- Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba. He led the revolution overthrowing dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and shortly after was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Cuba. Castro became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1965, and led the transformation of Cuba into a one-party socialist republic. In 1976 he became president of the Council of State as well as of the Council of Ministers. - Che Guevara
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che or just Che was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. As a young man studying medicine, Guevara traveled rough throughout South America, bringing him into direct contact with the impoverished conditions in which many people lived. - Cuban Link
Felix Delgado (born 1974,in Havana, Cuba), known by stage name Cuban Link, is a rapper best known for his former membership in the group Terror Squad, his friendship with Latin rapper Big Pun, and his problems with rapper Fat Joe. - Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez (March 16, 1978) is the drummer for Post-Hardcore band Saosin. He was born in Miami, Florida to a Cuban immigrant father and Irish mother. He fell in the hardcore scene as a teen and hit the road at 17 with his band, Never Falling. The group relocated in Los Angeles in 1997 and soon broke up. Rodriguez stayed in the Orange County because of the hardcore scene, founding Open Hand three years later. Rodriguez left Open Hand to join Saosin in 2003. - Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz was a three-time Grammy Award and four-time Latin Grammy winning Afro-Cuban-American salsa singer who spent most of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American countries. Cruz was one of the most successful Cuban performers of the 20th century, with twenty-three gold albums to her name and has earned the moniker "La guarachera de Cuba". - Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan is a five-time Grammy Award-winning Cuban American singer and songwriter. Estefan began her career as lead vocalist for the Hispanic dance music band, Miami Sound Machine, in 1975. They crossed over to mainstream popular success with English-speaking audiences with the international hit singles, “Dr. Beat” (1984) and “Conga” (1986). - Luis Posada Carriles
Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles (born February 15, 1928) is a Cuban-born Venezuelan anti-Castro terrorist. A former CIA operative, Posada has been accused of involvement in various terrorist attacks and plots in the Western hemisphere, … - Fulgencio Batista
General Ruben Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the "de facto" military leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1940, and thus the eminence grise of Cuban politics for that period of time, and the "de jure" President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 after having won election. He then became the country's leader after staging a coup, from 1952 to 1959. - Raul Malo
Raul Malo (born Raul Francisco Martinez-Malo Jr., 7 August 1965, Miami, Florida) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was the lead singer of successful country music band The Mavericks, and has since pursued a solo career which encompasses numerous genres of American and Cuban music. - Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970 in The Bronx, New York, USA), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. - Sen Dog
Sen Dog (born Senen Reyes, November 20 1965, in Havana, Cuba) is an Afro-Cuban rapper, and member of the well known rap group Cypress Hill. He is the older brother of fellow rapper Mellow Man Ace. Sen Dog has been developing his own solo career in addition to his work with Cypress Hill. - Arturo Sandoval
Arturo Sandoval (born November 6, 1949) is a jazz trumpeter and pianist. He was born in Artemisa, in Havana Province, on Cuba. Sandoval, while still in Cuba, was influenced by jazz legends Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie, finally meeting him later in 1977. Gillespie promptly became a mentor and colleague, playing with Arturo in concerts in Europe and Cuba and later featuring him in The United Nations Orchestra. - José Martí
José Julián Martí y Pérez was a leader of the Cuban independence movement from Spain and as well a renowned poet and writer. He is considered the Cuban people's National hero. He is often referred to as the Apostle of Cuban Independence. In many literary circles he is considered the Father of Modernismo predating and influencing Rubén Darío and influencing other poets such as Gabriela Mistral. - Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is the Acting President of Cuba and Acting President/First Vice President of the Cuban Council of State. The younger brother of Cuban President Fidel Castro also occupies the positions of First Vice President/Acting President of the Council of Ministers, Acting First Secretary/Second Secretary of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), and Acting Commander in Chief Maximum General of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, … - Ibrahim Ferrer
Ibrahim Ferrer. They performed at private functions and the two youths managed to scrape together enough money to live. Over the next few years, Ferrer would perform with many musical groups, including Conjunto Sorpresa and Orquesta Chepin-Choven. The leader of the latter composed one of Ferrer's biggest hits, "El Platanal de Bartolo". - Vida Guerra
Vida Guerra (born March 19, 1974 in Havana, Cuba) is a Cuban-born American model and occasional actress and singer. Her first notable appearance was in a photo shoot for the U.S. edition of "FHM" magazine, and since then, she has modeled for many other men's magazines, including "Playboy". Born in Havana, Cuba, Guerra moved with her family to the United States soon after, ending up in the town of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. - Compay Segundo
Compay Segundo was a Cuban musician and songwriter. Born Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz, he was brought up in the city of Santiago de Cuba. He became a songwriter and performer, well-known to fans of Cuban music. He was also the inventor of the armónico, a seven-stringed guitar-like instrument. In his early years he played the guitar, the clarinet, the bongos, and the congas. - Omara Portuondo
Omara Portuondo {last name sometimes spelled Portuandob. 1930) is a Cuban singer whose career has spanned over half a century. - Paquito D'Rivera
Paquito D'Rivera (b. 4 June, 1948) is a Grammy award-winning alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist from Havana, Cuba. - Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto a.k.a. King of the Hard Hands born in New York City, was a Puerto Rican jazz musician, widely credited as the godfather of Latin jazz. He was also the first Hispanic to record a Latin song which became a "hit" in the American Billboard Charts. Barretto's parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico in the early 1920s, looking for a better life. - Mike Lowell
Michael Averett Lowell (born February 24, 1974 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball third baseman of Cuban descent and also a cancer survivor. He is a right-handed batter and is currently a member of the Boston Red Sox. The Florida Marlins traded him to Boston in a deal that was officially completed on November 21, 2005 in which the Red Sox received Lowell, Josh Beckett and Guillermo Mota in exchange for Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, … - Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Lincoln Rafael Diaz-Balart (born August 13 1954), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing (map). He was born in Havana, Cuba and is the son of the late Cuban politician Rafael Diaz-Balart and a nephew by marriage of Fidel Castro. He was educated at American School of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, New College of Florida, Cambridge University, and Case Western Reserve University. - Luis Rodriguez
Luis Manuel Rodriguez (born June 17 1937 in Camaguey, Cuba - died July 8 1996) was welterweight boxing champion of the world. - Perez Prado
Dámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban/Mexican bandleader and composer. He is commonly referred to as the "King of the Mambo". Prado was born in Matanzas, Cuba. His mother was a school teacher, his father a newspaper man. He studied classical piano in his early childhood, and later played organ and piano in local clubs. For a time, he was pianist and arranger for the Sonora Matancera, Cuba's best known musical group. - Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963 in Havana, Cuba) is one of the most important pianists in jazz today. A prolific virtuoso and composer, he fuses Cuban and American influences into a powerful and innovative hybrid. Known for his command of the keyboard throughout the 1990s, his recent work has shown broader range as Rubalcaba has matured into arguably one of the most important living jazz pianists. - Christina Milian
Christina Milian (born Christine Flores on September 26, 1981) is an American actress and Grammy Award-nominated R&B and pop singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and former MTV host. She has released three studio albums and one compilation album. She has also had four solo top five singles (and also a top ten featuring credit single) in the UK as well as hits in the rest of Europe and North America. - Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz (born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III) (March 2, 1917 - December 2, 1986) was a Cuban musician, actor, comedian and television producer. - Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro Corrales (born September 24, 1964 in Havana, Cuba) is a Major League Baseball player with a career spanning 20 years, 1986 to 2005. Though technically not retired, Palmeiro has not played since 2005. Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1985. His major league debut came on September 8, 1986 with the Cubs. He played three seasons with the Cubs (1986-1988), … - La Lupe
"La Lupe", or "La Yiyiyi" was a Latin and Salsa singer. Born in the barrio of San Pedrito, Santiago de Cuba, her father was a worker at the local Bacardi distillery and was a major influence on her life and he strictly encouraged her to become a school teacher. Just like her counterpart, Celia Cruz, she qualified as a schoolteacher before she became a singer. - Orlando Bosch
Orlando Bosch (also known as Orlando Bosch Avila) is a Cuban exile and former CIA-backed criminal, head of CORU organization, which the FBI has described as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization." Attorney General Dick Thornburgh called Bosch an "unrepentant terrorist." He has been accused of taking part in Operation Condor and several other terrorist attacks, … - Jorge Reyes
Jorge (Ivan) Reyes (b. 1971) is a Cuban-born, American author known for authoring books in several genres. He is an honor graduate (1993) of Barry University, from which he received a B.A. in history, a B.S in political science, and a minor in literature. - Reinaldo Arenas
Reinaldo Arenas was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright who despite his early sympathy for the 1959 revolution, grew critical of and then rebelled against the Cuban government. - Chucho Valdés
Chucho Valdés, born Jesús Dionisio Valdés, is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was born in Quivicán, Cuba. In 1972 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Together with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Valdés is revered as one of Cuba's greatest jazz pianists. His father Bebo Valdés, also a pianist, is the former director of Havana's famous "Tropicana" night club. Bebo Valdés, now in his 80's, is still performing, … - El Medico
Reynier Casamayor Griñán, known as El Medico, is a Cuban musician and doctor who is, as of 2005 enjoying success in Spain as a composer and performer of reggaetón music. He reached 10th place in the top 10 music sales charts of Spain with the song "Chupa-Chupa", recorded with Warner Music. El Medico was born and resides in Santiago de Cuba. He is one of the pioneers of the reggaetón music on Cuba. - Eliades Ochoa
Eliades Ochoa is a Cuban guitarist and singer born in Loma de la Avispa, Songo La Maya in the east of the country near Santiago on June 22 1946. He began playing the guitar when he was six and in 1978 he joined Cuarteto Patria, a band that has played since 1940. His roots are in "guajira" (Cuban country music) and he still wears his trademark cowboy hat. He plays the tres, and also a variant called "cuatro" (with two additional strings). - Dayron Robles
Dayron Robles (born November 19, 1986) is a Cuban hurdling athlete. At the World Indoor Championships he finished second with a new personal best time (indoor) of 7.46 seconds. His current personal best time over 110 metres is 13.00 seconds, equalling the Cuban record of his idol Anier Garcia. - Ernesto Lecuona
Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (August 6, 1895 Guanabacoa, now part of Havana, Cuba - November 29, 1963 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands) was a Cuban composer and performer, perhaps the greatest and most legendary Cuban musician of his time. Lecuona started early studying piano under his sister Ernestina, a famed composer in her own right. He later studied at the Peyrellade Conservatoire under Antonio Saavedra and the famous Joaquin Nin. - Omar Sosa
Omar Sosa is a composer, bandleader, and virtuoso jazz pianist. He began studying marimba at age eight, then switched to piano at the Escuela Nacional de Musica in Havana, where he began to study jazz. Sosa moved to Quito, Ecuador in 1993, then San Francisco, California in 1995. In San Francisco he because deeply involved in the local Latin Jazz scene and began a long collaboration with percussionist John Santos. In approximately 1999, Sosa moved to Barcelona, Spain. - Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo (January 7, 1915 - December 2, 1948) was a percussionist with a musical background from Cuban religious cults. Born in Havana, he played a major role in the founding of Latin jazz, and was a renowned session player. Once Pozo became famous he also became renowned by his sense of fashion: his all-white top hat and tuxedo look predated that of Flavor Flav by at least 45 years. - Xavier Cugat
Francesc d'Asís Xavier Cugat Mingall de Bru i Deulofeu was a Catalan-Cuban bandleader whom many consider to have had more to do with the infusion of Latin music into United States popular music than any other musician. Perez Prado followed in Cugat's footsteps. Cugat was born in Barcelona, Spain. With his family, he emigrated to Cuba when he was five. He trained as a classical violinist and played with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana.
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