Reaction to Castro Announces the Revolution Essay

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).

The Cuban "destiny," according to Castro, is the creation of an independent nation with the conditions of territorial sovereignty, an independent political structure, a national economy, and a differentiated culture 4. These four conditions mentioned by Castro in his manifesto simply reiterate the frustrations of the Cuban people who although were liberated from colonial oppression continued to remain the subjects of foreign sovereignty. Foreign influence and sovereignty this time around in the 20th century was not wielded by the Spanish crown, but rather by the "friendly neighbor" from North America, the United States. Therefore, intimately related to the notion of Cuba’s destiny is the desire to stray away from dependency on any foreign nation for economic purposes. Harleigh Leach, in her essay concerning this particular matter, also defines the essence of the revolution in more economic detail as she states:

Louis A. Pérez Jr. is an American author who wrote this source in 2002, which was four years before the end of Castro’s rule. The journal article in its entirety was made to explore how and why the US had fear of and loathing towards Fidel Castro. In the extracts, I have selected benefits and disadvantages brought about by Castro are mentioned and explored. The source, for example, mentions how Castro nationalised US property such as sugar corporations, cattle ranches, oil refineries, utilities, mines, railroads and banks. Although it may have initially created economic problems, the nationalism of US property would have been a good thing, as it would have helped Cuba feel more independent and free and therefore benefit the nation socially by creating a sense of patriotism. In another extract pulled from the same article, the four

Castro was a socialist, a leninist and a marxist. His attitude throughout his “dictatorship” was the way he communicated with the United States on military, trading agreements and politics. As he came to control the country, he made the promise to maintain the Cuban constitution of 1940, a constitution which guaranteed certain individual rights to the citizens of Cuba. Also stating that all of the governmental representatives would be held exactly a year from the day he took control. Despite not actually being in office, Castro was the most important force in regards to the post Batista Government. His full control of the country came when the former prime minister Miro Cardona resigned after a month of work with Castro.

This economic stimulus that the USSR gave the Cubans did not come without a steep price. For the second time in a few years Castro felt the pressure of a super power trying to control the future of his county. Soviet Premier

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

In the article I have found that throughout the rule of Fidel Castro he has proven to be a very poor leader that turned many of his citizens away from him. During his rule in Cuba he did many controversy actions that caused Cubans to flee to America, his family to leave him, and blockades to be put on him.

writer is shows a bit of distrust in the words of the new leader. The writer assesses the

…"Gentlemen presidents please, on behalf of my countrymen, no more help to Fidel Castro. So he will go and leave me a free Cuba from communism. Thank you very much, thank you very much ... pardon ". Celia Cruz

Source A highlights multiple times of Castro’s inability to lead a country through the description of Castro’s attack in the Source “whose first putsch against the island on December 1, 1956, left him with only twelve of the original force of 93 men.” Alistair Cooke, depicts Castro as weak and presents the audience with the notion that Castro does not have the leadership skills required to be in charge of Cuba, as he does not even have the qualities possessed to lead his troops. This is intentionally used to sway the audience against Castro However, In Source B, Herbert L. Matthews portrays Castro as strong and possess attributes which show leadership. This is shown through Source B highlighting Castro’s relationship with his soldiers “They were brought back to restore order and discipline among troops and officers who were undecided on what to

“A revolution is not a bed of roses ... a revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.” – Fidel Castro, 1961. This statement was certainly true for Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries during the Cuban Revolution, an armed revolt that took place between July 26th 1953 and January 1st 1959, which ended successfully. During this revolt, many of Fidel Castro’s fellow revolutionaries were killed in this process of violent revolution (My Life, p133, 2006). However, Castro and his accompanying revolutionaries, of which he was the leader, also caused their fair share of deaths using brutality in the name of revolution and political justice. Using various combat tactics, the most prominent being guerrilla warfare, the

There are many views that people have of Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Castro is a figure with opinions on both ends of the spectrum. While he is not worldly popular at this point in his life, he was immensely beneficial to his country. Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba for the past 50 years may not be viewed in the best light, but he did phenomenal things for his people which makes him one of the most undervalued and overlooked political figures.

“This will be a pretty detested statement, no doubt. The rightists will surely forever vilipend me for this. Yet, I have not the slightest care for that. I’ll say it, and I’ll say it loud and proud. Rest In Peace, Fidel Castro! You brought forth a many of good to the people of Cuba. Aye, he may of been a dictator, but he wasn’t Hitler-bad, nor Stalin-bad. The estimates for the men he had killed were around 2,000 and 5,000, many of those dead were themselves murderers and torturers under Batista. Cubans are in some ways better off, more salubrious, more edified, and more prosperous than most other nations. Their healthcare and their education is plenarily free, most, if not, all Cubans own houses, and all utilities are frugal. Most Cubans can

From the stance of an individual within Castro’s regime, the necessitation of Cuba’s suspension of rights was imperative. While I do believe, what occurred, such as summary killings, was terrible, suspending certain rights was necessary to protect the country and maintain order. I will argue this claim from the stand point of a civilian living in the regime. The fear felt towards a threat would spark desire for its eradication, even if it meant disabling certain rights for individuals.

In 1940 to 1944, communist Fulgencio Batista withheld power as the president of Cuba and then from 1952 to 1959, United States backed dictator until fleeing Cuba because of Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement. Socialist Fidel Castro governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. Fidel Castro’s intent was to provide Cuba with an honest democratic government by diminishing the corrupt way in which the country was run, the large role the United States played in the running of Cuba as well as the poor treatment & the living conditions of the lower class.