The Cuban Revolution is one of the most important and influential events to occur in Latin American history. Between the years 1953 and 1959, Fidel Castro, a young politician and activist at the time, led an armed guerrilla rebellion against the authoritarian government in Cuba. While much of the war was fought using guns and soldiers, a majority of the revolution was fought not firing a single shot. Fidel Castro’s “other” weapon in the revolution was propaganda. The combination of bullets and propaganda proved to be extremely successful for Fidel and his fellow rebel comrades. Castro’s revolutionary propaganda “machine” is considered to be one of the main factors that lead to his victory and even today, aspects of his “machine” can be seen …show more content…
Fidel’s earliest written propaganda were published inside of El Acusador (The Accuser.) El Acusador was an underground anti-Batista newspaper published by Castro’s group early on. It was in this newspaper that Castro would publish his first manifesto four months after Batista’s military coup. In his manifesto, Fidel outlined the goals, or “five revolutionary laws,” of the government he hoped to implement in Cuba. These “revolutionary laws” are: (1) To return power to the people and reinstate the 1940 constitution, (2) To expropriate land from large landowners and turn the land over to “smallholders,” (3) To instate rights for workers to share 30% of the profits of larger enterprises, (4) To instate rights for sugar workers to receive 55% of company profits, (5) To confiscate the wealth of those with “ill-gotten gains” and split the properties recovered between workers and institutions such as hospitals, asylums and orphanages. With the newspaper, Fidel hoped to clear up what changes he wanted to bring about and hoped to stir up support from the locals living in poverty. Fidel also used his many speeches as propaganda as well. One of his most famous speeches is his “History will absolve me” speech, given during his trial for the Moncada barracks attack. It was a four hour speech in which Fidel utilized his lawer experience to try and form a defense in …show more content…
These operations were meant to attract both the media’s attention and fuel the people’s dislike and hatred of Batista’s military soldiers. There were two major operations carried out by Fidel and his men. One of these operations, carried out early 1958, was to kidnap the world famous Argentine race car driver, Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio was kidnapped at gunpoint, in broad daylight, and held until the race he was set to partake in had started. This ordeal was a major embarrassment for Batista, as he made arrangements for Fangio to be protected by his own security forces. Upon his release, Fangio commended his captors for the great care and respect he was treated with. He even stated that “if what the rebels did was in a good cause, then I, as an Argentine, accept it.” The second major operation was the kidnapping of a busload of around 30 U.S. sailors and marines. They were held between late June to mid-July. Fidel 's reasoning behind this operation was to pressure Batista to stop the air bombings of villages inside their guerrilla territory. This operation would prod the United States to make demands of Batista and his regime to rescue them. When Batista couldn 't deliver, it discredited him and damaged his relationship with the United States. This kidnapping also brought to light the savagery of the Batista regime further
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.
Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Pp. 352.
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 ...
“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.
ways. Fidel used only violence and threats to make Batista leave. Caesar on the other
to make more money for him and the Cuban people this made the U.S mad
Joseph Stalin and Fidel Castro had very similar traits in the beginning of their climb to power. But unlike Castro, Stalin was not the leader of the revolutionary party. After Castro graduated from the University of Havana, he practiced law for two years before deciding to run for a position in the Cuban parliament. However, during the elections to see if Castro was going to be voted to a position in parliament, a different party led by Felgencio Batista over threw the corrupt government that was being run by Carlos Prio Sacarras. Not much time had passed when Castro tried to take legal action against Batista by indicting him for uprising the constitution, the petition failed. Castro was frustrated due to the lack of legal action, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and turned to violence. Castro led an attack on the Mancada Barracks and lost, he was later captured by Batista’s men and put on trial. While Castro was on trial he gave his now famous “History Will Absolve Me” speech. Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison but went into voluntary exile after only serving two years. He spent time in parts of the U.S. and Mexico before returning to Cuba in 1956. Wh...
Around the time of the late 1940s, Castro had joined in a group in which one of the leaders were killed. The Group was the socialist Party of the Cuban People. Castro stole guns for the group, and had returned home later that year. He had a children the year later, with his wife Mirta Diaz Bal...
The errors committed by the United States in terms of inaccurate planning and overconfidence within the Bay of Pigs Invasion rose the confidence of Cuban government in its own people and intelligence services and tactics for future attacks. The Bay of Pigs debacle not only strengthened Fidel Castro's hold on power, but also brought the Soviet Union firmly on to his side, thus increasing Castro’s initiative to implement Communism ideals in Cuba. This is evident in Castro’s strong relationship with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev between 1960 and 1962. The failure of the 1961 Invasion served as motivation for Fidel Castro to start planning a counter attack on the United States Government. Immediately as the Invasion had finished, Castro acted in order to further strengthen the nation in sight of possible future conflicts. To facilitate this, he consequently approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island, something that immediately established a political alliance between the two Communist leaders which was convenient to both. Castro needed Soviet help to protect his regi...
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.
of Cuba, just the wages of its workers. It was the leaders of the nation
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.
“A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past” (Fidel Castro). People of power can be creative with their utterances. They can say anything to the people that they want to control. In this situation, both countries tested the limits. The political leaders of Cuba and China gained support by attracting specific types of followers, motivation and the utilization of propaganda. These leaders had campaigns targeting specific types of people to help gain power and to get support for their revolutionary ideas. The same mindset was in place when these leaders used propaganda and used their own motivation to get into people’s heads.
One mission by Che Guevara was he, “strove to create a proper industrial base and to diminish the economy’s dependence on sugar,” (515). To improve the milk and meat production in Cuba efforts were made to breed a new kind of cattle. This effort failed which resulted in a famine because of this and with the U. S trade embargo the Cuban government began to give rations of daily necessities to citizens, (The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its People). Guevara efforts were too expensive for Cuba causing a crisis. The government, “decided to resolve its crisis by means of a “revolutionary offensive”: first, the nationalization of all services, restaurants, shops, and petty commercial iinstallations... witha production goal of 10 million tons of sugar (516). That goal did not work causing Fidel Castro to offer to resign. Cuba started to become a communist society. In terms of who was in charge and their role in, The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its People state, “Castro was the visible head, the spokesman, and the international strategists while his brother Raul would become more and more the chief of personnel, the head of the armed forces and secret services,”
A revolution is no piece of cake. To make a revolution, there are a few necessary ingredients, like a reason to revolt, a well organized battle plan, and a powerful leader. Mix these all together, and there it is. A powerful Revolution. There are two specific revolutions that were very similar, and very successful. The american revolution was about the Colonists from Britain being treated unfairly from British Parliament. America was still under Britain Rule, and King George III was raising the taxes for the people for no reason. The colonists had no choice but revolt. The Cuban revolution was for a very similar cause. Ruler of cuba Fulgencio Batista was destroying Cuba’s economy, and the people were very angered by this. The organization was also very similar. And both countries got what they wanted, too. America got freedom from Britain, and Fidel Castro and his team overthrew Batista and took over the government. These two revolutions were both very effective.The Cuban Revolution and the American Revolution were both for the good of the people, and both revolts got what they wanted-a new, better government.