The movie “Cuba and the Cameraman” was genuinely a remarkable documentary. It was so fascinating to me for several reasons, but the aspect of the movie that I believe made it most successful was how it did not lay out a specific agenda rather it allowed people to make a choice based on the stories that Jon Alpert presented. These stories however, not only consist of normal everyday Cubans but also the story of Fidel Castro himself.
In the beginning of the film, Alpert represented Fidel in an entirely new light that many American’s do not get to see. Fidel’s mission in the beginning of the revolution was to improve the conditions of his country and not let them be taken advantage of by the U.S. Many Cubans fled the revolution and said that the conditions in the country were horrible; however, this was only one side of the opinions of the result
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During this time, the U.S. made it seem as though Cuba had been taken over by a Dictator and as a result they attempted to weaken the country through “military action and economic blockades”. To counteract these ideas, the movie begins with Fidel’s death his vision for Cuba was once he gained power; such as education, universal healthcare, and housing assistance. Alpert showed a school that was built as a result of the revolution in which the students are learning molecular biology and he asks about their future aspirations. Many of these aspirations were bright such as being a doctor and an engineer. I believe that Alpert included this in his film to show how bright Cuba’s future looked during this point in time. He also showed hospitals which were offering Universal Healthcare to the citizens of Cuba and the mass expansion of Cuba in which the country was employed by the government and were building things for the advanced society that Fidel was trying to create. Alpert shows that Fidel was mistreated by the U.S. by his film from the visit to the United
When John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, gave the orders to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro, America was expecting a victory. The American population expected Cuba to be destroyed. They thought Cuba could not stand up to the United States. What they didn’t expect was that Cuba would put up a fight. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a deciding factor in the Cold War that gave Cuba and the Soviet Union strength, and decreased morale and confidence in the Americans.
Above all, in Cuba many people are dedicated to the revolution in different ways. For example, in the book Dreaming in Cuba Celia is one of the main characters who is very loyal to the leader Fidel Castro. Celia is a representation of many people in Cuba who dedicates their life to support Fidel by doing volunteering work. Celia del Pino, is the image of many Cubans who are giving their time to make sure everything goes according to how Fidel regime wants to happen. For example, Celia contributes to the revolution by serving as a coast guard, scanning for invaders in front of her home with her binoculars. “Celia del Pino, equipped with binoculars and wearing her best housedress and drop pearl earrings, sits in her wicker swing guarding the
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
While watching the documentary “Cuba without Fidel” I noticed most of the points that were made were bashing the way the government was running Cuba, this country remains being the same communist country it was when Fidel Castro was in power with the difference that now his younger brother Raul Castro is in position. This film can be viewed as a form of propaganda with the sole purpose of letting people know how bad Cuba is without Fidel. Although the documentary is very informative I believe that it’s biased and it’s just trying to put forth their own position. I agree that Cuba without Fidel is a bad country but in my opinion is the same corrupt country that it was when he was in power.
Fidel Castro was a man who had a target on his head. Lots of people from all over the world wanted him dead. Fidel Castro wasn’t a capitalist person, he was a Communist.
The time of the Cuban Revolution was a great deal of turmoil, not just in Cuba but in almost every corner of the world. It was 1945, shortly after the end of World War Two, the Cold War was taking off between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cuba, in the middle of its own war, was caught up in the international politics of the Cold War. The interaction between international and domestic politics played a major role in the outcome of the revolution. The result of the revolution paved the way for the era of Fidel Castro.
This is a brief examination into Cuba’s historical progression and their constant political struggles with the government, the people of Cuba, and
At the beginning there was hope, with construction of school buildings and access to public health care for Cuban’s. But, after the Berlin Wall fell and Alpert kept coming back to see his friends in the different parts of Cuba you can see how things have changed for them. I felt most emotional for the three brothers that lived on the farm. Once the economy got worse, the brothers had their animals and crops stolen which limited them in this economic strain. It took them five years to get enough money to buy oxen to use to plow the crops.
However, the revolution, led by Fidel Castro, brought hope for those who supported the fight against the repressive government in the island, but it also brought a red signal of danger and fear of Cold War to other countries in America, especially for United States. Even though the revolutionary Fidel Castro was friend with the Soviet Union, Cuba never played a big role outside of the island. Nevertheless, United State anti-communism policy encouraged a violent anti-revolutionary reaction that spreader all over Latin America in the 60’s and 70’s.
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.
After several years of being suppressed by Spain, in 1895, Cubans began their struggle for independence, rebelling against Spain’s colonial government by forming groups of revolutionaries. This attracted the attention of Americans “because of the economic and political instability that it produced in a region within such close geographical proximity to the United States” (history.state.gov). At this point in time, nations throughout the world were acquiring territories and gaining domain over other countries, and Americans feared that if the United States did not start establishing colonies overseas, they would take the risk of being overpowered. The Cuban revolt highly concerned the then US President William McKinley, and there was no doubt
The American perspective of Cuba is one that varies from person to person, generation to generation. Commonly, Millennials view Cuba as a country of opportunity and intrigue while the Baby Boomers approach Cuba with an air of caution. This disconnect exists because the generations before ours experienced the alienation that came into play in the media when the Eisenhower administration placed the embargo on exports in 1960. Considering this disconnect is one of the many issues that have to be taken into consideration when discussing how Americans view Cuba, and looking into how our relationship with their country will develop in the future. It is highly likely that this view is also affected by individuals’ opinions of socialist governments.
My experiences with Cuba are divided into two segments of my life. The first segment was during my eight years of living in Boca Raton, FL which I will refer to the first as the “tangible” segment. The second segment was during my time living in Washington, D.C. prior to Colgate and post Florida. This second stage will be referred to as “information” segment. My reasoning behind these names relates to the ways I experienced Cuban culture at that given period. During my stay in Florida, I was able to see, hear, touch, eat, and experience Cuban culture first hand. While in Washington, D.C., this changed as most of my knowledge based around Cuban culture was taken from movies, video-games, or my general thirst for knowledge from the internet.
The time of the Cuban Revolution was a great deal of turmoil, not just in Cuba but in almost every corner of the world. It was 1945, shortly after the end of World War Two, and the Cold War was taking off between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cuba, in the middle of its own war, was caught up in the international politics of the Cold War. The interaction between international and domestic politics played a major role in the outcome of the revolution. The result of the revolution left Fidel Castro in charge of Cuba.
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.