Cuba

Cuba

Name:	Merlin
How old were you when you left?	14
What customs and traditions from your country do you still follow?	Culture: We have carnivals and parades. In Christmas we have a big dinner. In December we have a lot of parties. We celebrate Three Kings Day where the parents give gifts to their children on January 6th. Food: It's really great; the typical food is pork, rice, beans, yuca, and tostones (made from banana) Music: The salsa, merengue, and cha-cha-cha.
What do you miss most about your country?	My family, friends, and the weather
What languages do you speak?	Spanish and English
What do you like best about America?	In America life is better and everyone has a lot of oppurtunities.
What kind of music do you like?	Salsa, Merengue, Rock, Pop-- any music
Favorite TV show?	MTV Awards
Favorite sports team?	Yankees

General Information

Conventional Long Form:	Republic of Cuba
Conventional Short Form:	Cuba
Location:	Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, south of Florida
Capital City:	Havana
Government Type:	Communist state
Population:	11,184,023 (July 2001 est.)
Area [sq.km]:	110,860 (slightly smaller than Pennsylvania)
Currency:	Cuban peso (CUP)
Languages:	Spanish
National Holiday:	Independence Day, 10 October (1868); note - 10 October 1868 is the date of independence from Spain, 20 May 1902 is the date of independence from US administration
Background:	Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule has held the country together since. Cuba's communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. The country is now slowly recovering from a severe economic recession in 1990, following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Havana portrays its difficulties as the result of the US embargo in place since 1961. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, or falsified visas - is a continuing problem. Some 3,000 Cubans took to the Straits of Florida in 2000; the US Coast Guard interdicted only about 35% of these.