Would You Believe... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Christopher Columbus

Columbus first discovered the island of Cuba on 28th October, 1492 and claimed the territory for Spain renaming it Juana in honour of Don Juan, the son of the Spanish King Fernando. After his death, Columbus was first buried in Seville in Spain. Later they were moved to the Dominican Republic before being taken to Havana, Cuba in 1795 where they remained till the Spanish were forced to leave Cuba in 1898 after being defeated by the Americans. Columbus' after death journey made a full circle with his remains now housed in the Cathedral of Seville.

Answer: Asia

Three of the countries are China, Vietnam and Laos. While North Korea is widely regarded as a communist state, the country follows an ideology known as 'Juche' which can be interpreted as 'the Spirit of Self Reliance' that was developed by the former President, Kim II-Sung. There are other countries headed by Communist Parties, most notably Nepal, but these governments have been elected following a democratic process.

Cuba was declared a socialist state guided by the ideas of José Martí, Marx, Engels and Lenin by the Constitution of 1992.

Answer: Special Period

The entire name for this period is the "Special Period in Peacetime" which was later shortened to "Special Period". The loss of Soviet subsidies coupled with the decline in food, medicine and petroleum imports affected the Caribbean country severely leading to a decrease of almost 35% in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Answer: US dollar

In 2004, Cuba withdrew the US dollar from circulation protesting against sanctions imposed by the US. The convertible peso was first introduced in 1994 but became more commonly used from 2004 onwards. While the Cuban peso is used for the purchase of staples and other necessary items, all tourist related and luxury items must be paid for using convertible pesos.

While there are other countries which have two official currencies, the second one is usually an internationally used currency like the US dollar or British pound or at times the currency of a stronger neighbouring country.

Answer: Venice

Matanzas is also called the 'Venice of Cuba. The city derives its name from the word for 'massacre'. According to legend, a band of Spanish soldiers were trying to cross one of the rivers to attack the natives of the island. As they had no boats, they got some of the local fishermen to ferry them across. Aware of their intentions, the fishermen overturned the boats in the middle of the river and the heavy armour worn by the Spanish soldiers caused them to drown to death.

Answer: Sleeping Beauty

Would you believe these caves were formed around 300,000 years ago? They were discovered in 1861 by a slave while retrieving stones from the area for construction. In 1987 they were declared a national monument.

Answer: Jose Marti

Jose Marti, declared a Cuban national hero, led the nation in their struggle for independence against Spanish rule. He was also a poet and an important figure in Cuban literature. The song, 'Guantanamera' adapted from his poem "Versos Sencillos" is a well-known Cuban patriotic song.

Answer: Peninsula

The tip of the peninsula which is called Punta Hicacos is the northernmost point of the island of Cuba. While initially considered an elite tourist resort, the town was further developed in the 1990s with a number of 4-star and 5-star hotels coming up to cater to the growing visitors.

While Cuba is commonly thought of as one island, it actually consists of several archipelagos apart from the main island.

Answer: Rum

This family owned company shifted its headquarters from Cuba to the Bahamas in the 1960s once Fidel Castro began nationalising all private companies. Would you believe that the company's lawyers helped draft Helms-Burton Act of 1996 which sought to strengthen US embargo against Cuba? Otto Reich, a lobbyist on behalf of the Bacardi company drafted section 211 of the 1999 Omnibus appropriations act which prevented Cuban products that were taken over by the state after the Cuban revolution from owning those trademarks.

This bill is also known as the Bacardi Act.

Answer: Yank Tank

Would you believe these cars are maintained without access to original American spare parts since the US embargo in 1962? The Yank Tanks, also known as maquinas, have been forced to use adapted Soviet technology and various other regular household items in lieu of original parts ever since then.