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#CARD:Cuba:Background Notes
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE BACKGROUND NOTES:  CUBA

October 1990
Official Name: Republic of Cuba

PROFILE
People
Nationality:  Noun:  Cuban(s); adjective-Cuban.  Population:  10,513,742
(Sep. 1989); 70% urban, 30% rural.  Avg. annual growth rate:  .93%.
Density:  95/sq. km. (238/sq. mi.).  Ethnic groups:  Spanish-African
mixture.  Language:  Spanish.  Education:  Years compulsory-6.
Attendance:  92% (ages 6-16).  Literacy:  98.5%.  Health:  Infant
mortality rate-11.8/1,000.  Life expectancy -75 years.  No statistics
available by sex.  Work force:  3,300,000; 30% government and services,
29% industry, 13% agriculture, 11% commerce, 10% construction, 7%
transportation and communications (1987).

Geography
Area:  110,860 sq. km. (44,200 sq. mi.); about the size of Pennsylvania.
 Capital-Havana (pop. 2 million).  Other cities-Santiago de Cuba,
Camaguey, Santa Clara, Holguin, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Pinar del Rio.
Terrain:  Flat or gently rolling plains, hills, mountains up to 2,000
meters (6,000 ft.) feet in the southeast.  Climate:  Tropical; moderated
by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to
October).  Averages one hurricane every other year.

Government
Type:  Communist state.  Current government assumed power January 1,
1959.  Independence:  May 20, 1902.  Constitution:  February 24, 1976.
Branches:  Executive-President, Council of Ministers.
Legislative-National Assembly of People's Government.  Judicial-People's
Supreme Court.
Political party:  Cuban Communist Party (PCC).  Suffrage:  All citizens
age 16 and older, except those who have applied for permanent
emigration.  National Assembly elections were held in 1986 and municipal
elections for local assemblies in 1989.
Administrative subdivisions:  14 provinces and one special municipality
(Havana).
Flag: White star centered on red triangle at staff side, three blue and
two white horizontal bands.

Economy
Gross Social Product (GSP) (This economic measure is not convertible to
GNP/GDP) (1990 est.): $27 billion. Real annual growth rate:  0.0%
(1988).  Per capita income:  $2,644.
Natural resources:  Nickel, cobalt, iron ore, copper, manganese, salt,
timber.
Agriculture:  Products-sugar, citrus and tropical fruits, tobacco,
coffee, rice, beans, meat and vegetables.
Industry:  Types-sugar, food processing, oil refining, cement, electric
power, light consumer and industrial products.
Trade:  Exports-$5.4 billion (f.o.b. 1987):  sugar and its byproducts,
petroleum, nickel, seafood, citrus, tobacco, rum.  Major markets-USSR,
72%; other Communist countries, 15% .  Imports-$7.6 billion (c.i.f.
1987):  capital goods, industrial
raw materials, food, petroleum, consumer goods.  Major suppliers-USSR,
72%, other Communist countries, 14%.
Official exchange rate:  1 Cuban peso=US$1.33.

Membership in International Organizations
 Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CEMA), Economic Commission for
Latin America (ECLA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Group of
77 (G-77),  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Latin
American Economic System (SELA), United Nations and some of its
specialized and related agencies, including UN Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), U.N. Human Rights Commission
(UNHRC), Universal Postal Union (UPU), World Federation of Trade Unions
(WFTU), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

PEOPLE
 Cuba is a multi-racial society with a population of mainly Spanish and
African origins.  The largest organized religion is the Roman Catholic
Church.  Government and communist party restrictions on religions and
discrimination against churchgoers intimidate Cuban citizens from
practicing their faiths and restrict their professional advancements.

HISTORY
 Before the arrival of Columbus in 1492, Cuba was inhabited by three
groups, the Cyboneys, the Guanahabibes, and the Tainos, who had
introduced agriculture, including maize and tobacco, to the island. As
Spain developed its colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere, Havana
(La Havana-"the haven") became an important commercial seaport. Settlers
eventually moved inland, devoting themselves mainly to sugarcane and
tobacco farming.  As the native Indian population died out, African
slaves were imported to work on the plantations.  At the end of the 18th
century, according to a 1774 census, 96,000 whites, 31,000 free blacks,
and 44,000 slaves lived in Cuba.  Slavery was abolished in 1886.
 Cuba was the last major Spanish colony to gain independence.  The
independence movement began in 1850, when Cuban planters financed and
led several expeditions against Spanish garrisons on the island.  In
1868, the Ten Years' War for independence began under the leadership of
Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, whom the Cubans consider the father of their
country.  Twenty-four years later, Jose Marti, Cuba's greatest national
hero, initiated plans for a general uprising.  He announced the "Grito
de Baire" in 1895, which heralded the beginning of Cuba's final struggle
for independence.  Shortly after, Marti died in battle.
 The United States entered the conflict on the side of the
revolutionaries when the USS Maine, anchored in Havana Harbor to protect
US citizens, was sunk by an explosion of unknown origin on February 15,
1898.  On December 10, 1898, Spain signed the Treaty of Paris, ending
the Spanish-American War and relinquishing control of Cuba to the United
States.  The United States administered the island for 3 years.
Independence was proclaimed on May 20, 1902.
 The United States retained the right to intervene to preserve Cuban
independence and stability under the terms of the Platt Amendment, which
established conditions mandated by Congress for the withdrawal of US
troops from Cuba.  In 1934, the Platt Amendment was repealed in keeping
with "Good Neighbor" policy.  Later the same year, the United States and
Cuba reaffirmed by treaty their 1903 agreement that leased the naval
base at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.  This agreement remains in
force today and can only be terminated by mutual agreement or
abandonment by the United States.
 Gen. Gerardo Machado, elected president in 1924, forcibly extended his
rule until a popular uprising deposed him in 1933.  Army Sergeant
Fulgencio Batista led an army and student revolt and established himself
as Cuba's dominant leader for more than 25 years.  He ruled through a
series of presidents and was himself elected in 1940 for 4 years.  In
March 1952, shortly before regularly scheduled elections, Batista seized
the presidency in a bloodless coup.
 On July 26, 1953, an armed opposition group led by Fidel Castro
attacked the Moncada army barracks at Santiago de Cuba.  The attack was
unsuccessful, and many of those not killed were imprisoned, including
Castro.  Castro was released by Batista under an amnesty in May 1955 and
went into exile in Mexico, where he formed a revolutionary group, the
"26th of July Movement." After training in Mexico, Castro and 81 of his
followers landed in eastern Cuba on December 2, 1956.  All but 12 were
soon captured, killed, or dispersed.  From this nucleus, Castro's forces
eventually grew to several thousand.  While a number of other groups in
Cuba also actively opposed Batista, Castro's "26th of July" forces
became predominant when Batista fled Cuba on January 1, 1959.  Castro's
assumption of power was widely acclaimed in Cuba and abroad because he
seemed to embody the hopes of most Cubans for a return to democratic
government and an end to graft and corruption.
 Within months, Castro moved to consolidate his power and to set up an
authoritarian government.  Many leaders of the opposition to Batista
were executed or sentenced to lengthy prison terms for opposing Castro's
policies.  Moderates were forced out of the government, and hundreds of
thousands of Cubans fled the island.  During an April 1959 visit to
Washington, Castro addressed concerns about a reported leftist tilt to
his regime by saying, "We are against all kinds of dictators, whether of
a man, or a country, or a class, or an oligarchy, or by the military.
That is why we are against communism."  On December 2, 1961, Castro
publicly declared himself a Marxist-Leninist.  Representative democracy
was abolished, effective freedom of expression ended, and all opposition
political activity was soon terminated.

GOVERNMENT
 Cuba is a totalitarian state dominated by Fidel Castro, who is
president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, first
secretary of the Communist Party and commander-in-chief of the Armed
Forces.  With support from his brother, Raul, and a few longtime
associates, Castro exercises control over nearly all aspects of Cuban
life through a network of directorates ultimately responsible to him
through the communist party.
 From January 1959 until December 1976, Castro ruled by decree.  The
1976 constitution provides for a party-government structure in which the
communist party and its politburo are "the highest leading force of the
society and state." (The following, along with Fidel and Raul Castro,
are members of the communist party politburo: Juan Almeida, Julio
Camacho, Osmani Cienfuegos, Abelardo Colome, Vilma Espin, Armando Hart,
Esteban Lazo, Jose Machado, Pedro Miret, Jorge Risquet, Carlos
Rodriguez, Robert Veiga.)
  Executive power is vested in the Council of Ministers, which heads the
government.  Legislative power resides with the National Assembly of
People's Government (a rubber-stamp legislature), but day-to-day control
is held by the Council of State. Vice Presidents of the Council of State
include: Joan Almeida, Osmani Cienfuegos, Jose Machado, Pedro Miret,
Carlos Rodriguez.
 The communist party is Cuba's only legal political party, and it
monopolizes all government positions, including judicial offices.  All
pre-1959 political parties and political organizations have been
abolished.  Though not a formal requirement, party membership is a de
facto prerequisite for high-level official positions and professional
advancement in most areas.  Cuba's trade unions, women's federation, and
youth and other mass organizations are completely controlled by the
government and party.  These organizations attempt to extend Cuban
government and communist party control over each citizen's daily
activities at home, work, and school.
 The party is composed of the pre-revolution Communist Party of Cuba (in
existence since 1925 under a variety of names), which was absorbed, with
two other main political groups supporting the revolution, into a new
political entity formed by Castro in July 1961.  Further refinements
resulted in the emergence in late 1965 of the Cuban Communist Party,
which held its first congress in 1975.  The second and third party
congresses were held in 1980 and 1986, and resulted in changes in the
membership of the central committee and politburo.  Policy changes
emphasized increased political indoctrination and the introduction of
minor economic incentives. The politburo and central committee together
include most of the country's military and civilian leaders.
 The constitution states that civil liberties cannot be exercised
"contrary to the existence and objectives of the socialist state"
(Article 61).  Cubans do not possess equal protection under the law, the
right freely to choose government representatives, freedom of
expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, or freedom to
travel to and from Cuba without restriction.  The government and
communist party control all electronic and print media.
 Cuba has no independent judiciary.  Although the constitution specifies
that the courts shall be "a system of state organs independent of all
others," it explicitly subordinates the judiciary to the National
Assembly of People's Government and thus to the Council of State.  The
People's Supreme Court is the highest judicial body.  Due process
safeguards can be constitutionally circumvented and defense attorneys
face severe disadvantages under the Cuban judicial system.
 The Ministry of Interior ensures political and social conformity, as
well as internal security.  It operates border and police forces,
orchestrates public demonstrations, investigates evidence of
nonconformity, regulates migration, and maintains pervasive vigilance
through a network of informers and 80,000 block committees (Committees
for the Defense of the Revolution - CDR).
 In practice, the top leadership determines the degree to which civil
liberties are exercised and what is "against the revolution."  In 1987
and 1988, the Cuban government sought to improve its image abroad by
tolerating domestic human rights groups and freeing many political
prisoners.  In 1989 and 1990, however, the government reversed itself by
cracking down on dissent and arresting many human rights activists.

Principal Government Officials
President, Councils of State and Ministers; First Secretary of the
Communist Party; and Commander in Chief-Fidel Castro
First Vice President, Councils of State and Ministers; Second Secretary
of the Communist Party; General of the Army and Minister of
Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR)-Raul Castro
Ministers  Foreign Relations-Isidoro Malmierca
Ambassador to the United Nations-Ricardo Alarcon

ECONOMY
 For much of its history, Cuba was one of the more prosperous countries
in Latin America.  Under Castro, however, highly centralized economic
control, flawed policies, and corruption have slowed economic growth,
particularly in recent years.
 Since the early 1960s, The Central Planning Board, working closely with
Banco Nacional de Cuba, has directed nearly all economic activity.  It
creates and implements 5-year and annual plans which set prices and
targets for production, imports, and exports.  Day-to-day responsibility
for running the economy and for economic policy rests with the Council
of State.  Basic public services are provided by the state, either free
of charge or for minimal fees. Access to education and medical care
generally is adequate, but urban housing has greatly deteriorated, as
have communications and other public services.
 The state owns and operates most of Cuba's farms and all industrial
enterprises.  State farms now occupy about 70% of farmland, and peasant
cooperatives account for about 20%.  Privately owned farms account for
about 10% of Cuba's agriculture.  Cuba's manufacturing sector emphasizes
import substitution and provision of basic industrial materials.  In
recent years, many Cuban firms have been hurt by shortages of foreign
exchange and limited access to spare parts and imported components.
 Castro's efforts to diversify the economy and reduce Cuba's dependence
on sugar exports in the country's international trade have not been
successful.  Sugar continues to account for about 75% of export
earnings.  Within the Soviet-led Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
(CEMA), which Cuba joined in 1972, Cuba has specialized in the

production of sugar byproducts, and to a lesser extent light industry,
electronics, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.  Today, Cuba ranks
second only to Brazil as a cane producer and is the world's leading
sugar exporter.  Sugar, in turn, is Cuba's chief source of foreign
exchange.  Tobacco has traditionally been Cuba's second-largest
agricultural export.  Other important crops include coffee and citrus.
 Cuba has considerable light industry.  Under Castro, electrical power,
food processing, and cigar production have increased substantially.
There has been only modest growth in the chemical, petroleum, textile,
and metallurgy industries.  Cuba has two large oil refineries and is
constructing a third.  Cuba's mining sector accounts for a significant
part of export earnings.  The country's nickel reserves are the fourth
largest in the world.  The ore is processed on the island in two
formerly US-owned plants at Nicaro and Moa Bay as well as at a third at
Punta Gorda that opened in 1985.  A fourth refinery at Las Camariocas is
expected to open in the next several years, further increasing
production.  Most of Cuba's nickel output is exported to the Soviet
Union.
 Cuba produces about 5% of its oil.  The balance, some 270,000 barrels
per day is provided by the Soviet Union.  Cuba's first nuclear power
plant is being built at Juragua, near Cienfuegos, with CEMA assistance.
 Much of Cuba's transportation network was developed in
pre-revolutionary Cuba to serve the needs of the sugar industry.  The
road network exceeds 30,000 kilometers (19,000 mi.), of which about half
is paved.  The island has a 14,640-kilometer (5,600 sq. mi.) railway
system.  Buses are found throughout urban areas but are notoriously
crowded.  Havana is the most important of the country's 11 major ports.
The national airline, Cubana de Aviacion, serves major cities in Cuba
and more than a dozen foreign cities in Europe and elsewhere.
AeroCaribbean, a charter company formed in 1982, provides unscheduled
passenger and cargo service to the Caribbean basin and Western Europe.
 Before the revolution, more than half of Cuba's trade was with the
United States, with which Cuba had a favorable trade balance.  In 1962,
the United States imposed a comprehensive trade embargo that remains in
force.  Nonetheless, Havana has continued to import goods-mainly
manufactures-from other major non-Communist countries.  Cuba pays for
such items by exporting sugar, nickel, tobacco, coffee, citrus, and
seafood.  Cuba also seeks to earn hard currency by promoting tourism, a
sector that the country's leaders view as holding considerable potential
for future expansion.  In 1988, tourism generated $125 million; most of
the visitors came from Western Europe and Canada.
 At present, more than 80% of Cuba's external trade is with the Soviet
Union and its East European allies, of which the Soviet share is more
than 70%.  The Soviet Union alone imports 80% of all Cuban sugar
produced and 40% of all Cuban citrus harvested.  Cuba's trade with the
Soviet Union and other members of CEMA involves use of nonconvertible
currencies.  Soft currency earnings from exports of each CEMA member
finance imports from that country.  Annual trade protocols set the
volume of goods to be exchanged between Cuba and other CEMA countries.
 Since July 1986, Cuba has not serviced its roughly $7 billion debt owed
to Western creditors, mainly governments.  Consequently, Cuba has not
received substantial new loans or rescheduling either from the Paris
Club or private institutions.
"Rectification" Policy In April 1986, Castro announced a "rectification
of errors and negative tendencies" campaign mandating the observance of
strict Marxist orthodoxy in running the economy.  The policy, which
remains in force today, in many ways is the antithesis of the Soviet
"perestroika" (restructuring) concept.  "Rectification" emphasizes
centralized direction over market forces and moral and ideological, as
opposed to material, incentives to spur productivity.  It calls upon
Cubans to make greater sacrifices in order to further the collective
good.
 As a part of the "rectification" effort, the government in 1986 closed
farmers' markets, through which farmers had sold surplus produce at
uncontrolled prices since 1980.  It also sought to eliminate many
bonuses and overtime pay for workers.  Meanwhile, the Castro government
has encouraged voluntary labor, in the form of "micro-brigades" and
"contingents," especially in the construction sector, and has tried to
reduce corruption and black marketeering.
 Castro's "rectification" policy has decreased per capita gross domestic
product and further stifled private economic initiative since 1985.
Rationing and shortages of certain foodstuffs are becoming increasingly
severe.  Underemployment, a chronic problem, is being heightened by the
return of thousands of veterans from Angola and guest workers previously
sent to Eastern Europe.  Access to education and medical care generally
is adequate, but urban housing has greatly deteriorated, as have
communications and other public services.

DEFENSE
 Under Castro, Cuba has become one of the most highly militarized
societies in the world.  In Latin America, only Brazil, with a
population more than 12 times that of Cuba, has a larger military.  In
1958, Cuba's armed forces numbered 46,000.  Today, the Revolutionary
Armed Forces (RAF) contain almost 300,000 active-duty and ready
reserves-265,000 army, 18,500 air force/air defense, and 13,500 navy,
plus several military units under the Ministry of the Interior.  More
than 1 million Cubans belong to the country's two paramilitary
organizations, the Territorial Militia Troops and the Youth Labor Army.
 Cuba's military establishment is one of the most modern in the region.
Since 1975, massive Soviet military assistance has enabled Cuba to
upgrade its military capabilities and to project power abroad.  The
tonnage of Soviet military deliveries to Cuba in each year for the
period 1981-84 exceeded deliveries in any year since the 1962 missile
crisis, when a record 250,000 tons was shipped.  Today, Cuba's air
force, with some 200 Soviet-supplied jet fighters, including advanced
MiG-23 Floggers and MiG-29 Fulcrums, is probably the best equipped in
Latin America.  The Cuban army has almost 1,000 Soviet-supplied T-62 and
T-54/55 main battle tanks.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
 Under Fidel Castro's leadership, Cuba pursues an ambitious foreign
policy for a country of its size and resources, maintaining relations
with 122 countries and stationing thousands of its civilian and military
personnel in more than 20 nations abroad.  The basic tenets of Cuban
foreign policy are opposition to the United States and its foreign
policy, support for revolutionary movements, and close cooperation with
the USSR.
 When it first came to power, the Castro government supported the spread
of revolution by aiming to reproduce throughout Latin America the
rural-based guerrilla warfare experience of the "26th of July" movement.
 In 1959, Cuba aided armed expeditions against Panama, the Dominican
Republic, and Haiti.  During the early and mid-1960s, Guatemala,
Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia all faced serious Cuban-backed
attempts to develop guerrilla insurgencies.  These movements to failed
to attract much popular support.  The most severe blow to Cuba's policy
came in Bolivia in 1967, when Che Guevara's guerrilla band was opposed
by both the peasantry and the Bolivian Communist Party and Guevara was
killed. Guevara, an Argentine doctor, revolutionary theoretician, and
Castro comrade-in-arms, was a charismatic symbol of Cuban efforts to
spread the revolution in the Western Hemisphere.
 Cuba's support for revolutionaries in the hemisphere, along with the
openly Marxist-Leninist character of its government and its alignment
with the USSR, contributed to its isolation in the hemisphere.  In 1962,
the Organization of American States (OAS) excluded the Cuban government
from active participation.  Two years later, the OAS foreign ministers
resolved that OAS member nations should have no diplomatic and consular
relations with Cuba and should suspend all trade and sea transportation.
 In the late 1960s, Cuba de-emphasized its policy of supporting
revolutions abroad and began to pursue normal government-to-government
relations with other Latin American nations.  By the mid-1970s, Cuba had
reestablished diplomatic relations with a number of countries in the
region.  In 1975, the OAS lifted comprehensive sanctions against Cuba
and deferred to individual member states the option of diplomatic and
trade relations with Cuba.
 Cuba is now pursuing a two-track policy toward its hemispheric
neighbors, seeking improved relations with existing governments while
continuing support for select radical groups
and violent, anti-democratic movements.  Cuban backing for insurgent
groups, like the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN) in El Salvador,
includes military and intelligence training, weapons, guidance, and
organizational support.  Two arms seizures in 1989 demonstrate Cuba's
continuing committment to the FMLN.  In May, the Salvadoran police
discovered a major insurgent arms cache which contained Soviet-designed
arms and over 300,000 rounds of ammunition manufactured in Cuba as
recently as 1988.  In October, Honduran authorities seized a furniture
truck loaded with weapons and Cuban-manufactured ammunition destined for
the FMLN.  Cuba's military support for the FMLN runs counter to the
peace process developed by Central American presidents.
 Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Cuba expanded its military presence
abroad-deployments reached 50,000 troops in Angola, 24,000 in Ethiopia,
more than 1,500 military advisers in Nicaragua, and hundreds more
elsewhere.  In Angola, Cuban troops, supported logistically by the USSR,
backed the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), one of
the movements competing for power after Portugal's withdrawal.  In
Ethiopia, Cuban soldiers fought against Somali forces.  In the late
1980s, Cuba began to pull back militarily.  The 1988 Angola-Namibia
accords provided a timetable for the complete withdrawal of Cuban forces
by mid-1991; Cuba unilaterally removed its remaining forces from
Ethiopia; and Fidel Castro announced an end to military assistance to
Nicaragua following the Sandinistas' 1990 electoral defeat.

Cuban-Soviet Relations
 Ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union have been close since the early
1960s.  Cuba receives critical assistance, which both keeps its economy
afloat and enables it to maintain a disproportionately large military
establishment.  The Soviets in 1988 provided about $4.3 billion in
economic assistance, largely in the form of sugar subsidies,  and $1.5
billion in military assistance to Cuba.  Overall, Soviet assistance to
Cuba in recent years has accounted for about 20% of Cuba's gross
domestic (social) product.  The USSR supplies more than 70% of Cuba's
imports, 90% of its fuel supply, and nearly all of its military
requirements.
 The USSR in turn receives important strategic military and political
benefits.  The Soviet presence in Cuba includes a 2,800-man motorized
rifle brigade, 2,800 military advisers, and 6-8,000 civilian advisors.
At Lourdes, Cuba, the Soviets maintain their largest signal
intelligence-gathering facility outside the USSR.  The Lourdes site is
staffed by 2,100 Soviet technicians and monitors US civilian and
military communications.  Soviet reconnaissance aircraft and naval task
groups periodically are deployed to Cuba.
 Cuban-Soviet ties led to a direct confrontation between the United
States and the Soviet Union in 1962 over the installation of Soviet
nuclear equipped missiles in Cuba, resolved only when Moscow agreed to
the withdrawal of the missiles and other offensive weapons.  In late
1970, the possibility that the Soviet Union was contemplating the
establishment of a submarine base in Cuba became an issue.  In 1971,
President Nixon affirmed the existence of an understanding between the
United States and the USSR that the Soviet Union will not install any
offensive weapons systems in Cuba nor operate such systems from there,
including sea-based systems.
 Cuba's special relationship with the Soviet Union remains intact,
despite economic problems and ideological differences.  President
Gorbachev became the third Soviet leader to visit Cuba in April 1989 and
spoke out against the "export of revolution" during a speech to Cuba's
National Assembly.  Following Gorbachev's trip,  Castro and the Cuban
press began to harshly criticize the reform movement in the Soviet
Union.  In August 1989, two reform-minded Soviet magazines, "Moscow
News" and "Sputnik," were banned from circulation in Cuba.
 Cuba remains heavily dependent on Soviet financial support.  The USSR's
first delivery of advanced MiG-29 fighter aircraft in 1989 signaled its
ongoing military commitment to the Cuban government.  Economic changes
in the Soviet Union are causing a transformation in the two countries'
economic relationship.  For example, the Cuban government was forced to
ration bread because of delays in Soviet grain deliveries at the
beginning of 1990.
 Cuba had established firm ties with other socialist nations in Eastern
Europe and with North Korea and Vietnam.  Strains appeared in Cuba's
relations with Eastern Europe after the fall of Communist governments
there.  Castro publicly condemned the "sad" developments in Eastern
Europe as a return to "repugnant capitalism."  Several of Cuba's former
Eastern European allies have openly criticized Cuban policies on human
rights and resistance to reform.  Cuba has been a member of the Council
for Mutual Economic Assistance (CEMA) since 1972, but the emerging
democratic governments in Eastern Europe have been increasingly less
inclined to support Cuba's old-line communist policies at their expense.
 As Eastern Europe moves toward profit-making and
enterprise-to-enterprise trading, Cuba is becoming an unattractive
trading partner.

US-Cuban Relations
 Following Castro's takeover, bilateral relations deteriorated sharply,
primarily because of the imposition of a repressive dictatorship in
Cuba, its anti-American rhetoric and actions, such as the
non-compensated nationalization of American property valued at about $2
billion, and its support for violent subversive groups attacking US
allies.  The United States broke diplomatic relations on January 3,
1961, after the Cuban government demanded that the US Embassy in Havana
be reduced to a skeleton staff.  In 1963, the United States implemented
a comprehensive economic embargo against Cuba in response to hostile
actions by the Castro government.  US-Cuban relations in the Castro
years have been characterized by varying degrees of hostility.  Tensions
between the two peaked during the abortive "Bay of Pigs" invasion (by
anti-Castro Cubans supported by the United States) in April 1961 and the
October 1962 missile crisis.
 Following Cuba's de-emphasis on the export of revolution, the United
States did not oppose the OAS's decision to make discretionary the

application of sanctions against Cuba and began to discuss normalization
of relations with Cuba.  Secret talks were conducted, but were halted
when Cuba intervened on a large scale in Angola.  Subsequent efforts
undertaken to improve relations led to the establishment of interests
sections in the two capitals on September 1, 1977:  the US Interest
Section under the protection of the Swiss Embassy in Havana and the
Cuban Interest Section under the protection of the Czechoslovak Embassy
in Washington, DC.
 The new dialogue did not prosper, however.  A series of new
differences-Cuba's failure to withdraw troops from Angola, Cuban
intervention in Ethiopia, increasing Cuban subversion in the Caribbean
basin, the delivery of sophisticated Soviet weaponry to Cuba, and the
Cuban government's deliberate efforts to violate US sovereignty and
immigration laws through the 1980 Mariel exodus-eroded any possibility
of significant improvement in bilateral relations and posed new
challenges to US and allied security interests. In the Mariel exodus,
Castro had mixed criminals and other undesirables in with about 125,000
Cubans seeking refuge in the United States.
 Quiet efforts to explore the prospects for improving relations were
initiated by the United States in 1981 and 1982; however, the Cuban
government refused to alter its conduct with regard to US concerns about
Cuba's support for violent political change and its close political and
military cooperation with the Soviet Union.  The liberation of Grenada
by the United States and regional allies in 1983 was a setback for
Cuba's plans to expand the revolution in the Caribbean basin.
 A year later, the United States and Cuba negotiated an agreement to
normalize immigration and return to Cuba the "excludables" who had
arrived during the 1980 Mariel boatlift.  Cuba suspended this agreement
in May 1985, following the initiation of the Voice of America's Radio
Marti, which broadcasts current national and international news of
interest to residents of Cuba.  The Mariel agreement, reinstated in
November 1987, allowed normal migration to occur between the two
countries.
 Cuban support for subversive groups, internal repression, and the
continuing Soviet military connection are primary areas of concern to
the United States and major obstacles to improved bilateral relations.
The United States expressed concern over the 1989 trial and execution of
senior military officials under questionable circumstances and without
due process and the jailing of human rights activists who testified
before the UN Human Rights Commission delegation which visited Havana in
1988.  Goals of US policy remain to:
-- Isolate Cuba in the international community;
-- Enforce a comprehensive economic embargo; and
-- To provide access to news and other information to the Cuban people
pending fundamental changes in Cuban behavior.
 Despite existing tensions, the United States continues to discuss areas
of mutual concern, such as immigration, with the Government of Cuba.

Interests Sections
 Havana US Interests Section Calzada between L and M, Vedado Tel.
32-05-51
Principal Officer-Alan Flanigan
Deputy Principal Officer-Bradley Hittle
Consul-Deborah Bolton PAO-David Evans

 Washington Cuban Interests Section 2630 16th Street, NW Washington, DC
20009 Tel.  [phone]
Principal Officer-Jose Arbesu
Deputy Principal Officer-Manuel Davis

Travel Notes
 US representation and citizenship:  The US Government terminated
diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba in 1961.  The US Interests
Section in Havana, which was established in 1977, provides limited U.S.
consular services and protection. Naturalized US citizens of Cuban
origin are generally considered under Cuban law to be Cuban citizens
only.  The US Government insists on its right and duty to represent the
interests of all its citizens, but the Cuban Government generally
refuses such representation on behalf of persons it considers to have
Cuban nationality.  US officials are generally denied access to US
citizens of Cuban origin who have been detained by Cuban authorities.
 US Treasury regulations:  The Department of the Treasury regulates all
transactions between persons subject to US jurisdiction and Cuba or its
nationals, including travel-related transactions.  The current Cuban
Assets Control Regulations prohibit the following transactions:
financial transactions of any kind related to tourism, business, or
recreational purposes, whether travellers go directly or through third
countries; importing into the United States goods or services of Cuban
origin either directly or through third countries; exporting US
products, technology or services to Cuba either directly or through
third countries, except for informational materials; engaging in
transactions anywhere in the world with Cuban nationals or other
individuals or organizations acting on Cuba's behalf; and sending
remittances to Cuba, except for $500 every quarter to the household of a
close relative. Penalties for violating these regulations range up to 10
years in prison and $50,000 in fines.   For further information, contact
the Chief of Licensing, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of
the Treasury, Washington, DC 20220.
 Transportation:  There are no scheduled commercial transportation
services between the United States and Cuba.  Currently, two private
services operate charter flights several times a week between Havana and
Miami.  Persons authorized to travel to Cuba by the Department of
Treasury may use those flights.
 National holidays:  Jan. 1, Revolution Day; Jan. 28, Jose Marti's
Birthday;  May 1, International Workers Day; July 26, anniversary of
Moncada Barracks attack.

 Published by the United States Department of State --  Bureau of Public
Affairs  -- Office of  Public Communication  --  Washington, DC  --
October  1990  --  Editor:  Peter Knecht.  Department of State
Publication 8347. Background Notes Series  --  This material is in the
public domain and may  be reprinted without permission; citation of this
source is appreciated. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC  20402. (###)


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