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Havana is Cuba’s cultural hub and the home of most of its museums, libraries, professional associations, and performing troupes. The Cuban Academy of Sciences (1962) and the Cuban Academy of Language (1926) are among the leading learned societies. The José Martí National Library (1901) and the National Archive of Cuba (1840) have significant holdings. Among the major institutions supporting the performing arts are the National Theatre, the National Ballet of Cuba, the House of the Americas, and the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry. The National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists has a large membership that promotes literature and the arts. In 1959 the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore was created within the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, with the aim of collecting and classifying the Cuban cultural heritage. It formed the National Folklore Group, which performs Afro-Cuban dances throughout Cuba and abroad and gives international folklore laboratories each year. The activities of the folklore group are complemented by the Institute of Literature and Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences. The revolutionary government has made a special effort to promote study of the African roots of Cuban culture. The Guanabacoa and Regla museums are the main repositories of Afro-Cuban artifacts.
Sandra H. Levinson Franklin W. KnightSports and recreation
Sports in Cuba are generally under the direction of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation. They are almost a national obsession, and sports figures are treated as national heroes.
Baseball is the national sport and is widely played throughout the country, with leagues organized at national and provincial scales. Fidel Castro himself has been passionately attracted to the sport since his youth. Baseball was introduced to Cuba in the 19th century, and until 1959 the island provided the major league clubs of the United States with a constant supply of quality players, a tradition revived with the defection, over the years, of many of the country’s top baseball stars, such as Danys Baez and the brothers Orlando and Livan Hernandez. Cuban baseball teams have consistently captured gold medals in the Pan American Games and the Summer Olympic Games.
In various other international competitions, Cubans have also competed strongly with—and often outperformed—teams from every American country. At the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, for example, Cuban athletes won 29 medals. Eliecer Urrutía set a world mark in the triple jump in 1997, and Javier Sotomayor posted world records in the high jump in 1988 and 1993. Female athletes have also been outstanding in Cuba, with world-class teams in track and field as well as in volleyball. The heavyweight boxer Teófilo Stevenson is representative of another field in which Cubans have consistently excelled. Sport fishing, especially for blue marlin, has a long tradition, Ernest Hemingway being one of the enthusiastic participants. More recently, successful international competitions in sailing, yachting, and powerboat racing have taken place in Cuba. The government provides opportunities for most Cubans to participate in sports and recreational programs.
Cuba celebrates Carnival in late July, most flamboyantly in Santiago de Cuba. During that period Cuba also celebrates what is perhaps its most significant holiday, commemorating Castro’s attack on Fort Moncada on July 26, 1953.
Media and publishing
The mass media in Cuba are government organs. Freedom of speech is severely curtailed, and several independent journalists have been imprisoned for allegedly insulting the president.
The three main newspapers are Granma, the Communist Party daily; Juventud Rebelde, the paper of the Communist Youth; and Trabajadores, published by the Cuban Federation of Workers. These are supplemented by provincial newspapers, such as the Tribuna de la Habana and Sierra Maestra in Santiago de Cuba, that focus on local issues. Among the most widely read magazines are the weekly Bohemia, which covers all aspects of the news and is the oldest periodical in Cuba; the monthly Opina, aimed at a younger audience, with information on available consumer goods; and Mujeres, published by the Federation of Cuban Women. A number of specialized cultural magazines and newspapers also have wide readerships.
Two television stations broadcast nationally, and there are several national radio networks and one international; all of these are administered by the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television. Programming generally includes news, sports, educational programs, and serials.
History
The following discussion focuses on Cuba since European contact. For additional treatment in a regional context, see Latin America, history of.
Cuba has been heavily influenced by imperial Spain (from 1492 to 1898), the Soviet Union (from the 1960s to 1991), and the United States (from the 19th century to the present).
Early period
In the late 15th century the indigenous Ciboney and Guanahatabey peoples occupied western Cuba, and the more numerous Taino inhabited the rest of the island. Estimates of the total population range as high as 600,000; however, the actual total was probably about 75,000. The Taino were a peaceful people and were highly proficient agriculturalists, related to the Arawakan peoples of South America who migrated to the Greater Antilles. Their houses, called bohíos, formed villages ranging from single families to communities of 3,000 persons. They made pottery, polished stone implements, and idols of religious spirits called zemis. The Taino diet included potatoes, manioc, fruits, and fish. The name Cuba is pre-Hispanic in origin and its exact derivation unknown.
Spanish rule
Conquest and colonial life
Christopher Columbus sighted the northern coast of Cuba on October 27, 1492, and made landfall there the following day. The Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar began permanent settlement in 1511, founding Baracoa on the northeastern coast with 300 Spaniards and their African slaves.
Within five years Spanish authorities had divided the island into seven municipal divisions, including Havana (La Habana), Puerto Príncipe, Santiago de Cuba, and Sancti Spíritus. Each municipality had its own cabildo, or town council, governing its legal, administrative, and commercial affairs. From 1515, elected representatives of each cabildo formed a body that defended local interests before the royal council, especially on such matters as slave trading and the semifeudal encomienda system, which granted conquistadors control over the Indians in specified areas and the right to exact tribute from them. A bishopric, subordinate to Santo Domingo, was founded at Baracoa in 1518 but later moved to Santiago de Cuba.
The island’s limited gold deposits discouraged early settlement. However, the colony became a staging ground for the exploration of the North American mainland. Such expeditions as that of Hernán Cortés, which attracted 400 Spaniards and 3,000 Indians, depleted the colonial population. The remaining Spanish colonists continued to exploit Indians through the encomienda, but by 1550 the system was no longer feasible because the Indian population had been decimated by European diseases, ongoing social dislocation, maltreatment, and emigration.
By 1570 most residents of the Spanish towns in Cuba comprised a mixture of Spanish, African, and Indian heritages, largely because of the paucity of Spanish females among the immigrants and the military nature of the conquest. Colonial society reflected the stratification of the metropolis, although no sharp divisions had yet developed between Spanish-born and American-born citizens, as would later become commonplace. Until the end of the 16th century, African slaves seemed to enjoy a higher social standing than the indigenous people, probably owing to their cultural affinity to the conquerors.
Throughout the 17th century, colonial life was made more difficult by the ravages of hurricanes, epidemics, pirates, and attacks by rival European countries trying to establish bases in the Caribbean. By 1700, however, peace had returned, and the population reached about 50,000. Havana’s status grew commercially and strategically because of the flota (“fleet”) system of regularly scheduled maritime trade between Spain and its American colonies. In addition, ranching, smuggling, and tobacco farming occupied the colonists. The colony’s administrative costs depended, however, on irregular subsidies from New Spain until 1808.