The Cuban Revolution

"They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?" -- Fidel Castro

Introduction

During the 1950’s, Cuba was on the brink of revolution. The nation, which had suffered numerous corrupt and oppressive governmental regimes, fell victim to yet another when Fulgencio Batista seized power under a military coup in March of 1952. A cry for a just Cuba, that was economically, politically, and socially free continued to echo throughout the island. In 1959, a group of radical revolutionaries, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, overthrew the Batista dictatorship and put in place the political and social structures that exist in Cuba to this day.

Pérez-Stable’s Reasons for Revolution

Even after obtaining its independence from Spain in 1898, conditions still existed in Cuba that made it ripe for insurrection. Pérez-Stable feels that one of the primary causes for Cuba’s problems was the economic instability that resulted from its dependence on sugar. This industry, says Pérez-Stable, "was the most important depository of domestic and foreign capital investments" (14). Because of its short harvesting season, however, sugar was largely to blame for Cuba’s unemployment and underemployment. In addition, sugar was responsible for the nation’s continued economic reliance on the United States. The U.S. was Cuba’s primary trading partner. The Cuban and United States governments had established reciprocity agreements by which the United States would buy the majority of Cuban sugar in exchange for reduced tariffs on its imports to Cuba. Nevertheless, these agreements worked to the advantage of the U.S. while helping to preserve economic hardships for Cuba.

By the 1950’s, ...

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...scouraged in socialist Cuba.

Works Cited

Castro, Fidel. "History Will Absolve Me"(excerpts). Closing speech in trial for the 1953 Moncada attack. Excerpt 1:From The United States, Cuba and the Cold War American Failure or Communist Conspiracy?. Ed. L. Langley. Lexington, MA: 1970.

26th of July Movement. "Program Manifesto of the 26th of July Movement". in Cuba in Revolution. Ed. R. Bonachea and Nelson Valdés. Garden City, NJ: 1972.

Guevara, Ernesto "Che". "One Year of Armed Struggle". In Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War. Trans. Victoria Ortiz. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1968.

Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and The Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Pérez-Stable, Marifeli. The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.