Christopher Columbus
embarked on his famous expedition in 1492, and it was in October
of that year that he first sighted Cuba. He called the land
“Juana”, in the belief that he had come across
Asia’s mainland. On October 29 he landed in Cuba and
claimed the land for Spain. He didn’t realize the land
was actually an island. It was Sebastián de Ocampo
who found this out by circumnavigating in 1508.
Actual Spanish conquest began three years later, in 1511 under
leadership of Diego de Velázquez de Cuellar, who founded
many towns on the island, such as Baracoa that same year,
Santiago de Cuba in 1514, and Havana a year later. These were
brutal times for the indigenous peoples who had up to that
moment lived peacefully in their tribal communities.
appeared.
