Fearsome, bountiful, relentless, unyielding; only a few words the audience used to describe Fidel Castro. Did his physical presence impress Cubans into submission? Could his articulate nature manipulate them to act on his will? Even the judges could not come up with an answer for the young Cuban law student. Fear of losing the case motivated the judge to expel Castro from the court. Before exiting the courtroom, he exclaimed, “Condemn Me, It doesn’t Matter. History will absolve me!” The judges paid no heed to Castro’s warning, but little did they know that they would hear of Fidel Castro after the night of October 16, 1953. During the 1930s to early 1950s, Cuba was a vacationer’s paradise. Fulgencio Bautista, the contemporary dictator of Cuba, allowed American companies to lay claims on Cuban land. The introduction of American businesses and merchandise led to capitalist casinos, hotels and bars which created a deep rift between the rich and the poor. Bautista created an alliance with the US, allowing the US to control Cuban oil businesses. This infuriated Cuban citizens and allowed a young Fidel Castro to be exposed to the misery of his father’s plantation workers, overworked and underpaid due to the hefty demands placed on the production rate. Through the use of the radio, Fidel Castro united Cuban society and incited a peasant revolution in Cuba.
The radio has always been a central part in Cuban history. Thomas Edison was first to experiment with radio waves. Edison discovered the first three-wire central station that converted light, power, and heat into standardized electricity. Through this central module, Nikola Tesla invented the first modern radio which transmitted noises (later interpreted as Morse code). Years later, T...
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...rallied enough people to openly walk in the streets and confront Bautista himself. After Castro announced Bautista as his target at Sierra Maestra, Bautista fled Cuba, and believably took refuge in the US. The use of the Radio was crucial to Castro’s revolution.
Although the revolution in Cuba was driven by Castro’s unrelenting personality, the Radio aided him heavily. Today, Castro serves as a role model to budding politicians. Although the story of the Castro’s rise to power proved to be a success story in Cuba, the radio saw the it as a process which was only won through manipulation and Castro’s deep yet calming voice. The radio heavily aided Castro’s rise to power in Cuba. Through the use of the radio, Castro united the Cuban people and reinvigorated the peasant revolution in Cuba. Not only did history “absolve” Castro but, with the radio, it immortalized him.
On July 26, 1953, the war for Cuba’s independence began, and for 6 years many Cubans fought for their freedom. The most famous of these revolutionary icons being Fidel Castro, who led the main resistance against the Cuban government. On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro and the rest of the Cuban's succeeded. This revolutionary war went on to affect the entire world and Eric Selbin believes it is still affecting it. Throughout Eric Selbin's article, Conjugating the Cuban Revolution, he firmly states that the Cuban revolution is important in the past, present, and future. Selbin, however, is wrong.
Fidel Castro entered Havana, Cuba and took his place as Prime Minister in January of 1959, just after the fall of the Batista regime. Within days, many of the Cuban upper class began exiting the island, wary of losing their socioeconomic status and possibly their lives (Leonard 13). Castro’s radical new policies appealed to most of the suppressed lower class seeking change, but the middle sector “became disillusioned with their new leader” and soon comprised the majority of the Cuban refugees in Miami, Florida (Leonard 3). Beginning in December 1960 and ending with the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, over 14,000 of those refugees wou...
Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Pp. 352.
“What Didn’t We Do to Get Rid of Castro?” U.S. News Online. 1996. 10 April 2000 Schlesinger, Arthur M.
“What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, freedom is to the soul of man” (Brainy Quotes). Light is essential to the eyes, love is what makes the heart beat, and freedom is the hope of man kind; all of which are essential to the happiness of humanity. Having to live without these rights is a difficult way of living. For example, Cubans have suffered time after time in pursuit of their freedom, but sadly they never accomplish their goal. They live in fear of their broken government, but never stop fighting for freedom. In the early 20th century, Cuba was a democracy. From 1940 to 1944 Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban politician, was Cuba’s president. In 1952 he decided to run again, but when it was apparent he’d lose, Batista seized power before the election took place. The citizens were outraged causing them to turn against their flawed democracy that was brought upon by the election. As a result, Fidel Castro, a communist revolutionary political man, began to plot Batista’s downfall. The Cuban Revolution, also known as Castro’s Revolution, began on July 26, 1952, and ended January, 1, 1959. After Batista, Cuba’s former president, fled the country, Castro took complete control and turned Cuba into a communist country. The Revolution brought upon: many deaths, censored news and publicity, and no freedom of speech. Throughout the years Castro stayed in power, but due to health issues originating on July 31, 2006, he had to step down. After Castro returned, he took control of Cuba up until February 19, 2008. He then abdicated his place as dictator and handed down his position to his brother, Raul Castro.
Clarke, Philip. “Cuba’s Newest Revolution Bloodless but Plenty Bewildering as New President Breaks Army Grip, Aims at Democracy.” The Washington Post. 22 July. 1945: B3. ProQuest. James Madison University library. 16 September 2003
In 1952, Flugencio Batista, then president of Cuba, conducted yet another falsified election in his favor. Resulting in a shutdown of all political parties, constitutional rights and even the closure of the University where Castro attended. By July 26, 1953 Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl, standing for social justice, began assembling, “111 insurgents... and headed an armed assault on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba,” (Padgett 43). Raúl and Fidel were caught and set to trial, beginning the Revolution of Cuba. It was at this trial where Fidel Castro stood before the judges announcing his lack of fear for prison stating confidently, “History will absolve me” (Fidel Castro). This is where his support came from, he was seen by his followers as the symbol of avengers who stood up the greater evil. Through gore and long ensued battles his victory came in January of 1959, Fidel Castro was the new leader of Cuba (Fidel: The Untold Story). Those who were pro Batista fled to Miami and other far away locations as soon as possible. While those who stayed, predominately the working class, stayed and celebrated in the streets because justice had been served and the dictator had been overthrown by the Valiant
Castro implemented additional significant social-economical polices which further more increased his popularity with in the public order, such as attempts towards improving health care, medical facilities, and tourism, but mostly highlighting the importance of education by drastically transforming the Cuban educational system. Achieving an extraordinary change required Castro to start the “1961 literacy campaign” which called for raising the literacy rate percentage in the Cuban society, by allowing education and it’s equipment free of charge, building schools, increasing the amount of teachers per student, and making it available to all ages who desired to peruse education. These reforms where a major increase in Castro’s popularity. “The quality of life lies in knowledge”- Fidel Castro (The Right Priorities: Health, Education, and Literacy. PBS.o...
So after Castro had learned a plan to throw the Dominican Republic leader, Rafael Trujillo out of office, nonetheless it had failed due to the United States stressing the continuing invasion on Castro had gone over to Dominican Republic to take over the president, however several people were caught, and detained, with Fidel Castro being one of the people who’ve fled. So after that, Castro had now gone completely Liberal because of American interventionism, and legal corruption.
The Cuban revolution was one that transformed Cuba into an independent socialist society. This revolution sent a message around the globe. The message: “ Socialism can be achieved and capitalism, with its culture stripping mechanism’s can be supplemented”. However, the revolution did leave its mark on Cuba. This can be seen in the events that took place during the early stages of the revolution. The effects of the revolution were positive for certain sections of the population and negative for others.
2. Not only were they simple and direct, but they were more dependable than the media. While similar, Cuban leaders used propaganda in different ways. Fidel Castro used pirate radio broadcasts, public displays and interviews to make his army seem bigger and more powerful than it was.
However, the US played a much larger role in Cuba’s past and present than the building of casinos and the introduction of the first taints of corruption. In the past, even before Batista, Americans were resented by Cubans because the Americans made a lot of Cuba’s decisions. Under Batista, 80% of Cuban imports came from the US, and the US controlled at least 50% of sugar, utilities, phones and railroads. If Cuba was a business in the stock markets, then the US would have been close to owning 50% of its shares. When combined with a long history of US-backed leaders, and US involvement, it is understandable that Cubans begrudged the Americans....
Many inventions have impacted the world throughout history but in my opinion one of the most impactful one’s was the invention of the radio . This invention provided society with many things which include entertainment, communication, and easier access to information. Radio is still a central part of the society today but just like any other invention radio has an interesting history of how it progressed through time.
...re, Robin D, (2006) Music and Revolution: Cultural Change in Socialist Cuba. University of California Press: New York
In the early 1960s important political changes took place in Cuba with the communist Fidel Castro taking power over the country; therefore, forcing many Cubans including musicians such as Celia Cruz internationally known as the “Queen of Salsa” to immigrate to the United States, especially ...