Cuba: A New History

Description

This new look at the history of Cuba illuminates the island’s entire revolutionary past as well as the most recent decades of the Castro regime Events in Fidel Castro’s island nation often command international attention and just as often inspire controversy. Impassioned debate over situations as diverse as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Elián Gonzáles affair is characteristic not only of modern times but of centuries of Cuban history. In this concise and up-to-date book, British journalist Richard Gott casts a fresh eye on the history of the Caribbean island from its pre-Columbian origins to the present day. He provides a European perspective on a country that is perhaps too frequently seen solely from the American point of view. The author emphasizes such little-known aspects of Cuba’s history as its tradition of racism and violence, its black rebellions, the survival of its Indian peoples, and the lasting influence of Spain. The book also offers an original look at aspects of the Revolution, including Castro’s relationship with the Soviet Union, military exploits in Africa, and his attempts to promote revolution in Latin America and among American blacks. In a concluding section, Gott tells the extraordinary story of the Revolution’s survival in the post-Soviet years. Contents Acknowledgements Prologue Introduction: the Cuban people 1 Insecure settlement: slaughter, slavery and piracy, 1511-1740 Hatuey and Diego Veldsquez: Indian cacique versus Spanish conquistador, i$ii What happened to Cubas Indians? Importing a black slave population The beat of Drakes drum, i$86 Sugar and tobacco: the seventeenth-century development of the island’s wealth 2 The Spanish empire under challenge, 1741-1868 Guantánamo falls to Admiral Vernon, 1741 Havana falls to the Earl of Albemarle, 1762 Spains fresh interest in Cuba, 1763-1791 The slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue, iyçi ' The sharp increase in the slave population, 1765—1841 The first zephyrs of independence, 1795-1824 Powerful voices advocate white immigration The seeds of US intervention, 1823—1851 Cuban slavery comes under British attack, 1817—1842 Black rebellion: the conspiracy of La Escalera, 1843—1844 Narciso López and the threat of US annexation, 1850 and 1851 3 Wars of independence and occupation, 1868-1902 The Grito de Yara and the outbreak of the Ten Year War, 1868 General Lersundi and the volunteers seize Havana, 1868—1869 Rebel arguments over slavery and annexation The Pact of Zanjón, and the Protest ofBaragua, 18/8 José Marti and the fresh dreams of independence The death of the Apostle, May 189$ Spain and Cuba again at war, 1895-1896 General Weyler s development of the concentration camp, 1896-1897 ‘Remember the Maine/: The US intervention in Cuba, i8p8 General Wood and the US occupation of Cuba, i8p8-ip02 Mortgaged independence: the Platt Amendment, 1902 4 The Cuban Republic, 1902-1952 A Republic for Americans: Estrada Palma and Charles Magoon, ip02—ipop A Republic for white settlers from Spain A Republic denied to blacks: Evaristo Estenoz and the massacre 0/1912 A Republic for gamblers: Mario Menocal and Bert Crowder A Republic under dictatorship: Gerardo Machado, the tropical Mussolini, ip2S—ip33 A Republic for revolutionaries: Antonio Guiteras and the Revolution A Republic designed for Fulgencio Batista, 1954-1952 5 Castro’s Revolution takes shape, 1953-1961 Castros attack on Moneada, 26 July 1953 The Granina landing and the revolutionary war, 1956-1958 The dawn of the Revolution: January 1959 Blacks in the Revolution., iç$ç The Revolutions impact abroad, 1959-1960 The United States reaction to the Revolution, 1959-1960 The Soviet Unions reaction to the Revolution, 1959-1960 ‘The First Declaration of Havana*: the Revolution changes gear, i960 The economics of the Revolution, 1959-1961 The campaign to eradicate illiteracy, 1961 6 The Revolution in power, 1961-1968 The exile invasion at the Bay of Pigs, April 1961 The missiles of October 1962 Castros early honeymoon with the Soviet Union.> May 1963 The first exodus: Camarioca, 1965 Exporting the Revolution: Latin America, 1962—1967 Exporting the Revolution: Black Cubas return to Africa, 1960-1966 Exporting the Revolution: mobilising black Americans Exporting the Revolution: Che Guevara's expedition to Bolivia, 7 Inside the Soviet camp, 1968-1985 The Prague Spring and the decisive turn to the Soviet Union, 1968 Ten million tons: the failure ofthe sugar target of 1970 'The Brezhnev Yean: restructuring the country in the Soviet image, 1972—1982 Opposition to the Soviet line, at home and abroad, 1968-1972 An opening to the mainland: Castros visit to AUendes Chile, 1971 Castro leaps to the defence of Angola, 197$ The nomadic road to socialism: Castro and the Ethiopian revolution» 1977 Havana, Washington and Miami in the Carter years, 1976—1979 The second exodus: the Mariel hoatlift, 1980 Revolutions in Nicaragua and Grenada, ipyp 8 Cuba stands alone, 1985-2003 Mikhail Gorbachev: the new broom in Moscow: 198$ Cubas victory at Cuito Cuanavale, 1988 The execution of Amaldo Ochoa, ip8p The ‘Special Period in Peacetime\ 1990 The third exodus: riot on the Malecón» August 1994 The Torricelli and Helms-Burton Acts, ipp2 and ippó Pope John Pauls visit to Havana, ipp8 The case ofElián González, ippp Dissent and opposition, 1991-2003 Cuba in the twenty-first century Castro bows out> February 2008 Epilogue Letter from John Quincy Adams, US secretary of state, to Hugh Nelson, the American minister in Madrid, 25 April 182$ The Platt Amendment, 1902 Extracts from The Helms-Burton Act, 1996 Guide to further reading Photograph credits Index