The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement and occasional rebellions were harshly suppressed. US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from Spain in 1898 and, following three-and-a-half years of subsequent US military rule, Cuba became an independent republic in 1902 after which the island experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians. Fidel Castro led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his authoritarian rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He handed off the presidency in February 2008 to his younger brother Raul Castro. Cuba’s communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, hand-picked by Raul Castro to succeed him, was approved as president by the National Assembly and took office on 19 April 2018. Diaz-Canel was appointed First Secretary of the Communist Party on 19 April 2021 following the retirement of Raul Castro, and continues to serve as both president and first secretary.
Cuba traditionally and consistently portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source of its difficulties. As a result of efforts begun in December 2014 to reestablish diplomatic relations with the Cuban Government, which were severed in January 1961, the US and Cuba reopen embassies in their respective countries in July 2015. The embargo remains in place, and the relationship between the US and Cuba remains tense.
Illicit migration of Cuban nationals to the US via maritime and overland routes has been a longstanding challenge. On January 12, 2017, the US and Cuba signed a Joint Statement ending the so-called “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy – by which Cuban nationals who reached US soil were permitted to stay. Irregular Cuban maritime migration has dropped significantly since FY 2016, when migrant interdictions at sea topped 5,000, but land border crossings continue. In FY 2022, the US Coast Guard interdicted almost 10,000 Cuban nationals at sea. Also in FY 2022, 230,000 Cuban nationals presented themselves at various land border ports of entry throughout the US.
Economy
Still largely state-run planned economy, although privatization increasing under new constitution; widespread protests due to lack of basic necessities and electricity; massive foreign investment increases recently; known tobacco exporter; unique oil-for-doctors relationship with Venezuela; widespread corruption
Population
The population is 10,985,974 (2023 est.) which consists of White 64.1%, Mulatto or mixed 26.6%, Black 9.3% (2012 est.).
Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term Afro-Cuban can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural elements found in Cuban society such as race, religion, music, language, the arts and class culture.
According to a 2012 national census which surveyed 11.2 million Cubans, 1 million Cubans described themselves as Afro-Cuban or Black, while 3 million considered themselves to be “mulatto” or “mestizo“. Thus a significant proportion of those living on the island affirm some African ancestry. Although, there has been much discussion over the actual demographic composition of the island. While the 2012 national census showed that only 11% of Cubans reported themselves to be Afro-Cuban or Black, most international sources and independent studies have shown that the proportion of Cubans who are black or who have significant African genetic heritage is higher. A study by the University of Miami estimated that number to be 62%, noting that complex attitudes towards racial identification, and the de facto racial hierarchy that has existed on the island, have influenced lower figures. However, this figure of 62% was reached by using the one drop rule, which assumes any person with sub-Saharan African ancestry, regardless of the amount, is to be considered black. The one drop rule is not an accurate means of assessing a person’s racial identity.
A study from 2014 estimated the genetic admixture of the population of Cuba to be 72% European, 20% African and 8% Native American.
Although Afro-Cubans can be found throughout Cuba, Eastern Cuba has a higher concentration of Afro-Cubans than other parts of the island and Havana has the largest population of Afro-Cubans of any city in Cuba. Recently, many native African immigrants have been coming to Cuba, especially from Angola. Also, immigrants from Jamaica and Haiti have been settling in Cuba, most of whom settle in the eastern part of the island, due to its proximity to their home countries, further contributing to the already high percentage of blacks on that side of the island.
The percentage of Afro-Cubans on the island increased after the 1959 Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro due to mass migration from the island of the largely white Cuban professional class. A small percentage of Afro-Cubans left Cuba, mostly for the United States (particularly Florida), where they and their U.S.-born children are known as Afro-Cuban Americans, Cuban Americans, Hispanic Americans and African Americans. Only a few of them resided in the nearby Spanish-speaking country of Dominican Republic and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
The Minority Rights Group International says that “An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution”.
African countries such as Nigeria, the home of the Yoruba cultures and Spanish Guinea experienced an influx of ex-slaves from Cuba brought there as indentured servants during the 17th century and again during the 19th century. In Spanish Guinea, they became part of the Emancipados; in Nigeria, they were called Amaros. Despite being free to return to Cuba when their tenure was over, they remained in these countries marrying into the local indigenous population. The former slaves were brought to Africa by the Royal Orders of September 13, 1845 (by way of voluntary arrangement) and a June 20, 1861, deportation from Cuba, due to the lack of volunteers. Similar circumstances previously occurred during the 17th century where ex-slaves from both Cuba and Brazil were offered the same opportunity.
Angola also has communities of Afro-Cubans, Amparos. They are descendants of Afro-Cuban soldiers brought to the country in 1975 as a result of Cuban involvement in the Cold War. Fidel Castro deployed thousands of troops to the country during the Angolan Civil War. As a result of this era, there exists a small Spanish-speaking community in Angola of Afro-Cubans numbering about 100,000.
Haitian Creole language and culture first entered Cuba with the arrival of Haitian immigrants at the start of the 19th century. Haiti was then the French colony of Saint-Domingue and the final years of the 1791–1804 Haitian Revolution brought a wave of French settlers fleeing with their Haitian slaves to Cuba. They came mainly to the east, and especially Guantánamo, where the French later introduced sugar cultivation, constructed sugar refineries and developed coffee plantations. By 1804, some 30,000 Frenchmen were living in Baracoa and Maisí, the furthest eastern municipalities of the province. Later, Haitians continued to come to Cuba to work as braceros (Spanish for “manual laborers”) in the fields cutting cane. Their living and working conditions were not much better than slavery. Although they planned to return to Haiti, most stayed on in Cuba. For years, many Haitians and their descendants in Cuba did not identify themselves as such or speak Creole. In the eastern part of the island, many Haitians suffered discrimination. Classes in Creole are offered in Guantanamo, Matanzas and the City of Havana. There is a Creole-language radio program.
According to anthropologists dispatched by the European Union, racism is entrenched in Cuba. Afro-Cubans are systematically excluded from positions in tourism-related jobs, where they could earn tips in hard currencies. According to the EU study, Afro-Cubans are relegated to poor housing, and African Cubans are excluded from managerial positions.
Enrique Patterson, an afro-Cuban journalist and former University of Havana professor of Marxist philosophy, describes race as a “social bomb” and says that “If the Cuban government were to permit Afro-Cubans to organize and raise their problems before [authorities] … totalitarianism would fall”. Esteban Morales Domínguez, a professor at the University of Havana, says that “The absence of the debate on the racial problem already threatens … the revolution’s social project”. Carlos Moore, who has written extensively on the issue, says that “There is an unstated threat, Afro-cubans in Cuba know that whenever you raise race in Cuba, you go to jail. Therefore the struggle in Cuba is different. There cannot be a civil rights movement. You will instantly have 10,000 black people dead. […] The government is frightened to the extent to which it does not understand African Cubans today. You have a new generation of Afro-Cubans who are looking at politics in another way.” Barack Obama‘s victory has raised disturbing questions about institutional racism in Cuba. The Economist noted “The danger starts with his example: after all, a young, Afro-cuban, progressive politician has no chance of reaching the highest office in Cuba, although a majority of the island’s people are of mostly African descent”
In the years between the triumph of the revolution and the victory at Playa Girón the Cuban government was one of the world’s most proactive regimes in the fight against discrimination. It achieved significant gains in racial equality through a series of egalitarian reforms early in the 1960s. Fidel Castro‘s first public address on racism after his rise to power was on March 23, 1959, at a labor rally in Havana, less than three months after he defeated Fulgencio Batista. He is quoted as saying: “One of the most just battles that must be fought, a battle that must be emphasized more and more, which I might call the fourth battle.–the battle to end racial discrimination at work centers. I repeat: the battle to end racial discrimination at work centers. Of all the forms of racial discrimination the worst is the one that limits the colored Cuban’s access to jobs. ” Castro pointed to the distinction between social segregation and employment, while placing great emphasis on correcting the latter. In response to the large amount of racism that existed in the job market, Castro issued anti-discrimination laws. In addition, he attempted to close the class gap between wealthy white Cubans and Afro-Cubans with a massive literacy campaign among other egalitarian reforms in the early and mid-1960s. Two years after his 1959 speech at the Havana Labor Rally, Castro declared that the age of racism and discrimination was over. In a speech given at the Confederation of Cuban Workers in observance of May Day, Castro declared that the “just laws of the revolution ended unemployment, put an end to villages without hospitals and schools, enacted laws which ended discrimination, control by monopolies, humiliation, and the suffering of the people.” Although inspiring, many would consider the claim to be premature.”
Research conducted by Yesilernis Peña, Jim Sidanius and Mark Sawyer in 2003, suggests that social discrimination is still prevalent, despite the low levels of economic discrimination.] After considering the issue solved, the Cuban government moved beyond the issue of racism. His message marked a shift in Cuban society’s perception of racism that was triggered by the change in government focus.” The government’s announcement easily allowed the Cuban public to deny discrimination without first correcting the stereotypes that remained in the minds of those who grew up in a Cuba that was racially and economically divided. Many who argue that racism does not exist in Cuba base their claims on the idea of Latin American Exceptionalism. According to the argument of Latin American Exceptionality, a social history of intermarriage and mixing of the races is unique to Latina America. The large mestizo populations that result from high levels of interracial union common to Latin America are often linked to racial democracy. For many Cubans this translates into an argument of “racial harmony”, often referred to as racial democracy. In the case of Cuba, ideas of Latin American Exceptionalism have delayed the progress of true racial harmony.
In spite of all the promises and speeches by government leaders, racial discrimination against Afro-Cubans continues to be a major Human Rights issue for the Cuban government, even resulting in riots in Central Havana, a mostly black neighborhood in the capital.
During the 1920s and 1930s Cuba experienced a movement geared towards Afro-Cuban culture called Afrocubanismo. The movement had a large impact on Cuban literature, poetry, painting, music, and sculpture. It was the first artistic campaign in Cuba that focused on one particular theme: African culture. Specifically it highlighted the struggle for independence from Spain, African slavery, and building a purely Cuban national identity. Its goal was to incorporate African folklore and rhythm into traditional modes of art.