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Cuba's history is marked by significant foreign influence, primarily from Spain, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Christopher Columbus first sighted Cuba in 1492, and Spanish settlement began in 1511. The island's indigenous population, the Taino, Ciboney, and Guanahatabey peoples, were decimated by European diseases and harsh treatment.123

Cuba endured Spanish colonial rule until 1898, experiencing periods of struggle for independence, including the Ten Years' War and the Cuban War of Independence. Following the Spanish-American War, Cuba came under U.S. influence, with a republican administration established in 1902 but heavily shaped by American interests. The 20th century saw political instability and corruption, culminating in the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro, which overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1959. This led to Cuba becoming the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere and establishing close ties with the Soviet Union, while maintaining a complex and often adversarial relationship with the United States.45678910

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