Although just an hour off the coast of Florida by plane, Cuba's relative secrecy over the last 60 years has made it a time capsule of the past. The island nation has 11,240,000 people, many of whom are Roman Catholic. However, there are other religions in Cuba as well. A small portion of Havana, the capital city, is populated by Jews. In addition, the Afro-Cuba religion Santeria is commonly intermingled with Catholicism. Cuba’s education rate is one of the highest in the world. At a 99.8% literacy rate (meaning those over the age of 15 can both read and write), UNESCO ranks Cuba’s education system as the best in Latin America. Much of this is due to Fidel Castro, the previous dictator of Cuba. He imposed many educational reforms during his time in power and his brother, Raúl, who is now the president, has continued with the successful policies. Although “president” may sound as if Cuba is a democracy, it is actually a Marxist-Leninist single-party state, or a Communist government. During Fidel Castro’s rise to power in the late 1950s, over a million Cuban intellectuals and rebels escaped from Cuba to America, comprising over 10 percent of the US population in 1989. The official language in Cuba is Spanish, but ever since the early 1900s, English has been a prevalent language as well. Although Castro had a very strict anti-American policy, English was seen as separate from America and its culture and continued to be emphasized in education throughout his time in power. Today, English is seen as a tool for international communication and global trade. English also benefits the country’s tourism sector as the number of English-speaking tourists increase in relation to the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba. Notable Cubans include the poet José Martí and Desi Arnaz, famous for his role as Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy.
-Schneiderman, Fall 2015
-Schneiderman, Fall 2015