Cuba continued
As Spain imposed heavy taxes on sugar,
the politics shifted with independence as an ideal, but autonomy from Spain
actually pursued. The United States talked about annexation and Thomas
Jefferson wrote James Madison that annexation of Cuba was desirable. But John
Quincy Adams believed in a wait and see attitude and did not support Cuban
independence.
The thirty-year struggle for
independence covered the years 1868-1898. Spain spent more money to fight Cuba
than it spent on all other Latin American countries combined. In the last third
of the 19th century, the struggle slowly resolved many racial
problems when several blacks became generals in the liberation army. In 1899
the U.S. intervened and with Spain ended the war for independence without a
single Cuban being present. Cuba had a new constitution and became independent
in 1901 with a heavy American military context.
The Platt amendment to the Cuban
constitution basically said that the U.S. could intervene in Cuba under various
circumstances. It was repealed in 1934. U.S. troops left in 1902. In 1940 a new
constitution was drawn up that for the first time involved land reform.
However, no land reform took place until 1959.
Between 1900-1920 land was selling for
six cents an acre and the United States bought a lot of it. In fact, Cuba was
the largest overseas investment the United States had, resulting in a big
economic boom in Cuba.
During U.S. prohibition (1920-1933) the
Mafia contracted with Cuban sugar refineries for molasses for the illicit liquor
industry in this country. With the end
of prohibition the Mafia switched to gambling, building casinos.
Batista was an American backed dictator
until 1959 when Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries overthrew him. Castro
aligned himself with the Russians, which was the end of friendly relations with
Cuba for the United States.
When the Soviet Union collapsed and
pulled out of Cuba in 1989, the Cuban economy took a nose dive of 34%, hitting
bottom in ‘92-’93. No one saw the collapse on the horizon. Cuba had been 83%
dependent on Russia for imports, and depended on 92% of imported oil. This
produced a tremendous problem throughout the society involving electricity use
everywhere. Buses were cut by 75% and the wait for a bus averaged four to five
hours! Everything was scarce and
unemployment ran at 70%.
Sugar was the country’s only export.
Cuba signed long term agreements to supply sugar to some countries. Tobacco and
nickel were the only other resources. The country was desperate for credit.
There was a lack of resources, knowledge, and infrastructure. They needed to
learn foreign languages to communicate with other countries. They needed to
learn skills and how to deal and operate in a free economy. They needed direct
foreign investment (DFI) and environmental controls. What an undertaking!
Some of the first foreign direct
investment was spent on the airport, telecommunications, and hotels. By 2003
the country was independent of oil imports.
Now it takes only six months to build 100 rooms compared to a two-year
time frame a decade ago.
Why would anyone want to be involved in
Foreign Direct Investment? There was virtually no self-employment, and when
people are desperate they will accept most anything. Then there was the element
of being in the right place at the right time or just plain opportunity, and
under such circumstances the lender could charge high interest rates.
In the 1980s a 180 pesos would
comfortably cover four weeks of living expenses in Cuba. That decreased to
covering only 3 ½ weeks and the peso went from 6-7 pesos to the U.S. dollar to
150 peso per one U.S. dollar. The present exchange rate has stabilized at 26
pesos. However, only Cubans use this currency. The U.S. dollar is
interchangeable one for one with the convertible peso. Today 64% of the population has access to the
U.S. dollar. The terrible inflation encouraged entrepreneurship, which today seems
to be healthy. In 1980 the
service/tourist business comprised only 8% of the economy, today that same
business is 65% of the economy.
I asked a couple of young Cubans about
prejudice in the country as some people were very dark and some very light with
everything in between. Both times I was
told, one is just Cuban, period, and color is not a factor.
Education through college is free in Cuba. After teachers fulfill their obligatory 3-4 years
of teaching, they often leave the profession and join the tourist industry, because
that is where the money is. Every day when we returned to our hotel room the TV
had been reprogrammed onto CNN which made me wonder who was cleaning our room, maybe
an ex-educator? Everywhere we went we found Cubans very friendly. The Cuban
people have maintained their unique identity and culture, and are proud of
their revolutionary tradition.
Other posts: Cuban Music 7/11 Cuban drinks 4/11 Old Havana 11/11 Che Guerra 1/12 Impressions 6/12
of the Roman fortress, have been found beneath the Minster
building. The first Christian church on the site has been dated to 627 and the
first Archbishop of York was recognized by the Pope in 732. A stone Saxon
church survived a Viking invasion in 866, but was ransacked by William the
Conqueror's forces in 1069. This is the fourth building on this site and
was built 1220 in stages until its completion in 1472. It is the largest
medieval structure in England and the largest Gothic church north of the Alps.
