How Did Che Guevara Contribute To The Cuban Revolution

The Cuban government was not ideal for its people at the time, so they decided to initiate a change. Before Castro’s revolution, Cuba’s economy was highly based on tropical fruits, sugar, and tobacco. During this time, the government of Cuba mainly consisted of wealthy land-owning conservatives. Fidel Castro, a strong liberal who thought the Cuban government was corrupt, decided to bring together a band of two-hundred revolutionaries (Carey, Jr. 15). These revolutionaries attacked the Moncada Military barracks on July 26th, 1953 resulting in a failure that earned both Castro and the revolutionaries a ten-year prison sentence. Two years into his sentence, Castro was exiled to Mexico and began to plot another attempt in Mexico City. After many battles with Cuba’s National Army, Castro’s rebels were able to keep Cuba in a state of turmoil while other rebel groups were able to gain control. Through his actions, he was able to gain the support of the Cuban people who thought he was the logical choice for the new leader (Carey, Jr. 15).

In 1959, Fidel Castro led a group of rebel forces to end and overthrow Fulgencio Batista’s regime in an effort to free the Cuban people from his tyrannous rule. For very many different political reasons this has been portrayed as an act of great injustice and hypocrisy in the modern world. A lot of this has of course been advocated primarily by the US due to the high level of political tension between the two nations that developed in the mid 1950s. Believing this conventional wisdom that Castro was simply an evil communist who oppressed his people and stripped them of their human rights is very dangerous because it

Despite the glamorous veneer publicized to foreign tourists, Cuban society was plagued by a complex web of unjust conditions, highly influenced by the past century of colonial control. In 1959, Fidel Castro finally pushed it over the edge and led the Cuban Revolution to overthrow Fulgencio Batista. While it later became known as a socialist revolution, it is important to remember that it began in a large part as fundamentally nationalist. Understanding nationalism as a cause of the revolution allows one to consider the conditions that gave rise to that nationalism. The conditions that Castro utilized to build support ranged largely from economic to political, all helping to create an atmosphere of unrest and anger. Behind each of these conditions lies American interference and involvement in Cuba.

The Cuban revolution was a revolution of contradictions (Class notes, March 3rd). This highly debated revolution is said to have started in 1959 when Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries forced Fulgensio Baptista to flee the island allowing for a new revolutionary government, however others have argued it started in 1953 when Fidel Castro first attempted armed insurrection, or in the various failed rebellions of 1844 to 1933 (Chomsky, p. 15). Even the timeline of the Cuban revolution is prone to contradiction, as is so much and despite so many thousands of words devoted to the subject very little consensus has been gained. This topic is important because the Cuban revolution is still ongoing in Cuba, and through the march of time has endured where others have failed, remaining perhaps the most consequential revolution in history. Therefore it is important to try and examine Cuba, its origins, it’s history, and effect.

Ernesto “Che” Guevara was a part of the 26th of July Movement in Cuba. He became a revolutionary leader who inspired many and brought the guerrilla to victory in 1959. He was a part of the eighty-two men who sailed on the Granma from Mexico to Cuba in December of 1956 (Staten 114). The biographical film, Che: Part One directed by Steven Soderbergh, shows the journey of Che and the guerrillas as they attempted to defeat Batista’s military. Che: Part One is not simply just a depiction of Che’s life, but it brings you right into the action of the armed struggle the guerrilla faced. The revolution shaped Che into the leader he became. He started out as a simple doctor who wanted to bring the people of Cuba what they deserved. Che went through changes as the periods of the revolution went on. He grew to be a leader that would bring his people to the victories they achieved. Throughout the portrayal of the revolution, it can be seen how Che changes and adapts based on what situation he is facing and how the movie shows it. The film goes back and forth between the times Che is in Cuba fighting and after he wins the revolution and talks about his experiences.

Marifeli Pérez-Stable looks back at the Cuban Revolution through a sociological lens in her book The Cuban Revolution. Pérez-Stable claims that Cubans held national independence and social justice as goals ever since the end of the nineteenth century. Radical nationalism remained important in Cubans’ view of themselves and their ideals. Thus, Pérez-Stable argues that the origins of the Cuban Revolution of 1959 lie in the independence movement against Spain and the frustrations from the unfulfilled goals they had kept since before the turn of the century (Pérez-Stable 1998, p 4).

In 1959, Cuban leaders echoed similar sentiments. A revolution on one island? The actions of guerrillas of the mountains and the underground were rooted in a larger revolutionary context, one supplied by Bolívar, O’Higgins, and the other Latin American liberators. Cuba began to “export” revolution— at least ideas—to Caribbean islands and to the South and Central American countries as well. By 1960, given the predictable response of Washington to any sort of disobedience, Cuba had taken its first steps toward partnership with the no longer revolutionary Soviet Union. In doing so, it got caught in the seamy fabric of the cold war. Fidel learned of the revolution’s “junior” status during the 1962 missile crisis, when Soviet Premier Khrushchev

At first the military killed or captured but Castro and Raúl managed to escape and over next two years the movement steadily grows(“Fidel”). Beginning in 1958 Castro and his forces began a campaign of guerrilla warfare to successfully overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista(“Fidel”). In January 1959 Castro at the age of 32 successfully takes control over

“He was now facing growing civic opposition consisting of not only unemployed politicians,but jurists, academics, professionals, students, and labor leaders” (FALCOFF 112). “ In 1956, he and a group of companions attempted to seize the Moncade fortress in Santiago de Cuba, this island`s second largest city, a foolhardy venture that led to his trial....” (FALCOFF 115). Batista did not want to deal with with his kind of moderate political and he thought if he jointed the group, it would cause fighting within the group and due to fighting the group would be disbanded (FALCOFF 112). After the civic opposition end in 1958, the Cuban people would not turn back to Batista but anyone else who could be leader (FALCOFF 112).Batista had chosen Andres Rivero Aguero to replace him for upcoming election, but it did not look like Andres Rivero Aguero would win. So, Batista withhold constitutional guarantees till last minute so other political parties could not have organized campaign of their own (FALCOFF 113). “Many of Batista's enemies faced the same fate as the ambitious Siegel” (J.A. Sierra 1). “Nobody seemed to mention the many brutal human rights abuses that were a regular feature of Batista's private police force”(J.A. Sierra 1).“One of his most bitter opponents, Antonio Guiteras (founder of the student

This increased the decline of the Batista era. In 1956, the Castro brothers, Fidel, Raul and Che Guevara arrived in Cuba and started fighting against the government forces. Batista left Cuba in 1958 with his troops. Pre-Castro era was corruption in the government as well in the armed forces. The goals and aims of Fidel Castrol was to free Cuba, spread Communism, and spread tyranny. Castro received support from the peasants, poor, and all the people who were fed up with Batista because they wanted to see

During Fulgencio Batista’s reign in Cuba, Fidel Castro had insistently professed his dissatisfaction with the government, and when he finally took over in 1959, he effected a government that formed the basis from which the criticism of many historians today derives. To a minimal extent, Fidel Castro was able to achieve his aims between 1959 and 1979. Revealed in the 26th of July Movement’s doctrine, Castro’s goals called for Cuba to become fully independent and purely democratic while having a just society. Castro’s goals were hindered not only by the dependence on the U.S., but also on the Soviet Union after

Before the revolution, Che was not this passionate, influential guerrilla that everyone knows now, but he was just a man with a crazy idea. Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born in Argentina, and was a doctor who lived in Mexico City. One night, he met Raul and Fidel Castro, and Castro explained to him how frustrated and infuriated he was about the United States and their affairs with Cuba, stating how their poor Cuban country is helping support the United States, which they claim is most developed and prosperous country in the world. The Castro’s believed that Fulgencio Batista’s regime was a puppet of the United States and needed to be removed if Cuba were to ever be independent.

This gave him a big reputation of honor, courage, and bravery. But simultaneously, he was feared because of his brutality. He often shot people against the revolution or people who deserted the army. He considered these people traitors. (“Che Guevara”, n.d.) But, over time, the rebel army won support and gained new recruits. On New Year’s Day, 1959, Fulgencio Batista fled to the Dominican Republic when he realized his empire had lost. Marxists around the world rejoiced to the defeat of Batista. The revolution was complete, and the rebels were now in charge of Cuba. (Woods,

I decided to write this research paper because we were assigned to find an issue or subject within Latin America to write about. One of the most widely known and influential revolutionary figure in the history of Latin America is Ché Guevara. Ché knew how to use his intelligence and judgment in all the circumstances he encountered taking advantage of each moment as if it was a highly intensive chess game he was sincerely

Fidel Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batista's forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batista's overthrow in 1959 which resulted in the ending of the Cuban revolution, After the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro established a revolutionary socialist state where he assumed military and political power as Cuba’s Prime Minister.