About Cuba...
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean with a population of over 11 million people. Columbus spotted the island soon after landing on San Salvador in the Bahamas in 1492. It was then inhabited by the Tainos, a subgroup of the Arawaks. Claiming it for Spain, the island became the new “sugar-bowl” of the Caribbean during the time of the Haitian Revolution (late 1700s to early 1800s).
Beginning in 1868, Cuban independentistas fought against the Spanish in an effort to win their freedom from colonial rule. (Jose Marti, a poet and leader, was the most famous member of the independentistas.) While the United States entered the conflict on the side of the Cubans, when Spain finally surrendered in 1898 they surrendered not to the Cubans but to the U.S. In 1902, the U.S. ensured that the Platt Amendment (giving the U.S. a right to intervene in the country) was written into the Cuban Constitution.
And they subsequently used it to intervene twenty-three years later when, according to historians of Cuba, the U.S. helped install a dictator, Gerardo Machado. Later, the U.S. supported the regime of Fulgencio Batista (elected 1940-44 and dictator from 1952-1959), despite the fact that he had allied himself with organized crime leaders from the U.S. (such as Meyer Lansky) who were heavily invested in Cuba and who profited from gambling, liquor, and prostitution.
Cuba became “America's playground” as wealthy Americans traveled to Havana to enjoy themselves. According to these historians, the Mafia made sure that Batista remained in power so that they could continue to earn huge profits from their casinos while the people of Cuba lived in penury.
The Batista regime was toppled in 1959 by a revolution begun by university students (including Fidel Castro) and joined by peasants in the countryside. U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon turned the young Cuban representative, Castro, away when he came to the U.S. to ask for aid after the revolution. The government refused to help, subsequently causing the Cubans to turn to the Soviet Union. At that point the Cubans declared their revolution to be “socialist” and Cuba became the nemesis of the U.S.
In 1961, under President John F. Kennedy, the U.S. through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained 1500 exiles in order to re-take Cuba in the “Bay of Pigs” invasion. They were turned back by the Cubans in 72 hours. At that point, the U.S. began the embargo against Cuba that still remains in place today. A year later, during the “Cold War,” a nuclear war seemed to be imminent. What came to be called the “Cuban Missile Crisis” ended when Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev (1894-1971) backed down and removed the missiles they had placed in Cuba. Since then (between 1960 and 1964), according to declassified documents, the CIA attempted to assassinate Fidel Castro at least twelve times.
Because of the embargo, it is illegal for U.S. citizens to spend money in Cuba unless they have been granted a special Treasury Department license to do so. While Cuban-Americans in Miami have lobbied the federal government to allow them to visit and to send money to their relatives, ordinary U.S. citizens' right to travel was greatly restricted under the Bush Administration when Cuban-Americans were restricted to visiting Cuba only every three years.
Only those who belong to religious missionary groups, performing groups, or medical groups were granted licenses. Those seeking degrees in higher education were able to obtain licenses, but under the Bush rules, no longer were allowed to do so. Nevertheless, U.S. citizens continued to visit Cuba by catching connecting flights from Jamaica, the Bahamas, Canada, or Mexico. If caught, under the law they could face a fine of up to $55,000 and seven years in jail (the average fine was $7,500). According to the Latin America Working Group, a 2007 poll taken by Florida International University found that 65% of Cuban-Americans polled support a dialogue with the Cuban government and 55.5% support unrestricted travel to Cuba for all Americans. Under the Obama administration, many of these restrictions were loosened but then reversed by the Trump administration. President Biden has reversed some of Trump’s restrictions, but not many of them. For example, it is still illegal to return to the U.S. with rum and cigars.
When one visits the island, it is readily apparent that the Cuban people are able to separate the U.S. government from its citizens. They welcome Americans and are eager to talk and socialize with them. They are vibrant, creative people who enjoy themselves with their neighbors. When not working they stay outside as much as possible, strolling along the streets or having get-togethers where they eat, make music, and dance together. The government sponsors frequent festivals and musical events that are free to all. Because guns are not allowed, there is hardly any murder in Cuba. If fights break out, they are fistfights that usually do not result in the death of the combatants. Moreover, Cubans are outside much of the evenings where it is safe for women and even children to walk alone freely. Ironically, in this sense there is a type of personal freedom in Cuba that no longer exists in the U.S. In Cuba, parents are not worried when children roam their neighborhoods and play where they will.
The perception also exists that Cubans, as socialists, are not allowed to practice religion. After all, philosopher Karl Marx wrote that “religion is the opiate of the people.” He believed that religion would not be necessary once people lived in a system that truly satisfied their basic human needs (food, clothing and shelter) as well as higher-level needs such as health care, education, a meaningful job, creative expression, and access to rural wilderness areas. Unlike the stereotypes of Cubans as wealthy, white and Catholic (which they may be in Miami), the Cuban people themselves do not fit the stereotype. There is indeed religion in Cuba. One may find Protestant and Catholic churches there where visitors are welcome, but more predominant are the creolized Afro-Cuban religions known as “Santeria/Ifa,” “Palo Monte,” and more.
Cuban culture is so rooted in African tradition that it is difficult to find any segment of art, custom, or religion that does not contain a vestige of Africa. People wearing colorful beaded bracelets or necklaces are practitioners of one of the varieties of the Afro-Cuban religions and, if you befriend them, they are usually willing to share their experiences with you, or even allow you to attend a private event with them.
There also are Jewish and Muslim worshippers in Havana.