Essay about Different Perspectives of Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution was touchy topic for the United States and Cuba. America’s alienation of Cuba didn’t help when communism from the USSR was brewing over the revolution. When the revolution gained Castro as its leader, the worry and hatred from the United States was unbearable, especially when the Soviet Union landed in Cuba to interest Castro in its aid. The US’s fear of communism, Fidel Castro, and aid from the Soviet Union was significant because it changed the US’s political role in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution.

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:

Many of these factors had either been introduced or improved by Castro and just the idea of having a country that is third world having these factors so long ago is an indication of how beneficial Fidel Castro was to Cuba. The extent to which the US — a superpower — felt threatened by a third world country like Cuba is also an indication of how beneficial Fidel Castro was to Cuba. This source further explains how under Castro there were food shortages, increased rationing and growing scarcities. The introduction of sanctions under Castro’s rule is said to have been damaging because the source these sanctions upset and disadvantaged the middle-class and therefore were a social disadvantage. This source also explores how the suspension of US exports under Castro was damaging as these badly affected people like retail merchants, manufacturers and industrialists and many of them found it difficult to remain in Cuba. Therefore, this particular policy under Fidel Castro proved to be both socially and economically

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

After it became officially globally acknowledged that Cuba was in fact a communist state and was being led through a dictatorship run by Castro, it did not take long before powerful enemies and essential allies were formed. The act of seizing all foreign land with none or very little compensation was received with great hostility amongst those who lost in their property through this process, and probably the reaction that had the biggest impact on Cuba’s economy was that of the US. Castro’s communistic policies did not of course help calm this resentment and also took part in leading to the establishment of trade embargos with Cuba from the US. This meant that Cuba would now lose a very valuable buyer of their precious sugar, [5] but they did however gain another one, a powerful nation that shared quite similar Marxist ideals and were quick to form an alliance with the Cubans, the USSR.

In 1959, Cubareceived 74 percent of its imports from the US, and the US received 65 percentof Cuba’s exports. On February 3, 1962, the United States imposed a fulltrade embargo on Cuba, completely ending any type of trade between the twocountries. This embargo remains in effect today, more than four decades later,and has grown ! to be a huge center of debate and controversy (DeVarona 8).Opponents to the embargo argue that the embargo does nothing more than hurt theCuban people, while proponents argue that the embargo places pressure on Castroto repair Cuba’s mismanaged and corrupt government. Both the supportersand the opponents of this embargo have strong arguments and evidence to supportthese

Cuba was one of the territories that United States imperialized. The US was a heavy consumer of the sugar produced in Cuba but didn’t meet the sugar industry demands. The international market collapsed, and the US used this opportunity to purchase the sugar mills in Cuba “Cuban sugar mills into bankruptcy … sensing an opportunity, investors from the United States

One of the United States most important foreign trading partners was Cuba. The Cuban and the US economy had been intertwined for nearly a decade before the turn of the 20th century with American invests of $50 million in the Cuban economy. Americans owned the most valuable land in Cuba, which were the sugar plantations. More than 90% of Cuba’s sugar was exported to the United States7. Most of the imports to Cuba and the surrounding islands came from the US. If the Cuban market closed the US would lose not only its $50 million in investments, but also millions in lost revenue from not being able to trade with Cuba.

On January 8th, 1959, Fidel Castro and his rebel army marched triumphantly into Havana, Cuba, having overthrown corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista the week earlier. It was the fruition of the Cuban Revolution, and the dramatic shift in power was about to radically alter the country’s political, social and economic course forever. The positive and negative effects of the revolution on the Cuban people, however, as well as the condition of Cuba’s economy pre and post-revolution, is subject to heated debate. Castro’s iron-fisted regime was the introduction of communism into the western hemisphere, and now, over fifty years later, the Cuban Revolution continues to be one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. Despite the criticism levelled at Fidel Castro and his communist regime, however, the Cuban Revolution was necessary in improving the quality of life for the majority of Cuban citizens. The four fundamental categories on which to assess this are healthcare, education, economy and governance. By comparing the country’s overall performance under Fulgencio Batista versus under Fidel Castro in these areas crucial to a fully-functioning nation, it can be shown that the Cuban Revolution was a necessary and positive change in Cuban society which benefitted the majority of citizens.

Fidel Castro and the M-26-7 successfully seized power of Cuba’s government in 1959, after years of fighting. The M-26-7’s nationalist movement was able to knock the corrupt leader, Fulgencio Batista, out of power, and in 1961 Castro deemed the revolution to be officially of a Marxist nature. Throughout his 40-year stay as president, Castro has not allowed his revolution to stall, but rather he has allowed it to progress and adapt as he has seen fit. In relation with Castro’s revolution in Cuba has been another revolution, that of the Cuban women. Castro himself described the changes in women’s public and private lives as "a revolution within a revolution". In a true system of equality, as in the one Castro holds as his ideal, equality

From their end, Cuba has surprised many around the world for striving against such barriers. “ The main driver of the Cuban economy is agriculture. The country is a major producer of several crops but sugar and tobacco are the big money products. Despite not being able to export their products to the United States Cuba has become a major exporter of agricultural products. There has been an attempt on the part of the Cuban government to diversify their economy and it looks like natural resources will be one way that they can do this. The country has become a major nickel producer and this has quickly become one of their largest exports. There is also the potential for Cuba to become a major oil producer. There are large reserves of oil in the Caribbean that are in Cuba's territorial water. It is very likely that in the near future they will take advantage of these reserves in order to help diversify the economy.”

Cuba and the United States of America have completely opposite economies. Cuba’s economy is based on the few natural resources that the country owns while the economic system in The United States is capitalist and can be recognized for its noticeable development in agriculture, energy, and other resources that keep the country expanding and provides jobs as well as a good quality of life for its residents. On the other hand, Cuba’s economy, is predominantly poor, to the point where a very huge percent of its population suffers from

The history of Cuba has gone through many dramatic changes affecting not only the economy but the citizens as well. On January 1st, 1969 Dictator Fulgenico Batiste (Fidel Castro) fled the Island of Cuba, with his revolutionaries seizing control with the U.S backing the situation. This caused chaos and excitement in Havana, rumbling the idea of "anti-americanism." This relates back to the conflict theory, as this had a great impact on the citizens of Cuba, causing more hate on america and its people causing conflict and negativity. Within all of this chaos with Fidel Castro and Cuba’s people, America still supported the Island of Cuba. As time passed this situation caused great suspicion as the US was not sure of Castro’s intentions and his leftist ideology, thinking this would lead to an attack from Castro on US investments and properties in Cuba. American officials were nearly unanimous opposing Castro’s revolutionary movement.

The United States’ and Cuba’s relationship has always been very volatile and open to change. Since the early twentieth century, the two countries have been close but separated at the same time. For a country that is as close as it is to the U.S., Cuba couldn’t be has isolated. Now this relationship wasn’t always bad, but do to the policy decisions of both countries they have a rocky relationship. In recent times, the United States has begun rethinking its harsh policy against the small island nation. In this essay, I will explain the history of the embargo, the issues with it, and what the future looks like for both countries. The Cuban Embargo has been ineffective at spreading democracy, solving human rights issues, and has harmed the economy,

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.