Country Report: The Republic of CubaI. History of the CountryMuch of Cuba, as most of the world knows it, revolves around the chaotic period of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Missile Crisis during the mid-1960s. However, Cuba has a long and complicated past of invasions and suffering, a booming economic industry, and revolutions. There are scant details about Cuba's past before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and his men in the New World on October 28, 1492. What historians know is that there were three main indigenous tribes inhabiting the island: the Taino, the Guanajatabey and the Siboney. peoples. According to Richard Gott's book Cuba: A New History, “Columbus gave a friendly account of Cuba in his journal, describing villages of large houses 'looking like tents in a field, with no regular roads but one here and another there.' The interior was clean and well swept, with well-made furniture. They were all of palm branches, beautifully constructed'” (13). It was not until 1511 that the conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar established the first permanent settlement in Cuba: Baracoa. Any Indian resistance was crushed and leaders burned at the stake. Spanish colonial society in Cuba grew slowly with agriculture as the main economic driver; sugarcane and tobacco began to be harvested in limited quantities. Mr. Gott states that “The first large-scale sugar plantations – with three sugar mills being built in the area around Matanzas – were established in Cuba in 1576… The foundations of a new economy had been laid, but progress remained slow” (37 -38).In 1762, during the end of the Seven Years' War, the English had occupied the capital of Cuba: Havana. While the British controlled Cuba for only eleven months, the economy... middle of the paper... autonomy. In a July 2013 article published by The Economist, “The government has handed over, under ten-year renewable leases, nearly 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of land to private farmers or cooperatives , which now occupy 70% of agricultural land. "(The economist). This is a small step in the right direction for the Cuban economy. Privatization ensures greater efficiency in services which, in turn, leads to better quality, lower prices and a reduction in corruption. It seems that Raúl Castro's leadership will be more open than that of his brother. Perhaps he and his compatriots understand that economic growth is a fundamental element for the healthy functioning of politics. Many former Soviet countries have liberalized their economies and reshaped them for the better their way of governing. Cuba must embrace change to overcome the past.