The History of Cuba By: Samantha Parylak, Emily Kiefer and Alex Decarlo

What led to communism? - The Dictatorship of Fugencio Batista - The Economy - The Relationship Between U.S. and Cuba

Fulgencio Batista -Became a Military leader. -Anyone who was suspected of starting a rebellion was arrested. -Got rid of congress -On July 26th 1959 rebels against Batista attacked the Moncada army base. -The rebels who did this were either killed or arrested and tortured. -The rebels dead bodies were displayed publicly for everyone to see.

Cuba’s economy during Batista’s ruling -Cuba’s Economy was very low -They had the third lowest GDP in Latin America -The extreme poverty was due to Fulgencio Batista’s organized crimes in Havana with known Mafia Boss Meyer Lansky. -Batista and Lansky ran a multimillion dollar drug, gambling and prostitution ring while the people of Cuba suffered. -Little of this money was used to help Cubans

Cuba’s Relationship with the U.S -Cuba had a good relationship with Batista during his ruling -The U.S. even encouraged Batista to run for president. -When it looked like Batista wasn’t going to win his second term of presidency they helped him form a coup. -The U.S. tolerated all of the corrupt things going on in Cuba because they Controlled 90% of it. -They also traded a lot with U.S. -The U.S. did nothing to help the people of Cuba.

1959 Fidel Castro is elected Leader - Castro overthrows the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. - He nationalized all U.S. owned businesses, including oil refineries, factories and casinos. - He publicly declared himself a Marxist-Leninist in late By that time they became dependent on the Soviet Union.

Fidel improves Cuba’s education -After 30 months of Castro’s rule, more classrooms were opened than in previous 30 years. -By 1962 only 4 percent of Cuban’s were illiterate. -By percent of children were attending primary school. -Secondary education went up 76 percent in 30 years under Castro.

Relations worsen with the U.S. -Relations between Cuba and the United States ended in 1961 soon after JFK authorized U.S. assistance for an invasion at the Bay of Pigs. -Castro aligned himself with the Soviet Union Cuba became involved in the Cuban missile crisis. -Cuba was a great location for the Soviet Union to hold its missiles because it was so close to the U.S.

Working towards capitalism - Cuba is currently under a communist, socialist economy. - People are now allowed to buy electronic and stay in tourist destinations - Citizens can create their own business, though they are heavily regulated and are protected by labor laws. -They have the freedom to purchase homes

Agricultural production - After Raul came into power nearly half of the countries sugar plantations shut down which were the main export. -54% of government owned land was given to people of Cuba and companies to grow food for the people of Cuba -Goverment lists agricultural advancement as the top priority - Wages have gone up, creating lower prices in free market economy

Political and Economic improvement - Citizens are now allowed to leave the island and travel - US-Cubans are allowed to visit their families in cuba and send money -2.4 million people have visited Cuba over the past year, bringing 2 billion dollars in revenue -Tourism has economically taken place of sugar production