Timeline of Cuban history

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This is a timeline of Cuban history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Cuba and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Cuba. See also the list of colonial governors of Cuba and list of presidents of Cuba.

Contents

15th century

YearDateEvent
149227 October Christopher Columbus arrives in Cuba and claims the island for Spain.

16th century

YearDateEvent
1508 Sebastián de Ocampo circumnavigates Cuba, confirming that it is an island.
1510Spanish set out from Hispaniola. The conquest of Cuba begins.
1511The first governor of Cuba, the Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar leads a group of settlers in Baracoa.
1512Indigenous Cuban resistance leader Hatuey is burned at the stake.
1519 Havana founded as San Cristóbal de la Habana (north coast)
1523Emperor Charles V authorizes 4,000 gold pesos for the construction of cotton mills.
1527The first African slaves arrive in Cuba.
1532The first slave rebellion is crushed.
1537A French fleet briefly occupies Havana.
French corsairs blockade Santiago de Cuba.
1542The Spanish crown abandons the encomienda colonial land settlement system.
1553The Governor of Cuba relocates to Havana.
1555French campaign against the Sudan usam
1578French corsairs plunder Baracoa.
1586The English privateer Francis Drake lands at Cape San Antonio but does not attack.
1597Construction of the Morro Castle fortress is completed above the eastern entrance to Havana harbor.

17th century

YearDateEvent
1603Authorities decree that the sale of tobacco to foreigners is punishable by death.[ citation needed ]
1607Havana is named capital of Cuba.[ citation needed ]
1628A Dutch fleet led by Piet Heyn plunders the Spanish fleet in Havana harbor.
1649An epidemic of yellow fever kills a third of the island's European population. [1]
1662An English fleet captained by Christopher Myngs captures Santiago de Cuba to open up trade with Jamaica.
1670The English withdraw after Spain recognises England's ownership of Jamaica.
Francisco Rodríguez de Ledesma  [ es ] becomes Governor of Cuba. He serves for ten years.

18th century

YearDateEvent
1728The University of Havana is founded.
1734 Juan Francisco de Güemes  [ es ] begins a 12-year tenure as Governor of Cuba.
1741British Admiral Edward Vernon briefly captures Guantánamo Bay, renaming it Cumberland Bay, during the War of Jenkins' Ear. His troops withdraw after being decimated by fevers and raids from Spanish troops.
1747 Francisco Cajigal de la Vega begins a 13-year tenure as Governor of Cuba.
1748Construction of Havana cathedral is completed.
12 October Battle of Havana. Skirmishes between British and Spanish fleets end indecisively on a strategic level.
17625 MarchA massive British expedition leaves Portsmouth to capture Havana.
30 JulyBritish troops capture Havana during the Seven Years' War.
1763British troops suffer atrocious losses to disease. They cede Cuba to Spain in the Treaty of Paris.
1793Some 30,000 French refugees from a slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue, which becomes the Haitian revolution, arrive in Cuba.
1799 Salvador de Muro y Salazar becomes Governor of Cuba 1799–1812.

19th century

YearDateEvent
1812 Juan Ruíz de Apodaca becomes governor of Cuba 1812–17.
181922 AprilSettlers from Bordeaux and Louisiana found the first European settlement at Cienfuegos.
1843 Leopoldo O'Donnell, Duke of Tetuan becomes governor of Cuba 1843–48.
1844Known as the Year of the Lash, when an uprising of black slaves was brutally suppressed.
1851The filibustering Lopez Expedition was defeated by Spanish authorities.
185328 January José Martí is born in Havana.
1868The first war of Cuban independence, also known as the Ten Years' War, begins. It lasts until 1878.
10 OctoberRevolutionaries under the leadership of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes proclaim Cuban independence.
186910 AprilAn assembly of rebels against Spanish rule adopts the Guáimaro Constitution, which remains nominally in effect until the end of the Ten Years' War. [2]
187810 FebruaryThe Pact of Zanjón, promising the end of slavery in Cuba, ends the Ten Years' War.
1879AugustA second uprising ("The Little War"), engineered by Antonio Maceo and Calixto García, begins. It is quelled by superior Spanish forces in the autumn of 1880.
1886October 7 Slavery is abolished in Cuba.
189524 FebruaryThe Cuban revolution is relaunched under the leadership of José Martí and General Máximo Gómez.
19 MayJosé Martí is killed by Spanish troops at the Battle of Dos Ríos.
SeptemberSpanish Captain-General Arsenio Martínez Campos is defeated at Peralejo and leaves Cuba in January 1896.
1896Cuban rebels led by Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez execute a successful invasion along the length of the island. Maceo is killed by Spanish forces in December.
1897 Calixto Garcia takes a series of strategic fort complexes in the East, leaving the Spanish confined to coastal cities there.
189815 FebruaryThe battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks while anchored in Havana harbor.
10 DecemberThe Treaty of Paris between Spain and the U.S. ends the Spanish–American War. Spain relinquishes sovereignty over Cuba.
18991 JanuaryThe Spanish colonial government withdraws and the last captain General Alfonso Jimenez Castellano hands over power to the North American Military Governor, General John Ruller Brooke.
23 December Leonard Wood becomes U.S. Provisional Governor of Cuba.

20th century

YearDateEvent
19015 MarchThe U.S. Platt Amendment stipulates the conditions for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
12 JuneThe Constitutional Convention adopts the 1901 Constitution in its final form, including the provisions of the Platt Amendment.
190220 MayThe Cuban Republic is established under the 1901 Constitution. Tomás Estrada Palma takes office as president.
190629 SeptemberUnder attack from defeated political rivals, President Tomás Estrada Palma seeks U.S. intervention and U.S. troops reoccupy Cuba under Provisional Governor William Howard Taft.
13 October Charles Magoon becomes Provisional Governor of Cuba
190928 JanuaryU.S. occupation ends. José Miguel Gómez of the Liberal Party becomes president.
1912May–JuneThe Gómez government suppresses the Negro Rebellion, a revolt on the part of Afro-Cubans.
191320 MayThe presidency of Mario García Menocal begins.
19187 AprilCuba enters World War I on the side of the Allies. Upon Menocal's reelection, José Miguel Gómez and other Liberals launch a revolt known as the Chambelona War. The U.S. intervenes on behalf of Menocal's government.
192120 May Alfredo Zayas becomes president.
192523 MarchBy the Hay-Quesada Treaty, the U.S. recognizes Cuban sovereignty over the Isle of Pines.
20 May Gerardo Machado becomes president.
192613 August Fidel Castro is born in the province of Holguín.
192810 January Julio Antonio Mella, a founder of the Communist Party in Cuba, is murdered in Mexico.
14 June Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, known as Che Guevara, is born in Rosario, Argentina.
193110 AugustOld Mambi warriors Carlos Mendieta and Mario García Menocal land forces at Rio Verde in an attempt to overthrow Gerardo Machado. They are defeated by 14 August in military operations that include the first use of military aviation in Cuba.
193312 August Gerardo Machado is forced to leave Cuba in the face of violent opposition on the part of ABC and Antonio Guiteras Holmes, a general strike, and pressure from senior officers of Cuban Armed Forces and U.S. Ambassador Sumner Welles. A provisional government is established, with Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada as president.
4 SeptemberA group of military officers that includes Fulgencio Batista launches the Sergeants' Revolt and topples the provisional government.
5 SeptemberThe five-day, five-man coalition government called the Pentarchy of 1933 lasted through Sept. 9.
10 September Ramón Grau (one of the pentarchy) becomes president and continues the One Hundred Days Government.
2 OctoberEnlisted men and sergeants loyal to Batista, joined by radical elements, force Army Officers from the Hotel Nacional in heavy fighting.
9 November Blas Hernández, his followers, and some ABC members make a stand in old Atarés Castle. They are defeated by Batista loyalists. Hernández surrenders and is murdered.
1934January 16The One Hundred Days Government ends; Carlos Hevia serves briefly as president.
January 18 Manuel Márquez Sterling is president for a few hours, followed by Carlos Mendieta.
16 JuneABC holds a demonstration at the Havana festival and its march is attacked by radical forces, including those of Antonio Guiteras.[ citation needed ]
19358 MayLeading radical Antonio Guiteras is betrayed and dies fighting Batista forces.
1938SeptemberThe Communist party is legalized again.
194010 OctoberThe 1940 Constitution, signed by the members of the Constitutional Assembly on 1 July, takes effect. It is suspended in 1952.
19419–11 DecemberCuba declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy. [3]
1943The Soviet Union opens an embassy in Havana. Its first ambassador is Andrei Gromyko. [4]
19515 August Eduardo Chibás, leader of the Ortodoxo party and mentor of Fidel Castro, commits suicide during a live radio broadcast.
195210 MarchFormer president Batista, supported by the army, seizes power once more. Ex-president Prío exiled to Miami, US.
195326 JulySome 160 revolutionaries under the command of Fidel Castro launch an attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba and Cespedes barracks in Bayamo
16 OctoberOn trial for his role in the attack on the Moncada barracks, Fidel Castro defends himself with a speech later published as "History Will Absolve Me".
1954SeptemberChe Guevara arrives in Mexico City.
NovemberBatista dissolves parliament and is elected constitutional president unopposed.
1955MayBatista issues an amnesty that frees Fidel and other members of his movement from prison.
JuneBrothers Fidel and Raúl Castro are introduced to Che Guevara in Mexico City.
195629 AprilAutentico Assault on Goicuria Barracks in Matanzas fails. [5] [6]
NovemberThe yacht Granma sets out from Mexico to Cuba with 82 men on board, including Raúl Castro, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos.
2 DecemberThe Granma lands in Oriente Province.
195717 JanuaryCastro's guerrillas score their first success by sacking an army outpost on the south coast, and start gaining followers in both Cuba and abroad.
13 MarchUniversity students mount an attack on the Presidential Palace in Havana. Batista forewarned. Attackers mostly killed, others flee and are betrayed.
28 MayCastro's 26 July movement, reinforced by militia led by Frank Pais, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
19 July Calixto Sánchez White leads a landing from the boat Corinthia at Cabonico in north Oriente of Auténtico and are defeated.
30 JulyLocal police kill Frank País, a leader of the 26 July movement, in the streets of Santiago de Cuba.
5 SeptemberForces loyal to Batista crush a naval revolt at Cayo Loco Naval Base in Cienfuegos. [7]
1958FebruaryRaúl Castro takes leadership of about 500 pre-existing Escopeteros guerrillas and opens a front in the Sierra de Cristal on Oriente's north coast.
13 MarchU.S. suspends shipments of arms to Batista's forces.
17 MarchCastro calls for a general revolt.
9 AprilA general strike, organized by the 26 July movement, is partially observed.
MayBatista sends an army of 10,000 into the Sierra Maestra to destroy Castro's 300 armed guerrillas and their supporters. By August, the rebels had defeated the army's advance and captured a huge amount of weaponry.
20–30 NovemberThirty key positions at Guisa are taken. In the following month most cities in Oriente fall to rebel hands.
DecemberGuevara, William Alexander Morgan, and forces of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil, an organization of university students, attack Santa Clara.
28 DecemberRebel forces take Santa Clara.
31 December Camilo Cienfuegos leads revolutionary guerrillas to victory in Yaguajay; Huber Matos enters Santiago.
19591 JanuaryPresident Batista resigns and flees the country. Fidel Castro's column enters Santiago de Cuba. The revolutionaries starts military tribunals of captured military, with some receiving the death penalty. Various urban rebels, mainly associated with Directorio, seize Havana

Cuban revolutionaries call a General Strike to ensure governmental control [8]

2 JanuaryGuevara and Camilo Cienfuegos arrive in Havana.
5 January Manuel Urrutia named President of Cuba
8 January Fidel Castro arrives at Havana, speaks to crowds at Camp Columbia.
16 February Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba.
March Fabio Grobart is present at a series of meetings with Castro brothers, Guevara and Valdes at Cojimar
20 April Fidel Castro speaks at Princeton University, New Jersey. [9]
17 MayThe Cuban government enacts the Agrarian Reform Law, seizing large (mostly corporate and foreign) holdings of agricultural land and redistributing it to smaller land owners. The new holdings are limited to 1,000 acres (4.0 km2).
17 July Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado becomes President of Cuba, replacing Manuel Urrutia, who is forced to resign by Fidel Castro. Dorticós serves until 2 December 1976
28 OctoberPlane carrying Camilo Cienfuegos disappears during a night flight from Camagüey to Havana. He is presumed dead.
11 DecemberTrial of revolutionary Huber Matos begins. Matos is found guilty of "treason and sedition".
19604 MarchThe French freighter La Coubre explodes while unloading in Havana harbor, and Fidel Castro calls it sabotage by the U.S. on 5 March. [10]
17 MarchU.S. President Dwight Eisenhower orders CIA director Allen Dulles to train Cuban exiles for a covert invasion of Cuba.
6 AprilU.S. Secretary of State Lester Mallory outlines objectives of embargo in a memo: "...inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government." [11]
5 JulyAll U.S. businesses and commercial property in Cuba are nationalized at the direction of the Cuban government.
19 OctoberU.S. imposes embargo prohibiting all exports to Cuba except foodstuffs and medical supplies.
31 OctoberCuban nationalization of all U.S. property in Cuba is completed.[ citation needed ]
26 December Operation Peter Pan (Operación Pedro Pan) begins, an operation transporting to the U.S. 14,000 children of parents opposed to the new government. The scheme continues until U.S. airports are closed to Cuban flights during 1962.
1961U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.
1 JanuaryCuban government initiates national literacy scheme.[ citation needed ]
MarchFormer rebel comandante Humberto Sorí Marin and Catholic leaders shot.
15 April Bay of Pigs invasion.
18 April Nikita Khrushchev writes to John F. Kennedy to end U.S. aggression against Cuba. [12]
196231 JanuaryCuba expelled from the Organization of American States.
17 August Central Intelligence Agency Director John McCone suggests that the Soviet Union is constructing offensive missile installations in Cuba.
29 AugustAt a news conference, U.S. President John F. Kennedy tells reporters: "I'm not for invading Cuba at this time... an action like that... could lead to very serious consequences for many people."
31 AugustPresident Kennedy is informed that the 29 August U-2 mission confirms the presence of surface-to-air missile batteries in Cuba.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)16 October McGeorge Bundy informs President Kennedy that evidence shows Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Kennedy immediately gathers a group that becomes known as "ExComm," the Executive Committee of the National Security Council.
22 OctoberPresident Kennedy addresses the nation on television, announcing a blockade on arms shipments to Cuba.
23 OctoberU.S. establishes air and sea blockade in response to photographs of Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba. U.S. threatens to invade Cuba if the bases are not dismantled and warns that a nuclear attack launched from Cuba would be considered a Soviet attack requiring full retaliation.
28 OctoberKhrushchev agrees to remove offensive weapons from Cuba, and the U.S. agrees to remove missiles from Turkey and promises not to invade Cuba.
196221 NovemberU.S. ends Cuban blockade, satisfied that all bases are removed and Soviet jets will leave the island by 20 December.
1963October2nd Agrarian reform.[ citation needed ]
NovemberCompulsory military service introduced.[ citation needed ]
1964 OAS enforce embargo against Cuba.
19653 OctoberThe Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI) become the governing Communist Party of Cuba.
28 SeptemberFidel announces Cubans can emigrate, which launches the Camarioca boatlift and airlift. [13]
19679 October Che Guevara executed in La Higuera, Bolivia.
1968MarchAll private bars and restaurants are finally closed down.[ citation needed ]
1972Cuba becomes a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON).
1974 Maternity leave bill introduced by the Cuban government.
1975The Soviet Union engages in a massive airlift of Cuban forces into Angola.
The Family Code bill establishes the official goal of equal participation in the home.[ citation needed ]
JulyOAS lifts the trade embargo and other sanctions.
1976MarchSouth African forces backing the UNITA rebel force withdraw from Angola. It is regarded as a victory for Cuban forces.
15 FebruaryA referendum endorses the 1976 Constitution, which institutionalizes the principles of the Cuban Revolution. It takes effect of 24 February.
6 OctoberTwo time bombs destroy Cubana Flight 455 departing from Barbados, via Trinidad, to Cuba. Evidence implicated several CIA-linked anti-Castro Cuban exiles and members of the Venezuelan secret police DISIP.
2 DecemberFidel Castro becomes President of Cuba.
19771 JanuaryPolitical and administrative division divides Cuba into fourteen provinces, 168 municipalities and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud.
MayFifty Cuban military personnel sent to Ethiopia. [14]
197921 October Huber Matos is released from prison after serving out his full term. [15]
1980April–OctoberThe Mariel Boatlift. Cuban authorities allow up to 125,000 people to depart Cuba by boat from Mariel harbor for the U.S. The Cuban and U.S. governments agree to halt the exodus in October.
7 JuneU.S. President Jimmy Carter orders the U.S. Justice Department to expel any Cubans who committed "serious crimes" in Cuba. [16]
198325 OctoberUnited States invades the island of Grenada and clash with Cuban troops. [17]
1984Cuba reduces its troop strength in Ethiopia to approximately 3,000 from 12,000.[ citation needed ]
1987Law #62 on the Penal Code introduced recognising discrimination based on any reason and the violation of the right of equality as a crime.[ citation needed ]
198912 JulyProminent general in the Cuban armed forces Arnaldo Ochoa is executed after allegations of involvement in drug smuggling.
17 SeptemberThe last Cuban troops leave Ethiopia.[ citation needed ]
199023 MarchThe U.S. launches TV Marti.
1991MayCuba removed all troops from Angola.
26 December Special Period: The Soviet Union (Cuba's closest economic partner) formally dissolved, leading to a full loss of economic and military aid, causing a prolonged economic crisis through the 1990s.
1992JulyThe National Assembly of Cuba passes the Constitutional Reform Law allowing for direct elections to the assembly by the Cuban people every five years. [18]
19936 NovemberThe Cuban government opens state enterprises to private investment.[ citation needed ]
19945 August Maleconazo : Protests break out in Havana due to economic hardships amidst the Special Period.
1996FebruaryCuban authorities arrest or detain at least 150 dissidents, marking the most widespread crackdown on opposition groups since the early 1960s.[ citation needed ]
24 FebruaryCuban fighter jets shoot down two US-registered civilian aircraft over international waters, killing four men.[ citation needed ]
12 MarchIn the U.S., the Helms-Burton Act extends the U.S. embargo against Cuba to foreign companies.
199821 January Pope John Paul II becomes the first Pope to visit the island.
1999Christian anti-abortion activist Oscar Elías Biscet is detained by Cuban police for organizing meetings in Havana and Matanzas.
5 NovemberSix-year/old Elián González is found clinging to an inner tube in the Straits of Florida.
200014 DecemberRussian President Vladimir Putin visits Cuba and signs accords aimed at boosting bilateral ties.[ citation needed ]

21st century

200123 JuneFidel Castro almost faints following a televised speech.[ citation needed ]
2002JanuaryRussia's last military base in Cuba, at Lourdes, closes.[ citation needed ]
6 MayU.S. Under Secretary of State John R. Bolton accuses Cuba of trying to develop biological weapons, adding the country to Washington's list of "axis of evil" countries.
12 MayFormer U.S. President Jimmy Carter visits Cuba. He praises the Varela project and criticizes the U.S. embargo.[ citation needed ]
2003AprilThe Cuban government arrests 78 writers and dissidents, blaming U.S. provocation and interference from James Cason, the chief of the United States Interests Section in Havana.
200520 MayAround 200 dissidents hold a public meeting, which its organizers call the first such gathering since the 1959 revolution. [19]
7 July Hurricane Dennis causes widespread destruction in Cuba and leaves 16 people dead.
200631 JulyRaúl Castro assumes the duties of president of Cuba while Fidel Castro recovers from an emergency operation.
200819 FebruaryFidel Castro resigns as President of Cuba. [20]
24 FebruaryRaúl is elected President by the National Assembly. [21]
201417 December Cuban Thaw: U.S. President Barack Obama and Raúl Castro re-establish diplomatic ties between the two countries. [22]
201620 MarchU.S. President Barack Obama begins a three-day visit to Cuba. [23]
25 NovemberThe death of Fidel Castro is announced. "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening [03:29 GMT 25 November]."
201716 JuneU.S. President Donald Trump cancels the previous administration's diplomatic agreements with Cuba, ending the Cuban Thaw.
201819 April Miguel Díaz-Canel succeeds Raul Castro as President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers, becoming the first non-Castro leader of the country since the Cuban Revolution.
202011 MarchCuba confirms its first case of COVID-19. [24]
202111-17 July The largest protest against the Cuban communist government since 1959 breaks out due to shortages amidst the severe crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, before being suppressed by the government.
202225 SeptemberCuba holds a referendum on amending the Family Code of the Constitution, legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption. The referendum is passed with 66.85% of votes in favor.

See also

Cities in Cuba

Related Research Articles

The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Amerindian cultures prior to the arrival of the explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. After his arrival, Spain conquered Cuba and appointed Spanish governors to rule in Havana. The administrators in Cuba were subject to the Viceroy of New Spain and the local authorities in Hispaniola. In 1762–63, Havana was briefly occupied by Britain, before being returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions between 1868 and 1898, led by General Máximo Gómez, failed to end Spanish rule and claimed the lives of 49,000 Cuban guerrillas and 126,000 Spanish soldiers. However, the Spanish–American War resulted in a Spanish withdrawal from the island in 1898, and following three-and-a-half years of subsequent US military rule, Cuba gained formal independence in 1902.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fidel Castro</span> Leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulgencio Batista</span> President of Cuba, 1940–1944; dictator, 1952–1959

Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as a military dictator from 1952 to 1958, until he was overthrown in the Cuban Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay of Pigs Invasion</span> Failed landing operation of Cuba in 1961

The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front (DRF), consisting of Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution, covertly financed and directed by the U.S. government. The operation took place at the height of the Cold War, and its failure influenced relations between Cuba, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban Revolution</span> 1954–59 rebellion against the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro

The Cuban Revolution was a military and political effort to overthrow the government of Cuba between 1953 and 1959. It began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state. After failing to contest Batista in court, Fidel Castro organized an armed attack on the Cuban military's Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953. The rebels were arrested and while in prison formed the 26th of July Movement (M-26-7). After gaining amnesty the M-26-7 rebels organized an expedition from Mexico on the Granma yacht to invade Cuba. In the following years the M-26-7 rebel army would slowly defeat the Cuban army in the countryside, while its urban wing would engage in sabotage and rebel army recruitment. Over time the originally critical and ambivalent Popular Socialist Party would come to support the 26th of July Movement in late 1958. By the time the rebels were to oust Batista the revolution was being driven by the Popular Socialist Party, 26th of July Movement, and the Revolutionary Directorate of March 13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariel boatlift</span> Mass migration of Cubans to the US in 1980

The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980. The term "Marielito" is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and English. While the exodus was triggered by a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy, it followed on the heels of generations of Cubans who had immigrated to the United States in the preceding decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huber Matos</span> Cuban military leader and dissident activist

Huber Matos Benítez was a Cuban military leader, political dissident, activist, and writer. He opposed the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista from its inception in 1952 and fought alongside Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and other members of the 26th of July Movement to overthrow it. Following the success of the Cuban Revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, he criticized the regime's shift in favor of Marxist principles and ties to the Popular Socialist Party (PSP). Convicted of treason and sedition by the revolutionary government, he spent 20 years in prison (1959–1979) before being released in 1979. He then divided his time between Miami, Florida, and Costa Rica while continuing to protest the policies of the Cuban government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tryp Habana Libre</span> Hotel in Havana, Cuba

Hotel Tryp Habana Libre is one of the larger hotels in Cuba, situated in Vedado, Havana. The hotel has 572 rooms in a 25-floor tower at Calle 23 and Calle L. Opened in 1958 as the Habana Hilton, the hotel famously served as the residence of Fidel Castro and other revolutionaries throughout 1959, after their capture of Havana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuba</span> Country in the Caribbean

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba, Isla de la Juventud, archipelagos, 4,195 islands and cays surrounding the main island. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola, and north of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is 109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi) but a total of 350,730 km2 (135,420 sq mi) including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuba–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Cuba and the United States restored diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015, after relations had been severed in 1961 during the Cold War. U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the United States Embassy in Havana, and there is a similar Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. The United States, however, continues to maintain its commercial, economic, and financial embargo, making it illegal for U.S. corporations to do business with Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Bonsal</span> American diplomat (1903–1995)

Philip Wilson Bonsal was an American career diplomat with the U.S. Department of State. A specialist in Latin American affairs, he served as United States Ambassador to Cuba from February 1959 until October 1960, the first months of the Castro regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tania Bruguera</span> Cuban artist and activist

Tania Bruguera is a Cuban artist and activist who focuses on installation and performance art. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she works as head of media and performance at Harvard University. Bruguera has participated in numerous international exhibitions. her work is in the permanent collections of many institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art and Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana.

The following is a timeline of the history of Havana, Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban thaw</span> 2015–2017 normalization of Cuba–U.S. relations

The Cuban thaw was the normalization of Cuba–United States relations that began in December 2014 ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations. In March 2016, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. The normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba was relatively short lived, with much of the diplomatic progress that was made later being undone by the Trump administration.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Santiago, Cuba.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Holguín, Cuba.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Guantánamo, Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution</span> Period of Cuban history (1959–1970)

The consolidation of the Cuban Revolution is a period in Cuban history typically defined as starting in the aftermath of the revolution in 1959 and ending in the first congress of the Communist Party of Cuba 1975, which signified the final political solidification of the Cuban revolutionaries' new government. The period encompasses early domestic reforms, human rights violations continuing under the new regime, growing international tensions, and politically climaxed with the failure of the 1970 sugar harvest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huber Matos affair</span> Political scandal in Cuba

The Huber Matos affair was a political scandal in Cuba when on October 20, 1959, army commander Huber Matos resigned and accused Fidel Castro of "burying the revolution". Fifteen of Matos' officers resigned with him. Immediately after the resignation, Castro critiqued Matos and accused him of disloyalty, then sent Camilo Cienfuegos to arrest Matos and his accompanying officers. Matos and the officers were taken to Havana and imprisoned in La Cabaña. Cuban communists later claimed Matos was helping plan a counter-revolution organized by the American Central Intelligence Agency and other Castro opponents, an operation that became the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

References

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  3. Thomas, Hugh (2013). Cuba: A History. Penguin UK. ISBN   9780718192921 . Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  4. Gromyko, Andrei (1989). Memoirs . Doubleday. p.  89.
  5. "1956: Goicuria garrison Attack; Prio exiled". 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  6. Bonachea, Ramon L.; Martin, Marta San (31 December 2011). Cuban Insurrection 1952-1959. ISBN   9781412820905.
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Bibliography