Cuba

So...you're looking for Sol Palmeras Cuba. The Cubans will tell you that there is so much more to see and do in Cuba than just what you see in the brochure.

Whether its a holiday, on business, or for a short break Cuba continues to increase in popularity amongst us Brits - and rightly so!

That's why its important to get your travel plans sorted out properly, and in our opinion, flight, holiday and hotel specialists Opodo offer the best service online - but you can find that out for yourself here...

The Republic comprises the entire island, including many outlying islands such as the Isle of Youth, previously known as the Isle of Pine, with the exception of Guantanamo Bay, a naval base that has been leased by the United States since 1903. The mainland is the world's 16th largest island.

In 2001, a group backed by the powerful Catholic church collected thousands of signatures for the Varela Project, a petition requesting a referendum on the island's political system. The process was openly supported by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter during his historic 2002 visit to Cuba. A plebiscite then was made in which it was formally proclaimed that Castro's brand of socialism would be perpetual.

The religious landscape of Cuba is strongly marked by syncretisms of various kinds. Though officially Cuba is an atheist state, religious practice is allowed and, especially since 1992, common. Though the papal visit to Cuba has strengthened official Catholicism, most Cubans share a motley of faiths that include popular Catholicism, over 50 versions of Protestantism, spiritism, African-derived beliefs.

The Spanish established sugar cane and tobacco as Cuba's primary products. As the native Indian population became mestizied and educated, field labor became scarce. Natives from Florida and Bahama were imported as slaves, and as that population became mixed as well, field labor was harder to come by.

On February 15, 1898, the USS Maine sank in Havana Harbor due to an explosion of undetermined origin. It has been said that the explosion was accidental, and recent research seems to indicate so; but at the time, the American press blamed it squarely on the Spanish. This incident helped galvanize support in the United States to enter the conflict (which fed the rumour that they blew the ship up themselves to create an excuse to enter the war).

Santeria was historically practiced primarily by descendants of west African slaves in Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Panama, and in Hispanic population centers in the United States such as Florida, New York, and California, but its popularity is spreading to all corners of the globe, to all different kinds of people.

Important religious festivals include various days dedicated to the saints such as the "Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre" (the Virgin of Cobre, Cuba's patron saint, syncretised with Santería's Ochún) on September 8, and san Lázaro (Lazarus) (syncretised with Babalu Ayé), on December 17

Investors are constrained by the U.S.-Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act which provides sanctions for those who "traffic" in property expropriated from U.S. citizens. As of March 1998, 15 executives of three foreign companies have been excluded from entry into the United States. Over a dozen companies have pulled out of Cuba or altered their plans to invest there due to the threat of action under the Libertad Act.

In an unrelated matter six men were sentenced to death for hijacking a ferry with guns and knives, steering it into international waters where it ran out of fuel, and threatening to kill the passengers. Some accounts confused the two and accused Castro of sentencing dissidents to death, something which did not happen. A second ferry was hijacked, several days later and this time the hijackers were apprehended and executed within 24 hours of capture.

When the USSR's support was lost, Cuba's economy was essentially paralyzed, and living conditions in Cuba worsened. This led Castro to open the country to tourism from Europe and Asia, and to enter into several joint ventures with foreign companies for hotel, agricultural and industrial projects. As a result, the use of U.S. dollars was legalized in the late 1990s, with special stores being opened which only sell in dollars.

U.S. agriculture companies are free to trade with Cuba, provided that Cuba pays in cash previous to delivery. Most travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba is banned by law. Nevertheless, some U.S. citizens illegally visit Cuba by traveling through Mexico, Canada or the Bahamas, and are subsequently liable to large fines if prosecuted, although it has been reported that the US authorities are not overly strict with ordinary travellers not involved in any criminal activity.

In 2003 seventy-five anti-government activists were arrested and summarily sentenced to heavy jail terms. Cuban officials described it as a response to provocative actions by the head of the US interests section in Cuba, who had been travelling around the country holding publicized meetings and press conferences with the dissidents. Castro's action was widely criticised by mainstream human rights organizations and even by American leftists generally sympathetic to his government.

Tensions between the two governments peaked again during the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the U.S. blockaded Cuba to force the USSR to withdraw their newly-installed MRBMs from the country. The USSR agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for an agreement that the United States would not invade Cuba. The U.S. has honored this agreement, although the CIA continued to support anti-Castro groups by mounting an extensive international campaign and several botched assassination attempts throughout the 1960s.

This Amendment also granted to the U.S. the right to establish naval bases on the island and, under its charter, the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay was established in 1903.

Sol Palmeras Cuba and Cuba online resources.