526 YEARS OF CUBAN HISTORY
IN 5.26 MINUTES
Cuban History to Cuba Today
Okay, so we kind of gloss over the history on Cuba during the play, but the main ideas are there. You could visit BBC news, historyofcuba.com, or wikipedia for their versions of Cuban history, and you should. But what you will find is that every source (including this one) can be told from many perspectives. And we all know that how the story is told actually shapes the story.
So here is our attempt at a quick-ish time line that starts with the Spanish Invasion of 1492. You will find block quotes in grey boxes that comes directly from Ines’ history lesson in Chapter 1 of ¡BIENVENIDOS BLANCOS!
“Where are you?… you are on an island you know?… This mysterious land just 90 miles south of Florida for so long untouchable. But you can grab it now….Go ahead put out your hand. Go ahead. Grab it. Go ahead, grab it! Harder! My name is Ines and I will be your tour guide along your journeys on this enchanting island. ”
Colonial Days
Do you want some history no? Well…The first to arrive were the Spaniards. 1492. Welcome Spaniards!
1492 Christopher Columbus arrives
They arrived to kill, kill, kill, and kill all the indigenous. In Cuba there are no indigenous. Spaniards bring slaves from Africa and started to produce sugar.
1526 Enslaved Africans taken to Cuba (ends in 1886)
Sugar, sugar, sugar. Cubans are sweet.
Unloading Ice. ICE, yes ice.
1762 British take Havana from Spain
1763 Treaty of Paris = Havana goes back to Spain
After a while the Spaniards and slaves had babies that were the first Cubans. Those new cubans got together and said, “We’re sick of the Spaniards!”
Wars of Independence
New century, war, war, war, Independence. Of course, with some help from our new friends from the north.
1868 – 1878 Ten Years War (ends with Spain making promises, tension remain and build )
1879 – 1880 The Little War (second of three main attempts at independence,
1878 – 1886 Slavery is gradually abolished
1895 – 1898 War of Independence, led by Jose Marti (who is killed by Spanish troops in 1895)
José Marti
1898 Treaty of Paris = Spain gives up Cuba to the US
US Involvement + Batista
But the Americans wanted to stay. And we didn’t care until they started to get ambitious.
1902: Platt Amendment- organizes Cuba’s provisional government but also insures US involvement and occupation of Cuba
1926: Fidel Castro is born in Holguín, Cuba
1928: Ernesto “Che” Guevara is born in Santa Fe, Argentina
1933: Fulgencio Batista leads a military coup. He serves as president and dictator at various times before retiring to Florida in 1944.
The Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami
1952: Batista returns, attempts to become president again, leads second military coup
1953: Fidel Castro attempts an unsuccessful revolt against Batista’s oppressive regime.
1956: Castro and Che Guevara launch a series of guerrilla wars to overthrow Batista
1958: The US withdraws military aid to Batista
1959: Batista overthrown by Castro (his brother, Raul, becomes his deputy and Guevara becomes third in command)
Castro Rule
1959: Castro forces Batista to flee. He becomes premier with his brother Raul as his deputy. Che Guevara is third in command.
Che, Raul, Fidel
DISSIDENTS OUT! Cubans in exile across the world. The next time you’re in Miami, say hello to my cousin Yajira!
1959 – 1962: First Wave of Cuban Immigration to the US: in response to the rise of Castro’s rule (upper and upper-middle class families and political dissidents). Including boat lifts and flights such as Operation Pedro Pan (14,000 children who were airlifted from Cuba to the US without their parents)
1960 – Washington breaks off all diplomatic relations with Havana.
Bay of Pigs, The Miami Herald / El Nuevo Herald
1961 – Bay of Pigs: Failed attempt to overthrow Castro: US sponsors an invasion with Cuban exiles and then withdraws support during the mission.
Americans out! Welcome Russians!
Communist State, USSR becomes an ally as Cuba is proclaimed a communist state
1962 – Cuban missile crisis – (US announces a blockade against Cuba, Castro agrees to allow the USSR to deploy nuclear missiles on the island. USSR removes the missiles in return for the withdrawal of US nuclear missiles from Turkey.)
Woodstock Whisperer
1965 – Cuba’s sole political party renamed the Cuban Communist Party.
1965 – 1974: Second Wave of Cuban Immigration to the US: Freedom Flights – after a chaotic Camarioca Boatlift, Cuba and the US agree to organized flights that allow approximately 300,000 Cubans to immigrate to Miami
Freedom Flights Miami Herald
1980: Third Wave of Cuban Immigration to the US: Mariel Boat lift – Fidel announces that anyone who wants to leave Cuba may do so. Boatlifts begin; the people who make it to Florida include Cubans who are released from jails and mental health institutes
Mariel Boat lift, wikimedia
But then the wall fell in Berlin. The Soviets fell and in Cuba there was hunger,
1989 – 1990’s The Special Period – the period of time when the USSR collapsed, causing a severe wave of scarcity of oil, fertilizer, food, and other goods in Cuba.
hunger, hunger, hunger. Survive, survive, survive.
1994 – now: Fourth Wave of Cuban Immigration to the US: This includes people arriving on rafts, visa lottery process, wet foot/dry foot policy, the Silk Roa
Taken on the Carnival Liberty in August 2014, Cuban refugees that built a raft and were rescued by the ship. Andrew Smith, Creative Commons
1998 – Pope John Paul II visits Cuba.
Pope John Paul II HAVANA (AP) http://www.wikimedia.com
1998 – The US eases restrictions on the sending of money to relatives by Cuban Americans.
2000 US approves sale of food and medicines to Cuba.
2006 July – President Fidel Castro undergoes surgery, temporarily handing power over to Raul, Fidel gradually reduces public appearances.
Welcome tourism!
Welcome Canadians!
Fidel steps down + a thaw between the US and Cuba
2008 February – Fidel announces his retirement and Raul takes over as president. In 2013, the National Assembly re-elects him and Raul announces that he will step down when his second term as president ends in 2018.
Welcome French!
2012 March – Pope Benedict visits Cuba
Pope Benedict HAVANA (AP) http://www.wikimedia.com
And look! our friends came back.
2014 President Obama and President Raul Castro jointly announce measures toward diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US.
2015 September – Pope Francis visits Cuba
Pope Francis HAVANA (AP) http://www.wikimedia.com
Welcome Americans!
2016 President Obama visits Cuba (first US presidential visit to Cuba in 88 years) and the US eases travel restrictions for Americans who want to visit Cuba
Obama and Raul HAVANA (AP) http://www.wikimedia.com
2016, November 25 Fidel Castro dies (age 90)
2017 Washington ends a long-standing policy which grants Cuban immigrants the right to remain in the US without a visa and #45 overturns some of the policy measures that Obama brokered with Raul Castro.
September – US diplomats ordered to evacuate Cuba, citing ongoing health problems related to sonic sounds lead to concussion-like symptoms for Canadian and America diplomats.
2018 April – Parliamentary elections lead to choosing Raul Castro’s successor. First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, will replace Raul Castro as the head of the Cuban government. He was not even born when Fidel Castro took over Cuba.
Raul Castro and Miguel Diaz-Canel, wikimedia.org
We want to offer our island to you, because we care about you and we know you care about us.
2020 – The US limits flights to Cuba, rescinds certain types of permitted travel to Cuba and declares a policy of “maximum pressure” to minimize revenue reaching Cuba. This does not stop American wrestlers from competing in Cuba.
