Atlas of Hispanic-American History

A TIME OF TRANSITION 127

In the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, not only did the
United States gain the rights to maintain a naval base at
Guantánamo Bay and to intervene in Cuban political affairs as
it saw fit, but American business interests also established far-
reaching economic control over the island’s economy by rap-
idly expanding the Cuban sugar industry. American
corporations bought up many of Cuba’s sugar mills, planted
enormous plots of sugarcane (destroying jungles in the
process), and paid off corrupt government officials in return for
special treatment. American efforts increased sugar production
in Cuba so rapidly that many laborers from other Latin

American and Caribbean countries had to be recruited to work

in the island’s sugar fields and refineries. Throughout the first

two decades of the 20th century, world sugar prices rose along

with production. Upon the end of World War I, however, an

oversupply of sugar on the world market caused prices to

plummet. Although sugar production—and prices—rallied

somewhat during the 1920s, they collapsed once more at the

start of the Great Depression in 1929. The map above illus-

trates the amount of land allotted to sugar production in 1898

and 1950. The chart below illustrates the dramatic rise in pro-

duction between 1860 and 1937.

Cuban Sugar Production, 1860–1937

U.S. business interests transformed Cuba’s economy from a locally based subsistance economy

into one that relied on exporting its resources to the United States. As a result, following the

passage of the Platt Amendment in 1901, sugar production in Cuba skyrocketed.

U.S. DOMINATION OF THE CUBAN ECONOMY