Introduction and Scope

Cuba and the United States have had an intertwining history for over a century. Their relationship tightened after the end of the Spanish American war with the ratification of the Platt Amendment, which allowed the U.S to intervene in Cuba when necessary. The U.S had a heavy influence in Cuba until 1959 when Fidel Castro helped overthrow Fulgencio Batista. After Batista's overthrow the controversy of the revolution increased because Castro eventually moved Cuba toward socialism. Afterward, large groups of Cubans fled to the United State, specifically Florida. Between 1965 and 1973, almost 250,000 people left to the U.S, and following that wave of migration there were 2 more big waves of people who fled to the United States (2000, Buffington).

Cubans developed communities, and became a dominating force in politics, economics, and society. There are strong political groups whom lobby Washington, and a significant amount of businesses in Miami owned by Cubans. For students and researches intersted in Cuba, the Cuban American Community in the U.S is an importatnt study.

Scope
The pathfinder covers the subject of Cubans in America since the 1960s. The materials provided by the patherfinder vary from articles, books, reference materials, databases, and internet sources. The materials highlight the Cuban American community in Florida from a political, social, and economic view point.

The pathfinder is meant to be speicifcally used by SJSU students, or researchers with access to the King Library. The focus was to be able to extract as much relevant material from the library without having to rely on services such as Link+-- thus making the pathfinder quick and easy to use.

Some of the materials are only available through the library, so the location and call number have been provided. Here is a map of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library for locating materials.

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References

Buffington, S. (2000). Cuban Americans(Vol. 1, 2nd ed.). Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America (pp. 473-485). Detroit: Gale.