US Trends

who owns cuba

Cuba is an independent country , not something that is “owned” by any person or foreign state.

Political status

  • Cuba is a sovereign state officially called the Republic of Cuba, recognized as an independent nation in international law.
  • It has its own constitution, government institutions, and membership in organizations like the United Nations.

Who runs the state

  • Cuba is a one‑party socialist republic where the Communist Party of Cuba is the only legally recognized political party and is defined as the “leading force of society and the state.”
  • As of the mid‑2020s, Miguel Díaz‑Canel serves as president of the Republic, operating within this single‑party system.

Historical context of “ownership”

  • Spain was the colonial power in Cuba until the Spanish–American War ended with the 1898 Treaty of Paris, after which Spain relinquished sovereignty and the United States occupied the island militarily for a few years.
  • Cuba became formally independent in 1902 as the Republic of Cuba, though the U.S. kept intervention rights and a lease over Guantánamo Bay; these arrangements did not amount to ownership of the country itself.

Economy and property inside Cuba

  • After the 1959 revolution, the revolutionary government nationalized U.S. and other foreign companies, shifting most major assets into state ownership.
  • Cuba’s 2019 constitution now recognizes forms of private property and foreign investment, but these operate under state control and do not change the fact that no external actor “owns” Cuba as a nation.

In everyday terms, asking “who owns Cuba” is a bit like asking “who owns France” or “who owns Japan” – the answer is that it is a sovereign country, governed by its own state, not a piece of private property.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.