In this paper I will examine Fidel Castro’s History Will Absolve Me speech as a tool, to illustrate the vast differences between Cuba prior to the revolution and after, in order to determine whether, if indeed, history has absolved Castro. Moreover, to completely understand the Cuban revolution, one first needs to know the cause of the revolution. Despite the multitude of personal reasons for wanting a revolution in Cuba there is generally a consensus among the Cuban people that the revolution was needed to attack the widespread discontent in Cuba towards an undemocratic government that was neglectful of its citizens.
The discontent towards the Cuban government peaked under Fulgencio Batista, in which poverty and inequality increased. (Citation). Bautista had been Cuba's leader for most of the time since he led a military coup in 1933. He then later remained a dictator until 1940 when he officially became an elected president through elections that were not fair or free (citation needed). He also ran the government behind the scenes using puppet presidents until 1952 when he decided to run for the presidency once more. In 1952 when he saw that the elections were not going in his favor he dissolved the government and declared himself the leader of Cuba once more (citation required). He was able to do these in large part thanks to his close ties to US businesses.
As one can imagine, the citizenry was not pleased with his actions. After Bautista came to power once more in 1952 many people in Cuba were disgusted by Bautista’s actions and preferred Cuba’s democracy, as flawed as it was. (Citation). Additionally, many citizens started to plan a way to get rid of Bautista and formed a revolution that would be capable of bring about a...
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.... And more importantly as a lesser developed country it really is next to impose to invest in much infrastructure and other forms to improve Cuba’s economy without the help from other countries, but most are afraid of how the U.S. would react if they assisted Cuba. The U.S influence on Cuba makes it very unlikely that Cuba would ever be able to receive aid from the United Nations or the International Monetary Fund in order to improve infrastructure in order to become a fully industrialized country.
In conclusion, the greatest legacy of the Cuban Revolution is what the revolution inspired. It not only was able to create a more egalitarian society in Cuba, but it also helped bring revolutions all over the world and help many others (whether it had been through a literacy program or medical treatment) rise up against oppression and fight for what they believe in.
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.
Little by little, the free people of Cuba came to realize it could happen there. The grim facts of life on an island that became a police state” (Frankel 59). Every day, Castro came closer to controlling every aspect of life in Cuba. Fidel Castro even took control of the schools in Cuba, throwing out any teacher who he thought might be “disloyal” or disagreeing with Communism.... ... middle of paper ...
Many have misconceptions of the Cuban Revolution and only see the biased American side of communism and dictatorship. However, there have been positive outcomes from it such as a more united country, one that the people all worked together in support of one cause, a new and improved society. The old was no longer working and change was needed in Cuba and the citizens worked together to make this change. One of the main positive outcomes of the revolutions was the gender relations and roles. Women stood up for themselves, gained confidence, and received respectable roles in society. After decades of having inequite among men and women, women for the first time was minimizing the gender gap that was present in Cuba.
“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.
The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing number of anti-American developments during the height of the cold war, including the “expropriation of United States-owned properties on the island… [and] the Soviet Union [agreeing] to purchase sugar from Cuba and to supply Cuba with crude oil” (Hass 1998, 37). Bad sentiments continued to pile up as Cuba imposed restrictions on the United States Embassy and especially when, after the United States “officially broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba, and travel by United States citizens to Cuba was forbidden ... Castro openly proclaimed his revolution to be ‘socialist’” (Hass 1998, 38). The day after this, the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred, but it failed in its job to topple Castro (Hass 1998, 38). Left with no diplomatic options and a failed military attempt, the United States decided that the only way to end Castro’s socialist regime was to sever all ties, and from 1961 to 1996, a series of acts were passed prohibiting the majority of trade and interaction with Cuba. (Hass 1998, 38).
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
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.
In order to fully understand why the Cuban Revolutionary War occurred, it is important to know what was happening in Cuba before the war, what was influencing Cuban decisions at that time, and what precipitated the revolution where eventually Fidel Castro came into power. In 1933 General Gerardo Machado ruled the tyrannical government in Cuba, but his regime began to disintegrate. Enter a young Cuban Army Officer, Fulgencio Batista who had caught the attention of the Cuban people. Batista began a campaign to take over the rule of Cuba. His effort was successful as he allied with unions and student groups and because the Machado regime had effectively fallen apart. Batista was Cuba’s president in the early 1940’s and ran again for President in 1952. Before the elections could be completed, Batista was afraid he would lose the election, so he seized power without warning and cancelled the elections.
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.
...tals.Cuba’s exporting dropped substantially due to the global economic downturn. Having low exporting rates called for huge losses in infrastructure and economy. Cuba’s previous investments in human development through past decisions have made for a great workforce. The problem is the economy’s insufficiency hasn’t been able to make good use of the this great work force. Because of Cuba’s commitment to education, health and a stable government, they have the potential for future growth as a country.
On this day 191 years ago John Quincy Adams expressed his prediction for the future of Cuban-American contact. The Cuban wars of independence were only 15 years away from his prediction when he estimated. These independence wars continue to influence Cuba’s cultural and political attitude toward Europe and the United States; This in part due to the externalities involved in the remodeling of social structure in the aftermath of the revolution. The intentions and motives of each faction: rebels, United States government, Spanish government, United States public, and the Cuban public, varied widely to an extend that caused even more concern in the future. Depending on the point of view of an outsider the situation in Cuba seemed to be a continuation of revolution...
Despite his mischievous conduct, he was a self-disciplined student and had a great deal of Spanish pride which he learned from his teachers as well as his priest (Source F). Political uprising was a well accepted idea of Castro’s, on July 26, 1953 he formed the twenty-sixth of July movement and led one hundred and sixty revolutionaries on a “suicidal“ attack on the Moncada Military Barracks to spark popular uprise (source F &D). Many factors led to the rise of Castro’s power, but finally after popular up-rises and other communistic approaches like the overthrowing the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, led to him being sworn in as Cuba’s prime minister and took power in the winter of 1958 (source A & F).
It seemed that Batista almost enjoyed antagonizing his people. He formed profitable links to the organized crime groups in Cuba, just so he could antagonize his people. The fact that he was doing this was a strong reason why they revolted.... ... middle of paper ...
The answer is yes, it was an improvement, but there are remaining problems in Cuba waiting to be fixed. The health and general well-being of the population was vastly improved, but the people lived in fear and oppression. Castro didn’t change Cuba as much as he thinks. Works Cited Reagan, Ronald W.. Public Papers of Ronald Reagan -- Radio Address to the Cuban People on the 25th Anniversary of Their Revolution. 5-Jan-84.
Cuba's political history carries a pattern: when the masses are disillusioned by the current ruler, they turn to a young, strong-willed leader-of-the-people as their new ruler, only to become disillusioned to that ruler when he becomes too oppressive. It has seemed a never- ending cycle. Batista and Castro were both well-regarded leaders initially who appealed strongly to the masses and common citizen. Later, both established dictatorships and lost the support of many of those that they governed. Castro and Batista are each guilt of repression and corruption within their governments. For example, at some point under each regime, the constitution was either suspended or not followed at all. Castro did, though, make one very important contribution to Cuba's political system: Socialism. For the first time, Castro and Che Guevara a socialist plan called the New Man theory which called for developing an ideology amongst citizens that would call for working not for personal enrichment, but for social betterment.