2. • Fidel Castro's formal retirement from the
Cuban presidency (after thirty-two years) and
from leadership of the Cuban revolution
(after forty-nine years) came on 19 February
2008, when he withdrew his name from the
deliberations of the newly elected national
assembly; but informally it had arrived on 31
July 2006, when he had transferred power -
temporarily, pending surgery - to his brother
Raúl. In any event, the later move was
surprising only in its timing and manner.
3. The government continues to balance the need for
economic loosening against a desire for firm political
control. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in
the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate
serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and
services.
The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a
lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s,
which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic
inefficiencies.
Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on
preferential terms, and it currently supplies about
100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba
has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of
Cuban personnel in Venezuela, including some 20,000
medical professionals.
In 2007, high metals prices continued to boost Cuban
earnings from nickel and cobalt production. Havana
continued to invest in the country's energy sector to
mitigate electrical blackouts that had plagued the
country since 2004.
The economy of Cuba is a largely state-controlled,
planned economy overseen by the Cuban government,
though there remains significant foreign investment
and enterprise in Cuba.
Cuba experienced economic growth during the second
half of the 1990s until 2001. At the end of 2000, Cuba
reported a GDP growth rate of 5.6% and an average GDP
growth rate of 4.6% for 1996-2000, a very respectable
performance within Latin America.
4. The relationship between the United States and Cuba
for the last 40 years has been marked by tension and
confrontations.
The United States recognized the new Cuban
government, headed by Fidel Castro, on January 7,
1959. However, bilateral relations deteriorated rapidly
as the regime expropriated U.S. properties and moved
towards adoption of a one-party Marxist-Leninist
system.
As a result, the United States established an embargo
on Cuba in October 1960 and broke diplomatic
relations the following January. Tensions between the
two governments peaked during the April 1961 "Bay of
Pigs" invasion and the October 1962 missile crisis.
Cuba established close ties with the Soviet Union and
served as a Soviet surrogate in Africa and several
countries in Latin America, which fueled cold war
tensions and kept the bilateral relationship distant
during the 1960s.
In the 1970s, during the Nixon administration, the
United States and Cuba began to explore normalizing
relations, but the talks were suspended in 1975 when
Cuba launched a large-scale intervention in Angola.
The United States and Cuba did established interests
sections in their respective capitals in September 1977
to facilitate consular relations and provide a venue for
dialogue, and both currently operate under the
protection of the Embassy of Switzerland.
Cuban international entanglements in the 1970s, such
as deploying troops to Ethiopia and allowing Soviet
forces on the island, continued to strain bilateral
relations.
5. • Cuba is a source country for women
and children trafficked for the
purposes of sexual exploitation and
forced child labor; Cuba is a major
destination for sex tourism, which
largely caters to European, Canadian,
and Latin American tourists and
involves large numbers of minors;
there are reports that Cuban women
have been trafficked to Mexico for
sexual exploitation; forced labor
victims also include children coerced
into working in commercial
agriculture
tier rating.
• Cuba does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking and is not
making significant efforts to do so
6. The younger brother of
Fidel Castro
Born June 3, 1931 he is the
President of the Cuban
Council State
Since assuming the
presidency in February
2008, Raúl Castro's
government has announced
several economic reforms
In March 2008, the
government removed
restrictions against the
purchase including DVD-
players, computers, rice
cookers, and microwaves
7. The Cuban-American Treaty was signed on
February 17, 1903 by the first president of
Cuba, Tomas Palma, and the president of the
United States ,Theodore Roosevelt.
The treaty stipulated that Cuba will perpetually
lease to the United States the Guantanamo Bay
area for the purpose of coaling and naval
stations
The United States has absolute jurisdiction and
control over the area and in return will
recognize the Republic of Cuba's ultimate
sovereignty over the area.
The Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp is a
detainment facility operated by the United
States government since 2002
The detainment areas consists of three camps
in the base: Camp Delta (which includes Camp
Echo), Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray (which
has been closed)
In 2001, President George W. Bash signed an
executive order that stipulated that US military
could indefinitely detain any non-citizen who
he believed was involved in international
terrorism.
On January 22, 2009 the White House
announced that President Barack Obama had
signed an order that the detention facility
would be shut down within the year
