Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba (säntyäˈgō ħā kōˈbä) [key],
city (1994 est. pop. 385,800), capital of Santiago de Cuba
prov., SE Cuba. Cuba's second largest city, Santiago is situated
on a cliff overlooking a bay. The city is a major port and the
terminus of a major highway and railway. An oil refinery and
electrical generation plants are also important to economy.
Founded in 1514 by Diego de Velázquez and moved to its present
site in 1588, Santiago served for some time as Cuba's capital.
In its early days, it was captured by French and English
buccaneers and was a center of the smuggling trade with the
British West Indies. Frenchmen fleeing the slave revolt in Haiti
in the early 19th cent. settled in Santiago and heavily
influenced the city's development. During the Spanish-American
War of 1898, U.S. ships established a blockade in Santiago's
harbor; when the Spanish admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete,
bottled up in the harbor, made a desperate attempt to escape,
his fleet was destroyed. Heavy fighting prece