Free Cuba Essay

The Cuban Revolution was touchy topic for the United States and Cuba. America’s alienation of Cuba didn’t help when communism from the USSR was brewing over the revolution. When the revolution gained Castro as its leader, the worry and hatred from the United States was unbearable, especially when the Soviet Union landed in Cuba to interest Castro in its aid. The US’s fear of communism, Fidel Castro, and aid from the Soviet Union was significant because it changed the US’s political role in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution.

After it became officially globally acknowledged that Cuba was in fact a communist state and was being led through a dictatorship run by Castro, it did not take long before powerful enemies and essential allies were formed. The act of seizing all foreign land with none or very little compensation was received with great hostility amongst those who lost in their property through this process, and probably the reaction that had the biggest impact on Cuba’s economy was that of the US. Castro’s communistic policies did not of course help calm this resentment and also took part in leading to the establishment of trade embargos with Cuba from the US. This meant that Cuba would now lose a very valuable buyer of their precious sugar, [5] but they did however gain another one, a powerful nation that shared quite similar Marxist ideals and were quick to form an alliance with the Cubans, the USSR.

economic growth comes from agriculture and exports to and from Europe. Since America has had an embargo on Cuba since 1962 neither countries trade with each other because of many disagreements about governing techniques and Fidel's unwillingness to comply with U.S. instructions. Cuba’s long history and culture has contributed to many economic and social growth through out the world, but Cuba is still struggling to try to stable their economy.

The second half of the 19th Century bore witness to an explosion of imperial and colonial movement by western nations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The rapid growth of countries’ colonial possessions spurred intense competition between nations for more land, labor, and resources. The responses of the colonized native peoples in these diverse lands varied from voluntary compliance to bloody rebellions against their foreign oppressors. One of the most fascinating case studies to examine in this turbulent time period was the Spanish imperial presence in Cuba, and the shifts in the Cuban response as the nature and policies of the Spanish rule changed as well. To fully explore the Cuban relationship with western colonization, it was critical

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometers. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It is south of both the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital. Cuba-U.S. relations have developed over centuries to turn from relatively close and cordial relations to today where the U.S. still retains an economic embargo against the small island nation. Cuba used to be within the American sphere of influence, but drastically shifted with the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro's rise to power. Also the Bay of Pigs Invasion by the CIA, which was an attempt to overthrow

“…The United States has, and will always have, the most vital interest in the preservation of the independence which she has secured for Cuba, and in preserving the people of that island from the domination and control of any foreign power whatsoever…”[footnoteRef:3]. [3: Ibid. pgs. 762-3.]

Revolution represents reform that will create a brighter future for a Country. In Cuba, Fidel Castro led the Cuban people in a communist revolt against Fulegensio Batista authoritarian Government. The events that would follow the overthowal of Batista are often examined to demonstrate the success of the revolution. The successful defeat against Batista, along with the decreased involvement from the United States is often used to justify the success of the Cuban communist revolution. Although that is true, a successful communist revolution creates sustained economic and social changes to strengthen the overall well being of the country. According to these qualifications, Cuba’s inefficacious social and economic reforms that proved to be unsustainable caused the Cuban Revolution to be unsuccessful in achieving its goals.

Almost every nation in the world has experienced a revolution. A revolution can be simply defined as "a change." When a country undergoes a revolution, its ideals that it once believed in are being modified. Sometimes revolutionaries act intellectually, yet others may respond physically through destruction. Some may be peaceful, some short lasting, and some pointless. Historians do argue on identifying whether a revolution has occurred. Revolutions usually follow a rupture in the nation's events, are directed by a hero, have an ideology and belief system, and use symbols or tools to get its points across to the people. Cuba and its leader today, Fidel Castro, have their own roots in a revolution that took place only some forty years ago.

The Cuban Revolution, as Fidel Castro proclaimed in January 1959, was a true revolution; it had profoundly impacted the very economic, social and political foundations of the nation of Cuba and with that a new society was forged. Being one of the most major political events of the twentieth century, it was a dramatic chapter in the Cold War. Wherein the improbable overthrow of the oppressive U.S-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista by a band of young Communist guerillas and intellectuals otherwise known as the ‘July 26 Movement’ led by Fidel Castro, had drastically reshaped and ultimately severed all diplomatic ties to the U.S. This act of defiance was further cemented by the institutionalisation of a Marxist-Leninist government. Despite

The Cuban Revolution has changed Cuba for both the good and bad, both gaining and losing allies, and there is much controversy for what the Castro’s effect has done for Cuba. From the cruel dictatorship of former “president” Batista, to the elite planning and wars controlled by the Castros, to whether this whole war meant change for the better to Cuba, in liberty, freedom, and equality, this story is a huge part of Cuba’s history and explains where Cuba is today.

This provides broader context in relation to the international conflicts which are often seen one sidedly in capitalist western thought. The biography begins by shedding some light on Fidel Castro’s early childhood and familial relations. It outlines the beginnings of Castro’s revolutionary activity and his ideological development. The successful revolution against Batista and his time in the Sierra Maestra gathering support and followers is then covered. The biography then focuses on the international role of Castro and Cuba during the first decade after the revolution, analyzing the events of the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis to characterize the greater position of Cuba in the era of the Cold War and western imperialism. The following chapter dives into the domestic interests of Castro and Cuba which became more prominent in the late 1960s and 1970s. This dry section includes social issues, such as the role of academia in the regime, political transitions, such as the institutionalization of national bureaucracies and the new constitution, and economic development, which revolved significantly around sugar production, job creation, productivity and trade imbalance (Caistor 86-90). Following the heights of the late 1960s and collapse of the USSR, Castro’s Cuba struggled to support itself. Through the combination of methods of oppression with the development of tourism and obtaining hard currency, Castro maintained control over the floundering nation. After more than 50 years of rule, the still respected Fidel handed power down to his older brother, Raul, who made attempts at reform.

The forces that define Cuba today are in many ways the same ones that have defined it for centuries. The ethos of monism, or the tendency to centralize power and to use it to represent pluralistic, divergent or dissenting impulses, was established early in Cuba's colonial history. A small Spanish elite group used centralized power to rule for what they viewed as the common good. This common good usually coincided with their interest, and public office was often seen as both proprietary and legitimate source of private gain. Political monopolies were reinforced by economic ones, all of which served to limit accountability, social mobility, an expectation of fair play and economic development (Ellis, 2007).

The Cuban Revolution of 1959 has been extraordinary in all respects. Not only the small number of men, Fidel Castro accumulated to overturn the dictatorial Fulgencio Batista was remarkable, but also the seizure of power of Castro and his 26th of July Movement differs from all other communist revolutions. While communist revolutions are usually pushed forward by the communist parties of the respective country, in this case of 1959 the overturn was not achieved by the Popular Socialist Party (PSP) of Cuba (Brown 2010: 293), but rather by a few very audacious guerrillas who did not even have ‘a real party, a real army or a real program’ (Brown 2010: 299). It is also extraordinary that Cuba had a formally democratic system before Castro started his revolution; even if it was very corrupt (Brown 2010: 293). While some argue that Castro was already a Marxist before he seized power in 1959, this essay will argue that it was a gradual process that made Castro shift towards communism. It was the circumstances he found himself entangled in after overturning Batista that truly made him become Marxist (Roda 2012: 1). He did not have a well-defined ideology when he started his revolution and only developed it after he seized power. Even though Fidel started reading literature of Marx and Lenin already in the 1940s, it was his idol José Martí and his literature that shaped his view of the world. It was furthermore

What I learn is that Cuba has been facing challenges in sexual citizenship and emancipation in Cuba. Also, there is a variety of transgender population that faces discrimination based on their sexual preference. Transgendered couples could not express their emotions publicly because they are racist attributes against transgendered. They faced shame and fear. Therefore, they hide their relationships from society. Also, they will be misjudged and discriminated .Also, there needs to be more educational programs.

There are many different factors that make up a successful revolution, strong and perspicacious leadership (such as Girolamo Savonarola in Florence 1494), a universal set of grievances and demands and the ability to identify the weaknesses of the state (such as in the case of the Paris commune). However, perhaps the most important factor in deciding the fate of a revolution is the location. Logically, the ideal setting for a revolution is an urban area, with a dense population to allow the opportunity to quickly round up supporters, a small surface area so that no supporters have to travel further than they are willing to, nice wide streets to create the opportunity to demonstrate and protest in great numbers therefore increasing the effect of mob mentality which can be crucial to any revolution, and of course, a target. A building or person for the people to attack, be that a parliamentary building, a leader’s fortress or the leader themselves. That’s not to say revolutions cannot begin in rural areas, however, these generally begin in these areas by quietly drumming up support before moving to a major or capital city. The most obvious example of this being the Cuban revolution, which moved from one country to another before it had truly begun.