Cuba

General Info:

Cuba is a tropical island located in the northern Caribbean.  The

people are a mix of aboriginal, African and Spanish descent.

Capital: 

Havana

Famous Goods: 

cigars (ex. Cohiba)

rum (ex. Havana Club)

coffee

Famous Sport:

baseball

Famous Music:

song “Guantanamera” (means: "girl from Guantanamo")

salsa

rumba

mambo

Famous People: 

Fidel Castro - former leader of Cuba who came to power in 1959 as a result of the Cuban Revolution; his rebel forces overthrew Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship.  He is barely alive right now, and his brother Raul Castro has taken over.

Che Guevera - from Argentina, and was a proponent of Marxism/Socialism/Communism and wrote a manual on guerrilla warfare.  He helped Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution.  He took a motorcycle journey across South America.  He was captured and executed in Bolivia.

Jose Marti - Cuban poet and nationalist hero during the late 1800’s who fought for Cuba’s independence from Spain.

Politics To Know:

Communist country since 1959

Cuban exiles - many Cubans have tried to escape Cuba via makeshift rafts to Miami

Bay of Pigs invasion (1961) - US’s unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Castro’s government

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) - Soviet Union placed secret missiles in Cuba pointed toward the US as there was speculation that the US was going to invade Cuba.  It ended 2 weeks later.

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base - been used by the US navy for more than 100 years.  It is used as a military detention camp.  President Obama announced that he intends to shut down the prison because of human rights issues.