Analysis Of Fidel Castro And The Cuban Revolution

Cuban leader Fidel Castro (1926-2016) established the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere after leading an overthrow of the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. He ruled over Cuba for nearly five decades, until handing off power to his younger brother Raà ºl in 2008. During that time, Castro’s regime was successful in reducing illiteracy, stamping out racism and improving public health care, but was widely criticized for stifling economic and political freedoms. Castro’s Cuba also had a highly antagonistic relationship with the United States–most notably resulting in the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The two nations officially normalized relations in July 2015, ending a trade embargo that had†¦show more content†¦Two years later, he ran for election to the Cuban House of Representatives. The election never happened, however, because Batista seized power that March. Castro responded by planning a popular up rising. â€Å"From that moment on, I had a clear idea of the struggle ahead,† he said in a 2006 â€Å"spoken autobiography.† CASTRO’S REVOLUTION BEGINS In July 1953, Castro led about 120 men in an attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The assault failed, Castro was captured and sentenced to 15 years in prison, and many of his men were killed. The U.S.-backed Batista, looking to improve his authoritarian image, subsequently released Castro in 1955 as part of a general amnesty. Castro ended up in Mexico, where he met fellow revolutionary Ernesto â€Å"Che† Guevara and plotted his return. The following year, Castro and 81 other men sailed on the yacht â€Å"Granma† to the eastern coast of Cuba, where government forces immediately ambushed them. The estimated 18 survivors, including Castro, his brother Raà ºl and Guevara, fled deep into the Sierra Maestra Mountains in southeastern Cuba with virtually no weapons or supplies. According to Castro, the revolutionaries started reorganizing with only two rifles,. But by early 1957 they were already attracting recruits and winning small battles against Rural Guard patrols. â€Å"We’d take out the men in front, attack the center, and then ambush the rear when it started retreating, in the terrain we’d chosen,† Castro said in hisShow MoreRelatedFidel Castro And The Cuban Revolution1367 Words   |  6 PagesOn 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 heatedRead MoreLessons Learned Thr ough History Are The Foundation For Not Repeating Previous Mistakes1447 Words   |  6 Pagesinevitably lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later. The Bay of Pigs Operation placed Cuban Exiles known as the 2506 Brigade, backed and trained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), against Cuban President Fidel Castro’s armed forces on the island nation of Cuba. The 2506 Brigade Cuban Exile Forces (CEF) conducted a night amphibious landing on the south side of the island in the Bay of Pigs area in an attempt to invoke a revolution intent on overthrowing Fidel Castro’s regime. HoweverRead MoreWhat Major Events in the Cold War Caused Fidel Castro to Side with the Soviet Union Super Power?805 Words   |  4 PagesWhat major events in the Cold War caused Fidel Castro to side with the Soviet Union Super Power? In the 1960’s the world was largely dominated by the Cold War which was a long period of tension and hostility that only occasionally broke out into open warfare. This conflict was caused by the rivalry of two superpowers - the United States and the Soviet Union and emerged after the Second World War. Both super powers had different ideologies - the United States was a capitalist democracy, whereasRead MoreThe Cuban Revolution ( Pre 1959 ) Essay Draft1253 Words   |  6 PagesCauses of Cuban Revolution (pre-1959) Essay Draft 1 Sakina Ali [Incomplete introduction] Thesis: The Cuban Revolution pre-1959 was caused by a many political, economic and social factors such as: Cuba’s separation from Spanish rule in 1898, the American interest and influence on Cuba and, the social unrest that Batista’s policies and relationship with the Mob caused, which ultimately led to Castro’s fight and overall succession in 1959. Cuba, after it was already inhabited by native tribes, wasRead More CUBA: The Great Journey in Economic Development on the United State’s Doorstep5530 Words   |  23 Pagescentury is often surrounded by probing analysis as to the extent to which the Revolution of 1959 actually served as a change from past regimes. It is ignorant to evaluate the revolution in a vacuum, because past events that created the climate where such a change could take place. Yet it is also immature to state that 1959 was purely a product of history and previous revolutions. The story of the Cuban revolution and events since does not begin with the revolution itself. Rather, it starts from theRead MoreWhy Do We Still Have an Embargo of Cuba?1688 Words   |  7 PagesPatrick Haney explores the history of the embargo and the different factors which have maintained and tightened its restrictions over the past fifty years. The embargo consists of a ban on trade and commercial activity, a ban on trav el, a policy on how Cuban exiles can enter the U.S., and media broadcasting to the island. These once-executive orders now codified into law by the Helms-Burton Act, have become a politically charged topic which wins and loses elections, spawned influential interest groupsRead MoreResearch: How did Cuba and Brazil Affect Popular Music, Culture and Dance in the 1940’s and 50’s?1305 Words   |  6 PagesEvidence Between the 1940’s and 50’s Latin America began to have a tremendous effect on culture, popular music, and dance around the world, especially the United States. Music from Latin America first began to spread to the United States in 1925 when a Cuban named Mario Bauzà ¡ moved to New York and introduced a brand new style of music. Senior Bauzà ¡ moved to New York because he was not able to express his music the way he wanted to in Cuba due to his black skin color. When he moved to New York, he foundRead MoreFidel Castro, President Of Cuba856 Words   |  4 PagesFidel Castro, President of Cuba, was one of the inspiring forces of the Cuban Revolution. Guided by the philosophies of his Jesuit education and experiences at his father’s sugar plantation, Castro developed a fundamentally strong view on an independent Cuba, identifying himself with the common folk. On July 26th, Castro led the attack on the Moncada Barracks in order to take over enemy transmitters. However, a lack of planning and poor miscommunication on Castro s side led to a severe defeat,Read MoreBay of Pigs and Realism1563 Words   |  7 PagesBacked by former president Dwight Eisenhower, endorsed by current president John F. Kennedy, and masterminded by the Central Intelligence Agency, the plan to overthrow Fidel Castro, Prime Minister of Cuba, had been months in the making (Dunne 1). By the summer of 1959, as former Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista was overtaken by Castro, charges of communist takeover in Cuba were rampant in Washington, especially in Congress (Dunne 5). With the United States embroiled in the Cold War, a largely ideologicalRead More Cubas Economic and Political Instability Essay2032 Words   |  9 Pagespolitical instability and sugar-centered economy were the result of U.S. influence through the Platt Amendment and the various Sugar Acts and reciprocity treaties. Marifeli Perez-Stable takes this stance in her book The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course , and Legacy in her interpretation of Cuban radical nationalism in the 1950’s. The domination of Cuba’s economy by the sugar industry was responsible for much of its wealth but also a great deal of its problems. While the sugar industry generally remained