Tyler+Ford



=Bienvenido TU CUBA !!= Population:11,451,652 Presidente: Raul Castro Capital and largest city: Havana Natural Resources: Cobalt, Nickel, Iron ore, Chromium, Copper, Tobacco, Salt, Timber, Silica, and Petroleum Known for baseball players-Castro =Fidel castro Cuban dictator = **CUBA** is the largest Caribbean country, the only one with a socialist system, the best doctors, classic cars, and the people are struggling for basic needs everyday Arawak Indians inhabiting Cuba when Columbus landed on the island in 1492 died from diseases brought by sailors and settlers. By 1511, Spaniards under Diego Velásquez had established settlements. Havana's superb harbor made it a common transit point to and from Spain. In the early 1800s, Cuba's sugarcane industry was born it made the need for black slaves. A independence movement turned into open warfare from 1867 to 1878. Slavery was abolished in 1886. In 1895, the poet José Marti led the struggle that finally ended Spanish rule, thanks largely to U.S. intervention in 1898 after the sinking of the battleship //Maine// in Havana harbor. An 1899 treaty made Cuba an independent republic under U.S. protection. The U.S. occupation, which ended in 1902, suppressed yellow fever and brought large American investments. The 1901 Platt Amendment allowed the U.S. to intervene in Cuba's affairs, which it did four times from 1906 to 1920. Cuba terminated the amendment in 1934.

**Bay of Pigs Disaster**
In 1961, a U.S.-backed group of Cuban exiles invaded Cuba. Planned during the Eisenhower administration, the invasion was given the go-ahead by President John Kennedy, although he refused to give U.S. air support. The landing at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, was a fiasco. The invaders did not receive popular Cuban support and were easily repulsed by the Cuban military. Thousands of Cubans fled the country when the US broke relations with Cuba


 * Cuba Missile disaster**

In 1977 the US set limited diplomated relations with Cuba making it easier for Cuban Americans to visit. Castro opened the port of Mariel to a “freedom flotilla” of boats from the U.S., allowing 125,000 to flee to Miami. They sent the unwanted such as mental patients, homosexuals, and prisoners

Mariel Boat Lift
====Cuban government announces anyone who wants to leave can by boat. 125,000 fled to the US. Jimmy Carter orders any Cubans in the US too be deported. ====

2000-2001 - Fidel Castro becomes ill stays in hospital and faints during speech on tv. Brother Raul takes over
=**Trade embargo affects basic things**= http://www.skatecuba.co.uk/watch.html http://www.redbullskateboarding.com/articles/2009/05/-cubas-skate-revolution--throu.php Cuban skateboarder

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