Cuba–Haiti relations

Cuba	Haiti

Cuba–Haiti relations refer to the bilateral relations betweenCuba andHaiti. Cuba has an embassy inPort-au-Prince^[1] andHaiti has an embassy inHavana.Spanish is the principal language of Cuba while Haiti spokeFrench andHaitian Creole primarily, as Cuba and Haiti have a significant African heritage. Both islands experienced a massive influx of enslavedAfricans during the French and Spanish colonial era, contributing significantly to theirdemographics.^[2]

In 1492,Christopher Columbus had landed on the Cuban shores ofHolguín which declared as "the most beautiful land human eyes had ever seen". Columbus had also landed on the island ofHispaniola (present-dayHaiti) on hisfirst voyage to the Americas, establishing a settlement called "La Navidad" near the coastal city ofCap-Haïtien which became the first European colony established in theNew World during theAge of Exploration as the Spanish began to create permanent settlements onCuba and Hispaniola. While Cuba remained Spanish control, the Western third of Hispaniola was ceded toFrance of what will become known as the new French colony ofSaint-Domingue, which imported thousands of African slaves from their homelands and bought them into theAmericas to work on sugar plantations with coffee, cotton, tobacco and rum forEurope. The British siege ofHavana had decided to attack the Spanish fortress as well as the naval base and would remain under British control until 1763 during theSeven Years' War against the French that happened at theBattle of Cap-Français. In 1791, with theFrench Revolution commenced that affectedToussaint Louverture,Jean-Jacques Dessalines andHenri Christophe along with their black soldiers, theHaitian Revolution had begun starting inBois Caïman led byBoukman Dutty with the practice ofVoodoo to declare war on not with the French, but with the whites that caused a massive slave revolt. In Cuba, several thousand French and Haitian-born French citizens sought refugee to escape the war and genocide of which 20,000 French, creoles and former slaves immigrated from Saint-Domingue to Cuba. In 1803, following Toussaint's death inFort de Joux inFrance byNapoleon's forces, Dessalines had manage to defeat the French for once more with a famous Haitian victory at theBattle of Vertières. On 1 January 1804, Saint-Domingue finally achieved independence from France and renamed the country asAyiti meaning "Land of High Mountains", Haiti became the world's first and oldest black-led republic in the world, the first country in theCaribbean, the first in theGreater Antilles, the first nation toabolish slavery and the first state inCaribbean as a whole as well as the second oldest independent republic in the modern-era after the United States. Cuba's slaveholders were concerned that Haiti's independence would threaten their maritime trade and their profits from the slave trade. After the revolution in Haiti, Cuba was able to take advantage of the implosion of former Saint-Domingue's sugar industry. In 1886,slavery was finally abolished after Cuba stopped officially participating in the slave trade back in 1867 which led the Spanish Cortes passed the "Preparatory Law for the Abolition of Slavery in the Spanish Antilles". This law, also known as the vientres libres law, freed children born in 1870 or later and freed slaves who were 60 or older. Cuba had declared independence from Spain on 10 December 1898 and the United States on 20 May 1902 after theSpanish–American War concluded. TheUnited States occupation of Haiti had lasted until the American troops had left Haiti to become independent in 1934. Haiti and Cuba have both been ruled by dictators, includingFrançois Duvalier (Papa Doc) of theDuvalier government in Haiti andFulgencio Batista (El Hombre) became "El Presidente" in Cuba. The United States supported these dictatorships at different times, in part to counter the spread of communism. Batista's fascist government was sabotaged byFidel Castro and the26th of July Movement as they entered and captured thecapital on New Year's Day 1959 which marked theTriumph of the Revolution.In 1959, Cuba and Haiti broke diplomatic relations during the dictatorship of François Duvalier. Duvalier broke off relations first after theUnited States urged member-states of theOrganisation of American States to cut ties with Cuba after theCuban Revolution. In 1964, Duvalier had won theconstitutional referendum and named himself as "President for Life of Haiti". In 1977, despite having no official diplomatic ties, the Caribbean Nations signedCuba–Haiti Maritime Boundary Agreement setting the official maritime border in theWindward Passage betweenJean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) and Fidel Castro. Following theoverthrow of the Duvalier regime on 7 February 1986, like Batista's overthrow in Cuba back in 1959 that became swift and decisive,Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Fidel Castro agreed to reestablish relations in 1997 and later that year, a Cuban Embassy opened up in Port-au-Prince. Haiti maintains a vital diplomatic presence in Cuba, primarily through its embassy located in Havana.^[3]

SinceHurricane Georges, Cuba has sentmedical aid to Haiti in the form of doctors, education and medical supplies. Over 3,000 doctors have been sent to Haiti since 1998 and have educated 550 Haitians at Medical School in Havana with 567 Haitians studying at ELAM as of 2010. From 1998 to 2010, Cuba performed over 207,000 surgeries, restored eye sight to 45,000, 14.6 million patient-doctor consultations, taught 100,000 how to read and helped in the birth of 100,000 children. In the aftermath of the2010 Haiti Earthquake, Cuba was among the first responders sending medical teams seeing hundreds of thousands of patients, and performing over 70,000 surgeries. There has been documented change ininfant mortality andlife expectancy in Haiti due to Cuba's medical aid.^[4][5]

Haitian Cubans number 300,000 in Cuba, withHaitian Creole being the second most spoken language in the country. Many have arrived in recent years due to natural disasters in Haiti such as the2010 Haiti Earthquake.^[6]

• Cuba–Haiti relations
• Bilateral relations of Cuba
• Bilateral relations of Haiti

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