Sugarcane and Politics

The country of Cuba is part of the West Indies, a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. The country is made up of one main island and about 1,600 smaller islands. The capital is Havana, on the northwestern coast of the main island.
Many Cubans are farmers. For a long time the most valuable crop has been sugarcane. Sugarcane grows as a tall, thick grass,rift gold and it is from this plant that we get sugar. Cuba also produces tobacco, and Cuban cigars are famous worldwide. Other major crops are coffee, rice, and tropical fruits. Although making sugar from cane is still important, many factories have been closed. Tourism is now the largest source of income for Cuba.

Cubans speak Spanish, and the country’s culture reflects its Spanish background. The island was claimed for Spain by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and was ruled by Spain until the 1890s. African culture has also influenced Cuba. Many Africans were taken to the island long ago to work as slaves on the sugar plantations.

Cuba saw major changes when Fidel Castro took over the government in 1959. Castro was strongly communist, and he developed a close relationship with the government of the Soviet Union. This caused problems between Cuba and its neighbor the United States,rift gold since the United States strongly disagreed with the political ideas of the Soviet Union. In fact, Cuba was nearly the center of a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1962. The problems remained even after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.