Magazines have been important sources of information and entertainment for the general population in Cuba since the 1830s with (e.g..) the Revista Bimestre Cubana. The repressive administration of Miguel Tacón was a setback, with the 1840s only notable for the first general women’s’ titles such as El Colibrí (1847-1848), but publishing rebounded in the 1850s. Later 19th century titles of importance included the Revista de Cuba (1877-1884), La Habana elegante (1883-1896), El Fígaro (1884-1933), El Hogar (1884-1920), and La Revista blanca (1894-1896). The émigré press was also significant, beginning with the Mensajero semanal of 1828.
The popular 20th century news weeklies Bohemia and Carteles began in 1908 and 1924, respectively. In volume, critical acclaim and international interest and impact, poetry dominated the literary scene. Most of it was generated and published in Havana, particularly in Orígenes.
Other cultural magazines included Revista de Avance, Ciclón, Chic, Musicalia, Nuestro tiempo, and the Catholic Quincena. Bohemia survived the Revolution of 1959 but was eventually taken over by the government. The Castro regime created a number of new titles, all reflecting the prevailing ideology: the literary Caimán barbudo, Verde olivo, the organ of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and INRA, later replaced by Cuba, published by the Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria. Magazines, unlike newspapers, did not have their numbers dramatically reduced by the Revolution. In the mid-1960s numerous periodicals were in fact available, devoted to a wide range of interests, general and specialized, and the latter often provided more in-depth coverage of certain critical issues than the rest of the press. Quite a few titles had been published continuously since before 1959. Many, however, even previously successful official ones, ceased in the 1960s for political reasons. These included the Foreign Trade Ministry’s Comercio exterior (to 1966), Vanguardia obrera (to 1966) and Trabajo (to 1968), both from the Confederación de Trabajadores de Cuba, Agro, published until 1966 by the agricultural trade unions, the popular Cuba socialista (replaced in 1967 by Pensamiento crítico) and Teoría y práctica, published until 1967 by the schools for revolutionary instruction. The monthly URSS, first put out by the Soviet embassy in 1961 had achieved considerable popularity by the 1970s although other Soviet publications were not well received.
Women’s magazines included Romances and the Federación de Mujeres Cubanas’ Mujeres, which accompanied articles on fashion and cooking with sections on women’s place in the Revolution. Palante, a satirical magazine founded in 1961 enjoyed considerable success, as did the literary Casa de las Américas. There were many other more specialized journals, such as the Revista de agricutura, Ingeniería civil, Mar y pesca, Boletín de higiene y epidemiología, Signos (a cultural magazine, founded in 1969), Cine cubano (film reviews), and Gazeta de Cuba and Unión, literary journals of the Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas Cubanos. The University of Havana published Universidad de la Habana, which contained historical articles. The Organización para la Solidaridad de los Pueblos de África, Asia y América Latina published its OCLAE. Publications from Communist countries were available on newsstands until the onset of the Special Period (whose enforced economies also led to the curtailment or temporary suspension of many Cuban titles). In 2000 Cuba was bringing out 109 periodical tiles, but 97 of these had fewer than 12 issues a year. Western European and United States periodicals ceased to be available soon after the Revolution, except in the National Library, which continued to subscribe to some of them.
