Spain founded the region’s first permanent European settlement on the island of ___________ in 1493.

_________ has increased as people sought economic opportunities or escaped civil wars and instability.

By the mid-1600s, forced labor, starvation, and European diseases had nearly killed the entire _________population.

In Central America, about __ percent are mestizos and __ percent indigenous, with other groups of mixed ancestry making up the rest.

By ____, Haiti had won its independence from France.

_______ ruled Cuba until 2008 when he handed power to his brother Raúl, who initiated some economic reforms.

Cuba gained self-rule in 1898 as a result of the ________________ War, but remained under the protection of the United States until 1902. 

In 1823 the federation of the  _________________ was formed

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa explored extensively, crossing the isthmus, claiming land for Spain, and finding enough gold and pearls to establish the first profitable colony in the Americas, called ______________