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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: haqihana who wrote (8834)	5/23/2006 9:09:39 PM
From: sandintoes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71588

Cuba Last updated: 03/26/03 PEOPLE AND POLICIES Fidel Castro: President of Cuba. Raul Castro: Fidel’s brother, Cuba's vice-president, defense minister and designated successor. Che Guevara: Late guerrilla fighter during the revolution of 1949. Present-day Cuban cult hero representing the country's socialist vision. Helms-Burton Act: Also known as the "Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act" and the "Libertad." The U.S. Act, signed into law in March of 1996, outlines plans to strengthen international sanctions against the Castro government, assist Cubans after Castro is deposed and to protect property rights of US citizens in Cuba. CANF (Cuban American National Foundation): Influential Cuban-American lobbying organization. Greatly responsible for the current economic embargo against Cuba. IN A NUTSHELL Cuba and the United States have suffered from bad relations since Fidel Castro became President in 1959. Relations especially deteriorated when Cuba and Russia became allies in the 1950s at the height of the Cold War. The Soviets supported Cuba financially in return for a military presence in the country, which lay only 90 miles from U.S. borders. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, so did the financial support Cuba had enjoyed for almost four decades. Cuba’s present economic trials have been aggravated by the enduring economic embargo that the United States has maintained since 1962. Under the Helms-Burton Act enacted in 1996, the United States is obliged to continue exerting economic pressure on Cuba until Castro is replaced as leader of the country and democratic elections are held. In the meantime, Americans are prohibited from contributing to Cuba’s economy either through trade, tourism or commerce of any kind. LATEST NEWS For information about Elian Gonzalez and "outdated" updates please click here. BACKGROUND Before 1958 Cuba, teeming with casinos, fancy hotels and flashy shows, was a playground for wealthy foreigners. The Cuban government under the leadership of Fulgencio Batista was a corrupt puppet institution of the American Mafia, which owned and ran most of the lucrative casinos. Yet while American movie stars, politicians and criminals were dancing in Havana (Cuba’s capital), the rest of the population was struggling. Meanwhile, a band of revolutionaries under the leadership of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Raul Castro, were preparing in the mountains of eastern Cuba to take over Batista’s government. After successfully capturing Havana with the support of Cuban peasants, the revolutionaries set up a government based on socialist tenets: nationalization of private businesses (including many foreign ventures), redistribution of land, universal education, complete employment and free health care. The United States, bitter over losses due to nationalization and uneasy about Cuba’s ideological direction, stopped importing Cuban sugar – and consequently deprived Cuba of its biggest source of income. Relations deteriorated further in 1961 after US President Eisenhower broke diplomatic relations with the island. The coup de grace came a few months later when Cuban exiles supported by President John F Kennedy attempted unsuccessfully to stage a Cuban revolt against Fidel at the Bay of Pigs. The act was followed by espionage and assassination plots by the CIA. Castro, declaring himself a Marxist-Leninist after the incident, turned to the Soviet Union for support. The Russians, under Khrushchev began importing Cuban sugar at inflated prices and selling Russian oil and other products for below-market costs. In return, the Soviets used Cuba as a military outpost 90 miles from United States borders. The Soviets began setting up medium-range missiles on the island in October 1962 bringing the United States and the USSR dangerously close to nuclear war (the Cuban Missile Crisis). The missiles were dismantled only after the United States promised not to intervene politically or militarily in Cuban affairs. However, the United States did meddle in Cuba’s financial affairs by convincing Latin American countries (organized into the OAS and fearful of the spread of revolution to their own nations) to participate in an economic embargo against Cuba. The embargo was ineffective as long as the Soviet Union continued to trade with Cuba. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 so did Russian subsidies leaving Cuba to fend for itself as one of the only remaining socialist countries in the world. nutshellnotes.com