In order to understand the current situation in Cuba one must first understand its history. Each historical event has played some type of role in shaping the type of lives that children live. In 1898 Cuba gained its independence from Spain. President Fidel Castro came into the presidency in 1959, when he overthrew the current government. Castro based his government on the principles of communism. Within those principles Castro's ideals for all citizens were: equality, health care services avaliable at the expense of the government, and to have all educational services public and mandatory. Children are now required to go to school under Castro's rule while before he was the president they were not required to go to school at all. Through communism, Castro oversees all aspects of government and national life.

In 1962, the United States imposed a trade embargo with Cuba. This embargo ordered by President Kennedy caused Cuba to lose trade relations with the U.S. and its subsidaries. Cuba is forbidden to import or export any products including crucial medications. Children have been facing problems with malnutrition due to the limited amount of imports. When Cuban trade with The United States was cut off, Castro signed a 700-million dollar trade agreement with the Soviet Union. The Cuban economy was in serious trouble when the fall of the Soviet Union occured in 1989, since it lost over 75 percent of its trading partners (Hayes, 1995).

The history of Cuba has changed the way that Castro has run his country and as long as the trade embargo exists things in Cuba will have to be run accordingly.

References
Hayes, Keri. (1995, March). Feeding their own. http://www.soyatech.com/Cuba.html (1998, November 10)

This page was written by Lauren Clark, contributing group members Jenn Hamm, Julia Hitchings, and Sandi Yarow.

The purpose of this website is to protray the lives of children living in Cuba. It was designed by Lauren Clark, Jenn Hamm, Julia Hitchings and Sandi Yarow, as part of a collaborative web project in a freshman writing seminar: Children and Society, taught at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Professor April Brayfield.
December 18, 1998