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Windward Passage

(Encyclopedia)Windward Passage, strait, c.50 mi (80 km) wide, between Cuba and Haiti, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It provides a direct route from the E United States to the Panama Canal. ...

Bliss, Tasker Howard

(Encyclopedia)Bliss, Tasker Howard, 1853–1930, American army officer and statesman, b. Lewisburg, Pa., grad. West Point, 1875. He was (1898) chief of staff to Gen. James H. Wilson in the Puerto Rico campaign of t...

Sancti Spíritus

(Encyclopedia)Sancti Spíritus sängkˈtē-spēˈrēto͞os [key], city (1994 est. pop. 86,000), Sancti Spíritus prov., central Cuba, on the Yayabo River. It is the commercial and processing center of an area that ...

Youth, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Youth, Isle of, Span. Isla de la Juventud, island and special municipality (1989 est. pop. 71,500), 1,180 sq mi (3,056 sq km), off SW Cuba, from which it is separated by the Batabanó Gulf. Until 1978...

Cruz, Celia

(Encyclopedia)Cruz, Celia, 1929–2003, Cuban-American singer, b. Havana. The “Queen of Salsa” began singing as a teenager, and in 1950 joined Sonora Matancera, Cuba's most popular band. She left Cuba a year af...

Gómez, José Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Gómez, José Miguel hōsāˈ mēgĕlˈ gōˈmĕs [key], 1858–1921, president of Cuba (1909–13). He took part in the Ten Years War (1868–78) and the successful revolution begun in 1895. A libera...

Cauto

(Encyclopedia)Cauto kouˈtō [key], longest river in Cuba, c.213 mi (343 km) long, rising in the Sierra Maestra. It flows NW and W to the Caribbean Sea just N of Manzanillo. ...

Hostos, Eugenio María de

(Encyclopedia)Hostos, Eugenio María de āo͞ohāˈnyō märēˈä dā ōˈstōs [key], 1839–1903, Latin American philosopher, sociologist, writer, and political and educational reformer, b. Puerto Rico, educated...

Martínez de Campos, Arsenio

(Encyclopedia)Martínez de Campos, Arsenio ärsāˈnyō märtēˈnĕth dā kämˈpōs [key], 1831–1900, Spanish general. He served in Morocco (1859–60), in Mexico (1861–63), and in Cuba (1869–72). He played...

Placetas

(Encyclopedia)Placetas pläsāˈtäs [key], city (1994 est. pop. 42,000), Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. Tobacco processing is the city's chief industry. Placetas is located on a major highway and serves as a rai...