Preface vi
PART I: 1492–1958
1 Columbus Arrives and Spain Colonizes Cuba, 1492–1550 2
2 Sugar and Slavery 12
3 Struggle for Independence, 1868–1898 23
4 Cuban Independence War and US Occupation 32
5 From Occupation to “Good Neighbor” 40
6 Playground of the Western World and the Rise of Batista,
1934–1958 56
7 The Revolutionary Struggle, 1953–1958 68
PART II: 1959–1989
8 The Quest for Sovereignty 81
9 Consolidating the Revolution: Culture and Politics 96
10 Consolidating the Revolution: Economic Reforms,
New Institutions, and Basic Needs 111
11 Bay of Pigs/Playa Girón 128
12 The Missile Crisis 142
13 Foreign Policy in the 1960s: Exporting Revolution,
Chinese Flirtations, and Soviet Tensions 157
iv Contents
14 Internal Adjustments and Advancing Equality, 1963–1975 170
15 Becoming a Third World Leader, 1970s 188
16 Mariel Exodus—A Warning Signal, 1980 201
17 Change and Rectification at Home and Abroad, 1980s 208
PART III: 1990–2016
18 The “Special Period” in a Time of Peace, 1990–2000 225
19 The Cuban Diaspora and Racial Inequality 242
20 Helms-Burton, US-Cuban Relations, and Terrorism, 1995–1998 253
21 The Pope Goes to Cuba; Elián Goes to Miami, 1998–2000 263
22 The Search for a Viable Strategy, 2001–2006 272
23 The Transition from Fidel to Raúl Castro, 2006–2009 293
24 Securing Cuba’s Independence through Economic Change,
2010–2016 307
25 Securing Cuba’s Independence through Foreign Policy,
2010–2016 324
26 Change, Continuity, and the Future 336
Appendix: Chronology of Key Events 355
Bibliography 380
Index 414