native name
conventional long name	Republic of Cuba
common name	Cuba
alt flag	Five horizontal stripes: three blue and two white. A red equilateral triangle at the left of the flag, partly covering the stripes, with a white five pointed star in the centre of the triangle.
image coat	Coat of Arms of Cuba.svg
symbol type	Coat of arms
alt coat	A shield in front of a fasces crowned by the Phrygian Cap, all supported by an oak branch and a laurel wreath
alt map	Political map of the Caribbean region with Cuba in red. An inset shows a world map with the main map's edges outlined.
national motto	''Patria o Muerte'' "Homeland or Death"
national anthem	''La Bayamesa''("The Bayamo Song")
official languages	Spanish
demonym	Cuban
ethnic groups	65.05% White (Spanish, others), 10.08% African, 23.84% Mulatto and Mestizo
capital	Havana
largest city	capital
government type	Unitary republic, communist state
leader title1	President
leader name1	Raúl Castro
leader title2	First Vice President
leader name2	J. R. M. Ventura
leader title3	PCC First Secretary
leader name3	Raúl Castro
leader title4	President of the National Assembly
leader name4	Ricardo Alarcón
area km2	109,886
area sq mi	42,427
area magnitude	1_E11
area rank	105th
percent water	negligible
population estimate	11,239,363
population estimate year	2009
population estimate rank	75th
population census	11,177,743
population census year	2002
population density km2	102
population density sq mi	265
population density rank	103rd
gdp ppp year	2009
gdp ppp	$111.1 billion
gdp ppp rank	62nd
gdp ppp per capita	$9,700
gdp ppp per capita rank	86th
gdp nominal year	2009
gdp nominal	$67.26 billion
gdp nominal rank	62nd
gdp nominal per capita	$5,984
gdp nominal per capita rank	78th
hdi year	2007
hdi	0.863
hdi rank	51st
hdi category	high
sovereignty type	Independence
sovereignty note	from Spain/U.S.
established event1	Declared
established event2	Republic declared| established_event3Cuban Revolution
established date1	October 10, 1868 from Kingdom of Spain
established date2	May 20, 1902from the United States
established date3	January 1, 1959
currency	Cuban peso(CUP)Cuban convertible peso
currency code	CUC
utc offset	−5
time zone dst	(March 11 to November 4)
utc offset dst	−4
drives on	right
cctld	.cu
calling code	+53
footnotes	}}

The Republic of Cuba (; , ) is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. To the north of Cuba lies the United States and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus found and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. Between 1953 and 1959 the Cuban Revolution occurred, removing the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. A new government led by Fidel Castro was later setup. The current Cuban government is considered by many journalists as dictatorial and/or communist , and considered by the 2010 Democracy Index as "authoritarian".

Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous island nation in the Caribbean, as well as the largest by area. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, such as the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves and its proximity to the United States.

Cuba has a 99.8% literacy rate, an infant death rate lower than some developed countries, and an average life expectancy of 77.64. In 2006, Cuba was the only nation in the world which met the WWF's definition of sustainable development; having an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita and a Human Development Index of over 0.8 for 2007.

Etymology

The name ''Cuba'' comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as ''where fertile land is abundant'' (cubao), or ''great place'' (coabana). Scholars who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that ''Cuba'' was named by Columbus for the ancient town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal.

History

Pre-Columbian era

Cuba was inhabited by Native American people known as the Taíno, also called Arawak by the Spanish, and Guanajatabey and Ciboney people before the arrival of the Spanish. The ancestors of these Native Americans migrated from the mainland of North, Central and South America several centuries earlier. The native Tainos called the island ''Caobana''. The Taíno were farmers and the Ciboney were farmers, fishers and hunter-gatherers.

Spanish colonization

After first landing on an island then called Guanahani on , 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on Cuba's northeastern coast near what is now Baracoa on or 28. He claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named ''Isla Juana'' after Juan, Prince of Asturias. In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa; other towns soon followed including the future capital of San Cristobal de la Habana which was founded in 1515. The Spanish enslaved the approximately 100,000 indigenous people who resisted conversion to Christianity, setting them primarily to the task of searching for gold. Within a century the indigenous people were virtually wiped out due to multiple factors, including Eurasian infectious diseases aggravated in large part by a lack of natural resistance as well as privation stemming from repressive colonial subjugation. In 1529, a measles outbreak in Cuba killed two-thirds of the natives who had previously survived smallpox. Cuba remained a Spanish possession for almost 400 years (1511–1898), with an economy based on plantation agriculture, mining, and the export of sugar, coffee, and tobacco to Europe and later to North America. The work was done primarily by African slaves brought to the island.

The small land-owning elite of Spanish settlers held social and economic powers supported by a population of Spaniards born on the island (Criollos), other Europeans, and African-descended slaves. The population in 1817 was 630,980, of which 291,021 were white, 115,691 free black, and 224,268 black slaves.

Independence wars

In the 1820s, when the rest of Spain's empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states, Cuba remained loyal. Although there was agitation for independence, the Spanish Crown gave Cuba the motto ''La Siempre Fidelísima Isla'' ("The Always Most Faithful Island"). This loyalty was due partly to Cuban settlers' dependence on Spain for trade, their desire for protection from pirates and against a slave rebellion, and partly because they feared the rising power of the United States more than they disliked Spanish rule.

Ten Years' War

Independence from Spain was the motive for a rebellion in 1868 led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. De Céspedes, a sugar planter, freed his slaves to fight with him for a free Cuba. On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory but accepting it in practice and declaring free any slaves whose masters present them for military service. The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Years' War. The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American nations did so. In 1878, the Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–1880, Cuban patriot Calixto García attempted to start another war known as the Little War but received little support.

Period between wars

In Cuba, a sophisticated and prosperous sugar industry had employed chattel slavery until the final third of the 19th century. Cuba produced 720,250 metric tons of sugar 1n 1868, more than forty percent of cane sugar reaching the world market that year. Slavery had been maintained in Cuba, however, while abolition was underway elsewhere. Abolition in Cuba began the final third of the 19th century, and was completed in the 1880s.

War of 1895

An exiled dissident named José Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York in 1892. The aim of the party was to achieve Cuban independence from Spain. In Martí traveled to Montecristi and Santo Domingo to join the efforts of Máximo Gómez. Martí recorded his political views in the ''Manifesto of Montecristi''. Fighting against the Spanish army began in Cuba on 1895, but Martí was unable to reach Cuba until 1895. Martí was killed in the battle of Dos Rios on 1895. His death immortalized him as Cuba's national hero.

Around 200,000 Spanish troops outnumbered the much smaller rebel army which relied mostly on guerrilla and sabotage tactics. The Spaniards began a campaign of suppression. General Valeriano Weyler, military governor of Cuba, herded the rural population into what he called ''reconcentrados'', described by international observers as "fortified towns". These are often considered the prototype for 20th-century concentration camps. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the camps, numbers verified by the Red Cross and United States Senator and former Secretary of War Redfield Proctor. American and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island followed.

Spanish–American War

USS Maine

The U.S. battleship ''Maine'' arrived in Havana on 1898 to offer protection to the 8,000 American residents on the island, but the Spanish saw this as intimidation. On the evening of 1898, the ''Maine'' blew up in the harbor, killing 252 crew. Another eight crew members died of their wounds in hospital over the next few days. A Naval Board of Inquiry headed by Captain William T. Sampson was appointed to investigate the cause of the explosion on the ''Maine''. Having examined the wreck and taken testimony from eyewitnesses and experts, the board reported on 1898 that the ''Maine'' had been destroyed by "a double magazine set off from the exterior of the ship, which could only have been produced by a mine."

The facts remain disputed today, although an investigation by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover in 1976 established that the blast was most likely a large internal explosion. Rickover believes the explosion was caused by a spontaneous combustion in inadequately ventilated bituminous coal which ignited gunpowder in an adjacent magazine. The original 1898 board was unable to fix the responsibility for the disaster, but a furious American populace, fueled by an active press— notably the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst— concluded that the Spanish were to blame and demanded action. The U.S. Congress passed a resolution calling for intervention, and President William McKinley complied. Spain and the United States declared war on each other in late April.

Early 20th century

After the Spanish-American War, Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris (1898), by which Spain ceded Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States for the sum of . Under the same treaty, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over Cuba. Theodore Roosevelt, who had fought in the Spanish-American War and had some sympathies with the independence movement, succeeded McKinley as U.S. President in 1901 and abandoned the treaty. Cuba gained formal independence from the U.S. on , 1902, as the Republic of Cuba. Under Cuba's new constitution, the U.S. retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment, the U.S. leased the Guantánamo Bay naval base from Cuba.

Following disputed elections in 1906, the first president, Tomás Estrada Palma, faced an armed revolt by independence war veterans who defeated the meager government forces. The U.S. intervened by occupying Cuba and named Charles Edward Magoon as Governor for three years. Cuban historians have attributed Magoon's governorship as having introduced political and social corruption. In 1908, self-government was restored when José Miguel Gómez was elected President, but the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. In 1912, the Partido Independiente de Color attempted to establish a separate black republic in Oriente Province, but was suppressed by General Monteagudo with considerable bloodshed.

During World War I, Cuba exported considerable quantities of sugar to Britain. Cuba was able to avoid U-boat attacks by the subterfuge of shipping the sugar to Sweden. The Menocal government declared war on Germany very soon after the United States.

A constitutional government was maintained until 1930 when Gerardo Machado y Morales suspended the constitution. During Machado's tenure, a nationalistic economic program was pursued with several major national development projects which included the Carretera Central and El Capitolio. Machado's hold on power was weakened following a decline in demand for exported agricultural produce due to the Great Depression, attacks by independence war veterans, and attacks by covert terrorist organizations, principally the ABC.

During a general strike in which the Communist Party sided with Machado, the senior elements of the Cuban army forced Machado into exile. The Party then installed Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, son of Cuba's founding father (Carlos Manuel de Céspedes), as President. During 4– 1933, a second coup overthrew Céspedes which led to the formation of the first Ramón Grau government. Notable events in this violent period include the separate sieges of Hotel Nacional de Cuba and Atares Castle. This government lasted 100 days but engineered radical socialist changes in Cuban society, including the abolishment of the Platt Amendment and instating of womens' suffrage in Cuba. In 1934, Grau was ousted in favor of Carlos Mendieta, the first in a series of puppet presidents subordinate to the army and its young chief of staff, Fulgencio Batista.

Fulgencio Batista was democratically elected President in the elections of 1940, so far the only non-white Cuban endorsed for the nation's highest office. His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of the Communist Party held office under his administration and established numerous economic regulations and pro-union policies, as well as the Cuban Constitution of 1940, which engineered radical progressive ideas. Batista's administration formally took Cuba to the Allies of World War II camp in World War II. Cuba declared war on Japan on , 1941, then on Germany and Italy on , 1941. Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II, although president Batista suggested a joint U.S.-Latin American assault on Francoist Spain in order to overthrow its authoritarian regime.

Ramón Grau, who lost in 1940 to Batista, finally returned in the 1944 elections by defeating Batista's preferred successor, Carlos Saladrigas Zayas. In 1948, his Revolutionary Authentic Party won again when Carlos Prío Socarrás won, the last person elected to the presidency by free and fair elections. The two terms of the Authenic Party saw an influx of investment fueled a boom which raised living standards for all segments of society and created a prosperous middle class in most urban areas. The gap between rich and poor became wider and more obvious.

The 1952 election was a three-way race. Roberto Agramonte of the Ortodoxos party led in all the polls, followed by Dr. Aurelio Hevia of the Auténtico party, and Fulgencio Batista, seeking a return to office, as a distant third. Both Agramonte and Hevia had decided to name Col. Ramón Barquín to head the Cuban armed forces after the elections. Barquín, then a diplomat in Washington, DC, was a top officer. He was respected by the professional army and had promised to eliminate corruption in the ranks. Batista feared that Barquín would oust him and his followers. When it became apparent that Batista had little chance of winning, he staged a coup on 1952. Batista held on to power with the backing of a nationalist section of the army as a "provisional president" for the next two years.

In March 1952 Justo Carrillo informed Barquín in Washington that the inner circles knew that Batista had plotted the coup. They immediately began to conspire to oust Batista and restore democracy and civilian government in what was later dubbed ''La Conspiracion de los Puros de 1956'' (Agrupacion Montecristi). In 1954, Batista agreed to elections. The Partido Auténtico put forward ex-President Grau as their candidate, but he withdrew amid allegations that Batista was rigging the elections in advance.

, 1960] from the ''John F. Kennedy Presidential Library''}}

In April 1956 Batista ordered Barquín to become General and chief of the army, but Barquín decided to move forward with his coup to secure total power. On 1956, a coup by hundreds of career officers led by Barquín was frustrated by Rios Morejon. The coup broke the back of the Cuban armed forces. The officers were sentenced to the maximum terms allowed by Cuban Martial Law. Barquín was sentenced to solitary confinement for eight years. ''La Conspiración de los Puros'' resulted in the imprisonment of the commanders of the armed forces and the closing of the military academies.

Cuba had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios, though this consumption was largely by the small elite class and foreigners. In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards. Cuba attracted more immigrants, primarily from Europe, as a percentage of population than the U.S. The United Nations noted Cuba for its large middle class. On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in Latin America, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.

Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems. Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. The middle class, which was comparable to the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with the unemployment. The labor unions supported Batista until the very end.

Revolution

On 2 December 1956 a party of 82 people on the yacht ''Granma'' landed in Cuba. The party, led by Fidel Castro, had the intention of establishing an armed resistance movement in the Sierra Maestra. While facing armed resistance from Castro's rebel fighters in the mountains, Fulgencio Batista's regime was weakened and crippled by a United States arms embargo imposed on 1958. By late 1958, the rebels broke out of the Sierra Maestra and launched a general popular insurrection. After the fighters captured Santa Clara, Batista fled from Havana on 1959 to exile in Portugal. Barquín negotiated the symbolic change of command between Camilo Cienfuegos, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, and his brother Fidel Castro after the Supreme Court decided that the Revolution was the source of law and its representatives should assume command.

Fidel Castro's forces entered the capital on 1959. Shortly afterward, a liberal lawyer, Dr Manuel Urrutia Lleó became president. He was backed by Castro's 26th of July Movement because they believed his appointment would be welcomed by the United States. Disagreements within the government culminated in Urrutia's resignation in . He was replaced by Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, who served as president until 1976. Castro became prime minister in , succeeding José Miró in that post.

In its first year, the new revolutionary government expropriated private property with little or no compensation, nationalized public utilities, tightened controls on the private sector, and closed down the mafia-controlled gambling industry. The CIA conspired with the Chicago mafia in 1960 and 1961 to assassinate Fidel Castro, according to documents declassified in 2007.

Some of these measures were undertaken by Fidel Castro's government in the name of the program outlined in the Manifesto of the Sierra Maestra. The government nationalized private property totaling about USD , of which American property made up around USD .

By the end of 1960, the ''coletilla'' made its appearance, and most newspapers in Cuba had been expropriated, taken over by the unions, or had been abandoned. All radio and television stations were in state control. Moderate teachers and professors were purged. In any year, about 20,000 dissenters were imprisoned. Some homosexuals, religious practitioners, and others were sent to labor camps where they were subject to political "re-education". One estimate is that 15,000 to 17,000 people were executed.

The Communist Party strengthened its one-party rule, with Castro as ultimate leader. Fidel's brother, Raúl Castro, became the army chief. Loyalty to Castro became the primary criterion for all appointments. In , the revolutionary government created a system known as Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), which provided neighborhood spying.

In the 1961 New Year's Day parade, the administration exhibited Soviet tanks and other weapons. Eventually, Cuba built up the second largest armed forces in Latin America, second only to Brazil. Cuba became a privileged client-state of the Soviet Union.

By 1961, hundreds of thousands of Cubans had left for the United States. The 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion (''La Batalla de Girón'') was an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Cuban government by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles with U.S. military support. The plan was launched in , less than three months after John F. Kennedy became the U.S. President. The Cuban armed forces, trained and equipped by Eastern Bloc nations, defeated the exiles in three days. Cuban-American relations were exacerbated the following year by the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Kennedy administration demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet missiles placed in Cuba placed in response to U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey and the Middle East. The Soviets and Americans soon came to an agreement. The Soviets would remove Soviet missiles from Cuba and the Americans would remove missiles from Turkey and the Middle East. Kennedy also agreed not to invade Cuba in the future. Cuban exiles captured during the Bay of Pigs Invasion were exchanged for a shipment of supplies from America.

By 1963, Cuba was moving towards a full-fledged Communist system modeled on the USSR. The U.S. imposed a complete diplomatic and commercial embargo on Cuba and began Operation Mongoose, a program of covert CIA operations.

In 1965, Castro merged his revolutionary organizations with the Communist Party, of which he became First Secretary; Blas Roca was named Second Secretary. Roca was succeeded by Raúl Castro, who, as Defense Minister and Fidel's closest confidant, became and remained the second most powerful figure in Cuba until his brother's retirement. Raúl's position was strengthened by the departure of Che Guevara to launch unsuccessful insurrections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then Bolivia, where he was killed in 1967.

During the 1970s, Fidel Castro dispatched tens of thousands troops in support of Soviet-supported wars in Africa, particularly the MPLA in Angola and Mengistu Haile Mariam in Ethiopia.

The standard of living in 1970s was "extremely spartan" and discontent was rife. Fidel Castro admitted the failures of economic policies in a 1970 speech. By the mid-1970s, Castro started economic reforms.

Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1962 in support of the U.S. embargo, but in 1975 the OAS lifted all sanctions against Cuba, with approval of 16 countries, including the U.S.

On 3 June 2009, the OAS adopted a resolution to end the 47-year exclusion of Cuba. The meetings were contentious, with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walking out at one point. However, in the end, the U.S. delegation agreed with the other members and approved the resolution. Cuban leaders have repeatedly announced they are not interested in rejoining the OAS.

Recent affairs

As of 2002, some 1.2 million persons of Cuban background (about 10% of the current population of Cuba) reside in the U.S. Many of them left the island for the United States, often by sea in small boats and fragile rafts. On 1980, 10,000 Cubans stormed the Peruvian embassy in Havana seeking political asylum. The following day, the Cuban government granted permission for the emigration of Cubans seeking refuge in the Peruvian embassy. On , 500 Cubans left the Peruvian Embassy for Costa Rica. On , many of those Cubans started arriving in Miami via private boats and were halted by the U.S. State Department, but the emigration continued, because Castro allowed anyone who desired to leave the country to do so through the port of Mariel. Over 125,000 Cubans emigrated to the U.S. before the flow of vessels ended on .

Castro's rule was severely tested in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse (known in Cuba as the Special Period), with effects such as food shortages. The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines, and cash until 1993. On 1994, state security dispersed protesters in a spontaneous protest in Havana.

Cuba has found a new source of aid and support in the People's Republic of China, and new allies in Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela and Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, both major oil and gas exporters. In 2003, the government arrested and imprisoned a large number of civil activists, a period known as the "Black Spring".

On July 31, 2006, Fidel Castro temporarily delegated his major duties to his brother, First Vice President, Raúl Castro, while Fidel recovered from surgery for an "acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding". On 2006, Fidel was too ill to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration of the ''Granma'' boat landing, fuelling speculation that he had stomach cancer, although there was evidence his illness was a digestive problem and not terminal.

In January 2007, footage was released of Fidel Castro meeting Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, in which Castro "appeared frail but stronger than three months ago". In , Fidel Castro announced his resignation as President of Cuba, and on Raúl was elected as the new President. In his acceptance speech, Raúl promised that some of the restrictions that limit Cubans' daily lives would be removed. In , Raúl Castro removed some of Fidel Castro's officials.

Human rights

The Cuban government has been accused of numerous human rights abuses including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial executions (also known as "''El Paredón''"). The Human Rights Watch alleges that the government "represses nearly all forms of political dissent" and that "Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law".

Cuba had the second-highest number of imprisoned journalists of any nation in 2008 (the People's Republic of China had the highest) according to various sources, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international NGO, and Human Rights Watch. As a result of ownership restrictions, computer ownership rates are among the world's lowest. The right to use the Internet is granted only to selected locations and they may be monitored. Connecting to the Internet illegally can lead to a five-year prison sentence.

Cuban dissidents who commit crimes face arrest and imprisonment. In the 1990s, Human Rights Watch reported that Cuba's extensive prison system, one of the largest in Latin America, consists of some 40 maximum-security prisons, 30 minimum-security prisons, and over 200 work camps. According to Human Rights Watch, political prisoners, along with the rest of Cuba's prison population, are confined to jails with substandard and unhealthy conditions.

Citizens cannot leave or return to Cuba without first obtaining official permission in addition to their passport and the visa requirements of their destination.

Economy

The Cuban state adheres to socialist principles in organizing its largely state-controlled planned economy. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government and most of the labor force is employed by the state. Recent years have seen a trend towards more private sector employment. By 2006, public sector employment was 78% and private sector 22%, compared to 91.8% to 8.2% in 1981. Capital investment is restricted and requires approval by the government. The Cuban government sets most prices and rations goods. Any firm wishing to hire a Cuban must pay the Cuban government, which in turn will pay the employee in Cuban pesos. Cubans can not change jobs without government permission. The average wage at the end of 2005 was 334 regular pesos per month ($16.70 per month) and the average pension was $9 per month.

Cuba relied heavily on trade with the Soviet Union. From the late 1980s, Soviet subsidies for Cuban goods started to dry up. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba depended on Moscow for substantial aid and sheltered markets for its exports. The removal of these subsidies sent the Cuban economy into a rapid depression known in Cuba as the Special Period. In 1992 the United States tightened the trade embargo, hoping to see democratisation of the sort that took place in Eastern Europe.

Like some other Communist and post-Communist states following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba took limited free market-oriented measures to alleviate severe shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. These steps included allowing some self-employment in certain retail and light manufacturing sectors, the legalization of the use of the US dollar in business, and the encouragement of tourism. Cuba has developed a unique urban farm system (the ''organopónicos'') to compensate for the end of food imports from the Soviet Union. In recent years, Cuba has rolled back some of the market oriented measures undertaken in the 1990s. In 2004 Cuban officials publicly backed the Euro as a "global counter-balance to the US dollar", and eliminated U.S. currency from circulation in its stores and businesses.

Tourism was initially restricted to enclave resorts where tourists would be segregated from Cuban society, referred to as "enclave tourism" and "tourism apartheid". Contacts between foreign visitors and ordinary Cubans were ''de facto'' illegal until 1997. In 1996 tourism surpassed the sugar industry as the largest source of hard currency for Cuba. Cuba has tripled its market share of Caribbean tourism in the last decade; as a result of significant investment in tourism infrastructure, this growth rate is predicted to continue. tourists visited Cuba in 2003, predominantly from Canada and the European Union, generating revenue of . The rapid growth of tourism during the Special Period had widespread social and economic repercussions in Cuba, and led to speculation about the emergence of a two-tier economy. The Medical tourism sector caters to thousands of European, Latin American, Canadian, and American consumers every year.

The communist agricultural production system was ridiculed by Raúl Castro in 2008. Cuba now imports up to 80% of food used for rations. Before 1959, Cuba boasted as many cattle as people.

For some time, Cuba has been experiencing a housing shortage because of the state's failure to keep pace with increasing demand. The government instituted food rationing policies in 1962, which were exacerbated following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the U.S. embargo. Studies have shown that, as late as 2001, the average Cuban's standard of living was lower than before the downturn of the post-Soviet period. Paramount issues have been state salaries failing to meet personal needs under the state rationing system, chronically plagued with shortages. The variety and quantity of available rationed goods declined.

Under Venezuela's Mission Barrio Adentro, Hugo Chávez has supplied Cuba with up to of oil per day in exchange for 30,000 doctors and teachers.

In 2005 Cuba had exports of $2.4 billion, ranking 114 of 226 world countries, and imports of , ranking 87 of 226 countries. Its major export partners are China 27.5%, Canada 26.9%, Netherlands 11.1%, Spain 4.7% (2007). Cuba's major exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, and coffee; imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery. Cuba presently holds debt in an amount estimated to be , approximately 38% of GDP. According to the Heritage Foundation, Cuba is dependent on credit accounts that rotate from country to country. Cuba's prior 35% supply of the world's export market for sugar has declined to 10% due to a variety of factors, including a global sugar commodity price drop that made Cuba less competitive on world markets. At one time, Cuba was the world's most important sugar producer and exporter. As a result of diversification, underinvestment, and natural disasters, Cuba's sugar production has seen a drastic decline. In 2002 more than half of Cuba's sugar mills were shut down. Cuba holds 6.4% of the global market for nickel, which constitutes about 25% of total Cuban exports. A 2005 US Geological Survey report estimates that the North Cuba Basin could contain 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

, Cubans were allowed to build their own houses. According to Raul Castro, they will be able to improve their houses with this new permission, but the government will not endorse these new houses or improvements.

On August 2, 2011, ''The New York Times'' reported Cuba as reaffirming their intent to legalize "buying and selling" of private property before the year ends. According to experts, the private sale of property could "transform Cuba more than any of the economic reforms announced by President Raúl Castro’s government". It will cut more than one million state jobs including party bureaucrats which resist the changes.

Government and politics

The Constitution of 1976, which defined Cuba as a socialist republic, was replaced by the Constitution of 1992, which is guided by the ideas of José Martí, Marx, Engels and Lenin. The constitution describes the Communist Party of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state". The first secretary of the Communist Party is concurrently President of the Council of State (President of Cuba) and President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes referred to as Prime Minister of Cuba). Members of both councils are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. The President of Cuba, who is also elected by the Assembly, serves for five years and there is no limit to the number of terms of office.

The Supreme Court of Cuba serves as the nation's highest judicial branch of government. It is also the court of last resort for all appeals against the decisions of provincial courts.

Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (''Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular''), is the supreme organ of power; 609 members serve five-year terms. The assembly meets twice a year; between sessions legislative power is held by the 31 member Council of Ministers. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by public referendum. All Cuban citizens over 16 who have not been convicted of a criminal offense can vote. Article 131 of the Constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote". Article 136 states: "In order for deputies or delegates to be considered elected they must get more than half the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts". Votes are cast by secret ballot and counted in public view. Nominees are chosen at local gatherings from multiple candidates before gaining approval from election committees. In the subsequent election, there is only one candidate for each seat, who must gain a majority to be elected.

No political party is permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on the island, though the Communist Party of Cuba has held five party congress meetings since 1975. In 1997 the party claimed 780,000 members, and representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled by candidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaign and raise finances internationally, while activity within Cuba by opposition groups is minimal and illegal.

The country is subdivided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (Isla de la Juventud). These were formerly part of six larger historical provinces: Pinar del Río, Habana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagüey and Oriente. The present subdivisions closely resemble those of the Spanish military provinces during the Cuban Wars of Independence, when the most troublesome areas were subdivided. The provinces are divided into municipalities.

Military

Cuba devoted 9–13% of its GDP to military expenditures. Castro built up the second largest armed forces in Latin America; only Brazil's were larger. From 1975 until the late 1980s, Soviet military assistance enabled Cuba to upgrade its military capabilities. Since the loss of Soviet subsidies Cuba has scaled down the numbers of military personnel, from 235,000 in 1994 to about 60,000 in 2003. Cuba is secretive about its military spending.

Foreign relations

From its inception, the Cuban Revolution defined itself as internationalist, joining Comecon in 1972. Cuba was a major contributor to Soviet-supported wars in Africa, Central America and Asia. In Africa, the largest war was in Angola, where Cuba sent tens of thousands of troops. Cuba was a friend of the Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam. In Africa, Cuba supported 17 leftist governments. In some countries it suffered setbacks, such as in eastern Zaire, but in others Cuba had significant success. Major engagements took place in Algeria, Zaire, Yemen, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.

The Cuban government's military involvement in Latin America—mostly with the aim of overthrowing U.S. backed right wing regimes, many of them dictatorial—has been extensive. One of the earliest interventions was the Marxist militia led by Che Guevara in Bolivia in 1967, though a modicum of funds and troops were sent. Lesser known actions include the 1959 missions to the Dominican Republic and Panama. In the former, the Cuban government provided military assistance to a group of Dominican exiles with the intention of overthrowing the tyrannical dictator Rafael Trujillo. Although the expedition failed and most of its members were murdered by the government, today they are recognized as heroes and a prominent monument was erected in their memory in Santo Domingo by the Dominican government. The Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana ("Memorial Museum of the Dominican Resistance,") where the heroes of 1959 feature prominently, is being built by the Dominican Government. The socialist government in Nicaragua was openly supported by Cuba and can be considered its greatest success in Latin America. Cuba is a founding member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. More than 30,000 Cuban doctors currently work abroad, in countries such as Venezuela and Zimbabwe. The membership of Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Council has received criticism.

The European Union in 2003 accused the Cuban government of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms". In 2008, the EU and Cuba agreed to resume full relations and cooperation activities. The United States continues an embargo against Cuba "so long as it continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights". United States President Barack Obama stated on , 2009, in Trinidad and Tobago that "the United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba", and reversed the Bush Administration's prohibition on travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans from the United States to Cuba.

Geography

Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the northern Caribbean Sea at the confluence with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between latitudes 19° and 24°N, and longitudes 74° and 85°W. The United States lies to the north-west, the Bahamas to the north, Haiti to the east, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands to the south, and Mexico to the west. Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four smaller groups of islands: the Colorados Archipelago on the northwestern coast, the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago on the north-central Atlantic coast, the Jardines de la Reina on the south-central coast and the Canarreos Archipelago on the southwestern coast.

The main island is long, constituting most of the nation's land area () and is the largest island in the Caribbean and 16th-largest island in the world by land area. The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains apart from the Sierra Maestra mountains in the southeast, whose highest point is Pico Turquino (). The second-largest island is Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) in the Canarreos archipelago, with an area of . Cuba has a total land area of .

Climate

The local climate is tropical, moderated by northeasterly trade winds that blow year-round. In general (with local variations), there is a drier season from November to April, and a rainier season from May to October. The average temperature is in January and in July. The warm temperatures of the Caribbean Sea and the fact that Cuba sits across the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico combine to make the country prone to frequent hurricanes. These are most common in September and October.

Resources

The most important mineral resource is nickel, of which Cuba has the world's second largest reserves (after Russia). Sherritt International of Canada operates a large nickel mining facility in Moa. Cuba is the world's fifth-largest producer of refined cobalt, a byproduct of nickel mining operations. Recent oil exploration has revealed that the North Cuba Basin could produce approximately to of oil. In 2006, Cuba started to test-drill these locations for possible exploitation.

Demographics

69.7 14.9 17.2 1.0

+
Official 1899–2002 Cuba Census
style="background:#efefef;"	Race %	1899	1907	1919	1931	1943	1953	1981	2002
	66.9	|	72.2	72.1	74.3	72.8	66.0	65.05
Afro Cuban	Black	|	13.4	11.2	11.0	9.7	12.4	12.0	10.08
Mulatto	|	16.3	16.0	16.2	15.6	14.5	21.9	24.86
Chinese Cuban	Asian	|	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.4	0.3	0.1	?

Immigration to Cuba

Between 1882 and 1898, a total of 508,455 people left Spain, and more than 750,000 Spanish immigrants left for Cuba between 1899 and 1923, with many returning to Spain.

Current demographics

According to the census of 2002, the population was 11,177,743, including 5,597,233 men and 5,580,510 women. The racial make-up was 7,271,926 whites, 1,126,894 blacks and 2,778,923 mulattoes (or mestizos). The population of Cuba has very complex origins and intermarriage between diverse groups is general. There is disagreement about racial statistics. The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami says that 62% is black, whereas statistics from the Cuban census state that 65.05% of the population was white in 2002. The Minority Rights Group International says that "An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution. Estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9 per cent to 62 per cent".

Immigration and emigration have played a prominent part in the demographic profile of Cuba during the 20th century. During the 18th, 19th, and the early part of the 20th century large waves of Canarian, Catalan, Andalusian, Galician, and other Spanish people immigrated to Cuba. Between 1900 and 1930 close to a million Spaniards arrived from Spain. Other foreign immigrants include: French, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Greek, British, Irish, and other ethnic groups, including a small number of descendants of U.S. citizens who arrived in Cuba in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Cuba has a sizable number of Asian people who comprise 1% of the population. They are primarily of Chinese descent (see Chinese Cubans), followed by Filipino, Koreans and Vietnamese people. They are descendants of farm laborers brought to the island by Spanish and American contractors during the 19th and early 20th century. Afro-Cubans are descended primarily from the Kongo people., as well as several thousand North African refugees, most notably the Sahrawi Arabs of Western Sahara under Moroccan occupation since 1976.

Cuba's birth rate (9.88 births per thousand population in 2006) is one of the lowest in the Western Hemisphere. Its overall population increased continuously from around in 1961 to over now, but the increase has stopped in the last few decades, and a decrease began in 2006, with a fertility rate of 1.43 children per woman. This drop in fertility is among the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba has unrestricted access to legal abortion and an abortion rate of 58.6 per 1000 pregnancies in 1996, compared to an average of 35 in the Caribbean, 27 in Latin America overall, and 48 in Europe. Contraceptive use is estimated at 79% (in the upper third of countries in the Western Hemisphere).

Cuba is officially a secular state. After having long maintained that churches were fronts for subversive political activity, the government reversed course in 1992, amending the constitution to characterize the state as secular instead of atheist. It has many faiths representing the widely varying culture. Roman Catholicism was the largest religion; it was brought to the island by the Spanish and remains the dominant faith, with 11 dioceses, 56 orders of nuns, and 24 orders of priests. In , Pope John Paul II paid a historic visit to the island, invited by the Cuban government and Catholic Church. The religious landscape of Cuba is also strongly marked by syncretisms of various kinds. Catholicism is often practiced in tandem with Santería, a mixture of Catholicism and other, mainly African, faiths that include a number of cults. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (the Virgin of ''Cobre'') is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and a symbol of Cuban culture. In Santería, she has been syncretized with the goddess Oshun.

1.2 87.7 82.6 80.9 85.7 84.7 85.8 87.2

+
Official Cuban migration to the U.S.
style="background:#efefef;"	Year ofImmigration	White	Black	Other	Asian	Number
1959–64	93.3	|	5.3	0.2	144,732
1965–74	|	2.0	9.1	0.2	247,726
1975–79	|	4.0	13.3	0.1	29,508
1980	|	5.3	13.7	0.1	94,095
1981–89	|	3.1	10.9	0.3	77,835
1990–93	|	3.2	11.9	0.2	60,244
1994–2000	|	3.7	10.4	0.7	174,437
Total	|	2.9	10.7	0.2	828,577

Three hundred thousand Cubans belong to the island's 54 Protestant denominations. Pentecostalism has grown rapidly in recent years, and the Assemblies of God alone claims a membership of over 100,000 people. Cuba has small communities of Jews, Muslims and members of the Bahá'í Faith. Most Jewish Cubans are descendants of Polish and Russian Ashkenazi Jews who fled pogroms at the beginning of the 20th century. There is a sizeable number of Sephardic Jews in Cuba who trace their origin to Turkey. Most of these Sephardic Jews live in the provinces, although they maintain a synagogue in Havana.

Cuban migration

In the last half-century, several hundred thousand Cubans of all social classes have emigrated to the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, and other countries. On 1994, the U.S. and Cuban governments agreed that the U.S. would grant at least 20,000 visas annually in exchange for Cuba's pledge to prevent further unlawful departures on boats.

Languages

The official language of Cuba is Spanish and the vast majority of Cubans speak it. Spanish as spoken in Cuba is known as Cuban Spanish and is a form of Caribbean Spanish. Lucumi, a dialect of the West African language Yoruba, is also used as a liturgical language by practitioners of Santería, and so only as a second language. Haitian Creole is the second largest language in Cuba, and is spoken by Haitian immigrants and their descendants. Other languages spoken by immigrants include Catalan and Corsican.

Education

The University of Havana was founded in 1728 and there are a number of other well-established colleges and universities. In 1957, just before Castro came to power, the literacy rate was fourth in the region at almost 80% according to the United Nations, higher than in Spain. Castro created an entirely state-operated system and banned private institutions. School attendance is compulsory from ages six to the end of basic secondary education (normally at age 15), and all students, regardless of age or gender, wear school uniforms with the color denoting grade level. Primary education lasts for six years, secondary education is divided into basic and pre-university education.

Higher education is provided by universities, higher institutes, higher pedagogical institutes, and higher polytechnic institutes. The Cuban Ministry of Higher Education operates a scheme of distance education which provides regular afternoon and evening courses in rural areas for agricultural workers. Education has a strong political and ideological emphasis, and students progressing to higher education are expected to have a commitment to the goals of Cuba. Cuba has provided state subsidized education to a limited number of foreign nationals at the Latin American School of Medicine. Internet access is limited. The sale of computer equipment is strictly regulated. Internet access is controlled, and e-mail is closely monitored.

Health

Historically, Cuba has ranked high in numbers of medical personnel and has made significant contributions to world health since the 19th century. Today, Cuba has universal health care and although shortages of medical supplies persist, there is no shortage of medical personnel. Primary care is available throughout the island and infant and maternal mortality rates compare favorably with those in developed nations.

Post-Revolution Cuba initially experienced an overall worsening in terms of disease and infant mortality rates in the 1960s when half its 6,000 doctors left the country. Recovery occurred by the 1980s. The Communist government asserted that universal health care was to become a priority of state planning and progress was made in rural areas. Like the rest of the Cuban economy, Cuban medical care suffered from severe material shortages following the end of Soviet subsidies in 1991, followed by a tightening of the U.S. embargo in 1992.

Challenges include low pay of doctors (only $15 a month), poor facilities, poor provision of equipment, and frequent absence of essential drugs. Cuba has the highest doctor-to-population ratio in the world and has sent thousands of doctors to more than 40 countries around the world.

According to the UN, the life expectancy in Cuba is 78.3 years (76.2 for males and 80.4 for females). This ranks Cuba 37th in the world and 3rd in the Americas, behind only Canada and Chile, and just ahead of the United States. Infant mortality in Cuba declined from 32 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1957, to 10 in 1990–95. Infant mortality in 2000–2005 was 6.1 per 1,000 live births (compared to 6.8 in the United States).

The quality of public healthcare offered to citizens is regarded as the "greatest triumph" of Cuba's socialist system.

Culture

Cuban culture is influenced by its melting pot of cultures, primarily those of Spain and Africa. Sport is Cuba's national passion. Due to historical associations with the United States, many Cubans participate in sports which are popular in North America, rather than sports traditionally promoted in other Spanish-speaking nations. Baseball is by far the most popular; other sports and pastimes include basketball, volleyball, cricket, and athletics. Cuba is a dominant force in amateur boxing, consistently achieving high medal tallies in major international competitions.

Music

Cuban music is very rich and is the most commonly known expression of culture. The central form of this music is Son, which has been the basis of many other musical styles like salsa, rumba and mambo and an upbeat derivation of the rumba, the cha-cha-cha. Rumba music originated in early Afro-Cuban culture. The Tres was also invented in Cuba, but other traditional Cuban instruments are of African origin, Taíno origin, or both, such as the maracas, güiro, marimba and various wooden drums including the mayohuacan. Popular Cuban music of all styles has been enjoyed and praised widely across the world. Cuban classical music, which includes music with strong African and European influences, and features symphonic works as well as music for soloists, has received international acclaim thanks to composers like Ernesto Lecuona. Havana was the heart of the rap scene in Cuba when it began in the 1990s. During that time, reggaetón was growing in popularity. Dance in Cuba has taken a major boost over the 1990s.

Cuisine

Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish and Caribbean cuisines. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. Food rationing, which has been the norm in Cuba for the last four decades, restricts the common availability of these dishes. The traditional Cuban meal is not served in courses; all food items are served at the same time. The typical meal could consist of plantains, black beans and rice, ''ropa vieja'' (shredded beef), Cuban bread, pork with onions, and tropical fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to as ''Platillo Moros y Cristianos'' (or ''moros'' for short), and plantains are staples of the Cuban diet. Many of the meat dishes are cooked slowly with light sauces. Garlic, cumin, oregano, and bay leaves are the dominant spices.

Literature

Cuban literature began to find its voice in the early 19th century. Dominant themes of independence and freedom were exemplified by José Martí, who led the Modernist movement in Cuban literature. Writers such as Nicolás Guillén and Jose Z. Tallet focused on literature as social protest. The poetry and novels of Dulce María Loynaz and José Lezama Lima have been influential. Romanticist Miguel Barnet, who wrote ''Everyone Dreamed of Cuba'', reflects a more melancholy Cuba. Writers such as Reinaldo Arenas, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, and more recently Daína Chaviano, Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, Zoé Valdés, Guillermo Rosales and Leonardo Padura have earned international recognition in the post-revolutionary era, though many of these writers have felt compelled to continue their work in exile due to ideological control of media by the Cuban authorities.

See also

Greater Antilles

International rankings of Cuba

List of Cubans

List of places in Cuba

Television Serrana

References

External links

Government of Cuba

Chief of State and Cabinet Members

Cuba from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''

Map of Cuba (Political) 1994 C.I.A./Univ. of Texas, Austin

Welcome To Cuba – slideshow by ''Life'' magazine

fotopedia.com, Selected photos of Cuba

, a comprehensive resource part of a website created by Dr. Antonio Rafael de la Cova of Indiana University.

Category:Caribbean countries Category:Communist states Category:Former Spanish colonies Category:Gulf of Mexico Category:Island countries Category:Spanish-speaking countries Category:States and territories established in 1902 Category:Eastern Bloc Category:Socialist states Category:Single-party states Category:Republics Category:Member states of the United Nations

ace:Kuba af:Kuba als:Kuba am:ኩባ ang:Cūba ar:كوبا an:Cuba roa-rup:Cuba frp:Cuba ast:Cuba az:Kuba bm:Kuba bn:কিউবা zh-min-nan:Cuba be:Куба be-x-old:Куба bcl:Kuba bo:ཀུ་བ། bs:Kuba br:Kuba bg:Куба ca:Cuba cv:Куба ceb:Cuba cs:Kuba cy:Cuba da:Cuba de:Kuba dv:ކިއުބާ nv:Kyóoba dsb:Kuba et:Kuuba el:Κούβα es:Cuba eo:Kubo (lando) ext:Cuba eu:Kuba ee:Cuba fa:کوبا hif:Cuba fo:Kuba fr:Cuba fy:Kuba ga:Cúba gv:Yn Choobey gd:Cùba gl:Cuba gan:古巴 hak:Kú-pâ xal:Кубанмудин Орн ko:쿠바 hy:Կուբա hi:क्यूबा hsb:Kuba hr:Kuba io:Kuba ilo:Cuba bpy:কিউবা id:Kuba ia:Cuba iu:ᖂᐹ/quupaa os:Кубæ is:Kúba it:Cuba he:קובה jv:Kuba kn:ಕ್ಯೂಬಾ pam:Cuba ka:კუბა kk:Куба kw:Kuba rw:Kiba sw:Kuba kv:Куба ht:Kiba ku:Kûba mrj:Куба la:Cuba lv:Kuba lb:Kuba lt:Kuba lij:Cuba li:Cuba ln:Kuba jbo:kubas lmo:Cuba hu:Kuba mk:Куба ml:ക്യൂബ mt:Kuba mr:क्युबा mzn:کوبا ms:Cuba mwl:Cuba mn:Куба my:ကျူးဘားနိုင်ငံ nah:Cuba na:Kiuba nl:Cuba (land) nds-nl:Kuba ne:क्युबा ja:キューバ pih:Kyuuba no:Cuba nn:Cuba nov:Kuba oc:Cuba mhr:Куба uz:Kuba pnb:کیوبا pap:Cuba km:គុយបា pms:Cuba nds:Kuba pl:Kuba pt:Cuba kbd:Куба crh:Kuba ro:Cuba rmy:Kuba qu:Kuba rue:Куба ru:Куба sah:Куба (дойду) se:Cuba sa:क्यूबा sc:Cuba sco:Cuba sq:Kuba scn:Cubba si:කියුබාව simple:Cuba ss:IKhuyubha sk:Kuba sl:Kuba szl:Kuba so:Kuuba ckb:کووبا srn:Cuba sr:Куба sh:Kuba fi:Kuuba sv:Kuba tl:Kuba ta:கூபா kab:Kuba roa-tara:Cuba tt:Куба te:క్యూబా th:ประเทศคิวบา tg:Кубо tr:Küba tk:Kuba uk:Куба ur:کیوبا ug:كۇبا za:Gujbah vec:Cuba vi:Cuba vo:Kubeän fiu-vro:Kuuba wa:Couba war:Cuba wo:Kubaa wuu:古巴 yi:קובא yo:Kúbà zh-yue:古巴 diq:Kuba bat-smg:Kuba zh:古巴

name	Leonid Agutin
img size	150
background	solo_singer
born	July 16, 1968Moscow, Soviet Union
genre	Pop
occupation	Singer, composer, poet
instrument	vocals, piano, guitar
years active	1991–present
spouse	Anzhelika Varum
website	www.agutin.com }}

Leonid Nikolayevich Agutin (; b. July 16, 1968) is a Russian pop musician and poet, active since the 1990s. He has released 8 albums and 3 compilation albums.

Personal life

Agutin was born in Moscow to the musician Nikolai Petrovich Agutin and the teacher Lyudmila Leonidovna Shkol'nikova. Along with receiving a standard education, he also graduated from the Moscow Jazz school "Moskvorechie" as a pianist. He later served in the army on the Russia–Finland border.

In 1993, Agutin graduated from the Moscow State Institute of Culture as a theatre director. In 1997, Agutin married the stage performer Anzhelika Varum, his second marriage.

Agutin has a hobby of collecting crosses and playing billards. He also believes in the predictions of astrologists.

Career

In 1991, Agutin started touring the Soviet Union with a musical act. He participated and won the Yalta international pop music contest of 1992, and won a similar contest in Jūrmala in 1993. Agutin released his first solo album, ''Bosonogiy Malchik'' ("Barefoot Boy") in 1994, which was a success and launched his career.

Cosmopolitan Life

Agutin released the album ''Cosmopolitan Life'' with the guitarist Al Di Meola in 2005, which gained success and worldwide recognition as a result of the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Following the festival, the Austrian directors Hannes Rossacher and Rudy Dolesai made a documentary about the lives of Agutin and Di Meola, called ''Cosmopolitan Live'', released in February 2008.

Discography

!Russian name!!Translation!!Year
Босоногий мальчик	Barefoot Boy	1994
Декамерон	Decameron	1996
Летний дождь	Summer Rain	1998
	1998
Служебный роман	Workplace Romance	1999
Леонид Агутин	Leonid Agutin	2001
Дежа вю	Deja Vu	2003
	2004
	2004
	2005
Любовь. Дорога. Грусть и Радость.	Love. Road. Sadness and Happiness.	2007

References

External links

Official website

Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:Russian male singers Category:Russian pop singers

de:Leonid Nikolajewitsch Agutin lv:Leonīds Agutins ru:Агутин, Леонид Николаевич

Yunier Dorticós (born 11 March 1986) is a Cuban pro boxer.

Amateur

He placed second three times in a row at the Cuban national championships from 2005- 2007 at light heavy, each time behind Yusiel Nápoles. In 2008 he became third.

World Cup

2005 in Moscow, Russia (light heavyweight)

*Defeated Elnur Kadyrov (Azerbaijan) RSC-3

*Defeated Ovidiu Chereches (Romania) RSC-2

*Lost to Erdos Dhanabengerov (Kazakhstan) RSCI-2

Pro

He fled Cuba in 2009 and turned pro as a Cruiser.

References

External links

Amateur results

Category:1986 births Category:Cuban boxers Category:Living people Category:Light-heavyweight boxers Category:Cruiserweight boxers

Honorific-prefix	The Most Excellent
Name	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Office	Prime Minister of Spain
Monarch	Juan Carlos I
Deputy	María Teresa Fernández de la VegaAlfredo Pérez RubalcabaElena Salgado
Term start	17 April 2004
Predecessor	José María Aznar
Office2	Leader of the Opposition
Primeminister2	José María Aznar
Term start2	1 July 2000
Term end2	17 April 2004
Predecessor2	Joaquín Almunia
Successor2	Mariano Rajoy
Office3	Member of the Congress of Deputies
Term start3	14 March 2004
Constituency3	Madrid
Term start4	22 June 1986
Term end4	14 March 2004
Constituency4	León
Birth date	August 04, 1960
Birth place	Valladolid, Spain
Party	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spouse	Sonsoles Espinosa (1990–present)
Children	LauraAlba
Alma mater	University of León
Residence	Palace of Moncloa
Signature	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Signature.svg }}

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was elected for terms as Prime Minister of Spain in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012.

The main actions taken by the Zapatero administration include the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the Iraq war, which resulted in long term diplomatic tension with the George W. Bush administration; the increase of Spanish troops in Afghanistan; the idea of an Alliance of Civilizations, co-sponsored by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; the legalisation of same-sex marriage; reform of abortion law; a controversial attempt at peace negotiation with ETA (a proscribed terrorist organisation); the increase of tobacco restrictions; and the reform of various Autonomous statutes, particularly the Statute of Catalonia.

Personal life

Family background

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was born in Valladolid, Castile and León to Juan Rodríguez y García-Lozano (b. 1928), a lawyer, and María de la Purificación Zapatero y Valero (Valladolid, 1927 - Madrid, 30 October 2000). He grew up in León, where his family originated.

His paternal grandfather, Juan Rodríguez y Lozano (28 July 1893 - Puente Castro, León, 18 August 1936), was a Republican captain executed by Franco's National army a month into the Spanish Civil War for refusing to fight with them. He was betrayed and his whereabouts were revealed by certain PSOE people in Valladolid, before Rodriguez Zapatero was born. On the other hand, his maternal grandfather supported the coup d'état of Franco and he was killed by Republicans during the war. The dictatorship of Franco compensated his widow as it did all the widows of murdered Franco supporters.

His maternal grandfather, Faustino Zapatero y Coronel, was a paediatrician and middle class liberal who died in 1978. His maternal grandmother María de la Natividad Valero y Asensio (Zamora, 9 December 1902 - Valladolid, 28 June 2006) was a right-wing conservative and died at age 103. Zapatero was born in Valladolid not only because of his mother's attachment to her family, who lived there, but also because of the medical profession of her father.

Zapatero has said that, as a youngster, "as I remember it, I used to participate in late night conversations with my father and brother about politics, law or literature". However, he did not get on very well with his father at times. Sources say that his father refused to let him work or take any part in his buffet, and this scarred him for life. He says that his family taught him to be tolerant, thoughtful, prudent and austere.

The memory of Republican Captain Rodríguez y Lozano was also kept alive by his last will, handwritten 24 hours before facing the firing squad, and which can be considered a final declaration of principles. The will comprised six parts, the first three bestowing his possessions on his heirs; the fourth, in which he asked for a civil burial and, the fifth, in which he requested his family to forgive those who had tried and executed him and proclaiming his belief in the Supreme Being. In the sixth, Zapatero's grandfather asked his family to clear his name in the future as his creed consisted only in his "love for peace, for good and for improving the living conditions of the lower classes".

Studies and teaching

He studied Law at the University of León, graduating in 1982. His performance as a student was above average before his pre-University year. His grades later in the year and in the University were essentially mediocre. According to his brother Juan: "He didn't study much but it made no difference, he continued successfully".

After graduating, Zapatero worked as a teaching assistant in constitutional law at the University of León until 1986 (he continued working some hours a week without pay until 1991). It was subsequently found that he had been appointed by his department without the usual selection process involving interviews and competitive examinations, which if true, constitutes a case of political favouritism. He has declared that the only activity that attracts him besides politics is teaching or, at most, academic research.

Rodríguez Zapatero met his wife, Sonsoles Espinosa in León in 1981. They married on 27 January 1990 and have two daughters named Laura (b. 1993) and Alba (b. 1995).

In October 1991, his contract was cancelled by the new rector of the University of León, Julio César Santoyo, after the University's legal advisers considered Zapatero's posts as a teaching assistant and an MP to be incompatible (he had been elected in 1986). The Spanish Parliament's counselors, however, had considered the contract valid.

Zapatero did not do the military service which was compulsory in Spain: he received successive deferments because of his conditions as a university student and a teaching assistant. As an MP he was finally exempted.

Zapatero enters politics

Zapatero attended his first political rally, organized by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in Gijón in 1976. Some political parties had been legal since 21 July 1976, but the PSOE was not legalized until February 1977. The speech of Felipe González, the PSOE leader and future Prime Minister of Spain, who took part in the rally, exerted an important influence on Zapatero. He said, among other things, that "the Socialists' goal was the seizure of power by the working class to transform the ownership of the means of production" and that "the PSOE was a revolutionary party but not ''revolutionarist'' or ''aventurist'' [...], as it defended the use of elections to come to power".

Zapatero and his family had been traditionally attracted to the Communist Party as it was the only party really organized before Francisco Franco's death in 1975. But, after the famous political rally in Gijón, they, and especially Zapatero, started to believe that the Socialist Party was the most probable future for the Spanish left. At that time the Socialist Party was rebuilding its infrastructure in the province of León after having been outlawed following the Spanish Civil War.

In 1977, the year of the first democratic elections after Franco's death, Zapatero supported both the Communist and Socialist parties. He pasted posters of both parties.

He eventually joined the PSOE on 23 February 1979. The impression Felipe González had caused on him in 1976 played a fundamental role in his decision to join the party. In 1979, the PSOE had not yet renounced Marxism as its ideological base (that happened later in 1979). He said nothing about this at home, because he was afraid his parents would discourage him, considering him too young to join a political party.

In 1982, Zapatero became head of the socialist youth organization in the province of León. In July 1982, he met Felipe González at the summer school "Jaime Vera" and suggested that he make a "left turn" in the PSOE political program for the General Election of October 1982. González answered advising him to abandon his conservative [leftist] viewpoint.

In 1986, he was elected to represent the province of León in the Cortes (Parliament), becoming its youngest member after the election held on 20 June. He was number two on the PSOE list for León. In the following elections (those held in 1989, 1993, 1996 and 2000) he was number one on the list. In the elections of 2004 he ran for Madrid as number one.

Zapatero defined himself as a "left-wing conservative" at the time. He explained that he meant that, for sentimental reasons linked to his family, he came from the left that lost the Spanish Civil War and that what had happened between 1936-1939 (the duration of the war) and 1939-1975 (Franco's regime) had a very important significance for him. He further explained that the Spanish left needed to modernize and that "we are finding it difficult to accept the need for the Socialist Party to change many of its ideological parameters and overcome our own conservatism".

In 1988 he became Secretary General in León after a complex internal fight for power that ended a long period of division. In fact, before the provincial conference held that year, Ramón Rubial, then national president of the PSOE, had asked the party in León to foster unity. Zapatero was elected as Secretary General at that conference, leading to a period of stability.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the PSOE consisted of two factions: the ''Guerristas'' (supporters of Alfonso Guerra, former vice-president under Felipe González) and the reformers (led by Felipe González). The first group had a stronger left-wing ideology whereas the second was more pragmatic. The division became wider after the General Election of 1993, the last election won by the PSOE before José María Aznar's victory in 1996, when the bad results exacerbated the internal conflicts. Zapatero never formally joined either of those two groups.

In 1993, the Socialist Federation of León (FSL - Federación Socialista de León) suffered an important scandal. Some towns experienced unusually sharp increases in PSOE membership in a very short period of time. When some of the supposed new members were questioned by the press, they stated that they were unaware of their membership and that they did not live in the places where they were being registered by the party. It seems that some opponents of Zapatero in León, perhaps with the support of powerful ''Guerristas'' at the top of the Spanish Socialist Party wanted to increase their influence within it by increasing the number of members in the towns of León favorable to them. Their main aim would have been to take control of the Regional Socialist Section of Castilla y León in the conference to be held in 1994. Zapatero's support for the then Regional Secretary General, Jesús Quijano transformed him into the enemy of the ''Guerristas'' in the region as the FSL is the most important Provincial Section.

In May 1994 two papers, ''El País'' and ''Diario de León'', published several articles that suggested irregularities in his appointment as a Professor by the University of León and in his keeping the job until 1991. The suspicions of political favoritism were favored by his having been directly appointed without a prior selection process open to other candidates. On 20 May 1994, he held a press conference where he rejected these accusations. Zapatero attributed to "ignorance" or "bad faith" the content of the articles and linked them to the internal fight for the job of Secretary General of the Regional Chapter.

In 1994, three regional conferences were going to be held: two to elect the representatives of the party in León for the Regional and National Conferences to take place that year, and the 7th Provincial conference where the Secretary General was going to be elected.

Before they began, an agreement between the parties involved was drawn up. The new members who did not confirm they had joined the party voluntarily and who did not live in the areas where they were registered would be expelled from the party. Initially 775, and finally 577, new memberships were canceled out of 1160 suspicious memberships.

When the three conferences were held, the tension was very high and, sometimes it was even necessary to call the police. All of them were finally won by Zapatero or his supporters.

The National Conference (held after most of the representatives elected in the first León Conference were Zapatero's supporters) was won by the ''reformers'', at that time strongly opposed to the ''Guerristas''. That was positive for Zapatero as the list of bogus party members was revised again. Their number grew from 577 to almost 900.

Zapatero was finally reelected secretary general with 68 percent of the ballots in the 7th Regional Conference held in July 1994, following the removal of the false memberships.

In 1995, new regional and local elections were held. The results were bad for the PSOE in León as they lost four seats in the mayoralty of León and two seats in the regional parliament of Castilla-León. The results were influenced by the bad economic situation and the cases of corruption assailing the party. Zapatero had personally directed the electoral campaign.

In 1996, after the General Election, Zapatero kept his seat at the Congress of Deputies. The following year, Zapatero was elected again Secretary General of León and after the national conference held by the party that year he entered the National Executive (the party governing body).

In 1998, the first and only primaries held within the PSOE took place. There were two candidates: Joaquín Almunia and José Borrell. The regional party of León declared itself to be neutral. It seems that, unofficially, its leaders including Zapatero, worked harder in favor of Almunia, who was the representative of the reformers and opposed the ''Guerristas''. Zapatero himself phoned personally (as other leaders did) as many party members as possible to request their votes for Almunia.

On 24 April 1998, Borrell won with 9.6% more votes than Almunia in Spain and 4.6% more in León. It seems that Borrell's image of reform played an important role in his victory. Borrell's attitude towards Zapatero seems to have been a little colder after Zapatero's support for his rival.

The existence of two leaders Joaquín Almunia, Secretary General, and Josep Borrell, official candidate, caused problems within the PSOE, used to being directed only by the Secretary General. Finally, two former close associates of Borrell were accused of having been corrupt when they worked for him in the Spanish Government, and he resigned, alleging that he did not want to damage his party with the scandal. Almunia replaced him and ran for the Spanish Premiership in the General Elections held in 2000.

The Association of Parliamentary Journalists awarded to Zapatero the "Diputado Revelación" prize (something like ''Most promising MP of the year'') in December 1999 for his activities as a member of the Congress of Deputies. From 1996 until 2000, his most conspicuous contributions as an MP were his vigorous opposition to the electrical protocol proposed by the government (initially negative for the important coal sector of León), being the PSOE spokesman in the Commission of Public Administration and probably his most important success as an MP: the passing of an amendment to the national budget of 2000 in November 1999 that increased the pensions of the non-professional soldiers who fought for the Republic during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. They were made equal to those of the professional military. The initiative was defended by him in the name of the Parliamentary Socialist Group, proponent of the amendment.

Appointment as Secretary General of the Socialist Party

On 12 March 2000, the PSOE had lost its second successive election to José María Aznar's People's Party. Zapatero held his seat, but the Socialist Party obtained only 125 seats, 16 fewer than in 1996. The defeat was especially bitter as the People's Party unexpectedly obtained an absolute majority for the first time and the socialist result was worse than in the previous election. Almunia announced his resignation on the very day the General Election took place.

Zapatero decided to run for the leadership of the Socialist Party in its 35th Conference to be held in June that year. Together with other socialist members, he founded a new faction within the party called ''Nueva Vía'' (New Way) in April 2000, to serve him as a platform to become Secretary General. The name of ''Nueva Vía'' is a mix of Tony Blair's ''Third Way'' (''tercera vía'' in Spanish) and Gerhard Schröder's ''Neue Mitte'' (''new center'' or ''nuevo centro'' in Spanish).

On 25 June 2000 Zapatero officially announced his intention to run for the federal Secretaryship General at an Extraordinary Conference of the Socialist Party of León. In his speech, he stated what can be considered his declaration of principles: # To build a society that would accept all foreigners notwithstanding their color or cultural background. # To give priority to education and to create good jobs for youngsters. # To provide parents with more time to spend with their children and in taking care of their elders. # To promote culture and its creators, making it possible for them to grab the spotlight from those aiming only at economic interests. # To convert Spain into a country admired for helping those with more needs. # To force the government to help those with initiative and enterprising qualities. # To foster democracy, to lend distinction to politics and to promote values over temporary interests.

Pasqual Maragall was the only regional leader of the Socialist Party who officially supported him before the Conference was held. José Borrell also decided to support him.

Zapatero ran against three other opponents (José Bono, Rosa Díez and Matilde Fernández). Matilde Fernández was the candidate of the ''guerristas'' while José Bono was the candidate of the ''reformers''. Rosa Díez is a Basque politician who was a kind of intermediate option.

Zapatero was a ''dark horse'' who had against him his inexperience and in favour his image of reform and being the only MP among the candidates. (All the Spanish opposition leaders had been MPs before winning the elections. A very important factor in Spanish politics where electoral campaigns last for only 15 days and to be widely known long before they begin is essential.) Bono was deeply disliked by the ''guerristas'', who also favoured Zapatero.

Zapatero finally won by a relatively small margin (he obtained 414 votes out of 995 and José Bono obtained 405) on 22 July 2000. The margin was relatively small because Bono had no likelihood of winning since the supporters of the other two candidates preferred Zapatero as their second choice. Zapatero accepted the cancellation of a run-off between himself and Bono because he was sure of his victory after only one ballot and he apparently did not want to humiliate his adversary.

After being elected Secretary General, he was congratulated by Lionel Jospin (then the Prime Minister of France), Gerhard Schröder (Chancellor of Germany) and José María Aznar.

He moved to Madrid with his family that year. As a Congressman he had lived from Monday to Thursday in Madrid and the rest of the time in León.

Opposition leader

This was the period when Zapatero was appointed as Secretary General of the PSOE in 2000 until he became Prime Minister of Spain on 14 March 2004.

Style of opposition

Zapatero has always claimed to base his political activity on his love of dialogue. When he was an opposition leader, he liked to contrast his behaviour with the "arrogant", "authoritarian" approach of the People's Party and, especially, that of its leader José María Aznar.

As a result, after being appointed Secretary General, he coined the term ''Calm Opposition'' ('''') to refer to his opposition strategy. The ''Calm Opposition'' was supposedly based on an "open to dialogue", "soft", "constructive" attitude (''talante constructivo'', coined as ''talante'') aimed not at damaging the government but at achieving the "best" for the people. (Zapatero has insisted on this point so many times that the term ''talante'' has become very popular in Spain.) Because of this supposed tactic, Zapatero received nicknames like "Bambi" or "Sosoman" (where "Soso"—meaning dull, insipid, bore—replaces "Super" in "Superman"), especially in the first months after being appointed General Secretary.

During Zapatero's years as an opposition leader (and later as Prime Minister), the tension between left-wing and right-wing supporters increased and, according to some opinions, a real radicalization of the society took (and is taking) place . Zapatero's supporters blame his opponents for that and the People's Party blames him stating facts such as the increase in the acts of violence committed against them, especially in the months before and during the war in Iraq. As a result, a new term has become popular: ''guerracivilismo'' (made up of a combination of the Spanish for Civil War and the -ismo suffix, equivalent to the English -ism), which would refer to the growing enmity of right and left-wing factions.

2000 and 2001

Zapatero's criticisms of the government were very active from the beginning. His first attack against the government was based on its inability to control the rise in the price of fossil fuel. He asked for a reduction in the taxes affecting it.

In 2000, the British nuclear submarine ''HMS Tireless'' arrived at Gibraltar harbour to have its nuclear reactor repaired. Aznar affirmed that there was no risk for the population but Zapatero criticized him for his inability to force the British government to take the submarine to another harbour. After almost one year, the Tireless was repaired and left Gibraltar without having caused any known problems.

Another point of friction came from the scheme to transfer water from the River Ebro to other areas especially the irrigated areas in the South East of Spain, one of the richest agricultural regions in the world. That scheme received support from, among others, 80% of the affected farmers and the Socialist regional governments of regions such as Extremadura, Andalusia or Castilla-La Mancha. Some Socialist politicians also supported it when they were members of the former Socialist government back in the 90s (e.g. José Borrell, the current leader of the European Spanish Socialist Group and former president of the European Parliament. The scheme was mainly opposed by Zapatero, environmentalist groups, the Socialist regional government of Aragon and some of the citizens of the areas from which water was to be transferred. The main criticisms of the scheme were the supposed damage to the environment and an argued real lack of sufficient water for all of the affected parties (the proponents of the scheme answered back that there was no risk of a serious environmental damage and that in 2003, 14 times more water reached the sea than what was needed annually). (The scheme, finally approved by the Government, was canceled by Zapatero soon after becoming Prime Minister.)

Zapatero was the main proponent of the "Pacto de las Libertades contra el Terrorismo" ("Anti Terrorist Freedom pact) which was signed on 8 December 2000. In the first moment this pact was disliked and rejected but later was considered a cornerstone of the strategy against Basque terrorism in Spain not only by the Socialist Party but by the People's Party (currently, it is considered broken by the People's Party). Zapatero's harsher critics have argued that the Pact was originated by the wish of the People's Party and the Socialist Party in order to bury the Socialist ambiguity towards nationalist parties caused by the Socialist Party's reliance on their votes.

At the end of the year, the Mad Cow disease came back into the spotlight after its outbreak in 1996. Zapatero repeatedly criticized the Government's management of the crisis arguing that it was out of control. As of March 2005, that disease has caused dozens of deaths all over Europe, though none in Spain.

In 2001 one of the biggest points of friction between the government and the opposition were the proposed reforms affecting the education system. The People's Party introduced the so-called LOU first, a law to change the University System, and later the LOCE (''Organic Act for Education Quality''), which affected Secondary Education. Zapatero strongly opposed both. The People's Party used its absolute majority in the Cortes to pass its reforms but after it had taken place an important number of protests by Student's Unions took place, which were featured prominently in the public media although their protests had usually passed unnoticed until Zapatero's arrival.

A regional election was held in the Basque Country on 13 May 2001. The socialists received 17.8 percent of the vote (against 17.6 percent in the previous 1998 elections) but lost one seat. Both, the Socialist Party and the People's Party had formed an alliance against the then ruling nationalist Basque political movements but the latter won again. The results were considered a failure. Nicolás Redondo Terreros, the Basque Socialist leader during the election who was strongly opposed to Basque nationalism and to ETA, resigned after some internal clashes, resigning his seat in the Basque parliament and in the Federal Executive. He was replaced by Patxi López, elected on 24 March 2002. Patxi López had actively supported Zapatero during his campaign to become Secretary General. [OCAM p. 257]

On 21 October 2001 a new regional election took place, this time in Galicia. The People's Party (led by Manuel Fraga Iribarne) obtained a new absolute majority. The Socialist party increased its number of seats from 15 to 17, but, after several years of opposition the results were also considered bad. These two negative results seemed to confirm that Zapatero's approach was not working.

On 19 December 2001 Zapatero travelled to Morocco, after the Moroccan government expelled the Spanish ambassador sine die. Javier Arenas, a prominent member of the People's Party, accusing him of not being loyal to Spanish interests. Zapatero denied it and claimed that one of his purposes was to help solve the crisis.

From 2002 to 2003

In 2002, Zapatero was chosen as the Socialist candidate for the next General Election. He was appointed directly, without a prior primary election .

In 2002, the People's Party Government decided to reform the system of unemployment benefits, as it thought that there were too many workers who being able to find a job preferred to continue receiving public money. This led to a redefinition of those who were eligible for unemployment benefits. Left-wing parties and trade unions considered that redefinition an unacceptable reduction of rights. Zapatero became the political leader of the opposition against the reform (dubbed the ''Decretazo'', because it was passed using a decree-law), which served him as his first important clash with Aznar's government.

A General Strike was announced for 20 June 2002 (the first since Aznar won the election in 1996). According to official data (including the electrical power consumption and the number of worked man-days calculated by the Social Security) the turnout was lower than 15 percent, the lowest since the restoration of democracy (there were four General Strikes during Felipe González' premiership). The unions and Zapatero disbelieved the data and considered the strike a resounding success, with more than "10 million" workers. Whatever the result, both the People's Party government and the trade unions signed an agreement that satisfied both parties in November.

In May 2002, Felipe González declared in reference to the change in the Socialist Party that "My state of mind tells me that a change has taken place, that perhaps a second Suresnes has happened, but it has yet to be proved that a new project with content and ideas really exists", thus doubting Zapatero's leadership. That declaration was expressed in a public event also attended by Zapatero, who calmly expressed his disagreement. González ended his intervention by remembering that his candidate for Secretary General was José Bono, not Zapatero. González backtracked the next day, declaring that either his words had been incorrectly construed or he had expressed his ideas erroneously. José Bono himself confirmed his total support for Zapatero. The incident seemed to confirm that Zapatero's strategy was not working.

On 22 October 2002 Zapatero spoke in the name of the Socialist Party during the debate about the National Budget. Initially, Jordi Sevilla was to have been the Socialist spokesman but, at the last moment, he was replaced in a surprise move. When Jordi Sevilla, after being called by the speaker, had already descended to the floor of the Congress of Deputies, Zapatero said to him "let me do it" and climbed to the orator platform. José María Aznar and other members of the People's Party had previously criticized him for not representing his party in the debate, suggesting a lack of the necessary political skills. Zapatero tried to prove it was false, and it seems that his action had quite a positive effect on his supporters; although the People's Party considered his action too theatrical.

In November 2002, the oil tanker ''Prestige'' suffered an accident in international waters near Galicia (a region in the Northwestern tip of Spain) that caused a grave oil slick which mainly affected Galicia, but also, to a lesser degree all the northern coast of Spain, and even the coast of France. The tanker was ordered by the governmental authorities to be moved away from the coast because it seems that the oil is easier to recover from the water than from the sand - for example, special ships already prepared for that exist - and increasing the distance increases the affected area but decreases the number of irremediably affected places. The ''Prestige'' finally split and sank.

Zapatero blamed the PP Government management during and after the accident for the accident. The decision to take the tanker away was especially criticized as Zapatero expressed it to be unnecessary. Zapatero thought that it should have been allowed to enter a harbour.

The accident and its consequences became the main source of Socialist criticisms and the biggest point of friction, together with Iraq, until the election of 2004. A Socialist MP in the Regional Assembly of Madrid, Antonio Carmona, declared soon after the catastrophe: "We have more than enough votes, if not, we will sink another boat". He resigned because of this statement. Jesús Caldera, who became a minister after the victory in 2004, was heavily criticized by the People's Party for using a manipulated document relative to the route of the ''Prestige'' in a parliamentary debate about the catastrophe. These events were used by the People Party's "to demonstrate" the "demagogical strategy" of the Socialist Party.

Probably, the main point of friction between Aznar and Zapatero was the war in Iraq. Opinion polls showed that a clear majority of Spanish voters (around 90 percent) were against the U.S.-led attack against Saddam Hussein's regime. Among them, Zapatero who considered any action against Saddam's regime to be illegal and who was opposed to the very concept of preemptive war.

On 26 May 2003 a Yakovlev Yak-42 plane carrying Spanish soldiers coming home from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey. The plane had been hired by an agency of NATO and any other country could have used it. In Zapatero's view it presented clear dangers and he blamed Aznar and his government for neglecting aspects like the plane insurance or safety. Further, Aznar had rejected calls for a full inquiry into the crash. After the 2004 March elections it was proven that there had been serious irregularities when recognizing the bodies with an important number of mistakes in the identifications.

Concerning the European Constitution, Zapatero criticized the People's Party Government for fighting to preserve the distribution of power agreed by the Nice treaty (December 2000) in the new European Constitution. Zapatero thought that Spain should accept a lesser share of power.

2003 local elections

On 25 May 2003, the first local and regional elections since Zapatero's appointment as leader of the Socialist party took place. The Socialist Party received a larger popular vote (which prompted Zapatero to claim his party had been the winner) but the People's Party obtained more posts in councils and regional governments. In general, there were not many changes in the results compared to those of the previous Elections held in 1999. The Socialists lost the Balearic Islands but got enough votes in Madrid to govern through a coalition with the communists of the United Left. The last "victory" was welcomed by Zapatero as the winner in Madrid had always won the next general election. However, an unexpected scandal, the so-called Madrid Assembly Scandal, negatively affected the socialist expectations of a victory in 2004.

After the Madrid election, the People's Party lacked two seats to obtain an absolute majority. This seemed to allow an alliance of Socialists and the United Left to seize power. But an unexpected event happened. Eduardo Tamayo and María Teresa Sáez, two Socialist MPs angry at the distribution of power in the future regional government between the United Left and the Socialist Party started a crisis that led to a re-run of the Election in Madrid in October 2003 with the subsequent victory of the People's Party.

Zapatero did not accept the account of the Socialist MPs and tried to explain it as a conspiratorial plot caused by speculative interests of the house building industry that would have bribed the MPs to prevent a left-wing government. The People's Party, on the other hand, defended the theory that the anger of the two Socialist MPs was caused by Zapatero's broken promise about the referred distribution of power within the Madrid section of the Socialist Party. That promise would have been made some months before the crisis in exchange of support for one of his more immediate collaborators (Trinidad Jiménez), who wanted to become the Socialist candidate for mayor of Madrid (the Spanish capital).

It was known that Eduardo Tamayo had played an active role in Zapatero's appointment as Secretary General of the party (See Zapatero's years as an opposition leader#Appointment as Secretary General), together with José Luis Balbás, the leader of the internal faction to which Eduardo Tamayo belonged, who was also expelled from the party because of the scandal.

Zapatero's team had entered into contact with José Luis Balbás through Enrique Martínez and Jesús Caldera (current Minister of Labor), who already knew him. In April 2000, Zapatero, Caldera and José Blanco had had lunch with Eduardo Tamayo in a restaurant in Madrid. Tamayo would become later a representative of Zapatero in the 35th party national conference. At the end of the month "Renovadores de la Base" (the faction of Tamayo and Balbás) decided to support Zapatero and the later agreed to be part of Zapatero's team. He played an important role during Zapatero's promotion. For example, Balbás together with José Blanco controlled the list of delegates. It was a fundamental job, as the different tasks of promotion needed that list, at least, to contact the delegates for the conference.

This was used by Zapatero's rivals to introduce doubts over Zapatero's leadership of the Socialist Party and over his honesty.

During the Debate over the State of the Nation, an annual debate that takes place every year in the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Zapatero was harshly criticised by José María Aznar on account of the scandal. For the first time, the opinion polls showed that most Spaniards believed that the then Spanish Prime Minister had been the winner (Zapatero had always been considered the winner since his first debate in 2001).

The scandal was especially damaging for the Socialists because they had to overcome their reputation of being a corrupt party to again become the government of Spain. The two MP's rebellion seemed to prove they were unable to solve their old problems.

Later, in October, a regional election took place in Catalonia, whose results were worse than expected for the Socialist Party. All the Autonomous communities of Spain hold the elections to their assemblies the same day, with the exception of Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country. That day coincides with the municipal elections all over Spain. Therefore, the results are hugely significant.

On 16 November 2003, the regional election for the Assembly of Catalonia was held. Two days before, Zapatero had predicted a historic victory for the Socialists' Party of Catalonia and the beginning of the People's Party defeat. The Socialist Party won the election in popular vote but CiU obtained more MPs due to the electoral law. The final results were 46 seats for Convergence and Union (CiU) (ten fewer than in 1999, the year of the previous election), 42 for the Socialist Party (ten fewer), 15 for the People's Party (three more), 9 for Iniciativa per Catalunya-Verds and 23 (nine more) for the Republican Left of Catalonia. Zapatero attributed the bad results to the consequences of the crisis of Madrid. However, Maragall became the President of the Regional Government after a Pact with Republican Left of Catalonia and Iniciativa per Catalunya-Verds.

That alliance resulted in another setback for the Socialist Party when the Spanish newspaper ABC published an article stating that Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, leader of Republican Left of Catalonia, had met some ETA members secretly in January 2004. According to ABC, Carod-Rovira had promised to provide ETA with political support if the group did not act in Catalonia, which seemed to have been confirmed by the ETA announcement of a truce affecting only that region some months later, before the general election of 2004. Carod-Rovira resigned as vice president of the Catalan government, but continued to be the leader of his party. The scandal damaged Zapatero's image, as ETA and political violence are controversial issues in Spain and Carod-Rovira's party was seen as a possible ally if Zapatero won the election.

At end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004 the Spanish political parties started to prepare themselves for the general election of 2004. All of the opinion polls elaborated at the time foreseen a defeat for Zapatero, as they always predicted a new victory for the People's Party. (''See Zapatero and the 2004 General Election'')

The 2004 general election

Election campaign

The campaign for the General Election started a fortnight before 14 March 2004. Polls favoured the People's Party, with some polls predicting a possible repeat of their absolute majority.

Previously, on 8 January 2004, Zapatero had created a Committee of Notables composed of 10 highly qualified experts with considerable political weight. Its mission was to help him to become prime minister. Among its members: José Bono (his ex-rival for the Secretaryship of the party and later appointed Minister of Defence), Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra (president of the regional government of Extremadura and one of the most important socialist leaders), Miguel Ángel Moratinos (his minister of Foreign affairs 2004-2010), Gregorio Peces-Barba (later appointed by him High Commissioner for the Victims of Terrorism, although he has already made public his resignation), Carmen Calvo (later appointed Minister of Culture), etc.

Ten days later, on 18 January 2004, Zapatero announced that he would only become prime minister if the Spanish Socialist Workers Party received a plurality, renouncing possible parliamentary alliances in advance if that situation did not happen after the election. Minority parties (especially United Left, a communist party) criticized the decision, for they considered it an attempt to attract their own voters, who would rather ensure a defeat of the People's Party even at the expense of voting for an unfavorable party.

Zapatero's slogan became "we deserve a better Spain", which was coupled with "Zapatero Presidente", or "(ZP)", which itself has become a popular nickname of the current Spanish Prime Minister.

Campaign promises

180,000 new houses every year to buy or to rent

Preservation of a balanced budget with no deficit but with a more flexible approach than that of the People's Party

Bilingual education (English and Spanish, together with the official regional language in the areas where it existed)

A computer for every two students

A two year maximum for legal processes or financial compensation

Further investment in research and development

Make the state-owned television company more independent from the government by making its director answerable to parliament, etc.

During the campaign, Zapatero harshly criticized the People's Party for its management of the ''Prestige'' crisis, its attitude towards the invasion of Iraq and the high cost of housing. Mariano Rajoy, the new leader of the People's Party after Aznar's voluntary retirement, on his part, attacked Zapatero's foreseeable future alliances with parties like United Left or Republican Left of Catalonia (a pro-Independence Catalan party).

One of the most important points of friction was the absence of televised debates between the candidates. Zapatero was the first to propose a debate to Mariano Rajoy. Rajoy accepted on the condition that Zapatero could not be alone but accompanied at least by two of his potential allies after the election: Gaspar Llamazares (the leader of United Left) and Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira (leader of Republican Left of Catalonia). Rajoy justified his decision on the grounds that, in his opinion, he was not running against the Socialist Party but against a "coalition" of forces opposed to the People's Party's policies. Zapatero never formally responded to this proposal and throughout the campaign he continued criticizing what he always defined as Rajoy's reluctance to defend his political program face-to-face. (Zapatero has promised to change electoral law to make televised debates compulsory.)

Madrid Bombings

On 11 March 2004 the most deadly peacetime attacks in Spanish history took place. Several commuter trains were bombed, causing 191 deaths and outrage all over Spain. The attacks took place three days before the General Election and all electoral activities were suspended. The common sorrow, instead of promoting unity among Spaniards, increased the already bitter tone of the campaign.

The People's Party government and Zapatero (who accused ETA in a radio statement broadcast at 8:50 a.m.), initially claimed the attacks to be the work of ETA, an armed Basque nationalist separatist organization. Later, after an audiotape in Arabic was found in a van near a railway station where the perpetrators boarded one of the trains, Aznar declared that all of the possibilities were being investigated. The government was accused of manipulating information about who was responsible for the attacks to avoid the consequences of public anger at a bombing motivated by its foreign policy - Aznar personally phoned the editors of the four national daily newspapers to tell them that ETA were responsible, whilst Minister of the Interior Ángel Acebes attacked those who believed that responsibility lay elsewhere, despite not offering any evidence for ETA's culpability, and the state broadcaster TVE initially failed to report the protest outside the Popular Party's headquarters which ran through the night before the day of the election.

Zapatero himself has repeatedly accused the Popular Party of lying about those who were responsible for the attacks. On the other hand, the book ''11-M. La venganza'' by Casimiro Abadillo, a Spanish journalist who works for the newspaper ''El Mundo'', claims that, before the General Election, Zapatero had told that newspaper's director, Pedro J. Ramirez, that two suicide bombers had been found among the victims (although the specialists that examined the bodies said they found no such evidence). When he was asked in December 2004 about the issue by the Parliamentary Investigative Committee created to find the truth about the attacks, he declared that he did not remember what he had said.

Election day

The campaign had ended abruptly two days before it was expected to convene as a result of the bombings. The day before the elections — in this case 13 March 2004 — is considered to be a "Day of Reflection" under Spanish electoral law, with candidates and their parties legally barred from political campaigning. Despite this prohibition, numerous demonstrations took place against the government of José María Aznar in front of the premises of the People's Party all over Spain. There were some claims that most of these demonstrations were instigated or orchestrated by the Socialist Party, through the use of SMS text messaging from mobile phones belonging to the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party publicly denied these accusations.

As the demonstrations escalated, Mariano Rajoy himself appeared on national TV to denounce the illegal demonstrations. In reply, both José Blanco and Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba broke the silence from the Socialist Party's side, in separate appearances. In the end both sides accused each other of breaking the electoral law on reflection day.

In this climate of social unrest and post-attack shock, the elections were held on 14 March 2004. Zapatero's Socialist Party won the elections, with 164 seats in the Cortes, while the People's Party obtained 148. It seems likely that the election result was influenced to a greater or lesser extent by the Spanish public's response to the attacks and the informative coverage by the different media and political parties. He took office on 17 April.

Influence of the attacks on the election outcome

An important point of controversy is if the purpose of the Madrid attacks were to force a Socialist victory; at issue as well was that, if that was the case, whether they succeeded in altering the final result. This has been called the "4 March theory" (that is, if the election had been scheduled for 7 March, the attacks would have taken place on 4 March) by Aznar, among others. No definitive data exists in favour of that possibility but some facts have been used to support it. Thus, the first question Jamal Zougam (one of the first arrested suspects) made when he arrived at the Courthouse on 15 March 2004 was: 'Who won the election?'.

How the bombing influenced the results is widely debated. The three schools of thought are:

The attacks themselves might have changed the electoral winner. A sufficient number of voters suddenly decided to vote for the Socialist party because they thought that if it won, Islamist terrorism would be placated.

The handling of the attacks by the government, rather than the attacks themselves, might have changed the electoral winner. People who had the perception that the information about the attacks was being manipulated decided to vote the Socialist party as a response.

The attacks might have changed the result but not the winner. The Socialist Party was going to win but with fewer votes. (Despite this claim, most polls before the attacks gave a victory to Mariano Rajoy.)

At least some of these controversies put a blemish on Zapatero's victory, as the shadow of what had happened the three previous days did not allow the Socialist Party to fully enjoy its triumph.

The electoral result was considered by some foreign media, especially in the US, an example of weakness that would encourage further terrorist attacks, as Zapatero had opposed George W. Bush's policy in the Middle East and had promised to withdraw the Spanish troops from Iraq.

The theory that the bombing affected the result is a counterfactual that cannot be verified. As elections in European states hinge on social and economic policies mainly, it is equally possible the terrorist events had no notable effect. In this regard, a majority of 74% of the Spanish people were against Spanish involvement in the war.

On 13 June 2004 (three months after the General Election) the Election for the European Parliament took place. The Socialist Party tied with 25 seats vs 25 for the People's Party (out of 54), but narrowly won in popular vote. Although José Borrell was the official candidate, Zapatero played an important role in that campaign (as is usual in Spain).

Premiership

name	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
reference	''Excelentísimo Señor (Don)''
spoken	''Señor Presidente''
alternative	''Señor'' Zapatero, ''Don'' José Luis }}

In the Spanish media, Zapatero is sometimes portrayed as a mock superman called "''soso''-man" (Spanish for "dull man"). It reflects a popular image of the Premier as a politician devoid of any strong political convictions or marked personality traits. His style's defining word is ''(buen) talante'', roughly "pleasantness", "niceness" or "good disposition", which is in brisk and carefully chosen contrast with the more confrontational and brusque premiership style of previous Prime Minister José María Aznar. Sometimes, however, the ''talante'' "appears to be a mere end in itself and has laid him open to the claim that what you see is what you get; a bland, soft-focus premiership that lacks precision, vision or strategic goals". Similarly, Zapatero has been quoted to shy away from adopting unpopular measures, having a "habit of showering public money on any problem" and, in all, being "averse to tough decisions".

Withdrawal from Iraq

One of the first measures he carried out as soon as he took office was to withdraw every Spanish soldier fighting in Iraq, which he did in less than a month. This drew criticism from the right, who held the view that he was ceding to the pressure of the terrorists who attacked Spain. However, it was a measure announced by him before the general elections and supported by the majority of Spanish population.

Domestic policy

Much of Zapatero's work has been on social issues, including gender-motivated violence and discrimination, divorce and same-sex marriage. The most recent social issue tackled has been the Dependency Law, a plan to regulate help and resources for people in dire need of them, and who cannot provide for themselves and must rely on others on a daily basis. Zapatero has also made it clear that he values funding of research and development and higher education and believes them to be essential for Spain's economic competitiveness. At the same time, he has increased the minimum wage and pursued other classically socialist policies. He has also announced his intention to undertake limited reforms to the Spanish Constitution, though no specifics have been made available.

Economic problems

Facing a recession and rising unemployment, ZP pledged to cut government spending by 4.5% and raise taxes, but not income taxes. The Popular Party contends that ZP lacked a coherent economic plan and stated "There is no tax increase capable of filling the hole that you have created,". On June 23, 2008 Zapatero announced 21 reforms designed to aid economic recovery in a speech pointedly avoiding popular terms of the period such as 'crisis'. Although government deficits are projected to increase to 10% of GDP, ZP promises to reduce it to 3% required by EU policy by 2012.

In January 2011 Spain's Unemployment Rate had risen to 20.33% exceeding Prime Minister Zapatero's target rate of 19.4 percent.

LGBT rights

The legalization of same-sex marriage in Spain on 1 July 2005 includes adoption rights as well as other rights that were previously only available to heterosexual couples. This caused a stir within the Catholic Church, which opposed the measures and supported a demonstration attended by some 166,000 (according to official figures) and one million people (according to the organisers) in Madrid.

In 2007, Zapatero's government was also responsible for a Gender Identity Law that allows transsexual persons the right to have their identity legally recognised, the criteria being one clinical evaluation and two years of treatment (generally hormone replacement therapy), and without demanding mandatory genital surgery or irreversible sterility. The law is, alongside with the legislation of some US states, one of the most simple and non-bureaucratic that currently exist in the world. Transsexual persons also have the right to marry persons of the opposite or same sex they have transitioned into, and to biologically parent children either before or after transitioning.

Regional territorial tensions

Zapatero has often declared that his government will not be "soft on terrorism" and will not allow regional nationalists to endanger Spanish unity. Some say that this comment was probably made for his party alliances with parties like Republican Left of Catalonia.

On 13 November 2003 in a rally in Barcelona during the election campaign that took Pasqual Maragall to power in the Generalitat, Rodríguez Zapatero gave a famous promise to approve the Statute of Catalonia: :''I will support the reform of the Statute of Catalonia that the Parliament of Catalonia approves.''

In October 2005, a controversial proposal to reform the Catalan statute arrived at the Spanish parliament after being passed in Catalonia. Zapatero, who had often expressed his support for a change of the statute (although he did not entirely support the draft passed by the Catalan Parliament), supported the reform.

Spanish Civil War remnants

In October 2004 Zapatero's government undertook the task of morally and legally rehabilitating those who were suppressed during and after the Spanish Civil War, by instituting a Memorial Commission chaired by Vice-Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega.

On 17 March 2005, Zapatero's government ordered the removal of the last remaining statue of former dictator Francisco Franco that remained in Madrid.

Reform of the education system

Just after he took office, Zapatero repealed the law reforming the Education System passed by the previous government and, in November 2005, introduced his own reform bill. The bill was opposed by the People's Party, the Catholic Church, the Muslim community, The Catholic Confederation of Parents' Associations and an important part of the educational community, often for disparate reasons. Complaints against the reform include the limits it imposes upon parents' freedom to choose a school, the decrease in academic status of voluntary religious education, the introduction of a compulsory course ("Education for Citizenship") and a perceived ineffectiveness of the reform in terms of combating poor educational results. The last complaint would be reinforced by the opinion that Spain has ranked poorly amongst the developed countries in the quality and results of its education.

After a major demonstration took place against this education reform, the government held a series of meetings with many of the organizations that opposed the reform, reaching agreements with some of them (especially parents' associations and teachers' unions). Some others, most prominently the People's Party and the Catholic Church remain staunchly opposed to it.

ETA

ETA declared what it described at the time as a "permanent ceasefire" that began on midnight 23 March 2006. On 5 June 2007 ETA declared this ceasefire over. After the initial ceasefire declaration Zapatero informed the Congress that steps would be taken to negotiate with ETA in order to end its terrorist campaign while denying that there would be any political price paid to put an end to ETA. The PP grew concerned about the possibility of political concessions being made to the group to stop their ways, and actively opposed anything other than the possibility of an organized surrender and dismantling of ETA, refusing to support any kind of negotiation. On 30 December 2006 the ceasefire was broken when a car bomb exploded in Madrid's International Airport, Barajas and ETA claimed authorship. Following this, Zapatero gave orders to halt initiatives leading to negotiations with ETA. Demonstrations across Spain followed the next day, most condemning the attack, others condemning the Government's policies and a minority even questioning the authorship of the Madrid bombings.

A massive rally in Madrid followed on 25 February 2007 promoted by the Victims of Terrorism Association (AVT in Spanish acronym), rejecting what are perceived to be concessions from the government to the separatists.

On 10 March 2007 a new massive rally was held in Madrid gathering -depending on the source's relationships to the government- between 342,000 and over two million people. This demonstration was organized by the opposition party PP and backed by the AVT and several other associations of victims, to not allow Iñaki de Juana Chaos out of prison and accusing Zapatero's government of surrendering to terrorism.

Immigration

During the meeting of the European Union Justice and Home Affairs Ministers held in Tampere on 22 September 2006, some of the European ministers reprimanded the Spanish authorities for the aforementioned massive regularisation of undocumented immigrants which was regarded as too loose and opposed to the policies of other State members (on 2 September and 3 alone, during the height of the last illegal immigration wave, 2,283 people arrived illegally in the Canary Islands having shipped from Senegal aboard 27 pirogues).

Once they reach Spanish territory, the undocumented immigrants can travel freely -for the internal frontiers are basically open within the European Union (with the exception of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland who maintain full border controls); thus, it is not unknown for some of them have other European countries as their final destinations. This started a short lived polemic between France's Nicolas Sarkozy and the Spanish premier Rodríguez Zapatero.

Areas of foreign policy action

Iraq

Before being elected, Zapatero opposed the American policy in regard to Iraq pursued by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar. During the electoral campaign Zapatero had promised to withdraw the troops if control in Iraq was not passed to the United Nations after 30 June (the ending date of the initial Spanish military agreement with the multinational coalition that had overthrown Saddam Hussein). Zapatero declared that he did not intend to withdraw the Spanish troops before that date after being questioned about the issue by the People's Party's leader Mariano Rajoy in his inauguration parliamentary debate as Prime Minister.

On 19 April 2004 Zapatero announced the withdrawal of the 1,300 Spanish troops in Iraq.

The decision aroused international support worldwide, though the Bush administration claimed that terrorists could perceive it as "a victory obtained due to the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings". John Kerry, then Democratic party candidate for the U.S. Presidency, asked Zapatero not to withdraw the Spanish soldiers. Some months after withdrawing the troops, the Zapatero government agreed to increase the number of Spanish soldiers in Afghanistan and to send troops to Haiti to show the Spanish Government's willingness to spend resources on international missions approved by the United Nations.

On 8 June 2004, with the withdrawal already complete, Zapatero's government voted in the United Nations Security Council in favour of Resolution 1546 where the following could be read:

:"''The Security Council, Recognising the importance of international support [...] for the people of Iraq [...], Affirming the importance of international assistance in reconstruction and development of the Iraqi economy [...]''

:''15. Requests Member States and international and regional organizations to contribute assistance to the multinational force, including military forces, as agreed with the Government of Iraq, to help meet the needs of the Iraqi people for security and stability, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, and to support the efforts of UNAMI;''"

Latin America

An important change in Spanish foreign policy was Zapatero's decision to approach left-wing leaders such as Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. Zapatero has played an important role in the improvement of the relationship between the Cuban government and the European Union.

At the end of March 2005, Zapatero travelled to Venezuela to sign a deal to sell military ships and aircraft to Venezuela worth around US$1 billion. The US government attempted to intervene but failed, accusing Venezuela of being a "dangerous country."

After the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia, Spain was one of the countries the new president visited during his first international tour.

At the 2007 Ibero-American Summit, Chávez called Zapatero's predecessor José María Aznar a fascist for allegedly supporting the 2002 coup attempt. Zapatero used his speaking time to defend Aznar, noting that he was "democratically elected by the Spanish people." Chávez kept trying to interrupt Zapatero, even as summit organisers turned off his microphone. King Juan Carlos, who was seated beside Zapatero, attempted to rebuke Chávez, but was stopped by Zapatero who, displaying significant patience, told him to wait a moment. When Chávez continued to interrupt Zapatero, Juan Carlos, in a rare outburst of anger, asked Chávez "¿Por qué no te callas?" (Why don't you shut up?). The king left the hall shortly afterwards when the President of Nicaragua began to criticize the Spanish government as well. Zapatero continued to participate in the negotiations, later delivering, to loud applause, a speech demanding respect for the leaders of other countries.

United States

The relations between José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and former U.S. president George W. Bush were difficult, mostly as a result of Zapatero's opposition to the war in Iraq.

On 12 October 2003, during the Fiesta Nacional de España military parade held in Madrid, then opposition leader and presidential candidate Zapatero remained seated as a U.S. Marine Corps honour guard carrying the American flag walked past Zapatero and other VIPs. Everybody else stood as with the rest of the foreign guest armies representations. He declared afterwards that his action was a protest against the war and certainly not intended as an insult to the American people.

Later on, during an official visit to Tunisia shortly after Zapatero was elected, he asked all of the countries with troops in Iraq to withdraw their soldiers. This declaration moved Bush to send a letter expressing discontent to the Spanish premier.

American troops were subsequently instructed to not take part during the traditional military parade on the Spanish national holiday in 2004 and in 2005, something which they used to, as both the Spanish and American armies –being NATO allies– are part of joint humanitarian missions; American troops returned to the military parade in 2006; this time Zapatero, being the Spanish premier, stood.

Zapatero publicly stated his support for John Kerry as a candidate running in the U.S. Presidential election in 2004. After the election took place, winner George W. Bush did not return Zapatero's congratulation phone call, though the White House firmly denied that Bush's intention was to snub the Spanish prime minister. Meanwhile Zapatero repeatedly insisted that Spain's relations with the United States were good. In spite of that, Zapatero acknowledged years after that the phone conversation held with President George W. Bush was "unforgettable" and that when told that the Spanish troops were leaving Iraq, the American president had told him "I am very disappointed in you" and that the conversation ended in a "very cold" manner.

Zapatero later told a ''New York Times'' reporter off the record that he had a “certain consideration” for Bush, because “I recognise that my electoral success has been influenced by his governing style". i.e. that Bush was so unpopular in Spain that he helped Zapatero win in 2004 and 2008.

A similar situation to that of the Iraq pullout happened in March 2009, this time under the Democratic administration led by Barack Obama. Spain announced by surprise that it is pulling out from the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. State Department spokesman Robert Wood issued unusually strong criticism by stating that the United States was "deeply disappointed" by the decision. He said that Washington only learned of the move shortly before Spain announced it publicly. Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon made the announcement saying, "The mission has been completed and it is time to return home." Asked if the United States shared that assessment, Wood said, "Not at all." Later on, Vice President Joe Biden stated that the American relationship with Spain goes beyond "whatever disagreement we may have over Kosovo".

Europe

Zapatero's predecessor, José María Aznar, defended a strong Atlanticist policy. Zapatero has downplayed that policy in favour of a pan-European one. He has also sponsored the idea of an Alliance of Civilizations which is co-sponsored by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In the writing of what was to be the European Constitution Zapatero accepted the distribution of power proposed by countries such as Germany and France. After signing the treaty in Rome together with other leaders, he decided to call for a referendum, which was held on 20 February 2005. It was the first referendum on the EU treaty, a fact highly publicized by Zapatero's government. A 'Yes' vote was supported by the Socialist Party and the People's Party and as a result almost 77 percent voted in favour of the European Constitution, but turnout was around 43 percent. However, this result came to nothing when a referendum in France voted to reject the European Constitution which meant that the EU could not ratify the treaty because support was not unanimous.

Presidency of the European Union

On 1 January 2010, Spain assumed the Presidency of the European Union for the first six months of the 18 month 'Trio' along with Belgium and Hungary. Within days, Spain's web site for its Presidency www.eu2010.es was defaced by a picture of the main character of a popular television show, Mr. Bean, the supposed lookalike of Zapatero although the XSS attack lasted only several hours.

France and Germany

On 1 March 2005, Zapatero became the first Spanish prime minister to speak to the French National Assembly. He supported the PS candidate Ségolène Royal during her campaign for the 2007 French presidential election.

Zapatero directly supported the SPD candidate, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, before the German election of 18 September 2005.

Gibraltar

While Zapatero complained about Gibraltar's celebrations for the tercentenary of British rule and rejected the Gibraltarians' requests for Spain to recognise their right to self-determination, at the end of 2004 his policy changed and he became the first Spanish prime minister to accept the participation of Gibraltar as a partner on the same level as Spain and the United Kingdom in discussions both countries hold regularly concerning the territory. The decision was criticized by many in Spain as a surrender of their claim to sovereignty over Gibraltar as well as an alleged disruption of the Treaty of Utrecht. Zapatero said it was a new way to solve a 300-year-old issue.

Israel and Palestine

:''See: 2006 Franco-Italian-Spanish Middle East Peace Plan.

2008 election

On 9 March 2008, Zapatero won the general elections. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). won with 43.8 percent of the votes with 93 percent of the votes counted. Two days earlier, on 7 March, Isaías Carrasco, a PSOE Basque politician was shot dead in what is believed to be an attack by ETA, and which resulted in the agreed canceling of the final days of the campaign.

Ancestry

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See also

History of Spain

Politics of Spain

Viva Zapatero!

Constitutive Treaty

References

External links

Official

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

(2004–2005) (2009–2010)

Press

"The second transition, a survey of Spain" ''The Economist'', Jun 24th 2004

Interview published by ''Time'', 19 Sep 2004

"Accidental Prime Minister" ''The Times''

Extended biography by CIDOB Foundation

"The real Rodriguez Zapatero"; Critical review from the Victims of Terrorism association

|- |- |years=2000–present}} |- |-

Category:1960 births Category:Current national leaders Category:Living people Category:Members of the third Congress of Deputies (Spain) Category:Members of the fourth Congress of Deputies (Spain) Category:Members of the fifth Congress of Deputies (Spain) Category:Members of the sixth Congress of Deputies (Spain) Category:Members of the seventh Congress of Deputies (Spain) Category:Members of the eighth Congress of Deputies (Spain) Category:Members of the ninth Congress of Deputies (Spain) Category:People from Valladolid Category:Prime Ministers of Spain Category:Recipients of the Order of the Three Stars, 2nd Class Category:Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class Category:Spanish agnostics Category:Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians

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name	Luis Herrera
fullname	Luis Alberto Herrera
nickname	Lucho El jardinerito de Fusagasugá
birth date	May 04, 1961
birth place
currentteam	Retired
discipline	Road
role	Rider
ridertype	Climbing specialist
amateurteams	Valyin de PereiraLotería de BoyacáLeche La Gran VíaVarta Nacional A
amateuryears	1981198219831984
proyears	1985-1990 1991-1992
proteams	Café de Colombia Ryalco Postobon
majorwins	Vuelta a España (1987), 2 stages :King of the Mountains (1987, 1991) Tour de France, 3 stages :King of the Mountains (1985, 1987) Giro d'Italia, 3 stages :King of the Mountains (1989) Dauphiné Libéré (1988, 1991)Clásico RCN (1982, 1983, 1984, 1986)Vuelta a Colombia (1984, 1985, 1986, 1988)
updated	January 10, 2007 }}

:''For the former president of Venezuela, see Luis Herrera Campins. For the footballer, see Luis Fernando Herrera.

Luis Alberto "''Lucho''" Herrera Herrera known as ''"el jardinerito"'' (the little gardener) (born May 4, 1961 in Fusagasugá, Colombia) is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Herrera was a professional from 1985 to 1992 but had a successful amateur career before that in Colombia.

He entered his first Vuelta a Colombia in 1981 where he finished 16th overall and 3rd in the New Rider competition. Although he abandoned his second Vuelta a Colombia in 1982, he won Colombia's second major stage-race the Clásico RCN. In 1983 Herrera won Clásico RCN again as well as two stages and finishing second overall to Alfonso Florez Ortiz in the 1983 Vuelta a Colombia. In 1984 he would win the Vuelta a Colombia, the Clásico RCN as well as winning stage 17 to Alpe d'Huez in the 1984 Tour de France, becoming the first Colombian to win a stage of the race. He would win the Vuelta a Colombia and the Clásico RCN four times each but his greatest achievement was in 1987, when he won the Vuelta a España, the first South American to win a Grand Tour. Herrera also won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in 1988 and 1991 and five "King of the Mountains" jerseys from the three Grand Tours.

Luis Herrera is the second rider to win the "King of the Mountains jersey in all three Grand Tours. The first was Federico Bahamontes of Spain.

Major accomplishments

;Tour de France : 27th overall (1984) :: 1st, Stage 17 : 7th overall (1985) :: 1st, Stage 11 :: 1st, Stage 14 ::Winner 20pxKing of the Mountains (polka dot jersey) : 22nd overall (1986) : 5th overall (1987) ::Winner 20pxKing of the Mountains (polka dot jersey) : 6th overall (1988) : 19th overall (1989) ;Giro d'Italia : King of the Mountains (maglia verde) (1989) ;Vuelta a España : 20px1st overall (1987) : King of the Mountains (green jersey) (1987, 1991) ;Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 1st overall (1988, 1991)

References

External links

Palmarès

Wielersite Profile

Category:1961 births Category:Colombian Tour de France stage winners Category:Colombian cyclists Category:Giro d'Italia stage winners Category:Vuelta a España winners Category:Vuelta a Colombia stage winners Category:Living people Category:People from Cundinamarca Department

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