Posts Tagged ‘history’
Cuba: A New History (2004)
An admittedly sympathetic look at Cuba’s history from before the Spanish invasion in 1511 through 2004. Cuba became the central jumping-off point for the Spanish in their conquest of the Americas in the 16th Century. Racial tensions were imported as the Spanish sought labor for sugar cane production in the form of African slaves. Centuries of racial and class warfare ensued, but was brought to an end in 1959 by Fidel Castro, who imposed a modicum of equality, at the same time incurring the seemingly eternal enmity of the “imperialists” whose possessions he nationalized. The dispossessed moved to the United States, where they lobbied congress, with much success, to punish the “regime” in any way possible. The economic embargo (which continues to this day in ever more refined guises), pushed Cuba firmly into the arms of the Soviet Union.
I may be naive here, but doesn’t it seem that the revenues we have forgone during this 50 year embargo would have multiply compensated for the losses by now? And when did we recompense Spain for the taking of Puerto Rico?
The History of Latin America (2007)
Marshall Eakin’s survey of Latin America for the Palgrave Essential Histories series is a wonderfully readable journey through over 500 years of complex evolution. Like viewing earth from the moon, it gives a fact-filled yet comprehensible picture. For example, did you know that Brazil “imported” about 35% of all the Africans brought in bondage to the Americas, the Caribbean basin another 45%, Latin America 10-15%, and the United States 6%? Or that the United States has invaded and occupied several Latin American countries, some more than once?
