Country profile
Cuba
República de Cuba
North America · Latin America and the Caribbean · Americas
CU · CUB
- Capital
- Havana
- Population
- 9,748,007
- Area
- 109,884 km²
- Democracy index
- 9
- Regime type
- Closed Autocracy
Events
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Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
9/100
Regime type
Closed Autocracy
Cuba remains a deeply entrenched single party state where the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) exercises exclusive control over all aspects of political and social life. As of May 2026, the domestic situation has reached a critical breaking point due to a severe energy blockade and expanded U.S. sanctions under the Trump administration, which have crippled the military-run conglomerate GAESA and led to widespread infrastructure failure. In response to the resulting humanitarian crisis and recurring power outages, the government has further tightened its security apparatus to prevent a repeat of the 2021 mass protests, systematically arresting independent content creators and social media influencers who document the island's struggles. There is no legal path for political opposition, and the executive branch, led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, operates without independent legislative or judicial oversight. Civil liberties remain effectively non-existent; the state maintains a monopoly on mass media and utilizes advanced digital surveillance to monitor and suppress dissent. While a small number of private enterprises have been permitted to operate, they are strictly regulated and often tied to state-vetted individuals, ensuring that economic shifts do not translate into political pluralism. The administration's current focus is centered on regime survival through high-level repression and the management of extreme scarcity, while dismissing international calls for the release of political prisoners as foreign interference.
Last evaluation:
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Country background
A concise introduction to Cuba, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the arrival of Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492, as the country was developed as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule eventually provoked an independence movement, and occasional rebellions were harshly suppressed.
US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 assisted the Cubans in overthrowing Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence from Spain in 1898, and after three-and-a-half years of subsequent US military rule, Cuba became an independent republic in 1902. Cuba then experienced a string of governments mostly dominated by the military and corrupt politicians.
Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his authoritarian rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He handed off the presidency to his younger brother Raul CASTRO in 2008. Cuba's communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Miguel DIAZ-CANEL Bermudez, hand-picked by Raul CASTRO to succeed him, was approved as president by the National Assembly and took office in 2018. DIAZ-CANEL was appointed First Secretary of the Communist Party in 2021 after the retirement of Raul CASTRO and continues to serve as both president and first secretary. Cuba traditionally and consistently portrays the US embargo, in place since 1961, as the source of its socioeconomic difficulties.
As a result of efforts begun in 2014 to reestablish diplomatic relations, the US and Cuba reopened embassies in their respective countries in 2015. The embargo remains in place, however, and the relationship between the US and Cuba remains tense. Illicit migration of Cuban nationals to the US via maritime and overland routes has been a longstanding challenge.
In 2017, the US and Cuba signed a Joint Statement ending the so-called "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, by which Cuban nationals who reached US soil were permitted to stay. Irregular Cuban maritime migration has dropped significantly since 2016, when migrant interdictions at sea topped 5,000, but land border crossings continue.