The two documentaries that we watched in class showed different sides of Fidel Castro. There were overlaps that conveyed who Fidel Castro is really is. In The Last Communist documtary, Castro is portrayed as powerful, danger, and irresponsible leader whereas in the film, Fidel: The Untold Story he is portrayed as a hero, a friend, and a great leader. There were multiple views that these two films showed Fidel Castro as who he is supposed to be. The article History Will Absolve Me showed Castro when he was in court for trial and backing him up with the conditions of Cuba, which demonstrated how Castro cared about Cuba and its people. These two films covered the same topic yet so differ in their interpretations of Castro because depend on which side are you on; there are things that make more sense and things that are not.
In the film Fidel: The Untold Story portrays Fidel Castro as a hero especially in Latin America countries and Africa, and there is very little negative side of him shown
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here. He is protryed as a true friend as shown in the scene where he and others went to the airport to received Che Guevara’s remains. He showed his emotion and his cared about a friend who went aboard and never returns. In this particular scene, when Che Guevara’s daughter spoke, “They left to promote Bolivar and Martí’s ideal of a united Latin America—we never saw them again. Today their remains are returned to us. They have not been defeated. They come as heroes… forever young, brave, and strong (Fidel: The Untold Story 2001).” Fidel Castro showed great grief when the camera turned to him. In addition to that, he helped other countries in Africa break free from anti-colonial revolutions. The relationship between Castro and famous people that he met are inspiration and great portrayed of who he is on the film. There were a lot of scene where people in different Latin America countries came and greeted him as he landed in their country or when he would walk with big crowd of people and the people followed him. In this film, there is very little negativity mention about the criticisms about Castro such as the persecution of gay citizens in Cuba or the association with the USSR. There is very little action school of the fighting or disturbance scenes in the documentary. The Last Communist portrayed as powerful and charismatic.
The film showed more various sides of Castro: in the beginning of the film, Castro was seen as a savior from the dictator in Cuba, he restored their people’s dignity from when American ran the island. The people in Cuba live a lot better when the dictator Batista was in control. Slowly as the film progressed, as Fidel Castro gained control of the government, he changed. There was another side of Castro as the film showed Fidel as an admirer of Hitler and Mussolini at a young age, which both of them was not democratic. He became a big spender on things for women and people who were loyal to him. There are several negative issues that were mentioned about Fidel in this film such as in the scene where they showed Castro as an irresponsible ruler when he held a secret accounts for spending. As it was said on the film, “the accounts were spending at least $25,000 a month, mostly on items for women (The Last Communist
1992).” Beside the two films, Fidel Castro character can be seen outside of the media through his speeches. Clearly in the speech that Fidel Castro gave during this speech, “History will Absolve me” on October 1953 in defending himself. What he did really meant to care for his people. He expressed the hardships that the people of Cuba were facing such as people without job, landless, retirement fund embezzled, healthcare issue, education, and people’s standard of living in general (Kirk 2009). He demanded the government need immediate step to solve along with restoration of civil. In a detail argument Castro made of what the government should do to fix the housing situation in Cuba. He said, “A revolutionary government would solve the housing problem by cutting rent in half, by providing tax exemptions on homes inhabited by the owners; by tripling taxes on rented homes; and by financing housing all over the island on a scale heretofore unheard of, with the criterion that, just as each rural family should possess its own tract of land, each city family should own its own home or apartment (Kirk 2009).” Overall, there are multiple characters of Fidel Castro that are shown here, it depends on which side you look at to determine his character as a great leader or just another communist with evil look. The two films showed different interpretation of Fidel Castro because obviously Fidel Castro is controversial topic that many people are debating about. As for the people in Cuba and Latin America, they see him as a great leader and cheer on him as their hero because he restored their pride and dignity. The article also speaks out about Castro as a savior; he truly cared about his people and their condition of living. In conclusion, I think in between these two films there is a true Fidel Castro that people around the world might see.
On July 26, 1953, the war for Cuba’s independence began, and for 6 years many Cubans fought for their freedom. The most famous of these revolutionary icons being Fidel Castro, who led the main resistance against the Cuban government. On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro and the rest of the Cuban's succeeded. This revolutionary war went on to affect the entire world and Eric Selbin believes it is still affecting it. Throughout Eric Selbin's article, Conjugating the Cuban Revolution, he firmly states that the Cuban revolution is important in the past, present, and future. Selbin, however, is wrong.
...ail about the historical facts about the revolution. He provides a historiography that provides social and economic influences on the revolution and presents the events in a chronological order. What I liked about his book is that he presents a study of the U.S. influence on Cuba and the hegemonic relationship they had. He presents a bias against the U.S. not in favor of communism but in favor of Cuban sovereignty. I would recommend this book to specialists and undergraduates because it provides a different look at the revolution. However, even though this book provides historical information on Cuba, the fact that the author does present an opinion disqualifies it for use as a textbook.
Fidel was acclaimed to be intellectually gifted by his teachers, but was a trouble maker. 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). During Castro’s schooling he did not focus solely on his academics,but he focused primarily in athletics such as baseball, in which he earned a award in 1945 as the country’s best secondary school athlete((Source F).Castro was also
In the 1950s, a ruthless tyrant took over the power of a once free nation in Cuba. This tyrant is called Fidel Castro. Castro separated families, destroyed Cuba’s economic prosperity, and denounced religion and the religious rights of his people. He imprisoned, tortured, and killed thousands of Cubans that stood up against him. However, those that weren’t killed were forced to leave the country and to never return. Due to the vicious and savage actions performed by Fidel Castro, mankind is inherently evil.
“What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, freedom is to the soul of man” (Brainy Quotes). Light is essential to the eyes, love is what makes the heart beat, and freedom is the hope of man kind; all of which are essential to the happiness of humanity. Having to live without these rights is a difficult way of living. For example, Cubans have suffered time after time in pursuit of their freedom, but sadly they never accomplish their goal. They live in fear of their broken government, but never stop fighting for freedom. In the early 20th century, Cuba was a democracy. From 1940 to 1944 Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban politician, was Cuba’s president. In 1952 he decided to run again, but when it was apparent he’d lose, Batista seized power before the election took place. The citizens were outraged causing them to turn against their flawed democracy that was brought upon by the election. As a result, Fidel Castro, a communist revolutionary political man, began to plot Batista’s downfall. The Cuban Revolution, also known as Castro’s Revolution, began on July 26, 1952, and ended January, 1, 1959. After Batista, Cuba’s former president, fled the country, Castro took complete control and turned Cuba into a communist country. The Revolution brought upon: many deaths, censored news and publicity, and no freedom of speech. Throughout the years Castro stayed in power, but due to health issues originating on July 31, 2006, he had to step down. After Castro returned, he took control of Cuba up until February 19, 2008. He then abdicated his place as dictator and handed down his position to his brother, Raul Castro.
Cuba's political history carries a pattern: when the masses are disillusioned by the current ruler, they turn to a young, strong-willed leader-of-the-people as their new ruler, only to become disillusioned to that ruler when he becomes too oppressive. It has seemed a never- ending cycle. Batista and Castro were both well-regarded leaders initially who appealed strongly to the masses and common citizen. Later, both established dictatorships and lost the support of many of those that they governed. Castro and Batista are each guilt of repression and corruption within their governments. For example, at some point under each regime, the constitution was either suspended or not followed at all. Castro did, though, make one very important contribution to Cuba's political system: Socialism. For the first time, Castro and Che Guevara a socialist plan called the New Man theory which called for developing an ideology amongst citizens that would call for working not for personal enrichment, but for social betterment.
There are also some commendable things he accomplished that required much initiative and bravery, such as starting a revolution in the face of heavy corruption and confronting racial segregation head on. Many of the facts heard about the Castro regime in the United States is negative, as Fidel is typically seen as being on the side of the communists after the time period of the Red Scare in the United States. Most of the Cubans in the United States who disapprove of the Castro regime were adversely affected in his reconstructing policies to even out the wealth disparity and also did not agree with confronting Cuba’s problem of racial segregation. Fidel definitely did things that are unpardonable and they shouldn’t be forgotten, but his good works should also be accounted for. The sentiment can be summed up in Plato’s perceptive quote: “Few are the good and few are the evil; the great majority are in the interval in
Joseph Stalin and Fidel Castro had very similar traits in the beginning of their climb to power. But unlike Castro, Stalin was not the leader of the revolutionary party. After Castro graduated from the University of Havana, he practiced law for two years before deciding to run for a position in the Cuban parliament. However, during the elections to see if Castro was going to be voted to a position in parliament, a different party led by Felgencio Batista over threw the corrupt government that was being run by Carlos Prio Sacarras. Not much time had passed when Castro tried to take legal action against Batista by indicting him for uprising the constitution, the petition failed. Castro was frustrated due to the lack of legal action, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and turned to violence. Castro led an attack on the Mancada Barracks and lost, he was later captured by Batista’s men and put on trial. While Castro was on trial he gave his now famous “History Will Absolve Me” speech. Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison but went into voluntary exile after only serving two years. He spent time in parts of the U.S. and Mexico before returning to Cuba in 1956. Wh...
Everyone knows the name Fidel Castro, the revolutionary of Cuba. At the University of Havana in 1945 is where Fidel Castro began his long and treacherous journey as a radical nationalist. (Fidel: The Untold Story). He fought the infamous Flugencio Batista in the name of social justice until victory was won. He claimed to have fought for a democratic Cuba and a restoration of constitutional government and Cuban sovereignty, but he also stood for socialism and communist ideals. As Tim Padgett from Times Magazine on page 42 stated “Fidel imported old-world Marxism and its perverse notion that social justice is best delivered via the injustice of autocracy.” He supported everything the US and pro-democracy states despised and stood as a revolutionary
All in all, Fidel Castro had both good parts of his life, and bad one’s too. He had the biggest impact on America than any other person has. Even though he hasn’t did anything to help America, he did almost have use go through a third world war. If it wasn’t for Castro, if it wasn’t for his uprising, Russia would of sent a nuclear missile to us someday, and we wouldn’t be alive. You can say, without the missile crisis happening that early, we would of experience an Armageddon, would be living in a recovering post apocalyptic world. And without the Castro impact to this world, nations in Africa wouldn’t be freed, and Cuba would of had an even worst uprising.
Bourne, Peter G. Fidel A Biography of Fidel Castro. First ed. New York NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1986. N. pag. Print
...Cold War. His status as dictator is opposed by many nations because of the violations against the human rights of his people and his actions under a Communist government. In 2006, Fidel’s health began to deteriorate after he had abdominal surgery and he temporarily stepped out of office by giving control of the government to his brother, Raúl. Finally in 2008, Fidel Castro announces his retirement and Raúl takes over as president of Cuba, still allowing the Castro family to have prime control over Cuba. Many to this day believe that Castro was a force for good in Cuba, yet these are met by the people who suffered and tried to escape Cuba. Although the distrust and resentment among the United States and Cuba stays intact with the embargo around the island, Fidel Castro is still seen as an incredibly significant historical figure during the post World War II era.
In cuban history there was many dictatorships. But, Fulgencio Batista lead to rise of communism in Cuba and Fidel Castro. Foreign involvement from United States to control Cuba as economical ally, also Bastia treatment mistreatment towards foreigners from Haitian and Jamaican. The Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro use of guerrilla warfare and the peasant population of Cuba lead to successful revolution. The United States felt threatened about Cuban being 90 miles from florida spifly during Cuban Missile Crisis . So, many United states presidents tried to kicked Fidel Castro but failed multiple times.First, even though Fulgencio Batista starred in beginning as leader that benefited Cuban people, over time he became corrupted leader that lead to his downfall.
Burns, Bradford E. Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2002.
So the question to ask is was life better under Castro? The answer is yes, it was an improvement, but there are remaining problems in Cuba waiting to be fixed. The health and general well-being of the population was vastly improved, but the people lived in fear and oppression. Castro didn’t change Cuba as much as he thinks.