Cuba

The largest Caribbean island, held by Spain longest and then by a revolution that outlasted the Cold War that framed it. Cuba was Spain's administrative centre in the Caribbean and became the world's largest sugar producer on enslaved African labour, which was not abolished until 1886. Jose Marti's war of independence from 1895 was nearly won when the United States intervened in 1898, and the settlement left Cuba independent under the Platt Amendment, which granted an American right to intervene and the base at Guantanamo that is still held. Fulgencio Batista's rule and Havana's casinos preceded Fidel Castro's guerrilla campaign and the revolution of January 1959. Expropriation, an American embargo from 1960, the failed Bay of Pigs landing in 1961 and the missile crisis of October 1962 - the closest the world came to nuclear war - followed within four years. Soviet subsidy sustained the economy until 1991, after which the Special Period brought severe shortage. Cuba sent troops to Angola and doctors almost everywhere, and its literacy and life expectancy match far wealthier countries. Castro handed power to his brother in 2008. Havana's old city is a World Heritage site. The country has about eleven million people. It is roughly the size of England and about a hundred and fifty kilometres from Florida. Cuban music forms - son, mambo, cha-cha-cha - shaped popular music across the hemisphere. Vintage American cars survive because imports were restricted for decades. Emigration has increased sharply since 2021. The island produces cigars widely regarded as the world’s finest, and tobacco remains a significant export.

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