Discount Hotels Cuba
Historical interest: Cuba
    
The relative obscurity of Cuba was shattered in 1492 when Christopher Columbus
anchored along the coast. The conquest of the 100,000 indigenous Arawaks began
in 1511; within 50 years the native population had dwindled to 3,000 and Spanish
rule was assured.
The events which led to Cuba's independence from Spain were precipitated by
the sinking in Havana harbour of the American warship, USS Maine in 1898. Spanish
involvement was never proved but the US declared war on Spain, and after racing
to a quick victory gave Cuba the pretext to declare independence in 1902.
The US continued to exert a huge influence through the dictator Batista; American
business conglomerates which controlled the island's sugar production; and gangsters
who ran Havana's numerous casinos. Meanwhile, the population as a whole struggled
with blinding poverty.
The resistance to Batista was led by a young lawyer named Fidel Castro and
an Argentinean revolutionary, Che Guevera, who organized a guerrilla army in
the Sierra Madre mountains. The inspired fighters captured Havana in January
1959, and immediately began transforming the country into a socialist state
with Castro ensuring power was entrusted to him alone.
In 1960, the US initiated a trade embargo against the country; and in 1961,
CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. After
this event, Castro declared himself a Communist and forged closer relations
with the Soviet Union. The situation came to a head in 1962 when Soviet nuclear
missiles were stationed in Cuba. In what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis,
the world hovered on the brink of nuclear war until the Soviets agreed to remove
the missiles.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled to the US in the 1970s, and during 1980
when Castro released prisoners and encouraged them to flee to America. Cuba
suffered greatly in the late 1980s with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and
with it the trade subsidies and aid packages. However, despite poverty and continuing
US sanctions, Fidel Castro remains in power.
Selection of hotels in this region:
Click below for a
full list of hotels and online booking
|
