When there are many men without honor, there will always be some others who bear in themselves the honor of many men. — José Martí

The known history of Cuba, the largest of the Caribbean islands,
predates Christopher Columbus' sighting of the island during his
first voyage of discovery on 27 October 1492. Evidence suggests
that, before Columbus' arrival, the indigenous Guanajatabey, who
had inhabited the island for centuries, were driven to the west of
Cuba by the arrival of two subsequent waves of migrants, the Taíno
and Siboney. These groups are sometimes referred to as neo-Taíno
nations. These peoples had migrated north along the Caribbean
island chain and mostly used stone tools, but were also familiar
with gold (which they called caona) and copper (guanín).

The Taíno and Siboney were part of a cultural group commonly called
the Arawak, which extended far into South America. Initially, the
new arrivals inhabited the eastern area of Baracoa, before
expanding across the island. The traveling Dominican clergyman and
writer Bartolomé de las Casas estimated that the Cuban population
of the neo-Taíno people had reached 350,000 by the end of the 15th
century. The Taíno cultivated the yuca root, harvested it and baked
it to produce cassava bread. They also grew cotton and tobacco, and
ate maize and sweet potatoes. According to Las Casas, they had
"everything they needed for living; they had many crops, well
arranged".

After Columbus' arrival, Cuba became a Spanish colony, ruled by a
Spanish governor in Havana, though in 1762 the city was briefly
held by Great Britain before being returned in exchange for
Florida. A series of rebellions during the 19th century failed to
end Spanish rule. However, increased tensions between Spain and the
United States, resulting in the Spanish-American War, finally led
to Spanish withdrawal, and in 1902 Cuba gained formal independence.

In the years following its independence, Cuba saw significant
economic development, but also political corruption and a
succession of despotic leaders, culminating in the overthrow of the
dictator Fulgencio Batista by the communist revolutionary
Fidel Castro during the 1953-9 Cuban Revolution. Cuba has since
been ruled by Castro's Communist Party of Cuba, although
Fidel Castro himself stepped down from leadership of the country in
2006, to be replaced by his brother Raúl Castro.