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.
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By Lauren Cheree Challens
Ernesto Che Guevara (1928-1967) not only played a pivotal role in Cuba’s revolutionary movement’s seizure of power in 1959 but also in Cuba’s social revolution that elated the island nation into a communist state. He was the unifying and driving force behind the revolution playing a significant role as an unrelenting guerrilla soldier taking shelter under the giant Neotropical leaves and shrubbery of the unforgiving terrain of the Sierra Maestra Mountains and serving as a dedicated and loyal official in Fidel Castro’s victorious regime. But still today, the question of Che remains was he the good guy or the bad guy? A murderer and terrorist or a martyr and saint.
How did Fidel Castro’s communistic regime beginning in 1959 affect civil society in the short and long run? Two main features of civil society as highlighted by Benestad are the Church, and the family. I will also be highlighting how civil society in sports was affected by communism in Cuba. The separation of church and state was clearly visible when Castro’s El Partido Communismo (Communism Party) took control of the country instilling Marxist ideologies into a once very prosperous country. The separation of church and state opened the gates for religious segregation, violation of family rights and corrupted athletics which was the pride of the people. In this paper I will argue how Castro’s regime overtook the country and deprived them of their liberties and affected civil society during the revolution and in the many decades after. Much of what I will discuss in this paper comes from personal knowledge on the subject, knowledge which I have gained from living in South Florida and growing up with a father that left his home country of Cuba in search for freedom in 1980 on the Mariel boatlift.
Cuba is a very unique country with regards to government and politics. It is distinctive not only in its being the last communist country in Latin America, but also due the fact that it has and is continuing to undergo major changes with regards to government policy. Through analysis of the five criteria for democracy, and scrutiny of systems theory, political scientists can see that Cuba is on the path to momentous political change due to its rapidly deteriorating, soviet modeled, communist government.
Not even Miami’s poor class could compare to the poverty I saw in Cuba. I shifted all my questions to answers and began to imagine several solutions for the economical problems in Cuba. As I walked down the narrow shady street, the only responses, I could come up with seemed either political or aimed toward the stars. The thoughts about influencing the Cuban government into a new and improved system or organizing a fund raiser in order to provide all the Cubans with money didn’t seem possible and got old.
It is a classic lesson that to understand a person, one must first learn to walk in their shoes. From literary masterpieces such as “To Kill a Mockingbird” to real life examples that people face everyday, it is known that one cannot justify a prejudice until they fully know the story behind it. To understand Ernesto “Che” Guevara and the political thinking he carries, one must have a deep analysis of the history of Latin America. Guevara’s thinking goes beyond Cuba’s borders, were today his figure is one to follow, with values and ideals thought of as impeccable.
The identity of people and countries has evoked hardships for centuries and even troubled those who created the first American civilizations because some people do not agree with other identities ideas. Many factors contribute to creating identity and one of the many examples of a nation 's identity that has been dictated by a specific individual is Cuba before the rule of Fidel Castro. Before Cuba’s socialist revolution, they attempted to be governed under a vast array of government styles such as communism and an absolute dictatorship. These harsh styles of ruling upset the citizens of Cuba especially because their economy suffered through because of the Cubans revolting against communist regimes and the impact America’s Great Depression. Fidel Castro promised his citizens economic prosperity throughout the country introducing the new idea of socialism hoping to reconstruct Cuba’s identity. However, Castro’s regime was filled with empty promises and created the identity of an even poorer more oppressed country while also making enemies through isolationism (History of
Many of the Conflicts that happened with Cuba and other countries resulted directly from the actions of Fidel Castro. In many governments the people have different opinions, but in Cuba the only opinion that mattered was the one of Fidel Castro. People that lived in Cuba would have to hide anything extra they may own because the government would take it away. The Cubans that lived under the rule of Fidel Castro had very mixed opinions about him as a leader because he limited their political beliefs and he forced the production and trade to shorten significantly. Not only was Castro passionate about Communism, he was ignorant to those who favored different economic systems: “I became a Communist by studying capitalist political economy, and when I had some understanding of that problem, it actually seemed to me so absurd, so irrational, so inhuman, that I simply began to elaborate on my own formulas for production and distribution.” Fidel believed that the government should be in charge of the market and economy because the general population should all get the same amount of income and materials. As a result of the decisions that Castro made, many Cubans saw him as someone who only represented the poor leaving the middle and upper class forgotten. For nearly five decades, Cuba was dependent on foreign countries for trade and crops, so
Che Guevara through time has been termed both a freedom fighter and a terrorist. The actions of Guevara throughout his life create a conundrum for some when they try to classify him because there are both good and perceived bad actions on his part. Before one can draw a specific conclusion as to what to classify him as, it is important to know his history and what motivated him during his life.
No fue uno si no que una amplia gama de factores que provocaron que Fidel Castro asumiera el poder en Cuba junto a su guerrilla revolucionaria. Entre ellas cabe mencionar el excesivo dominio político, económico y social que establecía EE.UU desde la guerra hispano-estadounidense , dominio que se vio fortalecido y justificado legalmente a través de Enmienda Platt .La alta intervención económica que sostenía por EEUU a través de familias y empresas inversoras norte Américas llegaron hasta el punto en que "Hacia 1952, las empresas norteamericanas controlaban el 47,4% de la producción azucarera, el 90% de la producción de electricidad y de las redes telefónicas, el 70% de las refinerías de petróleo, el 100% de la producción de níquel y el 25% de las casas comerciales, los hoteles y la industria de productos alimenticios"1..Este dominio que se podría considerar como colonial de parte de EEUU se mantuvo hasta el régimen de Fulgencio Batista