Havana Since Castro Took Power

THE CITY AND PORT OF HAVANA SINCE CASTRO TOOK POWER

According to the CIA World FactBook, Havana, with an estimated population of 2,125,000 is the capital of both Cuba and of Ciudad de la Habana province. It is the largest city and chief port of the West Indies and one of the oldest cities in the Americas.

Havana is the political, economic, and cultural center of Cuba. An important hub of air and maritime transportation, it is the focal point of Cuban commerce, exporting sugar, tobacco, and fruits and importing mainly foodstuffs, cotton, and machinery and technical equipment. Havana possesses one of the best natural harbors in the Caribbean and has long been strategically and commercially important (Miller, 1992, 14).

The original settlement, called San Crist=bal de la Habana, was founded in 1515 by the Spanish explorer Diego de Vel�zquez on Cuba's southern coast but was relocated to the site of present-day Havana in 1519. Spanish treasure galleons assembled in Havana's harbor for their return voyage to Spain, and the city tempted many English, French, and Dutch buccaneers (Miller, 1992, 23).

By the early 19th century, the city ranked as one of the wealthiest and busiest commercial centers in the Western Hemisphere. Until 1959 the close political and economic relations between Cuba and the United States were strongly reflected in the commercial and cultural life of the city.

After the Castro government took control, the U.S. presence in Havana w

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. In 1985, Castro developed a philosophy of "market socialism" partly in reaction to unrest and discontent of the Cubans (Miller, 1992, 180). Under market socialism, everything in Cuba is for sale to foreign investors, "but ordinary Cubans are not participating in, or benefiting from, the Castro regime's market socialism. Cuban workers can be the indentured servants of foreign investors by day and their sexual playthings by night, but Castro allows his serfs nothing else" (Miller, 1994, 68). A Positive Revolution In 1952, former president Fulgencio Batista seized control and established a dictatorship, which grew increasingly harsh and corrupt. Fidel Castro assembled a rebel band in 1956; guerrilla fighting intensified in 1958. Batista fled January 1, 1959, and in the resulting political vacuum Castro took power, becoming premier February 16, 1959. Castro began a program of sweeping economic and social changes, concentrating initially on education and health care. Opponents who did not share his vision were imprisoned and some were executed. Some 700,000 Cubans emigrated in the years after the Castro takeover, mostly to Miami and other Florida towns. Castro set about to "Cubanize" the nation and nationalized American ca

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