Editing Havana (section)

=== 20th century ===
{{further|Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)}}

[[File:Raising the Cuban flag on the Governor General's Palace at noon on May 20, 1902.gif|thumb|Raising the Cuban flag on the [[Palacio de los Capitanes Generales|Governor General's Palace]] at noon on 20 May 1902]]
[[File:Paseo del Prado in Havana in 1920.jpg|thumb|[[Paseo del Prado, Havana]], in 1909.l<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50322553?ocid=socialflow_twitter|title=In pictures: Havana celebrates 500 years of foundation|website=[[BBC News Online]]|date=16 November 2019}}</ref>]]
[[File:Havana - air view (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[El Capitolio|Capitol Building]], Havana, in 1933, photomechanical print (postcard)]]
Cuba's first presidential period under [[Tomás Estrada Palma]] from 1902 to 1906 was considered to uphold the highest standards of administrative integrity in the history of the Republic of Cuba.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |title=Historia de Cuba: la lucha de un pueblo por cumplir su destino histórico y su vocación de libertad |last=Masó y Vázquez |first=Calixto |year=1976 |publisher=Ediciones Universal |isbn=978-0-89729-875-9|edition=2nd|location=Miami, Fla.}}</ref> 

While Cuba had the highest ratio of hospital beds to population in the Caribbean, around 80% of these beds were located in the city of Havana, there was only one rural hospital and it was equipped with only 10 beds. In July 1940, during [[World War II]], the [[Havana Conference (1940)|Havana Conference]] was held and 21 American nations, including the host country Cuba, agreed to govern their own territories that were occupied by the [[Axis powers]].
In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Caribbean standards, and in some cases by world standards.<ref name=asce>{{Harvnb|Smith|Llorens|1998}}.</ref> On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in the Americas, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.<ref>{{Harvnb|Baklanoff|1998}}.</ref> Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems.<ref>{{cite book| last=Thomas |first= Hugh|year= 1998 |title=Cuba or the Pursuit of Freedom |isbn=978-0-306-80827-2| page= 1173|publisher= Da Capo Press}}</ref> Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. The middle class, which was comparable to that of the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions supported Batista until the very end. Batista stayed in power until he was forced into exile in December 1958.

[[File:Fidel Castro and his men in the Sierra Maestra.jpg|thumb|left|Fidel Castro and his men in the [[Sierra Maestra]], ca. 1957]]

After the [[Cuban Revolution|revolution of 1959]], the new government under [[Fidel Castro]] began to improve social services, public housing, and official buildings. Nevertheless, after Castro's abrupt expropriation of all private property and industry (May 1959 onwards) under a strong communist model backed by the Soviet Union followed by the U.S. [[United States embargo against Cuba|embargo]], shortages that affected Cuba in general hit Havana especially hard. By 1966–68, the Cuban government had [[nationalized]] all privately owned business entities in Cuba, down to "certain kinds of small retail forms of commerce" as per law No. 1076.<ref>{{cite web |author= Nigel Hunt |url= http://www.cubaheritage.org/articles.asp?lID=1&artID=236 |title= Cuba Nationalization Laws |publisher= cuba heritage .org |access-date= 8 July 2009 |archive-date= 16 September 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100916065256/http://www.cubaheritage.org/articles.asp?lID=1&artID=236 }}</ref>

In December 1982, [[Old Havana]] was inscribed as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] for its oldest standing stone fortification system in the Americas and representation of its colonial city.

An economic downturn occurred after the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]] in 1991. Soviet subsidies ended, representing billions of dollars which the Soviet Union had given the [[Cuba – Soviet Union relations|Cuban government]]. Many believed the revolutionary government would soon collapse, as happened to the Soviet [[satellite state]]s of Eastern Europe.