Cuba 古巴简介 英文版 附中文
Introduction To Cuba
Cuba is unlike any other place on earth. What draws people to this fascinating Caribbean island is much more than beaches, sun, and cheap drinks, though there are plenty of all three for those who want them. One of the last Communist-bloc nations left, it doesn't suffer from the drab and desultory demeanor of its disappeared peers. Cuba's rich culture, unique political history, and continued survival through ongoing economic hardship make it one of the most eye-opening countries that experienced travelers can still discover. Seeing the best of Cuba means grooving to its intoxicating music, marveling at how Cubans improvise on a daily basis to make ends meet, and visiting a land in which the past 50 years seem to have passed by in some odd sort of state of frozen animation.
Cuba is the largest of all the Caribbean Islands and one of the most fascinating. It has a unique and colorful history, presently seen in the form of its unspoilt colonial towns, lovingly nurtured vintage cars and pristine beaches.
Castro’s revolution disposed of many of the inequalities of the previous era, when Cuba was a playground for rich Americans, propped up by the proceeds of gambling and prostitution.
The facades of this earlier period remain, alongside increasingly efficient new hotels and resorts.
Cuba is anything but bland. Music plays a huge part in daily life, with the rhythms of salsa or jazz liable to erupt in the cobbled streets at any time.
Material privations have not muted the friendly Cubans’ joie d e vivre - singing and dancing are high on their list of priorities, and they appreciate the quality of their excellent rum and cigars.
Cuba represents a treasure trove for the modern holiday-maker, with the beautifully-restored centre of evocative Havana, colonial Trinidad, the stunning scenery of Pinar del Rio, the forests of the Sierra Maestra and the gleaming Caribbean beaches. Tourism is the country's main industry, while sugar is the second. It's estimated that some 3% of the economy is constituted by remittances sent to family members here by Cuban-Americans.
Cuban cities are full of worldwide famous architectural and cultural treasures that led UNESCO to designate Havana and Trinidad as World Heritage Sites. The different times of this country are still reflected on the buildings of the best preserved cities, and the numerous cultural manifestations show the spiritual wealth of Cuba. Cubans speak Spanish with very particular accent and vocabulary. In all tourist spots, their staff members speak at least English.
古巴一词源于印第安语，是岛上一个土著部族的名称。它位于加勒比海西北部，由一千六百多个岛屿组成，是大安的列斯群岛中最大的岛屿。古巴岛北隔佛罗里达海峡与美国佛罗里达州相对，西隔尤卡坦海峡与墨西哥相望，东南隔向风海峡与海地相向。
古巴经济长期维持以蔗糖生产为主的单一经济发展模式。古巴是世界主要产糖国之一，被誉为“世界糖罐”。
工业以制糖业为主，占世界糖产量的7%以上，人均产糖量居世界首位，蔗糖的年产值
约占国民收入的40%。农业主要种植甘蔗，甘蔗的种植面积占全国可耕地的55%。其次是水稻、烟草、柑橘等，古巴雪茄烟享誉世界。
1960年9月28日，古巴与中国建交，古巴是第一个同我国建交的拉美国家。
根据古巴现行宪法规定，“古巴是主权独立的社会主义国家，是一个民主、统一的共和国。”古巴政体由全国人民政权代表大会、国务委员会和部长会议三个重要部分组成。全国人民政权代表大会即议会，是国家最高权力机关，享有修宪和立法权，每届任期５年，每年举行两次例会。国务委员会是常设机构，由全国人民政权代表大会选举产生，在全国人民政权代表大会休会期间代表其行使国家权力。部长会议即政府，是国家最高行政机关。部长会议主席即为政府首脑，由国务委员会主席兼任。
简史：1492年哥伦布航海抵达古巴。1511年古巴沦为西班牙殖民地。1868年至1878年，古巴人民爆发了反西班牙统治的第一次独立战争。1895年2月，民族英雄何塞·马蒂
领导第二次独立战争。1898年美国占领古巴。1902年5月20日成立古巴共和国。1903年2月，美、古签订“互惠条约”，美强行租占海军基地两处，至今仍占领关塔那摩基地。1906年美出兵镇压人民起义，并对古实行3年的军事占领。1912、1917年美又出兵干涉。1933年，军人巴蒂斯塔政变上台，于1940年至1944年、1952年至1959年两次执政，实行军事独裁。1959年1月1日，菲德尔·卡斯特罗率起义军推翻了巴蒂斯塔政权，成立革命政府。
1961年4月美中央情报局策划的雇佣军在吉隆滩登陆入侵，被古击败。卡斯特罗宣布开始社会主义革命。1990年8月，古巴政府宣布进入“和平时期的特殊阶段”。1991年10月，古巴共产党召开四大。会议决定坚持社会主义道路，坚持共产党的领导，坚持计划经济。1993年起，开始进行改革，每年均有新的改革举措出台。1997年10月，古共五大召开，在坚持四大决议的同时，首次提出把经济工作放在优先地位。
HISTORICAL REFERENCE DATES
1492: Christopher Columbus disembarks on the Cuban territory, while thinking he had reached the Indies.
End of the 18th century: French having escaped from Haiti come to take refuge in Cuba and begin to plant coffee. Numerous French traces subsist nowadays.
1865: End of slaves’ deportation.
1868: Beginning of the independence wars.
1898: End of the Spanish domination. It happens after the end of the war on the Cuban territory between Spaniards and Americans. Cubans didn’t h ave time to enjoy their independence because the United States came to power immediately. For more than 50 years, the United States are going to control the island, appropriate the best lands, and make from Havana the capital of game, corruption and prostitution. Two dictatorships will follow each other under the rule of General Machado and Batista respectively.
1953 (26 Juillet): The revolutionary movement, essentially composed of young men and conducted by Fidel Castro, fails in its attempt to attack the Moncada army barracks, the most important of the eastern region of the country, and another one in Bayamo. A terrible bloodbath and a countrywide repression followed the attack. July 26 has been declared the Day of the National Rebellion.
1959 (1er. Janvier): The rebel army, commanded by Fidel Castro, takes the power and sets up the revolutionary government. The 1st. January has been declared the Day of the National Liberation. Since it came to power, the Revolutionary Government has disturbed the American government and its reforms earned the country a strong embargo imposed by the United States for more than 40 years.
Travel to Cuba
在碧波万顷的加勒比海西北部、墨西哥湾入口处，有一个美丽的海岛国家——古巴。它由数以千计的岛屿组成，其中面积最大的古巴岛，长1250公里，最宽处145公里，最窄处仅32公里，因地形狭长，形如鳄鱼，且植被茂盛，植物种类多达8000多种，故有“加勒比海的绿色鳄鱼”之称。
古巴旅游资源丰富，几百个风景点像翡翠般点缀在海岸线上。明媚的阳光、清澈的海水、白沙海滩等自然风光使这个享有“加勒比明珠”美誉的岛国成为世界一流的旅游和疗养胜地。
Long known for its isolation from the Western world and its precarious relationship with the United States in particular, the last decade has seen Cuba emerge as one of the top tourist destinations in the Caribbean, as well as the leading political light in leftist Latin America. Communist credentials notwithstanding, this is a nation that well understands the commercial power of rebranding and has reinvented itself as the home of sun, salsa and rum with a unique blend of chutzpah and casual manner that's intrinsic to the Cuban character.
Shaped by one of the twentieth century's longest-surviving revolutions, Cuba's image was inextricably bound up with its politics until relatively recently. Even five decades after Fidel Castro and the rebels seized power, Cuba's long satiny beaches, offshore cays and jungle-covered peaks – the defining attractions of neighbouring islands – played almost no part in the popular international perception of this communist state in the Caribbean. Now, having opened the floodgates to global tourism, the country is characterized as much as anything by a frenetic sense of transition as it shifts from socialist stronghold to one of the Caribbean's major tourist destinations, running on capitalist money.
At the same time, visitors may think that nothing has changed for decades, even centuries. Cut off from the capitalist world until the end of the Cold War, and hit hard by the economic crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union (which provided hefty subsidies to this communist outpost that thumbed its nose at nearby America), the face of modern-day Cuba is in many respects frozen in the past –the
classic American cars, mustachioed cigar-smoking farmers, horse-drawn carriages and colonial Spanish architecture, all apparently unaffected by the breakneck pace of modernization. At the same time, you will see many newly opened department stores and shopping malls, state-of-the-art hotels and entire resorts created from scratch, an improbable combination of transformation and stasis that's symbolic of this contradiction-riddled country. Besides being sharply split between modern and traditional, Cuba is a country which, in a sense, has become divided by tourism. Foreign visitors are the surest way of bringing in hard currency, which has led to the development of a two-tier economic system whereby anybody with the means to make money out of tourists is automatically better off than just about everyone else. In a place where taxi drivers earn more than doctors, and where capitalist reforms are seen as the answer to preserving socialist ideals, understanding Cuba is a compelling but never-ending task.
Despite the hard-to-swallow favorable treatment of tourists and the crippling US trade embargo, there is surprisingly little resentment directed at foreign visitors, and your overwhelming impression is likely to be that Cubans are outgoing, sociable and hospitable, notwithstanding the queues, food rationing, free-speech restrictions and the government's reliance on foreign investment and tourism. What's more, in most of Cuba it's difficult not to come into contact with local people: the common practices of renting out rooms and opening restaurants in homes allow visitors stronger impressions of the country than they might have thought possible in a short visit. The much-vaunted Cuban capacity for a good time is best expressed through music and dance, both vital facets of the island's culture. As originators of the most influential Latin music styles, such as bolero, rumba and son, thereby spawning the most famous of them all – salsa – people in Cuba seem always ready to party.
Understanding Cuba is a compelling but never-ending task.
古巴位于加勒比海西北部，是西印度群岛中最大的岛国。全国共由大小1600多个岛屿组成。古巴尤其是首都哈瓦那的名胜、建筑、商店、交通、饮食、休闲方式、人们的衣着打扮等等，无不具有浓烈的加勒比风情。游览古巴，如同欣赏探戈、伦巴等拉美风格的音乐一样令人陶醉。
首都哈瓦那是古巴政治、经济、文化和旅游中心，也是西印度群岛中最大的城市和世界上最美丽的城市之一，有“加勒比海的明珠”之称。哈瓦那老城是建筑艺术的宝库，拥有各个时期不同风格的建筑，１９８２年被联合国教科文组织列为“人类文化遗产”。哈瓦那市郊的维希亚小庄园是海明威在古巴的住处，现在已成为博物馆。
古巴是目前西半球惟一的一个社会主义国家。古巴执政党为古巴共产党，她是世界上惟一的由第一代领导人打天下、坐天下的共产党，也是惟一的一个在美国鼻尖下执政的共产党，同时还是西半球惟一的一个社会主义国家的执政党。在古巴各地，人们随处可见各种宣传画、标语、纪念设施，并从中感受到浓烈的革命氛围。
Surging forward into its second decade, there is much more to Cuba's tourism industry than the central tenets of music, revolution and rum. For those seeking a more cultural visit, there is plenty of pre-Revolution opulence illustrated by Art Deco architecture and decadent interiors, as well as a vibrant arts scene and Cuba's legendary musicians.
You are bound to come across occasional reminders that Cuba is a centralized, highly bureaucratic one-party state, which can give a holiday here an unfamiliar twist, especially if and when things go wrong. Going to the police, finding your hotel room double-booked or simply needing to make an urgent phone call can prove to be unnecessarily and frustratingly complicated. These are the times when you discover Cuba has its own special logic and that common sense doesn't count for much here. This is not to say you're more likely to experience mishaps in Cuba than anywhere else –not only are all the major resorts well equipped, but violent crime is remarkably absent from Cuban cities. On the other hand, a certain determination and a laid-back attitude are essential requirements for exploring less-visited parts of the country, where a paucity of facilities and reliable public transport can make travelling hard work. Although the tourist infrastructure has been slowly and steadily improving over the years, a recent slight downturn in travel here, coupled with hurricane damage, could potentially slow these improvements.
The perception that Cuba sees tourists as little more than deep pockets is pervasive, but there are still ways to make the most of a trip without breaking the bank. Compared to some areas of Latin America, Cuba can seem expensive, but simply choosing to stay in a casa particular instead of a hotel, buying produce in the markets and visiting less commercial resorts are all ways to spend less while simultaneously enriching your trip with authentic experience. For the foreign visitor, things are becoming easier all the time, though, with the introduction of more efficient bus services, simplified currency systems and a wider variety of consumer goods. Ironically, these improvements also mark an irreversible move away from what makes Cuba unique. Inevitably you'll need to scratch harder at the surface these days to uncover something most visitors haven't. Virgin beaches, untouched diving and fishing areas, quaint, unaffected villages and hidden paladares are fewer and further between. Though the nation's unique culture and resourceful character will always ensure that Cuba is more than just another island paradise, the determination to sell the country to a worldwide market means the time to go is now rather than later.
As with much of Cuban culture, some of the most captivating artwork can be found not within the walls of institutions, but on the streets. Calligraphic eulogies to José Martí and the bons mots of Che and Fidel unfurl along city walls, while drab apartment blocks are enlivened with bold murals in bright colours. In recent years urban graffiti has become more prevalent, with foreign and homegrown artists leaving their mark. Keen-eyed visitors will spot iconic images by British graffitist Banksy, particularly in Habana Vieja, while French graffiti collaborative Mosko et Associes have sown a menagerie of animals throughout Cuba. Perhaps the most arresting mural is in Regla (a suburb of Havana), where a collaboration between Cuban artists and the Brazilian graffitists Os Gemeos has created a dreamy fairyland near the main square. Catch it while you can –street art is a beautiful but transitory pleasure in Cuba, as the sea air is very corrosive.
关塔那摩 (Guantanamo) 是古巴的一个省，位于古巴东南部，省会关塔那摩市，是重要港口城市。关塔那摩基地位于古巴东南部的关塔那摩湾，是美国在海外建立最早的军事基地，也是美国惟一没有规定归还期限的海外军事基地。1898年，美军乘美西战争获胜之机，进驻了原属西班牙殖民地的古巴。1903年，美国强行向古巴租借关塔那摩湾及其邻近的部分陆地修建海军基地，租金为每年2000枚金币，约合4000美元，这一数额至今未变。1934年，美国总统罗斯福与古巴总统帕尔玛签订永久租用条约，规定只有该基地被废弃，或双方协商同意，古巴才能收回该基地。1959年古巴革命胜利之后，古巴革命政府要求美国归还关塔那摩基地，但美国一直不肯放弃该基地。
1962年的古巴导弹危机中，关塔那摩基地一度成为美苏冷战的最前线，当时美国甚至在该基地部署了核武器。20世纪90年代以后，美军开始将关塔那摩基地的绝大多数军事设施和军事活动迁到美国本土或波多黎各的罗斯福海军基地。2000年，美军封存关塔那摩基地，结束了其作为大西洋舰队主要训练基地的使命。
阿富汗战争后，美军在关塔那摩海军基地设立专门关押塔利班战俘和“基地”组织成员的集中营。2002年1月，首批塔利班战俘被押抵关塔那摩海军基地。目前，关塔那摩基地内还关押有245名恐怖嫌疑人。关塔那摩军事法庭自成立以来，因秘密操作、虐囚丑闻和无视被告法律权利而广受批评。在本届美国总统竞选中，奥巴马曾把关闭关塔那摩监狱作为竞选承诺之一。
Party blow to Obama over Gitmo
President Barack Obama's promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison suffered a blow when his allies in the Senate said they would refuse to finance the move until the administration delivers a satisfactory plan for what to do with the detainees there.
As the Senate took up Obama's request for money for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Democrats reversed course on Tuesday and said they would deny the request for $80 million for the Justice and Defense departments to relocate the 240 detainees at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They would also indefinitely bar the government from transferring any of the facility's prisoners into the United States, though the ban could be relaxed in subsequent legislation.
A vote was expected yesterday on an amendment by Senators Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat, and James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, that would put the restrictions in the war-funding measure.
While allies such as No 2 Senate Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois cast the development as a delay of only a few months, other Democrats made it plain they do not want any of Guantanamo's detainees sent to the US to stand trial or serve prison sentences.
"We don't want them around," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.
The Senate move matches steps taken by the House and threatens to paralyze the Obama administration's entire plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility by January. In recent weeks, Attorney General Eric Holder had sought to reassure skeptical lawmakers, but Congress appears unconvinced and may force the detention facility to remain in operation.
It's also evidence that a weeks-long Republican effort against Obama's order to close the Guantanamo facility is paying off. "Guantanamo is the perfect place for these terrorists," said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.
Democrats and other Republicans - including last year's Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona - say it is time to close the facility, where detainees can be held for years without being charged.
But McCain said in a floor speech on Tuesday that Obama has bungled the Guantanamo issue. "The lack of a comprehensive, well-thought-out plan led to a predictable political backlash on Guantanamo," McCain said.
Even Durbin acknowledged that Obama had put Democrats in an awkward spot.
"The feeling was at this point we were defending the unknown. We were being asked to defend a plan that hasn't been announced," Durbin said.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that lawmakers were correct to insist on details on closing the detention facility. He said the president would today outline "a hefty part" of his agenda for the often-criticized facility. 著名人物
埃内斯托·切·格瓦拉
他是出生于阿根廷的马克思主义革命者和古巴游击队领导人。切·格瓦拉于1959年参与了卡斯特罗领导的古巴“七二六运动”，推翻了亲美的巴蒂斯塔独裁政权。在古巴新政府担任了一些要职之后，切·格瓦拉于1965年离开古巴，在其它国家继续策动共产革命。首先是刚果，然后是玻利维亚。在玻利维亚，他在一次由美国中央情报局策划的军事行动中被捕，并于1967年10月9日被玻利维亚军队杀害。死后，他成为了第三世界共产革命运动中的英雄和西方左翼运动的象征。
1955年，格瓦拉同卡斯特罗在墨西哥城相遇，当时卡斯特罗兄弟正为重返古巴进行武
装斗争并推翻巴蒂斯塔独裁政权而进行准备。格瓦拉迅速加入了卡斯特罗组织的名为“七二六运动”（以一次失败的革命：蒙卡达事件的日期命名）的军事组织。1956年11月25日，“七二六运动”的82名战士挤在“格拉玛号”（Granma）小游艇上，从墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州（Veracruz）的图克斯潘（Tuxpan）出发，驶向古巴。
1956年12月2日，比计划推迟了两天，他们在古巴南部的奥连特省的一片沼泽地登陆，遭到巴蒂斯塔的军队的袭击，只有12人在这次袭击中幸存。格瓦拉，作为军队的医生，在一次战斗中，当面前一个是药箱，另一个是子弹箱时，他扛起了子弹箱。从这一刻开始，格瓦拉彻底从医生转变为了一名战士。
剩余的游击队战士，在马埃斯特腊山中安顿下来，并使革命队伍逐渐壮大，得到了一些农民及工人的支持。在战斗中，格瓦拉的超人的勇气及毅力、出色的战斗技巧和对敌人的冷酷无情得到了越来越多人的，包括卡斯特罗的赏识。他很快成为了卡斯特罗最得力和信赖的助手。到1958年初游击队员约有280人，在经历了一系列战斗之后，到12月27日，革命军拥有了8000平方公里土地和50万人民。1959年1月2日，革命军成功占领古巴首都哈
瓦那，巴蒂斯塔出逃。这段经历，被格瓦拉写入了自己1963年出版的《古巴革命战争的回忆》中。
头戴金五星贝蕾帽的格瓦拉肖像是当今历史上复制量最大的肖像之一。那个消瘦的美男子被印在T恤、咖啡杯、海报、钥匙串上。蓄着嬉皮发型和个性小胡子的格瓦拉在摇滚乐、歌剧场和艺术展上出尽风头。格瓦拉出现在著名足球队的队旗上、出租车司机的坐驾前方，摇滚音乐会的大型电子屏幕上，他那被神化的形象成为当今世界最时髦的标志。
Ernesto "Che" Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, politician, author, physician, military theorist, and guerrilla leader. After death, his stylized image became a ubiquitous countercultural symbol worldwide.
As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout Latin America and was transformed by the endemic poverty he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of monopoly capitalism, neocolonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's radical ideology.
Later, in Mexico, he met Fidel Castro and joined his 26th of July Movement. In December 1956, he was among the revolutionaries who invaded Cuba under Castro's leadership with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to Comandante, and played a pivotal role in the successful two year guerrilla campaign that deposed Batista. Following the Cuban revolution, Guevara reviewed the appeals of those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals, ratifying sentences which in some cases involved execution by firing squads. Later he served as minister of industry and president of the national bank, before traversing the globe as a diplomat to meet an array of world leaders on behalf of Cuban socialism. He then played a key role in bringing to Cuba the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. He was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare, along with what later became a best-selling memoir about his motorcycle journey across South America. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to incite revolutions first in an unsuccessful attempt in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by Bolivian forces assisted by the CIA and executed.
Both notorious as a ruthless disciplinarian who unhesitatingly shot defectors and revered by supporters for his rigid dedication to professed doctrines, Guevara remains a controversial and significant historical figure. As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class struggle, and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven by "moral" rather than "material" incentives, Guevara evolved into a quintessential icon of leftist-inspired movements. Ironically and in contradiction with his ideology, Che's visage was also reconstituted as a global marketing emblem and insignia within popular culture. He has been mostly venerated and occasionally reviled in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, books, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico (shown), was declared "the most famous photograph in the world."
戴伦·罗伯斯（Dayron Robles）
戴伦·罗伯斯（Dayron Robles），古巴田径运动员，是近一两年在男子110米栏项目上进步最明显的年轻选手，由于年纪轻，上升空间大，罗伯斯已经成为刘翔的头号竞争对手。北京时间2008年6月13日凌晨消息，21岁的古巴小将罗伯斯在捷克俄斯特拉发田径大奖赛男子110米栏的比赛中跑出了12秒87的成绩，打破了刘翔2年前创造的12秒88原世界纪录，刘翔原世界纪录是2006年在瑞士洛桑大奖赛创造的。
2008年男子110栏项目的真正王者，属于古巴选手罗伯斯。在他辉煌的2008
年赛季，他总共获得了19个冠军头衔，，这比刘翔在2007年夺得的9个冠军头衔多出一倍。其中包括最重要的一枚，他在北京奥运会夺得了男子110米栏的金牌。
2008年8月21日晚，在刘翔因伤退赛的情况下，罗伯斯几乎没有悬念地夺得了男子110米栏的冠军，或许刘翔的缺阵，罗伯斯也会感到遗憾，因为强手之间的对碰才能擦出火花，金牌的成色才更加足。但能站在奥运会最高领奖台上，无疑是罗伯斯在2008年最为高兴的时刻，这枚金牌也是分量最重的一枚金牌。
Dayron Robles is a Cuban hurdler who holds the current 110 metre hurdles world record of 12.87 seconds, which he set on June 12, 2008 at the Golden Spike Ostrava meet, and is the current Olympic champion.
At the 2006 World Indoor Championships in Moscow he finished second with a new personal best time (indoor) of 7.46 seconds, a time which he has since improved to 7.33 s, making him the second-fastest ever indoors, behind Colin Jackson. At the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia he didn't advance from the heats due to fact that he stopped running, thinking that fellow hurdler Liu Xiang had made
a false start. This was great disappointment for Robles, who had posted nine of the
11 fastest times of the winter season and was a favorite for winning the gold medal.
At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, many anticipated a Robles/Liu showdown in the final, but Liu was forced to pull out injured in the opening heat due to tendinitis. Robles went on to comfortably win the gold medal, posting a time of 12.93 s in the final.
"I was ready to run under 13 seconds thanks to our excellent training so far.
I felt comfortable and just focused on the gun and running as fast as possible. I saw the time and was shocked. I have been working hard to achieve things like this," an ecstatic Robles said.
At just 21 years of age, the 2006 World Indoor Championships silver medallist felt some magic in Ostrava as some of the current track and field stars assembled in the Czech city, including Jamaica's 100m World record holder Usain Bolt.
"The crowd was expecting something big. In the 110m Hurdles, the second, third and fourth place finishers from Osaka were here: Terence Trammel, David Payne and I. There was a good atmosphere, the wind, a nice temperature as I like it. I wanted to run well here as I had a poor race in Ostrava last year," he described.
“However, I am not so surprised because I have trained very well, in Ecuador and Cuba. I know I could run a fast race any time."
Ostrava was only his third race of the season. He made his outdoor debut in at the Golden League meeting in Berlin on 1 June, where he was second to then World leader David Oliver (13.19 to 13.20).
Five days later, he won easily on a wet track in Torino with 13.28.
"It rained a lot in Torino and the track was slow. Things are starting to come out step by step. We still have two months left before the Olympics, our main goal. Everything we do is focused on Beijing,” the 2006 CAC and 2007 Pa n American Games champion added.
Looking ahead to the Beijing Games, Robles can’t but refer to the man he out-classed as World record holder.
“He (Liu) doesn’t need to be motivated by me and my performance,” Robles said after knocking 0.01 seconds from his Chinese rival’s two-year old mark. “That the Olympics are in China and that he’s the Olympic champion should be his motivation.”The massive victory margin didn’t faze him nor did the uncharacteristic lack of rivals pushing him. He was simply out to prove a point to himself, and to others. “Good results this season by other runners really motivated me,” he said, adding that if he could have his way, he would have preferred a more competitive race. “I focus only on me, but I like it better when everybody is there.”
He also said that he felt he owed something to the Ostrava meet organizers, after finishing a distant third last year in 13.45.
“I wanted to come back here because I ran poorly here last year. I wanted to prove to the organisers that I’m better than I showed last year.”
古巴导弹危机
危机起因：1962年，加勒比海地区发生了一场震惊世界的古巴导弹危机。它由苏联在
古巴部署导弹、美国则坚持要求撤除导弹而引发。这是冷战期间美苏两大国之间最激烈的一次对抗。这次危机虽然仅仅持续了13天，美苏双方在核弹按钮旁徘徊，使人类空前地接近毁灭的边缘，世界处于千钧一发之际。最后以双方的妥协而告终,其中有不少值得总结、反思的经验教训。
1959年6月，古巴新政府的领导成员发生很大变动，政府重要部门绝大多数被主张实
行急进政策的人所掌握。美国政府担心控制不了古巴，后院起火，动摇美国在拉美的统治基础，于是就对古巴新政权产生了怨恨和不满，并且以傲慢的态度对待古巴，企图逼新政府就范。但是古巴新政府的领导人很有骨气，并不屈服于美国的压力。这就导致了美国与古巴关系的日益恶化。
1961年4月15日，在美国的策划下，古巴流亡分子驾驶美国B-26型轰炸机对古巴进
行了两天的轰炸，1000多名雇佣军登上古巴猪湾，妄图入侵古巴并以暴力推翻卡斯特罗新政府。但是，美国政府没有预料到72小时之内，入侵者即被古巴人民一网打尽。然而，美国政府并未就此罢休，反而继续对古巴施加压力，继续采取敌视古巴的政策。
危机过程：在受到美国的强大压力时，卡斯特罗不得不向苏联寻求援助。苏联当时对古巴的处境表现出异乎寻常的关切，正是出于同美国争夺霸权的需要，想在拉丁美洲找一个立足点。古巴的求援，正是赫鲁晓夫求之不得的事情。他认为，古巴局势的发展，直接关系到苏联在拉丁美洲的影响，关系到苏联的威信及其在拉美的立脚点。古巴和苏联于1960年就恢复了外交关系。在美国同古巴绝交后，苏联就抓住机会，增加了对古巴的经济、军事援助。苏古关系的发展，也就隐伏着美苏关系的紧张和日后的导弹危机。
被逼上梁山的卡斯特罗，1960年秋天在联合国大会上发表了一番慷慨激昂的讲话。他面对坐在大厅里的美国人说，是你们促使我们寻求新的市场和新的朋友，它们就是苏联和社会主义世界。在这之后，我们就开始对这种社会主义产生了兴趣并开始研究它。
赫鲁晓夫坚决主张把导弹运进古巴，理由是：鉴于当时美国已经用轰炸机基地和导弹包围了苏联，美国在土耳其、意大利和西德的导弹都对准了苏联，苏联重要的工业中心都处于核弹、战略轰炸机的直接威胁之下，因此应尽快秘密地把导弹运进古巴，而且要在美国发现之前装好，可供发射；可以巩固古巴领导人卡斯特罗的地位，从政治、经济和军事上控制古巴，从而把古巴作为同美国进行政治交易的筹码，以增强苏联的威慑能力。赫鲁晓夫或许也知道可能会面临严重的军事冲突，但思前想后，觉得这场大赌博还是值得一试的。
苏联决定在古巴部署中程导弹，提供伊尔-28喷气轰炸机，于7月开始实施。苏联把运往古巴的货物改由苏联船只运送，将几十枚导弹和几十架飞机拆开装到集装箱里运往古巴。同时，3500名军事技术人员也陆续乘船前往。每一枚导弹都携带一个威力比在广岛的原子弹大 20或30倍的核弹头。经过伪装的第一批武器是在7月下旬用商船运抵古巴的。直到9月2日，苏联才公开宣布，根据苏古两国达成的协议，苏联将向古巴供应武器和提供技术专家。此时，苏联的武器和专家的运输计划已基本完成，部署工作已近尾声。
被发现：1962年8月，美国发现了苏联设在古巴的导弹发射场。
1962年10月14日是星期天。在这个万里无云的星期日凌晨，两架美国U2飞机从南向北飞过了古巴西部上空。他们拍摄了大量照片。由专家们仔细地研究放大照片上的每一个画面。
10月15日，他们认出了一座发射台、许多发射弹道导弹的建筑物，一枚中程弹道导弹。在修建射程为2000英里的中远程弹道导弹使用的坚固的永久基地。而且，美国鉴定专家确信，发射装置上安装的是导弹核武器。10月16日，约翰·肯尼迪总统才得到上述情况的汇报。他对赫鲁晓夫欺骗他的行为非常恼怒，并立刻意识到这件事关系重大。他没有料到苏联人在古巴这样一个地方会采取如此轻率和冒险的行动，没有料到转眼之间古巴戏剧性地拥有了在西半球仅次于美国的最大的、装备最好的军事力量。肯尼迪感到，苏联导弹造成了一种严重的威胁，要是不猛烈回击，那就会有损他的政府在国内外的形象，激起公众对他的不信任，并使美国如芒在背。肯尼迪决定，要使苏联明白美国不惜一战的决心。