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Cuba… … "the loveliest land ever beheld by human eyes." Christopher Columbus (Oct 28 1492). Cuba?. Cuba was discovered by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage in 1492. He was very impressed by the beauty of the island. Cuba means “central place” in Taino (Indian) language.
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Cuba…… "the loveliest land ever beheld by human eyes." Christopher Columbus (Oct 28 1492)
Cuba? • Cuba was discovered by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage in 1492. He was very impressed by the beauty of the island. • Cuba means “central place” in Taino (Indian) language. • Cuba is the largest island, the most varied and is considered by many as the most beautiful of the Greater Antilles.
Geographic position • The Republic of Cuba is situated in the largest of the territories which form the Antilles or West Indies, located at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, between the Yucatán and Florida peninsulas. • Its northern and western coasts are bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, and its southern shores by the Caribbean Sea.
Landforms • Cuba has 3 main mountain ranges: La Sierra de los Organos in the west, La Sierra del Escambray in the central region, and La Sierra Maestra in the southeast. • Cuba's highest mountain is Pico Real del Turquino and is almost 2,000 meters above sea level. • The remaining Cuban territory consists of fertile plains used for growing sugar cane and tobacco. • Most rivers in Cuba are relatively short and the water currents are quite strong. They flow through the mountains. • Cuba's longest river is the Cauto River in the east. It is about 370 km long.
Facts… • The Cuban archipelago has a surface area of 110,922 square kilometers and consists of the Island of Cuba, the Isle of Youth, and more than 4,500 keys and islets. It is long and thin in shape, similar to an alligator. • Total area: 42,803 sq mi (110,860 sq km) • Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to October) • July and August are the hottest months. During January, Cuba's coolest month, temperatures average 21°C. Cuba is subject to violent hurricanes, particularly in the autumn. • Natural resources: cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, copper, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land.
Facts… • Population (2007 est.): 11,416,987 • Capital and largest city: Havana (2, 686, 000) • Language: Spanish • Government: Communist State (Single-party state) • Currency: Peso and CUC (Convertible peso) • Ethnicity/race: mulatto 51%, white 37%, black 11%, chinese 1% • Religions: Predominantly Roman Catholic and Santería (Afro-Cuban syncretic religion) • Literacy rate: 97 %
Short History of Cuba • 27 Oct 1492 - Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba. • 1522 - After the decimation of the indigenous population, colonial landowners bring in African slaves to work the fields. • 6 Jun 1762 - British capture Havana. Cuba is opened up for world trade. They exchange the colony for Florida less than one year later. • 10 Oct 1868 - The Ten Years War starts. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, a lawyer and plantation owner, starts an uprising with other latifundistas (white landowners born in Cuba) that leads to a war for independence. • 1879 - "The Little War" begins. The truce from the Ten Years War has barely lasted a year. American investors start to heavily buy into the Cuban economy, left in ruins from over a decade of war with Spain. • 1886 - Slavery is abolished. • 1895 - War for Independence. José Martí, anti-colonialist, returns from exile in the United States to organize the rebellion. 15 Feb 1898 - Havana Harbour: U.S.. Maine is destroyed. The United States enters the war. • 10 Dec 1898 - Treaty of Paris is signed. Spain loses their colonies in Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the United States. Cuba gains independence from Spain. Independence Day will now be celebrated every December 10. The United States maintains military control over the island. • 1901 - Platt Agreement is signed. Cuba cannot ally with other nations, nor make treaties. The United States alone are allowed military bases on the island, and may intervene militarily whenever they deem necessary. The agreement remains in tact until 1934.
Short History of Cuba • 20 May 1902 - Cuba is freed from the constraints of the U.S. administration. President elect Tomás Estrada Palma is sworn in. • 1925 - Gerardo Machado becomes president. His regime is one of the most corrupt and exploitative in the island's political history. • 1940 - Fulgencio Batista is elected president with almost 60% of the vote. He remains president for only four years. • 10 Mar 1952 - Carlos Prío's government is overthrown by Fulgencio Batista's military coup. Batista becomes dictator. • 1 Jan 1959 - The Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro overthrows Batista after months of guerilla warfare. He sets up a provisional government. Batista flees the country. • 17 Apr 1961 - The Bay of Pigs. Cuban exiles attempt to invade the island and overthrow Castro's regime. • October 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cold War escalates when Khrushchev strategically places ballistic missiles in Cuba. Kennedy denounces the actions by the Soviets. He instills a naval blockade and warns the Russians that if they launch a missile from Cuba, the United States will retaliate with full force against the Soviets. The crisis is averted when Russian ships carrying missiles to Cuba turn back on October 24 and Khrushchev agrees to dismantle the sites. • 1990 - Cuba endures a massive recession due to the collapse of the U.S.S.R • July 31, 2006 - Raúl Castro assumed the duties of President of the Council of State in a temporary transfer of power due to Fidel Castro's illness.
Daily life in Cuba • There is not only one Cuba. There are several. One for the ruling class and another for tourists, diplomats and other foreign visitors. • Ordinary Cubans have to “invent” the money. Monthly salary is about 10 USD per month. Everybody steals something that sells to buy other articles. (Black market) • Transportation in Cuba begins with bicycles, continues with some native [criollos] tricycle called "bicitaxis" and includes huge trucks with bus cabins, called "camellos" (camels), to finish at high levels with Mercedes-Benz taxis.
Monthly, per person in Havana: 6 pounds of rice 3 pounds of brown sugar 3 pounds of refined sugar 20 ounces of beans (green peas or lentils) 12 ounces of coffee Half a liter of oil (every two or three months) 10 ounces of salt One quarter pound of ground beef/soy mixture Half a pound of mortadella (every two months) 1 pound of fish 6 eggs 1 bar of laundry soap (every two months) 1 bar of bath soap (every two months) 1, 80-gram, loaf of soft bread, (daily) 1 tube of toothpaste (every two months for three people) Daily life in CubaCubans have to buy food under the ration card (Libreta de abastecimiento).
Cuba is like a museum, everything is old: cars, houses, furniture, clothes (from before 1959)
Education • Classes from: September to July • Kindergarten (4-6) • Primary (6-11) • Basic Secondary (12-15) • Upper secondary (15-18) • Higher education: Higher education is provided by universities, higher institutes, higher pedagogical institutes, centers of higher education and higher polytechnic institutes. All institutions of education are public.
Education in Cuba • When UNESCO gave math and language tests to third- and fourth-graders in 13 Latin American countries, researchers were stunned to find that pupils in Cuba's lowest-income schools outperformed most upper-middle-class students in the rest of the region. • This test data confirmed years of anecdotal evidence that Cuba's primary schools are by far the best in Latin America, and maybe better than schools in neighboring Florida. (Martin Carnoy-Stanford University) • Cuban children excel academically for fairly straightforward reasons: They attend schools intensely focused on instruction staffed by well-trained, regularly supervised teachers in a social environment that is dedicated to high achievement for all. • Cuban children grow up in a society that is strictly controlled but which supports children's health. • Even children from disadvantaged families are provided good nutrition, attend school regularly and do their homework.
Education in Cuba • School attendance is compulsory High School Curriculum • Subjects (mandatory) • Math • Chemistry • Spanish • English • Biology • History and Philosophy • Geography • Literature • Physical Education • Physics • Astronomy • Music, Art or Vocational activities • Besides their curriculum activities, students are required to work in agriculture three times a week. (Students clearing land where sugar cane will be planted)
Healthcare System • Cuba is also distinguished by something far more enticing to the students and staff of the Harvard School of Public Health--its health care system. • Following the Revolution, the new Cuban government asserted that universal healthcare was to become a priority of state planning. • Like the rest of the Cuban economy, Cuban medical care has suffered from severe material shortages following the end of Soviet subsidies and the ongoing United States embargo against Cuba that began after the Cuban Missile Crisis. • In Cuba, a nation beset by severely limited resources and political tensions both internal and external, these health markers are essentially the same as those in the United States and other parts of the industrialized world.
What people think about US • Cuban Government has spent 50 years saying that the United States Government is responsible for the situation of poverty in Cuba (Embargo) • Because Cubans don’t have Internet, international television and they cannot travel freely, they cannot make comparisons • But Cubans have families in United States and know that US is a wonderful country. • Cubans are very open and warm people and they can give you their bed if you go to visit them.
Cuban paradox • Cubans have Education and Healthcare for free but they don’t have FREEDOM. • They cannot choose • Government directs their lives. • They can study but they cannot have a future. They cannot have dreams…
People are coming to US to escape And they die trying
CUBA WOULD BE A WONDERFUL COUNTRY WITHOUT COMMUNISM…because the most important thing in our lives is the FREEDOM.You don’t know how lucky you are for living in this country where you have EVERYTHING.Don’t waste your time!THINK how other people fight everyday to get FREEDOM and achieve their DREAMS.video
