serving 45 days a year and conscripts; conscription is for 2 years. The country also has various paramilitary forces, including 15,000 state security troops and the 70,000-strong Youth Labour Army. An armed civilian militia was established in 1980; in the mid-1990s it numbered about 1.3 million men and women. The number of personnel in the armed forces has been cut drastically during the 1990s as a result of the ending of Soviet military aid, which had enabled the maintenance of a disproportionately large military establishment. Almost all of Cuba’s military equipment was made in the USSR.

Despite repeated complaints and strong hostility from Cuba, the United States continues to maintain a military base at Guantánamo Bay on the southern coast of the island, with some 2,500 naval and marine personnel. The base was established on land leased under a 1934 treaty that was reconfirmed in 1963, and which provides that only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease. The 3,000-strong military unit maintained by the Soviet Union in Cuba after 1964 was unilaterally withdrawn in 1991.

G.

International Organizations

Cuba is a member of the United Nations, the Latin American Integration Association, and the Latin American Economic System. The country is a member of the ACP Group (the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States) but Cuba is the only member country not to be a signatory to the Cotonou Agreement (with the European Union).

VI.

History

The earliest known inhabitants of Cuba were the Ciboney, who migrated from Florida and spread throughout the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles. Archaeological evidence has been found along the coast and rivers, where they lived in small groups. A settlement of about 100 people in Cuba is the largest Ciboney settlement ever found. They were hunter-gatherers. They caught fish, iguanas, small rodents, birds, and snakes, and gathered wild fruits and roots but did not cultivate plants. They had primitive tools but no knowledge of pottery. The Ciboney were eventually absorbed by peoples migrating from the Guianas in South America, now known as Arawak, although when Christopher Columbus arrived they called themselves Tainos. They had excellent boat-building and fishing techniques, and also introduced farming skills by cultivating and improving wild plants. Their staple food was cassava, but they also grew yams, maize, cotton, arrowroot, peanuts, beans, cacao, spices, and tobacco. They used cotton to make clothes and hammocks, and the calabash tree to make ropes and baskets, and for roofing. They had pottery and were skilled at woodwork, while their tools were made of wood, stone, shell, or coral. Their society was essentially communal and organized around families, but where larger settlements developed there would be a head man, or woman, called a cacique, who dealt with disputes and defence, and who represented the tribe.

A.

Colonization by Spain

The arrival of the Spanish in 1492 signalled the beginning of the end for the Native Americans of Cuba. Livestock was allowed to roam and destroy their unfenced clearings, taxes were extracted from them, and they were forced into slavery in the mines and plantations. They had no immunity against European diseases and eventually died out.

Columbus did not realize that Cuba was an island. It was first circumnavigated by Sebastián de Ocampo in 1508 and conquered in 1511 by Diego de Velázquez de Cuéllar, who founded several towns, including Baracoa (1511), Santiago de Cuba (1514), and Havana (1515). Cuba became a supply base for expeditions to Mexico and Florida, and when indigenous labour died out, the Spanish imported African slaves to work in the mines and plantations. Sugar was introduced in the 16th century, while tobacco was so valuable that in 1717 it was made a monopoly of Spain. Coffee was introduced in 1748. There were frequent raids by buccaneers and naval units of rival and enemy powers, but the island prospered. The British captured and held Havana in 1762-1763, but it was returned to Spain in exchange for Florida at the end of the Seven Years’ War. Between 1774 and 1817 the population increased from about 161,000 to more than 550,000. Restrictions on the colony’s trade with anyone other than Spain were gradually eased in response to local pressure. The tobacco monopoly was abolished in 1816 and Cuba was given the right to trade with the world in 1818.

B.

Road to Independence

In the 1820s, however, independence from Spain began to be discussed as Spanish rule became more repressive. Blacks outnumbered whites, and there were several slave rebellions. Gradually the criollos (Spaniards born in Cuba) came to sympathize with them. During the 1830s the independence movement gained momentum as a result of the despotic governorship of Captain General Miguel de Tacón. A slave uprising in 1837 was savagely repressed, and the poet Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés was shot. Revolts and conspiracies against the Spanish regime dominated Cuban political life throughout the remainder of the century. A movement in 1848 to 1851 for annexation of the island to the United States ended with the capture and execution of its leader, the Spanish-American general Narciso López. Offers by various US governments to purchase the island were repeatedly rejected by Spain. In 1868 revolutionaries under the leadership of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes proclaimed Cuban independence. The ensuing Ten Years’ War was a costly struggle for both Spain and Cuba. It achieved little except the effective abolition of slavery, which had been officially forbidden since 1847. In 1893 the equal status of blacks and whites was proclaimed.

Continued discontent culminated in another revolution in 1895 under the leadership of the writer and patriot José Martí and General Máximo Gómez y Báez. In 1898 the United States intervened after the sinking of its battleship Maine (attributed to Spain) in Havana harbour, precipitating the Spanish-American War. Spain was defeated later in the year and relinquished sovereignty over Cuba. US troops occupied the island and a US military administration ran the country.

C.

US Domination

The first president of Cuba, Tomás Estrada Palma, took office in 1902, but the United States retained naval bases at Río Hondo and Guantánamo Bay, and reserved the right of intervention in Cuban domestic affairs. During the US occupation, certain improvements, such as the eradication of yellow fever, were made. Yet at the same time US corporate interests invested heavily in the Cuban economy and acquired control of many of Cuba’s resources, especially the sugar industry. By the 1920s Cuban finance, agriculture, and industry were dominated by the United States. Popular dissatisfaction with this state of affairs was aggravated by recurring instances of fraud and corruption in Cuban politics. Uprisings and US interventions occurred in 1906 and 1912.

In 1924 the Liberal Party leader, Gerardo Machado y Morales, was elected President on a reform platform. However, economic conditions deteriorated rapidly. He embarked on an ambitious public works programme that was financed by heavy borrowing abroad. Gradually he took on dictatorial powers and brutally suppressed all opposition. In 1933 he was forced into exile by an army uprising, led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista Zaldívar, and there followed a period of violence and unrest with frequent changes of government. In 1934 the United States relinquished the right to intervene in Cuban affairs by abrogating the Platt Amendment. The move was an effort to quell popular discontent at the repressive government of the country. During this period Batista consolidated his power. A puppet president was installed in 1936; in 1940 Batista himself, now a self-proclaimed general, won the elections and became president. In 1944 his political opponent, Ramón Grau San Martín, the candidate of a broad coalition of parties, won the presidential elections. He was succeeded in 1948 by Carlos Prío Socarrás. During the 1940s fluctuations in the price of sugar and spiralling inflation led to food shortages, resulting in further violence and unrest.

D.

The Batista Regime

In 1952 Batista seized power with the support of the army, suspended the constitution, dissolved congress, and instituted a provisional government, promising elections the next year. After crushing an uprising in Oriente Province led by a young lawyer, Fidel Castro, in 1953, the regime seemed secure, and when the political situation had been calmed, elections were held in 1954. Batista was elected unopposed as other candidates and their supporters had been intimidated and terrorized. He restored constitutional rule and granted amnesty to political prisoners, including Castro, who chose exile in the United States and later in Mexico. However, on December 2, 1956, Castro landed in Cuba with a force of some 80 insurgents. They were crushed by the army, but Castro escaped to the mountains, where he organized the 26th of July Movement, so called to commemorate the 1953 uprising. For the next year, Castro’s forces used guerrilla tactics to oppose the Batista government and won considerable popular support. On March 17, 1958, Castro called for a general revolt. His forces made steady gains through the remainder of the year, and on January 1, 1959, Batista resigned and fled the country. A provisional government was established. Although he initially renounced office, Castro became premier in mid-February. In the early weeks of the regime military tribunals tried many former Batista associates, and about 550 were executed. See Cuban Revolution.

E.

Cuba Under Castro

From 1960 onward, Castro led Cuba into communism in the face of increasing hostility from the United States. All farms of over 67 hectares (165 acres) were nationalized and the government expropriated without compensation an estimated US$1,000 million in US-owned properties. The US government imposed a trade embargo and in January 1961 broke off diplomatic relations. In April of that year US-supported and trained anti-Castro exiles landed in southern Cuba in the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion. Ninety of the invaders were killed, and some 1,200 were captured and ransomed for food and medicines worth about US$53 million. A further crisis occurred in 1962 when the United States discovered Soviet-supplied missile installations in Cuba. US President John Kennedy imposed a naval blockade to prevent further Soviet arms shipments reaching the island, and for some days nuclear war seemed imminent until the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to dismantle and remove the weapons (see Cuban Missile Crisis). US-Cuban relations have remained hostile and the United States has continued to support Cuban exiles and anti-Castro movements. It has also maintained its trade embargo and tried to isolate Cuba. In 1962 Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS). It was accused of attempting to foment rebellions in Venezuela, Guatemala, Bolivia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Grenada. Che Guevara, a co-revolutionary and key aide to Castro, was captured and summarily executed while leading a guerrilla group in Bolivia in 1967.

Cuba moved closer to the Soviet Union in response to the US policy, and began to depend heavily on financial assistance from the Eastern bloc (see Economy section above). In 1972 several pacts were signed with the USSR covering financial aid, trade, and deferment of Cuban debt payments; Cuba also became a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). The first congress of the Cuban Communist Party was held in 1975. The following year a new constitution was adopted. Among other provisions, it increased the number of provinces from 6 to 14 and created an indirectly elected National Assembly. The new assembly chose Fidel Castro as head of state and of government. In 1975 Cuban combat forces were actively engaged on the African continent, fighting for the Marxist faction in Angola. Cuban troops later shored up the Marxist regime in Ethiopia, and by 1980 had expanded into the Middle East (Southern Yemen). The Cuban presence was generally seen by the West as the spearhead of a growing Soviet thrust in the Middle East and Africa. In return, the Cuban economy was supplemented by some US$3 million in daily Soviet aid. Despite its relationship with the USSR, the Cuban government played down its support of revolution in Latin America, and began to pursue more normal diplomatic relations with Cuba’s neighbours. By the mid-1970s relations with most countries of the region had been re-established, and the OAS lifted sanctions against Cuba. In 1979 Cuba played host to a meeting of the Non-Aligned Nations, at which Castro was chosen as the group’s leader for the following three years.

In 1988 Cuba terminated its activities in Angola under an agreement with the United States and South Africa. Relations with the United States improved temporarily, but in 1989 and 1990 developments in the USSR and Eastern Europe provoked Castro to defend the Cuban system of government. The Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party adopted resolutions in 1990 designed to strengthen the municipal and provincial assemblies and transform the National Assembly into a genuine parliament. In February 1993 the first direct and secret elections for the National Assembly and for provincial assemblies were held. Despite calls from opponents abroad for voters to register a protest by spoiling their ballot or not voting, the official results showed that 99.6 per cent of the electorate voted with 92.6 per cent of votes cast valid.

F.

The “Special Period”

In 1992 US president George Bush approved the Cuban Democracy Act (Torricelli Bill), which strengthened the trade embargo by forbidding US subsidiaries from trading with Cuba. This brought opposition from Canada and many European countries and the UN General Assembly voted in favour of a resolution calling for an end to the embargo. The election of President Bill Clinton did nothing to change US policy on Cuba, partly because of the support given to his campaign by Cuban exiles in Miami. The tightening of the embargo, together with the collapse of aid from the former Soviet Union, and higher oil prices brought the Cuban economy to its knees. The government was forced to impose emergency measures and declare a “special period in peace time”. Rationing was increased, fuel was scarce, the bureaucracy was slashed, and several hundred arrests were made in a drive against corruption. A hurricane in 1993 caused even more economic damage, estimated at US$1,000 million, which hit exports as well as food for domestic consumption.

By mid-1994 economic frustration and discontent had spurred thousands of Cubans to flee their country. In a mass exodus during 1994, refugees sailed to Florida on any home-made craft they could invent. It is estimated that in one month 30,000 left the island. The United States was forced to discuss the situation with Cuba. An existing agreement whereby the United States would grant a maximum annual quota of 20,000 visas for Cubans to enter the United States had been half-heartedly applied, with only 2,059 visas approved in January-August 1994. The United States now committed itself to accepting at least 20,000 Cubans a year, plus the next-of-kin of US citizens; Cuba agreed to prevent further unauthorized migration. The Cuban administration then concentrated on its economic liberalization programme, allowing farmers’ markets to open up throughout the country to improve food supplies, permitting self-employment in certain sectors to absorb redundancies from the public sector, and allowing Cubans to hold dollars. New laws were also passed for the mining sector and foreign investment to encourage capital inflows.

However, 1996 was another US election year and Cuba came under renewed pressure from anti-Castro groups. A group of exiles based in Miami had been flying over Cuba, dropping leaflets, despite warnings against violating Cuban airspace. In February 1996 Cuba shot down two light aircraft over Cuban airspace, killing the crew and provoking an outcry in the United States. President Clinton then reversed his previous opposition to new legislation designed to tighten and internationalize the trade embargo, and signed into law the Helms-Burton Act (the Cuban Liberty and Solidarity Act). This law allows legal action against any company outside the US benefiting from property in Cuba expropriated since the 1959 revolution, referred to as trafficking in US assets. It brought universal condemnation. President Clinton suspended for six months the section permitting lawsuits, which was then suspended indefinitely in January 1997, although it remained law. The EU applied to the World Trade Organization for a ruling on the legality of legislation that crosses borders. Mexico and Canada, partners with the United States in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), also opposed it, as did the 19 Latin American countries, and Spain and Portugal, which made up the Ibero-American summit. Most countries, including Cuba, passed their own laws to make it illegal to comply with the US law. Although Spain was in favour of putting more pressure on Castro to implement political reforms, and suspended its aid programme, the EU decided to continue its humanitarian aid and economic cooperation, holding out the prospect of increased assistance “as the Cuban authorities make progress towards democracy”.

Meanwhile, Castro remained adamant that one party was sufficient for Cuba although there have been growing demands for the further democratization of the PCC: seeking to streamline the administration, Castro in 1993 carried out a government reshuffle that led to the creation of new ministries with broader functions. For example, the Ministry of Economy and Planning absorbed the functions of several state committees and the Central Planning Commission. Another reshuffle in 1995 seemed to give further impetus to the economic reform programme. Osvaldo Martinez, an economist who had played a leading role in formulating the programme, was made economic and planning minister. During 1997 the provisions of the US Helms-Burton Act (see Commerce and Trade section above) continued to jeopardize international trade in Cuba. The fifth congress by the ruling Communist Party was held in October 1997, the first for six years. Despite the limited economic reforms in Cuba and the call for “necessary economic transformations”, the congress underlined its commitment to the single-party system. The congress ended with the grand state burial of the bones of Che Guevara.

In January 1998, Pope John Paul II visited Cuba. It was the first papal visit of Castro's regime. As part of a wider effort to improve relations between the State and the Catholic Church, the reinstatement of Christmas as a permanent, annual holiday in Cuba was recommended. The festivity had been banned in 1969. January 1, 1999, was the 40th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, and Castro marked the occasion with a speech denouncing global capitalism and praising the achievements of the revolution.

Havana hosted the ninth Ibero-American summit, in November 1999, attended by 23 heads of state and government of Latin American countries, Spain, and Portugal. This was another attempt at bringing Cuba out of international isolation. The summit was, however, boycotted by several leaders. The tenth summit, in November 2000, was held in Panama City and attended by all leaders, who unanimously called for the repeal of the Helms-Burton Act. In December 1999 the first American direct flight from New York for nearly 40 years landed in Havana, a further expression of the pressure US business interests have been applying to the federal government.

In 1999 and 2000 a legal controversy raged between Cuba and the United States around the case of Elián Gonzáles, a five-year-old Cuban boy whose mother and stepfather drowned, together with a further nine Cuban nationals, while trying to reach the coast of Florida in November 1999. Elián was rescued and put in the care of his relatives in Miami. The boy's natural father, however, backed by all four grandparents and Fidel Castro, demanded his return to Cuba. The US immigration service, the INS, had decided that Elián could not remain in the United States, as only his father, and not his Miami relatives, could file for asylum. The affair roused strong anti-Castro feelings among Cuban-Americans, who held major demonstrations in Miami and other US cities to protest against the government’s decision. After the US Supreme Court appeals and all other legal avenues attempted by the relatives had been exhausted, Elián returned to Cuba in June 2000. The end to the saga was largely seen as a victory for Castro over the Cuban-American community in Florida, which has long been a significant force behind US restrictions on Cuba.

The holding of the first South Summit, by the G-77 group of developing nations, in Havana was another clear indication of the weakening of Cuba’s international isolation, and the willingness of other nations to risk US anger by supporting Cuba. The summit, in April 2000, issued the Havana Declaration, highlighting the need for more to be done to decrease the wealth gap between rich and poor in the world, and calling for a unified stance among the group in international forums, so as to negotiate more effectively with richer nations.

In a further thawing of relations with the United States, food exports to Cuba from the US began again for the first time in 40 years. Russia, meanwhile, closed its last military base on the island in October 2001. In June of the same year, Castro named his brother, Raúl Castro, as his successor.

After the military campaign in Afghanistan in the autumn of 2001, following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the US in September, captured prisoners from the fighting—suspected members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group—were detained by the Americans at Camp X-Ray at Guantánamo Bay, south-east Cuba. Former US president Jimmy Carter visited the island in May 2002, making him the most senior American political figure to visit Cuba since the 1959 Cuban Revolution. He called for the United States to lift its trade embargo against the island.

In July 2006 Castro underwent emergency surgery and “temporarily” handed over power to the defence minister, Raúl Castro. However, he failed to recover satisfactorily and was rarely seen in public thereafter. Fidel stood down as president in early 2008 and Raúl was officially elected president of the National Assembly in February. Foreign observers urged Cuba to take the opportunity to adopt a more democratic and open approach to politics under the new regime but the assembly’s response consisted of electing another former hardline revolutionary leader, José Ramón Machado Ventura, as Raúl Castro’s vice-president.