Changes

==History==

==History==

In 1492, Cuba was [[Christopher Columbus]]'s first sight in his first and most famous voyage to the Americas. <ref>Gott, Richard, Cuba A New History. Yale University Press. 13</ref>

In 1492, Cuba was [[Christopher Columbus]]'s first sight in his first and most famous voyage to the Americas. <ref>Gott, Richard, Cuba A New History. Yale University Press. 13</ref>

For many years, Cuba was an [[United States]] territory. During this time, Cuba relied on [[slavery]] longer than all nations in the Western Hemisphere except Brazil. Cuba had a slave trade from 1521 to 1884. In 1868, a Creole farmer started a revolution for racial equality, freedom of speech and association. It was then a colony of Spain, which put down the insurgency after a ten-year struggle. In 1880, the Spanish Cortes approved the [[abolition]] law, which provided for an eight-year period of ''patronato'' (tutelage) for all slaves liberated according to the law. This only amounted to indentured servitude as slaves were required to spend those eight years working for their masters at no charge. On October 7, 1884, slavery was finally abolished in Cuba by a royal decree that also made the patronato illegal.

For many years, Cuba was an [[United States]] territory. During this time, Cuba relied on [[slavery]] longer than all nations in the Western Hemisphere except [[Brazil]]. Cuba had a slave trade from 1521 to 1884. In 1868, a Creole farmer started a revolution for racial equality, freedom of speech and association. It was then a colony of Spain, which put down the insurgency after a ten-year struggle. In 1880, the Spanish Cortes approved the [[abolition]] law, which provided for an eight-year period of ''patronato'' (tutelage) for all slaves liberated according to the law. This only amounted to indentured servitude as slaves were required to spend those eight years working for their masters at no charge. On October 7, 1884, slavery was finally abolished in Cuba by a royal decree that also made the patronato illegal.

<ref>[http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/slavery.htm  Abolition of Slavery - History of Cuba]</ref>

<ref>[http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/slavery.htm  Abolition of Slavery - History of Cuba]</ref>

By 1895 it took 200,000 Spanish soldiers to suppress the Cuban independence movement.{{fact}}  Americans were shocked at how Spain sent tens of thousands of Cubans to concentration camps, where many died of starvation or disease. After increasing tension between the United States and Spain, Spain, in a move that proved to be fatal, blew up the USS Maine and the United States declared the Spanish American War.  President McKinley approved this Resolution of Congress:  

By 1895 it took 200,000 Spanish soldiers to suppress the Cuban independence movement.{{fact}}  Americans were shocked at how Spain sent tens of thousands of Cubans to concentration camps, where many died of starvation or disease. After increasing tension between the United States and Spain.  When the USS Maine blew up while docked in Cuba, Spain was blamed and the United States declared the Spanish American War.  President McKinley approved this Resolution of Congress:  

:Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battle ship, with 266 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured ...

:Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battle ship, with 266 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured ...

Health care in Cuba follows the model of [[socialized medicine]]; all doctors are employees of the government, and the government does not charge citizens for health care, though the services provided are alarmingly inferior for anyone but the party elite. [[Fred Thompson]] wrote:

Health care in Cuba follows the model of [[socialized medicine]]; all doctors are employees of the government, and the government does not charge citizens for health care, though the services provided are alarmingly inferior for anyone but the party elite. [[Fred Thompson]] wrote:

:Castro won't allow observers in to monitor his nation's true state, but defectors tell us that many Cubans live with permanent malnutrition and long waits for even basic medical services. Many treatments we take for granted aren't available at all -- except to the Communist elite or foreigners with dollars. For them, Castro keeps "show" clinics equipped with the best medicines and technologies available. [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/03/the_myth_of_cuban_health_care&Comments=true]

:Castro won't allow observers in to monitor his nation's true state, but defectors tell us that many Cubans live with permanent malnutrition and long waits for even basic medical services. Many treatments we take for granted aren't available at all -- except to the Communist elite or foreigners with dollars. For them, Castro keeps "show" clinics equipped with the best medicines and technologies available. <ref>http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FredThompson/2007/05/03/the_myth_of_cuban_health_care&Comments=true</ref>

The country's chief neurosurgeon publicly protested the government's role in the deterioration of the healthcare system (see Dr. [[Hilda Morina]]).  

The country's chief neurosurgeon publicly protested the government's role in the deterioration of the healthcare system (see Dr. [[Hilda Morina]]).