The Taino, or Arawak Indians who inhabited Cuba at the time of Columbus’s arrival in 1492, perished from diseases brought by settlers and sailors.

The Spaniards, under the leadership of Diego Velásquez, had firmly established their settlements by 1511. The superb harbour in Havana made it an easy transit point to and from Spain.

Then in the early 1800s, the sugarcane industry in Cuba was booming, thus requiring huge numbers of slaves. Between the years 1867 to 1878 the independence movement (which had been slowly simmering) turned into open warfare. In 1886, slavery was finally abolished. A poet by the name of José Marti led the struggle in 1895, finally ending Spanish rule – this was largely due to the intervention by the United States in 1898 after the battleship Maine sank in Havana harbour.

In 1899, a treaty declared Cuba an independent republic under United States protection. The United States occupation brought large American investments and suppressed yellow Fever – the occupation ended in 1902. The United States was allowed to intervene in Cuba’s affairs due to the 1901 Platt Amendment, and this occurred four times between the years 1906 and 1920. This amendment was terminated by Cuba in 1934.

Then in 1933, President Gerardo Machado was overthrown by an army sergeant by the name of Fulgencio Batista, together with a group of army officers; with Batista becoming president in 1940 and running a corrupt police state.

Fidel Castro Ruz launched his revolution in 1956 from a camp in the Sierra Maestro mountains. His top lieutenants were his brother Raul and an Argentine physician, Ernesto (Ché) Guevara. The rebels were supported by many anti-Batista landowners. In 1958 the United States ceased military aid to Cuba, and in 1959 on New Year’s Day, Batista was forced into exile, with Castro taking over the government.

The Spanish Language in Cuba

The Spanish language spoken in Cuba is a Caribbean dialect which shares many characteristics with Puerto Rican and Dominican Spanish – like the aspiration of s (for example, in ‘Mosca’ the s is dropped and it’s pronounced ‘mo[h]ca’), and words are shortened, generally by eliminating a consonant. With the arrival of Europeans in the area, local cultures were either extinguished or enslaved, with millions of slaves arriving from Africa. The noticeable vocabulary and rhythmic intonation is due to the influence of African languages. Also, English and French have affected the development of this language due to their strong presence in the Caribbean.

Cuban Spanish is quite similar to Canarian Spanish, which makes the use of the archaic Spanish vocabulary quite common. Cubans use the diminutive ico, like the Costa Rican and Colombian Spanish. Another unique characteristic is seen with señor/señora being replaced with compañero/compañera.

Other Languages Spoken

Haitian Creole:

This is the second most-spoken language in Cuba with around 4% of the population (300,000 speakers) speaking Haitian Creole: it spoken amongst immigrants of Haiti, and their descendants.

Lucumi:

This is a west African language and is only spoken as a second language in a small region of Cuba. It’s considered the holy language of the African religion Santería, and is used in prayer.

Catalan:

Catalan is spoken by around 3000 people in Cuba;

English:

English is used at hospitality centres, recreation and health facilities, and is spoken by Cuban business people.