The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera by Joaquin Fraxedas

During the 1950’s, Cuba was on the brink of revolution. The nation, which had suffered numerous corrupt and oppressive governmental regimes, fell victim to yet another when Fulgencio Batista seized power under a military coup in March of 1952. A cry for a just Cuba, that was economically, politically, and socially free continued to echo throughout the island. In 1959, a group of radical revolutionaries, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, overthrew the Batista dictatorship and put in place the political and social structures that exist in Cuba to this day.

Throughout the Cuban series of learning in this semesters class, has orchestrated a vast perception of learning of a nations struggle for independence. In formulating a conclusion to interpret the views of the Cuban authors that were influenced by the Cuban revolution, their perception solely captures the struggle of the land. Unlike the El Lider’s attributes to Fidel Castro in the documentary of “The Untold Story of Fidel Castro”. The visual biography concludes a broader spectrum of formulating a culture of prideful and radical nationalist that revokes the rulings of big brother.

This is a brief examination into Cuba’s historical progression and their constant political struggles with the government, the people of Cuba, and

Gonzalez was in Ecuador and was asked to speak at a conference for the World Festival and Youth of Students he said he wasn’t too sure what his topic would be.” My topic could range anywhere from lifting of the unjust blockade on Cuba the freedom of the ‘Cuban Five’. The main reason we’re here is because we want a revolutionary progressive movement that leads to socialism,” he said. He is now a cadet in a military school and studying engineering. He is now and outspoken Castro supporter blaming the U.S. for Cuba’s economic crisis. Like Elian’s mother many people have died trying to come into the U.S. for a better life.

As a child the young Guevara “developed a persistent cough and later serious allergic asthma” (“CUBA: Castro’s Brain”) prompting his family of seven to “move to the hill town of Alta Gracia” (“CUBA: Castro’s Brain”) a city 250 miles northwest of Rosario. During these youthful years, “his father … started [Ernesto] rambling through some of the 3,000 books, mostly leftist sociology and history, that crammed the family bookshelves” (“CUBA: Castro’s Brain”) among which were “the works of Chile’s Communist Poet Pablo Neruda” (“CUBA: Castro’s Brain”) which compelled the young boy greatly to further explore leftist ideologies. Neruda’s poetry, which had a great influence on the young boy by presenting the great struggles of the Latin American peoples, was characterized by its stark depiction of human suffering as seen in his poem “United Fruit Co.:” “… in the seaports’ / sugary abysses, / Indians collapsed, buried / in the morning mist: / a body rolls down, a nameless / thing, a fallen number, / a bunch of lifeless fruit / dumped in the rubbish heap” (Neruda 45). Along with the political writings of Karl Marx, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Vladimir Lenin – all socialist thinkers and leaders in their own like – the young Guevara entered politics at the age of 14 “as a member of a nationalistic youth group specializing in

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.

The main consideration in this regard is, again, the degree of control which the government maintains over all aspects of Cuban civil society. This is particularly true in terms of maintaining what the government regards as civil order through the regulation and prevention of free expression and free communications. This type and degree of government control affects all aspects of Cuban citizens' lives.

The nation of Cuba lies in great proximity to the United States. As a matter of fact, according to Holmes, its proximity to the Florida coast is just 90 miles. The nearness in the terrestrial location of Cuba relative to the US is perhaps one of the central reasons as to why the US has always remained interested in the affairs of Cuba. To this extent, we can deduce that for the greater part of the history between the two nations, US decision-makers have always considered Cuba to be a commonsensical extension of their nation; fundamentally because Cuba presents a geographical position that is of strategic political and economic importance. For many born into the present generation, Cuba is synonymous with the cold war as evident in the Cuban missile crisis of 1963, and with the general extravagance of communism apportioned by Marxist and Leninist nuances as a result of the 1959 Cuban revolution. Working from this basis, there can be no question as to the fact that Cuba has got an evidently deeply-rooted history with the US. However, it is futile to attempt to discuss this history outside the projection of its former colonial master, Spain. According to the Library of congress, the history of Cuba begins with the inevitable arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492; a man credited with the discovery of the Americas that essentially laid the foundation for European colonization. The Spanish-American war provided a turning-point in the history of Cuba because one

Watching Mikhail Kalatozov’s film I am Cuba (1967) is a moving cinematic experience. In the beginning, the film portrays a stereotypical Cuba through a carefree party on the rooftop and the contrasting scenes of the prostitute’s destitute village and the glamorous casino. The film depicts how Cuba moves from a repressed country to an epicenter of revolution through four vignettes in which each builds momentum to the next and an overall narrator that bridges the stories. The film narrates a movement starting with how the oppressive capitalists exploit Cuba and push the people over the edge. In the second half, the Cuban people move from passivity to actions, shown by a university protest and a villager joining the militia in a revolution to overthrow the corrupt regime. Among the vignettes, Enrique’s leadership in the university student protest stands out the most. Complemented by the shift in the camera’s perspective of space in relation to characters, it is a crucial turning point where the plot changes from the focus on a powerless individual to a vision depicting the power of collective action.

For almost five decades, Communist revolutionary Fidel Castro ruled over the island country of Cuba and bedeviled United States presidents who viewed his regime as oppressive and a threat to freedom in the Western world. Under his leadership, Castro made a Caribbean country of 11 million people a major player in modern 20th century politics and became an icon for revolutionaries in Latin America and around the world. As news broke of Castro’s death on Friday night, leaders from around the globe offered both condolences and criticisms of Castro and his legacy. The famously bearded leader prided his contributions to health, education, and welfare—commitments he made to the people of Cuba when he

Social revolutionaries did not think twice and confiscated fortunes that were built on slavery and the indebted peons. The main participants in the Cuban revolution were Ernesto “Che” Guevara, who thought that Latin America’s poverty was caused by an “imperialist international economic system” of power. Che believed that all countries were affected by the imperial systems and the only way to free them was to act together. Che traveled to Guatemala to participate in the reforms that were occurring there but he had to scape to Mexico where he met Fidel and Raul Castro (Chasteen, 270).

Castro has been embroiled in controversy regarding the success of the Cuban revolution but despite the subsequent ramifications, he was able to establish the foundation for many other dissidents in Latin America and free Cuba from a hated dictator. Through becoming a nationally recognised figure and a hero to many Cuban peasants, Castro played a significant role in stimulating the growth of the revolution as his popularity elevated his title to the leader of a rebel force which would later overthrow Batista’s dictatorship in 1959. This is demonstrated through his trial

When I spent 6 weeks in Mérida, México as part of an immersion program in high school, my cultural views developed significantly, and I came to understand how wrong many of the stereotypes I had always heard were. Due to the United States’ embargo on Cuba, as well as the added travel restrictions, Cuba has always seemed so closed and antagonized. Being able to visit Cuba would help combat such stereotypes, and learning about the nation prior to our visit would help me better understand what has been going on in Cuba, rather than relying on United States sensationalism to inform me.

For conclusion, this story describes the communist revolution and how it affected Cuba in such a horrible way it drove families apart. The story describes how no matter how hard it may get or be that you will always have your family’s back and nothing should come in the way of that. The ‘Alvarez family proved that nothing is impossible and you shouldn't give up on the people you

Cuba has more of a civic culture than Italy and Iran, due to the authoritarian leadership that exerts influence over the people’s actions of the state. “Gabriel Almond and Sydney Verba describe Italy as a strongly parochial political culture, with people having little trust in others, feeling obligated to participate in the local community, and lacking national pride. Italians, they claimed, were more alienated from than allegiant to their political system” (Raymond 1). As Griest answered her friend, Raul’s question about Canada’s immigration laws, she fired back with a question about Elian Gonzalez, a Cuban-American, who was held in custody over immigration controversy. However, Raul responded, “our job is not to supply foreigners with information