The Life of Fidel Castro

437 Words1 Page

Fidel Castro was born near Mayari Cuba in 1926. In 1950, he graduated from the University of Havana with a law degree and opened a law office with two partners. Two years later he ran for election to the Cuban House of Representatives. The elections were never carried out because then dictator Fulgencio Batista halted them and ended democracy in Cuba. This was perhaps, the defining moment in Castro's life.

As a result of Batista's action, Castro assembled a small force and attacked the Moncada Army Barracks in Santiago de Cuba on July 26. Castro was captured and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In 1955, however, Batista released him. Castro immediately went into exile in Mexico where he began to train a group of revolutionaries called the 26th of July Movement. In December 1956, Castro's forces invaded Cuba. The rebels suffered losses, but many were able to escape to the Sierra Maestra, a mountain range in southeast Cuba. From there, Castro was able to direct his revolution. Over the next two years, he gained increasing support from the Cuban people and on January 1, 1959, Batista fled the country.

Shortly after Castro took control of the government, relations with the United States declined. In 1960, he took over U.S. oil refineries in Cuba. The United States then stopped buying Cuban sugar and Castro responded by taking over all U.S. businesses in Cuba. Angered by Castro's actions, President Kennedy, authorized an attempt to overthrow the Cuban dictator in 1961, known as the Bay of Pigs invasion. The invasion failed but made Castro wary of another U.S. attempt. Consequently, when Khrushchev offered to place nuclear missiles in Cuba, he agreed.

Castro's role in the crisis differs greatly from the other two leaders. Once he decided to accept the missiles, he lost control over their fate. Castro was merely a pawn in the international chess match and Cuba was merely a playing field. Neither Castro nor Cuba were of great international importance. The missile confrontation could have taken place anywhere in the world, unfortunately for the Cuban people, it occurred on their island.

Show More
Related

  • Motivation for Cuban Parents to Send Their Children to the USA in Operation Pedro Pan

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Containment Dbq Essay

    498 Words  | 1 Pages

    In January of 1959 , Communist dicator Fidel Castro took over Cuba. The United States in 1961 tried to overthrow Fidel by arming rebels and attempting to support them. This was the failure known as the Bay of Pigs. In October of 1962 , The US finds evidence that medium range nuclear sites had been installed in Cuba. They annonce that on the twenty-third that a quatntine was being Cuba and that any ship carrying offensive weapons to Cuba wasn’t allowed. Five days later , the crisis was averted when the Soviets began to remove the

    Read More

  • Bay Of Pigs Summary

    1887 Words  | 4 Pages

    The main reason for the Bay of Pigs attack on Cuba was the change to communism. The January 1, 1959 , the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country for the safety of the Dominican Republic ( Goode, Stephen 75). Fidel Castro and his guerrilla warriors overthrew the former government dictated by Batista. Over the next couple of weeks , Castro established a new government and on February 16 was officially declared premier ( Finkelstein , Norman H. 127). The United States accepted this new ...

    Read More

  • BAY OF PIGS

    2847 Words  | 6 Pages

    It seems that the United States has been one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant, countries in the world, since the Declaration of Independence. Yet, on Monday, April 17, 1961, our government experienced incredible criticism and extreme embarrassment when Fidel Castro, dictator of Cuba, instantly stopped an invasion on the Cuban beach known as the Bay of Pigs. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, his advisors, and many Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials, made the largest error of their political careers. Once the decision was made to invade Cuba, to end Castro and his Communist government, Kennedy and his administration were never looked at in the same light nor trusted again. Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev was affiliated with Castro, and the two countries made many military decisions together. As Kennedy and the United States tried to stop Cuba and Russia from becoming a threat to the world, an invasion was planned out and executed. The results were a disaster. The Bay of Pigs invasion was the largest military mistake ever made by the United States government and the CIA in the 20th century and brought America to the brink of war with Cuba and Russia. The Bay of Pigs invasion was not a quick decision, many hours of meetings and conferences occurred before President Kennedy gave permission for the attack. President Kennedy was inaugurated on January 20, 1961, and immediately wanted to take the initiative with the Soviet and Cuban governments (Pearson 12). Russia was already under Communist control, and Fidel Castro took over the Cuban government with heavily armed troops and policeman. Castro’s policemen filled the streets, and he ran the newspapers, as well as many assembly buildings (Frankel 60). At the beginning, Castro did not run a Communist government, but once he began to meet with Russian leader, Nikita Khrushchev, Castro started a Communist government (Crassweller 23). Max Frankel, writer for the New York Times, summarizes the situation in Cuba by saying, “Little by little, the vise tightened. 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 in life in Cuba. Fidel Castro even took control of the schools in Cuba, throwing out any teacher who he thought...

    Read More

  • Kennedy's Fixation with Cuba by Thomas G. Paterson

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ity of the blame went onto Kennedy's record as not being the one that had planned it out and not giving the go ahead for the second air raid. It was later proven that no matter what the outcome of the second air raid would have been, it would not have mattered. The CIA also released a document taking the full responsibility and blame for the incident at the Bay of Pigs. The Cuban Missile Crisis not only worried the U.S. but also worried the rest of the world as to how it would turn out. The Soviet's backed Cuba as an ally and fed them missiles and the supplies to build the missile silos in Cuba. The Soviet's said they did this as a counter measure incase we did in fact invade Cuba. Between these two major conflicts of the time, it can be said that the two countries were not battling over Cuba in itself, but more or less battling over the belief of Communism.

    Read More

  • Bay Of Pigs Pros And Cons

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    By the time the Bay of Pigs occurred, the Cuban government developed close ties with the Soviet Union and cut its ties with the United States. It became the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere, led by Fidel Castro. Cuba became a threat to the United States because it was close to its proximity and it was supported by its archenemy—the Soviet Union. The Eisenhower administration initiated the operation by providing support to the Cuban exiles, having the CIA provide them secret training to attack the island of Bahía de Cochinos. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was supposed to be a top secret organized plan to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba. This, however, ended up in a fiasco in where the operation failed because the information was

    Read More

  • Bay Of Pigs

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    In an attempt to over throw the Cuban government the United States fully funded and planned the invasion of southern Cuba also know as the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The U.S. had landed armed Cuban exiles in southern Cuba in attempting to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro in 1961.this marked the climax of anti Cuban U.S. actions. The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion was caused by misinformation lack of strategic planning and mismanagement, the consequences of that was 2x4 to the face for the Americans and a major increase in tensions between the two super powers of the world during the cold war.

    Read More

  • Political Impact Of Fidel Castro

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fidel Castro has most certainly been a controversial dictator during his reign in Cuba. His regime has made quite the infamous name for itself during the sixties. When news spread of his, for some, long anticipated death, some were riddled with joy and took to the streets with celebration. Others were solemn for the fall of an impactful leader. However, no one could deny that he left a legacy. Majority of what we hear about Fidel Castro in the United States is negative, seeing that Fidel ousted United States backed dictator Batista and positioned himself against the United States throughout much of his time in power. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Fidel has done pretty indefensible things while in charge but he also is not totally devoid of

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro: A Paradoxical Revolutionary

    1540 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro, A Cuban Tyrant

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fidel Castro was born on August 19, 1926, in Birán, Cuba. He spent most of his younger years on his father's farm with his brothers and sisters. Then, he attended Belen, a famous Jesuit boarding school, and excelled in sports, history, geography, and debate (Press 11-13). In 1945, Castro began law school at the University of Havana and became very involved in politics. Later, In July 1953, Castro led about 120 men in an attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The assault failed and Batista’s troops succeeded. During the course of the battle, Castro was captured an...

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro's Impact on Cuba, America, and the World

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 in Buran, Cuba to the parent’s foreigners Angel, and Lina Castro Ruz. He is the son of a successful sugar cane planter. Fidel Castro was known for his athletic skill and for his smarts. He went to the school for and started studying under the law career at the University of Havana. In 1946, he had been in a few newspapers because of his speeches, and a year later Castro joined the socialist Party of the Cuban People.

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro Dbq

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926, near Birάn in Cuba’s Eastern Oriente Province to a wealthy sugar plantation owner and a mother who was a domestic servant to his father’s first wife (Source A). Castro was the third of six children and was raised in prominently wealthy circumstances that allowed him to attend well known and well revered schools like Belen Jesuit Prep. (Source A). He was a man that could not be just labeled solely by one phrase or one convenient definition, he was loved by supporters of communist rule and he was also a face feared by many Cubans. He held multitudes of titles to countless different people, ranging from honorable military leader to a protruding symbol of the communist revolution in Latin America that was feared by the Cuban people and Americans alike.

    Read More

  • Bay Of Pigs Research Paper

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Bay of Pigs was a covert operation planned and financed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the U.S. Government that took place on April 17, 1961 with the purpose of overthrowing Cuban Dictator, Fidel Castro's communist regime. As tensions between the United States and Cuba increased due to the direction of the Cuban Revolution, in March 1960, then President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the CIA to train and arm 1,400 Cuban exiles in Guatemala in preparation of the Cuban invasion. Unfortunately for the U.S. Government and the CIA, their plan was a complete failure after Castro’s anticipation of a U.S attack came to fruition. Prior to the Bay of Pigs invasion, there was a left-wing revolution in Cuba that ended in 1959, wherein

    Read More

  • Embargo on Cuba

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    By the early 1960’s the U.S. had cut off ties with Cuba and was engaging to overthrow the Castro regime. In 1961 the Bay of Pigs Invasion, a fumbled CIA attempt to crush the government, inflamed

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro's Role in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962

    1817 Words  | 4 Pages

    This historical investigation aims to address the question: How significant was Fidel Castro’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962?

    Read More

More about The Life of Fidel Castro

Open Document