Argentine born, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara played an important part for the Cuban revolution as guerrilla, as minister of industry, and as a figure that influenced the Cuba 's revolution with his philosophy of a "new man," a new society that could be motivated by the morals rather than by personal gain. He was a first doctor, then a soldier, and a teacher in-between in the Cuba army. Here is where the revolution begin.
Twenty percent of all Cubans were permanently unemployed. One point five percent of the landowners controlled forty six percent of the land. Half of the population had no electricity. Over half lived in bohios, a shack. Thirty seven percent could not read or write. Infant mortality was through the roof. And the
…show more content…
Batista maintained control of the government through a string of puppet presidents until 1940, when he was himself elected President of Cuba on a populist platform. In 1952 facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup that preempted the election.
The main issue is to control power. However, it was not about taking power but about knowing what to do with it. So the coup had to be based on principles. It also was not about making concession but establishing conditions. Batista led a coup and took power in one they so they believed all they had to do was organize a coup as well.
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro 's 26th of July Movement and its allies against the government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. The revolution had domestic --such as agrarian reform, democratization of public services, and international repercussions --like missile crisis and US embargo in Cuba. Cuba 's successful independence served as a model to other Latin American revolutionary movements seeking to also to gain economic and political Independence from the US (pg
Economically, Cubans “enjoyed one of the one of the highest standards of living in Latin America” (34). This is predominately due to the fact that Cuba exported half its sugar and two-thirds of it total exports into the U.S., and imported three-fourths of their total imports from the U.S. Although the U.S. (35). Although the U.S. boosted the Cuban economy, Cubans resented that they were still living at an economic level lower than Americans. The average Cuban income was one- third the average of Mississippi, the poorest state in the U.S. in th...
Despite his mischievous conduct, he was a self-disciplined student and had a great deal of Spanish pride which he learned from his teachers as well as his priest (Source F). Political uprising was a well accepted idea of Castro’s, on July 26, 1953 he formed the twenty-sixth of July movement and led one hundred and sixty revolutionaries on a “suicidal“ attack on the Moncada Military Barracks to spark popular uprise (source F &D). Many factors led to the rise of Castro’s power, but finally after popular up-rises and other communistic approaches like the overthrowing the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, led to him being sworn in as Cuba’s prime minister and took power in the winter of 1958 (source A & F).
One mission by Che Guevara was he, “strove to create a proper industrial base and to diminish the economy’s dependence on sugar,” (515). To improve the milk and meat production in Cuba efforts were made to breed a new kind of cattle. This effort failed which resulted in a famine because of this and with the U. S trade embargo the Cuban government began to give rations of daily necessities to citizens, (The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its People). Guevara efforts were too expensive for Cuba causing a crisis. The government, “decided to resolve its crisis by means of a “revolutionary offensive”: first, the nationalization of all services, restaurants, shops, and petty commercial iinstallations... witha production goal of 10 million tons of sugar (516). That goal did not work causing Fidel Castro to offer to resign. Cuba started to become a communist society. In terms of who was in charge and their role in, The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its People state, “Castro was the visible head, the spokesman, and the international strategists while his brother Raul would become more and more the chief of personnel, the head of the armed forces and secret services,”
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on the 13th of August, 1926, the third of six children, and the son of a wealthy sugar plantation owner. After Castro graduated from El Colegio de Belen in 1945, he entered law school at the University of Havana. It was during this period that Castro began to become involved politics, taking an interest in the political climate of Cuban nationalism, anti-imperialism, socialism, and social justice (http://www.biography.com/articles/fidel-castro-9241487, 2009). Castro immediately became involved with student protests, whose student groups were known to be violent and often armed, which can be attributed to the fact that there had been a government crackdown on these protesters, with students sometimes being killed or terrorized (The Real Fidel Castro, p16-17, 2003). Brutality was already present in the political system, perhaps a sign that brutality would be needed to change it.
People have different reasons to start a revolution. However, the road to freedom is always full of one thing, death. The Cuban Revolution was a civil war led by rebel Fidel Castro with the goal of getting dictator Fulgencio Batista out of office. While the American Revolution also had a very strong leader in George Washington and a similar goal of attempting to gain control of the government the way they got there was very different. The Cuban and American Revolutions had many distinct characteristics that made them successful. People in the US and Cuba wanted a new system of government, but not necessarily for the same reasons. In Cuba, dictator Batista was a cruel being who was not helping the country. At the same time, Americans wanted reform so they could be a part of government. Every person in Cuba knew that Batista needed to be stopped, and eventually a rebel leader arose. Whereas, in America everyone King George needed to be stopped, but instead of just one leader, the whole nation rose to the occasion. Cuba becomes freed from the dictatorship of Batista, but instead of getting better, life in Cuba got worse. Cuba may not have been better off, but America was now thriving with their lives and government back under control. Americans and Cubans were both looking for a new government, but for contrasting reasons and with different results.
Che Guevara and Fidel Castro both played an important role in the History of Cuba during the end of the 20th century. The question is “Should they be seen as heroes or villains?” The answers would vary from a person to another. To found my opinion, I looked closer at the whole Cuban revolution as well as Fidel Castro’s political career.
And he did not respond to the concerns of the people. Before long Batista’s government became corrupt and his leadership was incompetent. Unemployment was high; almost half of the rural population was illiterate. Diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid were rampant; water infrastructure was limited. Organized crime was too powerful. The typical living arrangement for families was a hut with a thatched roof. Cuba’s industries were run by the United States. Economically the country was in shambles. Other than the intellectuals in Havana, the general population was not aware of the turmoil in the government and was not yet to a point of
The Cuban revolution was one that transformed Cuba into an independent socialist society. This revolution sent a message around the globe. The message: “ Socialism can be achieved and capitalism, with its culture stripping mechanism’s can be supplemented”. However, the revolution did leave its mark on Cuba. This can be seen in the events that took place during the early stages of the revolution. The effects of the revolution were positive for certain sections of the population and negative for others.
The Cuban Revolution was a historic event in Cuba that began on July 26, 1953. The event went on and lasted for a total of 5 years, 5 months, and 6 days. It all sparked from when a man named Fidel Castro started a petition to overthrow President Fulgencio Batista. However, after falling to overthrow President Batista in a legal matter, Castro decided to launch an armed revolution. Batista was the 9th and 12th president of Cuba. He served his first term from 1940 to 1944 and his second term from 1952 to 1959. During his first term in office, he was known to be a progressive leader who was supported by Julio Antonio Mella's Communist Party. In his second term, Batista was a dictator trying to get recognition from the upper class of Cuba before he was overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution. Although the revolution came to an end on January 1, 1959, Cuba is still feeling a few repercussions of what took place in the event that would reshape the island of Cuba from what it was before the revolution.
Cuba once stood as a world leading trade post, Latin American military power house and global threat with the assistance of its allies. With its continuously declining economy, lingering violent and complicated history, it slowly became a powerless cordoned off part of the world. The communist government controls nearly all means of production only allowing its people to make an average salary of twenty two dollars per month. Even with its rich culture, beautiful 16th century architecture, rolling hills and Caribbean beaches, it is fled by its people. Seeking opportunity in their developed northern neighbor.
The main causes of the revolution were the corrupt way in which the country was run, the large role the US played in the running of Cuba and the poor treatment & conditions the lower class Cubans lived with. The leader before the revolution was a man named Fulgencio Batista, who came into power via a coup. He suspended the Constitution, effectively establishing a dictatorship, and increased the Cuban dependency on the US. Batista allowed the US to build casinos, reaping the profits from the casinos and from the growing drug trade. He ignored crimes, allowing many drug dealers to continue under the condition that he got a share of the profits. He, a select group of friends, and businessmen from the US, grew richer and richer while the lower class of Cuba were poor and suffering. The people of Cuba saw this corruption and resented it, causing a gaping rift between leader and people.
After the loss of more than 200,000 lives, the revolt ended in failure. In 1933, Fulgencio Batista led a “sergeants” revolt” that toppled the despotic rule of Gen. Grarado Machado. It was at that time that Batista became the most powerful man in Cuba. He was elected president in 1940 and made himself chief of state with dictatorial powers. Years of corrupt government, terrorism and embezzlement made by the United States led to a revolt in 1958 under the leadership of Fidel Castro.
Since its discovery and conquering in 1511-15 Cuba has, up until its alleged liberation in 1901 by the United States of America, remained oppressed under the rule of the Spanish empire. During this period the country has made attempts to secure its freedom and it is for this reason that Cuba acts as perfect example of a significant historical protest in its fight for independence against Spanish colonisation. When attempting to further understand the motives behind Cuba’s desire for liberation we must first determine the various oppressions imposed on the nation as a whole as well as the obstacles presented before it in the form of Spain and other neighbouring countries, such as the United States of America.
By 1933, Cuba was in chaos, and US support for Machado was wavering. The ABC, a secret society of intellectuals willing to oppose Machado through terrorism and sabotage. The name ABC was not an acronym for anything but instead stood for the notion that what needed to done was basic and obvious. In addition to opposing Machado the ABC called for fundamental change in Cuban society and its economy for the furtherance of social justice. These included the elimination of large land holdings, public ownership of public services and the promotion of cooperatives. The ABC sought to prohibit the acquisition of Cuban land by American interests. However, sugar collapse of 1920 and Cubanidad needed to be re-interpreted cubanidad. The US had had notions of race and advancement in Cuba, and it was obligatory on cubanidad to help create a politically stable, culturally homogenous, and prosperous modern nation (Race and Social Warfare p. 189). Education was also a huge class division within Cuba. Black Cubans explained that the lack of education was the result of slavery and colonialism. Afro-Cubans treated schooling as sacred and campaigned to improve their education. However even an education was not sufficient for afro-Cubans to get white-collar employment, they needed social and political contacts to help them. There was a class and race fragmentation in
Che was a Latin American revolutionary who wanted to end the poverty in Latin America, and the injustice brought upon by imperialism. Born as Ernesto Guevara in Rosario, Argentina, Che lived a very comfortable life, since both of his parents were from wealthy families. He developed asthma as an infant and his condition affected him for the rest of his life. Because of his illness his mother schooled him until age nine. After high school and college Che attended and graduated from medical school but had an urge to travel. He and his friends became avid travelers when they had time off from school. One of his travels around Latin...