THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

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Introduction

Since 1900s America has been having a significant influence in Cuba. During the early 1900s, most of the industries in Cuba were owned by United States industry. For example, sugar which was Cuba’s main export was regulated by the United States. This is attributed to the rule of the Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista whose administration was corrupt and oppressive through a military dictatorship. He always supported the United States interests even though it seemed to oppress the citizens. Due to his method of governance, the United States backed his leadership. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 is termed as one of the greatest revolutions in Latin America. Since the coup, several positive and negative things have happened in Cuba. However, the most important thing is that the 1959 revolution significantly changed the social-economic structure and precisely the views as well as the collective imagination of Cuban citizens. The act of resistance by the Cuban people against imperial authority over the past fifty years when they chose a socialist way of governance during the 1960s, overwhelmed the world’s superpowers, for example, the United States. The strategies of solidarity that the people showed together with their sustained decisive fight against the apartheid regime over the following years also startled these countries. Moreover even after socialism the wide-reaching fall of socialism, Cuba stayed active and standing. During that time of struggles and economic sabotages, the country showed that resistance is possible and essential. This paper discusses and analyzes the Cuban Revolution showing how it started, the relations between Cuba and the United States and the major individuals involved in the revolution. Moreover, the revolution effects towards the Cuban economy as well as social life and Fidel Castro’s role in the revolution and the Cuban way of life under his regime is discussed.

Castro’s Victory

Fidel Castro was an influential and active political leader. While he was a student, he took part in revolutionary activities in several parts of Latin America. In 1952, Castro was the nominee for the Cuban People’s Party, but the then leader, Batista blocked the election from happening. Therefore after the frustration by Batista, he decided to search for alternative means of challenging Batista’s dictatorial rule. He formed some movements to attack Batista, but most of them were unsuccessful. He was arrested together with his brother Raul and imprisoned. They received a pardon in 1955, and they were released. Upon their release, Castro moved to Mexico whereby he continued organizing a force to fight the regime which imprisoned him.

After forming a strong movement, he returned to Cuba. During his return, Cuba was in a state of civil war. The country was in a deplorable condition. In 1957, Castro’s Revolutionary Directorate that comprised of a group of insurgents particularly students hurled a bloody attack on the presidential palace, but they were overpowered. Majority of them were killed, and the country was in a severe condition as everything disrupted in central Cuba and Santiago. After the bloody incident, several riots for example by Trade Unionists and this made the government act swiftly. The government infused strict measures to anyone who intended to participate in any strike.

The 1959 Revolution

The riots and mayhems continued up to 1958. The year 1958 was the decisive year, and it was filled with intermittent raids as well as massive destruction of property. As a result, the Cuban economy was adversely affected. The riots led to the burning of sugar plantations and mills, the Havana bombings discouraged and disrupted the tourism industry, and more so the presence of rebels in Oriente province disrupted the mining industry. Generally, Cuba’s economy was brought into a standstill. Reacting to the continued unrest in Cuba, the United States executed sanctions to Cuba, and more so it enacted an arms embargo as well as suspending the supply of about 2000 Garand rifles to the Cuban administration. The restrictions created confusions and Batista saw it as an advantage to postpone the presidential elections that were scheduled to happen in June 1958. On the other side, the Communist group in the leadership of Juan Marinello reacted by organizing a general strike.

However, the attack did not achieve its goal, but the group continued with their mandate as a significant opposition force. In 1958, the revolution was much felt throughout Cuba, and this led to the tumble of Havana in early 1959. This made Batista flee the country in 1959 due to fear of the opposition that had become so strong. Castro led to the formation of a liberal nationalist regime. His main intention was to see that Cuba was free from the United States influence. Moreover, he wanted to confiscate the dominion that the United States possessed on the Cuban economy. Castro began looking for the problems affecting the locals, and as a result, the businesses were nationalized, and the land reform narrowed the sizes of farms. The aim was that the Cuban economy could start working for the poor Cuban people rather than the Americans as well as the upper-classes who were most corrupt.

The Benefits and Setbacks of the Revolution

The Marxist theory was implemented in Cuba after the inhabitants recognized that their rights had come to authority. They started to realize that the need for self-rule and that American empire had oppressed them for an extended period and nothing good was coming from it. When the leaders like Castro were influencing the masses to join them for political and social change, they were promised that at the end their efforts would not be in vain. It would be a government that will fight for the rights of the poor contrary to the regime of elites that existed during that tenure. Therefore a few months later after the success of the revolution, the land reform was initiated. The reform was a great advantage for the poor as they were given some pieces of land which were taken by the elites. Hence from that time henceforth, mass mobilization in Cuba developed to be the standard method by which people presented their grievances.

There was the formation of a new kind of social relation that emerged and intervened in altering the class structure of Cuban societies. It was not only land reform that was introduced, but other significant developments were experienced. For example, there was the advancement of issues like social justice and fairness, poverty eradication, reduction of disparity as well as alleviating the habitat burdens. This was to be achieved by reduction of the household rents and afterward elimination of the excessive profit that the real estate generated.

Between the years 1959 and 1963, there was increased nationalization of the banking structure, industry and also trade. Additionally, there was currency denomination change and limitation enforced on accumulation together with the implementation of the second agrarian law that led to the reduction of the size of land tenure. The social relation reform was characterized by the socialization of like the whole economy through state proprietorship. This contributed a lot to the social change together with political independence as legislative bodies would not rely on and respond to isolated oligarchic welfares. The operational transformation of Cuban society happened very swiftly.

The revolution also led to the establishment of the goal of alleviating adult illiteracy in Cuba by the year 1961. Conversely, it is the same year that the country was attacked by an armed group of individuals that were highly trained. They obtained fighting skills and methods from the United States. After that year, Cuba experienced several anti-revolutionary rebellions that lasted for several years. Since 1965, there has been an integrated, public, secular as well as free educational system in Cuba. Also in 1965, there was an agreement to have a health system with a similar character as that of the education system. A healthcare system was developed, and its structure and effectiveness became the envy of several countries mainly from the global south and north. Ever since that the revolution Cuba has a vastly improved biotechnology industry. These are the fruits that are being enjoyed as a result of the 1959 revolution under the leadership of Castro. All these internal progressions, as well as the extensive foreign policy, was achieved when the country experienced continuous aggression and an economic embargo that lasted for several years.

Cuban diaspora members can considerably rebuke Castro’s achievements. According to most of them, his regime was less favorable. This is characterized by Castro’s actions of repressing his adversaries after the revolution. During his rule, a number of his foes were put under lengthy prison sentences and their rights abused. Majority of the individuals who were discontented by his regime left the country due to fear of being detained or even be killed. The continuation of the revolution was put into question in the early 1990s when the issue of food shortages hit Cuba. The country was trying hard to endure the culmination of its association with the Soviet Union, and therefore they expected that change had to be witnessed. Later on, the economy started to be unbolted to foreign investment and more so tourism was fortified. All these aspects were crucial for the continuation of the revolution.

The United States Foreign Policy

The United States on their hand could not acknowledge the existence of a communist regime by Castro’s administration in Cuba. They wanted to push Castro under the control of the Soviets. Therefore, they tried everything to weaken and deject it. There before, America’s outlook towards the South had been set under the leadership of Monroe who was the president in 1823. The United States regarded itself as the supreme and the protector of Central and South American countries from outside intrusion by other countries. Up to 1960s, the United States termed communism to be a threat to the South and Central countries economically and thus their scope of influence. The United States believed in the domino theory that if a particular country developed to become communist, then after sometimes, it would influence its neighbor countries and they embrace communism and hence its spread. The United States feared that this would upset its economic interests. This is what the United States wanted to avoid by discouraging the communist form of government in Cuba.

The reforms that Castro initiated in Cuba were significant proof that he was a communist. During that period the United States was under Eisenhower administration, and some of the methods that it put in place to ensure that that Cuban government was in an unstable condition was to stop distributing arms as well as banning the buying of sugar from Cuba. Cuba at that time was exporting 80 percent of its total sugar production to the United States. In trying to revive Cuba’s economy that had been affected by the United States decisions, Castro took the bold step of requesting the USSR to buy its sugar. During that time the USSR and the United States were not in good relations, and when the USSR learned that Cuba was not relating well with the United States, they agreed. Therefore Cuba and USSR increased their trade deals.

However, there existed a small number of Cubans who disliked Castro’s method of ruling, and hence they directed their support to Batista. These individuals had fled Cuba because of the revolution. They decided to join the United States and form a coalition. The plan was conducted in support of President Kennedy, and they aimed to attack Cuba and overthrow Castro. They also wanted to settle at the Bay of Pigs which was located at the South shore of Cuba. They planned a force of Cuban deportees that was well trained by the CIA. The army would initiate a widespread rebellion against Castro. However, the invasion never happened. It failed terribly because of poor planning, hesitancy by Kennedy’s side as well as lack of enough air support by the United States. Castro realized that there had been a plan to overthrow his administration and that he needed to take immediate action.

The United States was not happy with the failure of their plan, and hence they decided to develop another plan. It is clear that President Kennedy together with the CIA was resolute to see the removal of Castro from the throne. Therefore they approved the operation Mongoose. The operation involved the secret attack of Cuba by attacking the industries and farms. They wanted the people to lower their confidence in Castro’s administration and support his removal. Moreover, in their relentless attacks, they are also destroying the infrastructure as well as conducting some political assassinations particularly the associates of Castro’s administration. There were also some plans to assassinate Castro himself. Castro became worried about the destructive acts by the group, and this convinced him that he required Soviet support.

Throughout the late 1950s, Khrushchev was already starting to lose support in China, and there was the absence of self-assurance in his ability to endorse a universal communist revolution. This shows that communism supremacy was declining slowly. Therefore when Cuba asked for assistance from the USSR, Khrushchev who was the leader of Communism was required to do something to support the threatened communist state. The prospect of gaining a position in Latin America unwrapped the likelihood of dispersing communism to a different continent.

Cuban Life under Castrol

When Castrol got into power, he made sure that any legal discrimination was eliminated. He even started development programs in the countryside by one, construction of new schools and other building of hospitals. Castrol also abolished a newspaper that was being published by the opposition and also jailed several politicians in the opposition. He also limited the size of land that one is supposed to own, bought to an end the private business and took over the housing and consumer goods. This raised the limitations of a private entrepreneur, and hence they were forced to look for other countries where the economic environment was favorable to relocate there. Most of them moving to the United States to start their business there.

By this time Castrol was still supplying military arms to the leftist guerilla that was in Latin America and Africa. Moreover, the relationship with other countries was now growing stronger with time, but this relationship was raging between them and the United States. Cuban economy sunk in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and by this time the United States had also increased its suction. During this period Castrol had changed his designation from the prime minister to become a president. He also found different partners to perform trade with and maintained his power until 2006 when he provisionally gave power to the government to rule due to a sickness that made him undergo a surgery that was an emergency, but he resigned officially resigned two years later. Later in 2015 the United States and Cuba announced that they have resolved their issues and even started a diplomatic mission in both countries.

Cuban Missile in 1962 Crisis.

Due to the fear that Castrol had over the United States invading Cuba, he allied with Nikita, the then Soviet leader in helping him create nuclear weapons for Cuba. The U.S came to about this plan through its spies and threatened the Soviet Union to remove the nuclear from Cuba. For about 13 days people fired that there would arise a nuclear war, but the U.S and the Soviet Union had a secret agreement that the Soviet Union would withdraw the nuclear if America also agreed to withdraw its weapon from Turkey.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economy of Cuba went into chaos, but Castrol was still confidence that he would restore it. Cuba was no longer receiving the annual fund that the Soviet Union used to give it. They were used to exchanging their sure for the Soviet Union oil but this was no longer possible and this lead to the fall of Cuban factories and agricultural sector. In 2000 when the economy of Venezuela started to grow Castrol signed a deal with them to exchange their doctors for oil.

America Opened a Detection Cap at Guantanamo Bay

The U.S started detaining suspected Al-Qaeda Members in Guantanamo Bay, and the number of the detainees keep on growing unlit Castrol termed this action as “running a concentration camp” on the soil of Cuba. The United States was supposed to lease this area, but Castrol said that he never received any cheques from the U.S.

End of Castrol Five Decades in Power.

After Castrol resigned and left the powers to his 71-year-old brother, the relationship between Cuba and the United States started to strengthen. Raul and Obama held a talk that bought the diplomatic relationship between the U.S and Cuba. As a result, the U.S opened an embassy in Havana Cuba, and Cuba opened it’s in Washington.

Conclusion

In assumption, this paper has discussed the events in Cuba that led to the start of the Cuban Revolution and its aftermaths. It centers more on politics, social and economic factors of these significant events that tend to interact. Since the twentieth century, Cuba has relied on sugar as its main export product. In the 1950s the sugar industry was controlled by the United States, and it was clear that the country was not independent and for it to gain it had to diversify the economy. The rise of Castro brought some sort of independence. He overthrew Batista who was a political friend of the United States. Since his removal, Cuba was under the communist form of government and the regime was characterized by many advantages and setbacks as discussed in this paper. Therefore the Cuban Revolution achieved its goal of removing Batista and forming a government that looked for peoples need precisely the poor.

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