Argumentative Essay On Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro February 16, 1959, marks the day Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was sworn in as Cuba’s prime minister. Since that day, the country has gone downhill culturally, socially, and economically. From political prisoners to racist and homophobic production camps, and economical decline, Fidel has overall negatively affected the country. Although many Cubans believe Fidel Castro saved the country from the Batista, Castro’s rule was overall detrimental to Cuba. Imprisoning politicians and journalists is one reason Castro’s rule was detrimental to Cuba. The imprisoning of innocent people reached it’s peak in the early 2000’s. The US Government Publishing Office records that in “March 2003, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro arrested more than 75

These were labor camps that uneducated people, homosexuals who were in shape, and Cubans who would not join the military for religious reasons. Castro portrayed these camps as an alternative way of helping Cuba without serving in the military. However racial discrimination and homophobic ways were persistent in the prison like camps. Conducta Impropia a documentary highlights the discrimination and torture which is described some survivors of the camp. One survivor Armando Valladares says “We got routine beatings twice a day, they’d go from cell to cell”(Valladares). Valladares also explains the multiple scars on his head and hands from being hit and tortured. He also describes an instance where a 12 year old boy was placed in an adult prison with criminals and the mentally ill. Valladares recalls that “ A few days later 5 of them raped the boy he was so maimed physically that his life was in danger...when he was discharged a few weeks later Robertico's file was stamped ‘Homosexual’ so now Robertico was moved to the homosexual wing” (Valladares). Another person interviewed, Elaine Del Castillo states “ They tried to humiliate the people who wanted to leave by saying they were prostitutes or homosexuals”(Castillo). One could say the camps were a form of humiliation against groups of people of other races, sexualities, or religions. It is seen that the camps are not

Wifi and Internet is one part of Cuba’s economy that had suffered. Jorge Dominguez at Harvard Business Review says “In Cuba, there are seven computers per 100 people — one of the lowest ratios in the Americas”(Dominguez). Also only 5% of people in Cuba have wifi access in their house. If they do not have wireless internet access in their house many spend hours at 40 of the government approved hotspots. These hotspots are expensive to the Cubans costing them around $2.25 per hour. The average monthly salary in Cuba is around $20. Dominguez says if a Cuban were to pay for Netflix “half your monthly income would go to Netflix”(Dominguez). There is also no corporate, personal income, or sales tax. The only tax is on the amount of workers a business has. Many businesses only have four employees because after four the rate of tax goes up. Without the other taxes it becomes harder for the Cuban government to make money which is detrimental to the economy. Another economical issue which occurred when Castro was in power was private and state sectors. In private work sectors you make more than the state sectors this can result in “people with university training in the private sector, but often not working in the profession for which they trained”(Dominguez). People who attended a university usually go into a state sector unless they have a valuable skill such as speaking in a foreign language. This can allow them to work in a