Oppression In The Cuban Revolution

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.

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

Before considering oppression in general, we must first note that people and institutions who hold power oftentimes use this power to oppress others.

At the start of this story, Fidel Castro recalls images from his youth of revolutionaries carrying weapons and demanding that things were done their way. He speaks of the fear of being killed. Castro goes on to talk about how these revolutionaries always seem to

The terrible conditions that many Cuban citizens lived under during the Batista regime was unacceptable. The Cuban Citizens wanted a change and started a revolution. To find out why we go all the way back to 1868 when the United States defeated the Spanish Army giving Cuba its independence. The Cubans elected Fulgencio Batista who did not allow any more elections to take place. This angered many and a new revolution leader formed, Fidel Castro. Fidel overthrew the Batista Regime and named himself dictator. He started close economic ties with the Soviet Union. Shortly after this the United States ended any ties with the Cuban government. The causes of the Cuban Revolution were terrible conditions under the Batista regime, the spread of Communism, and the Spanish-American war. The effects of the Cuban Revolution were the downfall of the economy, Cuban missile crisis, and end of any diplomatic relations with the United States. The Cuban Revolution connects to Global citizenship because the citizens fought for their rights which ended up helping their daily life but hurting their economy.

Sadly, oppression is a common feature of power structures. It can be identified as a situation where an individual, group, society, culture or state, have power, be it economic, military or political, and exercise that power to disadvantage, and or overpower those who do not. Oppression means control and dominance and is observed in the form of discrimination practices based on gender, class, race, and culture that systematically produce inequalities. Today, oppression is present in the social, institutionalized, and economic domains throughout the world and is usually seen in conjunction with borders, both real and imagined, creating the lines that separate and distinguish between the oppressor and the oppressed.

With that being said, oppression comes in forms from “ you cant” to taboo. We don't choose to be oppressed though usually it's by those with authority. People who don't allow others to oppress them even if they have the authority to, do things like protest. For example,child soldiers are forced to be in military or fight in wars against their will sometimes before the age of six. How is the fair for innocent children's rights they die before they even live?

One way the oppressed people deal with their oppression is by acquiescence. The oppressed people reluctantly accept the unjust authoritarian treatment and control without protesting. According to Martin Luther King, Jr., “They tacitly adjust themselves

The Cuban revolution took place in January of 1959 when the guerilla army under the control of Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista. Batista was supported by the United States but only because of the fact that he believed in a democratic run government. However, the president at the time, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, let the revolution play out because he believed that Batista was making Cuba an “embarrassing,” ally towards the United States, he would later realize that he made a

Oppressions are a sticky topic, and the sheer magnitude of their influence means that a majority of people are impacted by them on a daily basis. However, just because oppressions impact large quantities of people does not mean that we should not be cautious with our use to the term. According to Marilyn Frye, the word oppression is over used and wrongly connected to situations where people are simply uncomfortable or even suffering. She writes, "Human beings can be miserable without being oppressed, and it is perfectly consistent to deny that a person or group is oppressed without denying that they have feelings or that they suffer" (Frye). Thus, when we talk about different oppressions, we must be sure that what we are talking about is actually

Oppression may have different impacts from character to character or from Suns to Osama but, in the end, oppression has the same general effect. It causes unjust, unfair, and even cruel behavior on someone, changing their life, actions and thoughts. The overall affect of oppression on someone diminishes them, it controls and changes the course of their life. Seen in both A Thousand Splendid Suns and Osama, oppression plagues the characters with loss, sorrow, and pain, causing their lives to completely

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.

Castro’s involvement with the foreign and domestic politics during the early Cold War period greatly influenced the outcome of the Cuban Revolution. Without the actions taken by foreign powers like the United States and Russia, some events on the domestic front may have had very different results. It is important to understand how every nation’s foreign policies can influence more than just one other nation, and this was especially true for Cuba. It was this mix and chain of events which produced the communist Cuba that we are familiar with today.

While Felgenico Batista was running Cuba many American companies grew rich off of Cuban resources while the Cuban people remained poor. An American mobster named Meyer Lansky came to Cuba to open a hotel. The mobster gave Batista 10% of the profits of the hotel and casino, so Batista became wealthy off of that. Batista became very wealthy off of American business and also organized crime. Meyer Lansky also turned Havana into a drug port. Batista did very little to help the Cuban citizens. While running Cuba Batista did not offer the people neither health care nor education. So many Cubans lived in poverty. When they became ill they wouldn’t be able to go to a doctor because they wouldn’t be able to afford it. When Batista took over the country in

In the United States, oppression is nearly non-existent. People are encouraged to speak what they feel and have no fear of punishment. The graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi influenced me by showing how what Americans consider a right is merely a privilege.