History of Cuba

Early History

Long before Christopher Columbus sighted Cuba in 1492, the island, one of the largest in the Caribbean, had been inhabited by indigenous people belonging to the Taino and Ciboney cultures.  These people are thought to have originated in Venezuela and made their way to Cuba.  The Taino people, who were agriculturally advanced, growing food crops and tobacco, had already made significant headway in metallurgy during the Stone Age.

Spanish

When Christopher Columbus arrived at the shores of this medical tourism destination on February 27, 1492, he immediately named it Juana, after the daughter of the royal family of Spain who were his benefactors.  The Spanish conquest of the island, however, truly began in 1511 with the arrival of Diego Velasquez.  He established the settlements of Santiago, Baracoa, and Havana, and established Cuba as a base for the Spanish empire's Mexican expeditions. All this activity led to the extinction of the island’s indigenous people, and soon the Spanish began importing African slaves to work on the plantations and mines.

Between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Spanish promoted advancement of the population, developing agriculture and encouraging commerce.  By the 1830s however, rebellion against oppressive Spanish rule was beginning to rear its head.  The next few decades saw severe strife and turmoil as Cubans rose against the Spanish empire.  In 1868, a group of revolutionaries declared independence, and this triggered the Ten Years’ War, with Spain ultimately granting numerous concessions while still maintaining protectorate control over the region.  Slavery was subsequently abolished, and by 1893, Blacks, Latinos, and Whites received equal rights and privileges under the law.

This relative period of peace lasted only a short while however, and in 1895, the revolution picked up where it left off.  This time, it ended with Spain giving up control over its territory in 1898.  The Americans, who had intervened for the revolutionaries, took over the island, and in 1901, the Cuban Republic was established with Tomas Estrada Palma as the island’s first president.

Castro

The decades after independence saw this medical tourism island being ruled by presidents who had been part of the country’s war for independence from Spain.  American interference in Cuban matters, however, led to mounting resentment, which was compounded by a failing economy.