The thesis is analysing the mutual relations of the United States and Cuba, and encapsulate the political development of Cuba as well as U.S., and the changes of the foreign policy of the United States towards Cuba, since 1898. The focus of the thesis is on how the U.S. foreign policy influenced the development of Cuba, the factors that have contributed to the shaping of Cuba-U.S. relations and the main historical events and laws that occurred between two countries. The differences between foreign policies of the American presidents and the policy of containment of communism will be taken into account, as well as the position of Cuban Americans in U.S. and public opinion on the U.S.-Cuba relations. The conclusion of the work will contain the discussion of an obtained results.

This thesis explores requirements for a health website made to support Cuba’s and its people’s development, in terms of improved health and wellbeing, through access to user-centred online health information. The study uses semi-structured interviews to investigate how health information is accessed in Cuba today, the need for certain types of health information, and the role of the currently limited internet access in Cuba. The study shows that Cubans often turn to friends, family, and contacts to access health information, due to the slow process of accessing it through the local clinics and the limited possibilities of accessing it online. The study also shows there is a demand for a wider range of health information than what is currently accessible from official sources, in addition to health information that is adapted specifically to Cuban conditions. Employing research based around health website and low-bandwidth design, the study uses the requirements established from the interviews as a basis in the production of a development proposal for a Cuban, user-centred health website.

Den kubanska turismen blir ofta sammanlänkad med ett antal ofördelaktiga påföljder med olika utspel. Trots dessa problem förblir Kuba en exotisk lockelse med sina vita stränder, färgsprudlande kulturarv, unika politiska situation och vänliga befolkning. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur turismen påverkar lokalbefolkningens livssituation och hur stadsdelen Havana Vieja har påverkats av den ökande turistströmmen. Studien genomfördes genom en komparativ insamlingsmetod där intervjuer och enkätundersökning kombinerades.   Utifrån undersökningen har ett flertal negativa och positiva aspekter med turism identifierats och sedan analyserats genom turismvetenskapliga teorier samt jämförts med tidigare forskning. För att kunna analysera lokalbefolkningens svar fastställdes var destinationen befinner sig i TALC- och Irritation Index modellerna. Då ett fåtal respondenter inte kan representera en hel befolknings åsikter användes mallar från tidigare forskning vid utformningen av intervjufrågor samt enkäter för att få ett så representativt svar som möjligt.   Resultatet visar att individer lägger vikt vid olika aspekter beroende på vilket förhållande de har till turismen. Det empiriska materialet går i linje med vad som gick att förvänta utifrån teorier och tidigare forskning, som är genomförd till viss del på Kuba men även på andra destinationer. Svaren från respondenterna tyder på att de inte påverkats negativt eller upplevt att deras levnadsstandard har kontaminerats i och med den växande besöksnäringen. Stadsdelen Havana Vieja har enligt insamlat material genomgått en kraftig materiell och immateriell förändring till det positiva under de senaste fem åren

After nearly 60 years of frozen diplomatic relations between USA and Cuba President Obama decided it was time for a change. The leading words of his campaign has since the beginning of his first election period in 2009 been to “Remake America”. As a result of his new approach to foreign policymaking and international relations President Obama and Raúl Castro announced in December 2014 that they wished to normalize the diplomatic relationship between the two states. March 2016 therefor marks an historical event when Obama travelled to Cuba to formally shake hands with Raúl Castro, and extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. He was the first American president to visit Cuba since Kennedy confirmed the embargo in the beginning of the 1960s. This essay will look into the historical aspects of the path dependent Cuban policy that nine American Presidents has chosen to pursue since the beginning of the 1960s, leading up to 2009. A policy that has not been able to live up to what it was set out to do. This essay will use three different theories to try and make sense of why history is changing, and how we should understand these changes. Realism and liberalism are used to deal with the historical aspects regarding this relationship. Although USA is built on liberal values and they have taken on the role as a democratic leader in the world, many political decisions and actions points to a more realistic approach to international relations mostly driven by suspicion against other non-democratic states. The theory of path dependency is employed to try and break down events as we approach the historical event of the meeting between President Obama and Raúl Castro during Obamas visit to Cuba in March 2016. With the help of path dependent tools such as increasing returns and critical junctures, this essay concludes that we have in fact reached a critical juncture regarding the American Cuban policy.

(in English) The master's thesis The Chinese Collection of Ludvík Kuba in Historical Context and the Context of his Oeuvre is focused on works, ethnographic interests and contacts of Czech painter Ludvík Kuba in connection with his collection of Chinese art and the context of the popularity of Chinese culture amongst Czech modern painters. The author will also pay attention to the history of collecting Chinese art in former Czechoslovakia and to some objects collected by Kuba in particular. The thesis aims to reconstruct the collection of Chinese art amassed by Ludvík Kuba, using period photographs and information from institutions that house the artist's estate (Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, National Gallery in Prague, Polabské muzeum v Poděbradech, and others.) The artist's book Moje Čína (My China), as well as other sources (period articles, correspondence), will be used as source material, too. The information gathered about Kuba's former collection of Chinese art will serve the purpose of deeper reflection of the extent of Chinese influences in Kuba's art, as well as his role in the process of establishing of Asian art collecting by modern Czech artists of his day.

(in English): The topic of the present thesis is the lexical aspects of Cuban Spanish, primarily the influence of other languages on its vocabulary. The theoretical part is dedicated to the historical and cultural circumstances of the history of the Cuban variant of Spanish, it briefly outlines the evolution of the Cuban lexicography and, most importantly, it pays attention to the impact of other languages: Spanish of the conquerors, Indian languages, African languages, French, English, Chinese and Russian on Cuban lexis. In addition, a short part of the thesis is dedicated to the sociolinguistic situation in Cuba. The theoretical background serves as the basis for the practical part of the thesis, in which the occurrence of selected lexical items in the linguistics corpora CREA, CORPES XXI and Araneum Hispanicum Maius is examined.

IN QUEST OF FREEDOM. REINALDO ARENAS AND HIS NOVEL THE DOORMAN Abstract The subject of this thesis is to analyse the novel The Doorman (El portero) by Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas and to situate it in the context of the author's life. This work focuses on the part of life of Arenas which he spent exiled in the United States of America. When writing the novel The Doorman, Arenas draws from his own experiences and observations of phenomena in the North American society. At the same time, in this novel appears the motif of seeking freedom and also the theme of escape from the environment of oppression, which are very characteristic themes of Arenas. Key words: Reinaldo Arenas, Cuba, exile, the USA, The Doorman, freedom

Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem Entwicklungsprozess der Santeria im Rahmen der Afrikanischen Diaspora. Dabei werden die pluralen Formen der Orisha-Religion der Yoruba in Afrika im Hinblick auf ihre Funktion als religiöses Fundament der Santeria untersucht. Im Folgenden wird die Entstehung der Santeria auf Kuba, bedingt durch die Einfuhr einer Vielzahl von Yoruba Sklaven, analysiert. Dabei spielt die Vermischung des kubanischen Volkskatholizismus mit den Orishas der Yoruba, die in einer neuen synkretischen Religion - die Santeria - mündet, eine hervorgehobene Rolle. Auch der Einfluss von anderen Glaubenssystemen (Spiritismus) wird an dieser Stelle deutlich gemacht. Im Mittelteil der Arbeit stehen die Emigrationen zahlreicher Kubanern nach der Revolution von 1959, welche somit die Santeria in die USA exportierten. Inwiefern sich die Santeria im Kontext der USA weiterentwickelte bzw. welche neuen Religionsvarianten entstanden sind, wird an dieser Stelle untersucht. Auch die zunehmende Kommerzialisierung der Santeria-Varianten wird kritisch analysiert, besonders im Hinblick auf die wachsende Bedeutung von Botanicas. Der letzte Teil der Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den gegenwärtigen Entwicklungstendenzen der Santeria zur Lifestyle-Kultur im Rahmen des spirituellen Shoppings und geht auf die öffentliche Wahrnehmung in den USA ein. Dabei wird auch die ‚breite Massentauglichkeit’ der Santeria im Vergleich zu anderen Immigrantenreligionen herausgestellt und ihr Potential als kulturell-religiöse Identifikationsmöglichkeit für diverse Migrantengemeiden in einer zunehmend globalisierten Welt untersucht. / This paper deals with the development of Santeria within the framework of the African Diaspora – rooting in Africa, emerging in Cuba, advancing in the USA. At first, the plural variants of the Yoruba Orisha religion in Africa are explored with regard to their function as religious basis of Santeria. In the following, the genesis of Santeria in Cuba, caused by the import of many Yoruba slaves, is analysed. In this process the blending of Cuban popular Catholicism with the Orishas of the Yoruba, which led to the emergence of Santeria as a syncretic religion, plays a major role. The influence of differing belief systems, such as Spiritism, on Santeria is highlighted as well. In the middle section of this paper the mass emigrations of Cubans, who brought Santeria to American shores, especially after Castro’s revolution in 1959, are examined in detail. The issues of how Santeria advanced within the American context and what kind of new religious variants emerged out of it are broached at this point. With particular regard to the growing importance of botanicas, the increasing character of commercialisation among different forms of Santeria is critically scrutinised. The final part of this paper deals with contemporary trends in the USA, where Santeria develops from an earlier religious character to a lifestyle-culture, clearly influenced by the process of spiritual shopping. At this point the broad attraction of Santeria, which appeals to multiple social groups in contrast to other immigrant religions, is emphasised. Due to her potential as cultural and religious opportunity for identification among several immigrant communities, Santeria advances to a source of identity among diasporic communities all over an increasingly globalised world.

Background: In Havana, Cuba, they have established a great availability of health centers that work close to the patients and their families, both geographically and socially. Family-centered nursing is something that is sought within the health care in the Western world. Numerous studies have shown that family-centered nursing increases patient safety and patient satisfaction and to provide psychological support to family members has shown to contribute to a better well-being to both them and the patient. Aim: To describe nurses’ experiences of involving family members in home-based care provided through consultorios in Havana, Cuba. Method: A qualitative study was completed with semi-structured interviews with five nurses that was currently working or had been working at consultorios in Havana, Cuba. Analysis was done according to qualitative content analysis based on the approach presented by Graneheim and Lundman. Results: The data resulted in two main-themes. The family members were presented as informants to the nurses, psychological support to the patients and as an asset to the nurse. The nurses further explained the importance of seeing the whole picture of their patient’s situation, how they educate family members to be involved in the care and how they support the family members psychologically. Discussion: The nurses’ experience of family members' role and their work to involve them was discussed in relation to previous research and the concept of family-centered care as presented by Benzein, Hagberg and Saveman. / Bakgrund: I Havanna, Kuba, har de upprättat en stor tillgänglighet av sjukvårdsinstanser och hälsocenter som arbetar nära patienterna och deras familjer, både geografiskt och socialt, så kallade consultorios. Familjecentrerad omvårdnad är något som eftersträvas inom sjukvård i västvärlden. Ett flertal studier har visat att familjecentrerad omvårdnad ökat patientsäkerheten och patientens tillfredställelse av vården och att psykologiskt stöd för anhöriga bidrar till en bättre hälsa både för dem och patienten. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att involvera familjemedlemmar i hemsjukvård som bedrivs utifrån consultorios i Havanna, Kuba. Metod: En kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes och fem sjuksköterskor som arbetade eller har arbetat på consultorios i Havanna, Kuba, deltog. Resultatet bearbetades utifrån kvalitativ innehållsanalys baserad på den strategi som beskrivits av Graneheim och Lundman. Resultat: I resultatet framkom två huvudteman. Familjemedlemmarna presenterades dels som informanter men också som en tillgång i sjuksköterskans arbete samt som ett psykologiskt stöd till patienterna. Vidare berättade sjuksköterskorna vikten av att se hela bilden av deras patienters situation, hur de utbildar familjemedlemmar i omvårdnaden och hur de stödjer familjemedlemmar psykologiskt. Diskussion: Sjuksköterskornas upplevelse av familjemedlemmars roll och deras arbete med att involvera dessa diskuterades i relation till tidigare forskning och begreppet familjecentrerad omvårdnad som det beskrivits av Benzein, Hagberg och Saveman.

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