republic · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean
Republic of Cuba
Origins
Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement overthrew Fulgencio Batista, who fled on 1 January 1959. Castro became prime minister and launched land reform and nationalisation of American and Cuban businesses. The United States imposed an embargo, and Castro declared the revolution socialist in April 1961, during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.
Rule and society
Cuba allied with the Soviet Union, and the stationing of Soviet missiles caused the crisis of October 1962. The Communist Party, founded in 1965, rules as the sole party under the 1976 and 2019 constitutions. The state provided free health care and education while suppressing dissent, and over a million Cubans emigrated, many in the Mariel boatlift of 1980. Cuban troops fought in Angola and Ethiopia. Sugar sold to the Soviet bloc was the economic mainstay.
To the present
Soviet collapse brought the Special Period of severe shortages in the 1990s. Raúl Castro succeeded Fidel in 2008, and Miguel Díaz-Canel became president in 2018. Mass protests in 2021, blackouts and record emigration mark the republic's current crisis.
Lineage
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Republic of Cuba. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-cuba
- MLA
- “Republic of Cuba.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-cuba. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Republic of Cuba.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-cuba.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Republic of Cuba’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/republic-of-cuba (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻