Cuba

Wealth and National Well-Being

Country Comparisons:
2010: see chart (bottom)

Cuba's exceptional health figures:
With Fidel Castro turning socialist there was, claims a Wikipedia article, "an exodus of almost half of Cuba's physicians to the United States, leaving the country with only 3,000 doctors and 16 professors in the University of Havana's medical college...In 1976, Cuba's healthcare program was enshrined in Article 50 of the revised Cuban constitution which states "Everyone has the right to health protection and care. The state guarantees this right by providing free medical and hospital care by means of the installations of the rural medical service network, polyclinics, hospitals, preventative and specialized treatment centers; by providing free dental care; by promoting the health publicity campaigns, health education, regular medical examinations, general vaccinations and other measures to prevent the outbreak of disease.

Export partners: Netherlands 21.6 percent, Canada 17.6 percent, Russia 10.8 percent, Spain 8.6 percent, China 7.2 percent.

Unemployment rate
2010: 2%
2009: 1.6%

People

Agriculture employs 20 percent of the labor force (2005 estimate). Sugar is its greatest export crop. Other exports: sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee.

Living in an urban area
2010: 75%

Population density, calculated in 2004, is 102 persons per square kilometer, compared to 165 for the Cayman Islands and 239 persons per square kilometer for Haiti.

Migration
2011: More people leaving than arriving. Net loss of 3.56 persons per 1,000
2009: More people leaving than arriving. Net loss of 1.57 persons per 1,000.

Race:
Mixed black and white: 51 percent, white 37 percent, black 11 percent, Chinese 1 percent.

Flag Desecration
Cuba is one of three countries with a law against flag desecration.

Geography

Island in the Caribbean, 90 miles south of Florida.

Government

Cuba has one political party, the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). Fidel Castro is its First Secretary.

The legislative branch of government is a unicameral body called the National Assembly of People's Power (Asemblea Nacional del Poder Popular). It has 609 seats, occupied by persons elected to five-year terms, their candidacy approved by a special commission.

The judiciary is headed by the People's Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo Popular). Its judges are elected by the National Assembly.

Recent History

From 1959 to 1976, Fidel Castro was Prime Minister -- an office thatwas then abolished. In December 1976, Fidel Castro became President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers, making him both the head of state and the head of government. His brother, General Raul Castro, was vice president of the Council of State and Council of Ministers.

Cuba suffered economically from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the withdrawal of Soviet aid. Wikipedia: "The loss of Soviet subsidies brought famine to Cuba in the early 1990s."

2003: The Castro regime imprisons 75 dissidents, including 29 journalists, librarians, human rights activists, and democracy activists, claiming that they were acting as agents of the United States by accepting aid from the US government. Amnesty International adopted 75 Cubans as prisoners of conscience. The European Union responded by imposing sanctions.

February 24, 2008: Fidel Castro steps down as president. The National Assembly has elected his brother Raul as his successor. Fidel remains First Secretary of Cuba's Communist Party, a position he has held since October 3, 1965.

June 2008: The EU lifts its sanctions against Cuba. The sanctions were suspended in 2005. The 2008 move is a formality described as an attempt to encourage Raúl Castro to make progress on civil rights.

2010: Cuba releases most of the 75 dissidents imprisoned in 2003 and exiles them to Spain.