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Effect of the cuban revolution
2nd cuban revolution
2nd cuban revolution
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Just ninety miles of the coast of the United States in the Caribbean Sea lies the communist ruled island of Cuba. Ruled by dictator Raul Castro, tensions between the United States and Cuba have been relaxed in the past years, but there was a time where tensions were high. When dictator Fidel Castro took over in Cuba in the late nineteen-fifties, he abolished a US established government and adopted one that replicated the one in the Soviet Union. During this time, the people of Cuba became increasingly aware of how the new dictator was ruling, and became afraid of what the new regime meant for their future and their safety. The United States during this time was also placing economic sanctions, which included halting most of all trade to Cuba.
The effects of the economic sanctions were major for Cubans. Not only did they lose jobs, but also when the Soviet union collapsed, they lost one of their major trading partners and as a result, had shortages of food and other necessities. Due to the economy failing, Cubans had to look for other options to survive. Many Cubans chose to leave Cuba in search of a better life. The one option that lied near them was the United States. To them, the United States offered new opportunities, jobs, and safety from their life in Cuba. They knew that they had a long journey ahead, but the results in the end for them, would be life changing.The one challenge though, is acquiring a visa to travel legally, so many find other routes to get to the United States. A route that Cubans took to the United States was to travel by boat across the Straits of Florida. Recently though, the Coast Guard has been stopping potential migrants as they cross the straits and send them back to Cuba. Also, traveling across water can be highly dangerous and deadly because of the fact that they are traveling in makeshift boats and rafts. Due to the risk of traveling across water, more and more Cubans are taking the route through Central America. This consists of them traveling to Ecuador and starting the journey to the United States from there. This journey is a long, and can be expensive because Cubans have to acquire and pay for visas from many of the countries they travel through. For the ones who complete the journey from Cuba to the United States, there is still a long road ahead for them.
The U.S.’s relationship with Cuba has been arduous and stained with mutual suspicion and obstinateness, and the repeated U.S. interventions. The Platt agreement and Castro’s rise to power, served to introduce the years of difficulty to come, while, the embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, enforced the harsh feelings. The two major events that caused the most problems were the Bays of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.
During this crisis, it was clear that the United States had a lot more principles than practices. Cuba is recovering from the Bay of Pigs invasion. They held off the American forces and were able to avoid the invasion. They weren’t sure if the United States would attack again. Cuba’s dictator Castro wanted to convert Cuba into communism.
The Platt Amendment of 1903 granted the United States certain power and control over Cuba as a condition for the removal of American troops after the Spanish-American War of 1898. It gave the United States the right to interfere in Cuba’s economic, military, and political affairs. The Platt Amendment was revoked in 1934 but only a few Cubans had forgotten about it. One could argue that the amendment was beneficial for Cuba because a school system was organized, finances were set in order, etc. but through the eyes of the Cubans, the United States presence was an assault to their sovereignty. America had long controlled the country’s economy that left an impression of United States hegemony. “Eighty percent of Cuban utilities… were owned by Americans prior to the Castro administration.” Forty percent of the sugar industry was also owned by Americans and they “accounted for the lion’s share of the sugar market”. Cuba lived by what the United States were willing to pay for the sugar. Due to the dominance and the presence of the United States within Cuba, Castro became the speaker of his fellow Cubans’ resentment toward the United States. As much as he can successfully paint the United States as the enemy of Cuba, the easier it is to explain the fact that Cuba’s economy was failing. The Bay of Pigs invasion was the perfect opportunity for Castro’s goals and its outcome exactly did that. It became the catalyst that spurred the destructive series of events. The long history between Cuba and the United States built up bitterness among the Cubans for so long and the failed operation gave them additional reasons to further despise the United States and enough reason for Castro to accept Khrushchev’s
The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing number of anti-American developments during the height of the cold war, including the “expropriation of United States-owned properties on the island… [and] the Soviet Union [agreeing] to purchase sugar from Cuba and to supply Cuba with crude oil” (Hass 1998, 37). Bad sentiments continued to pile up as Cuba imposed restrictions on the United States Embassy and especially when, after the United States “officially broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba, and travel by United States citizens to Cuba was forbidden ... Castro openly proclaimed his revolution to be ‘socialist’” (Hass 1998, 38). The day after this, the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred, but it failed in its job to topple Castro (Hass 1998, 38). Left with no diplomatic options and a failed military attempt, the United States decided that the only way to end Castro’s socialist regime was to sever all ties, and from 1961 to 1996, a series of acts were passed prohibiting the majority of trade and interaction with Cuba. (Hass 1998, 38).
In this paper I will examine Fidel Castro’s History Will Absolve Me speech as a tool, to illustrate the vast differences between Cuba prior to the revolution and after, in order to determine whether, if indeed, history has absolved Castro. Moreover, to completely understand the Cuban revolution, one first needs to know the cause of the revolution. Despite the multitude of personal reasons for wanting a revolution in Cuba there is generally a consensus among the Cuban people that the revolution was needed to attack the widespread discontent in Cuba towards an undemocratic government that was neglectful of its citizens.
In the long and turbulent history between Cuba and the United States, it can well be argued that Cuba did not turn out quite like its other Latin American peers. Things seemed to be on the right track in the early 1900’s, when it appeared that Cuba was destined for a future of “independence”, like its neighbour Puerto Rico and it was yet another South American nation rife with the now atypical blend of affluent American investors and poor workers usually native to the land herself. However, following a coup d’état that saw the fall of the American-backed Fulgencio Batista in favour of his social antithesis in communist Fidel Castro, the situation rapidly turned sour. The American government, finding themselves backed into a corner and unable to mold Cuba in its golden image, decided that it would be pertinent to sever all trade with Cuba.
In 1959, Fidel Castro had become the powerful leader of Cuba. Castro was a communist and became hostile to the Unite States two years after he became Cuba’s leader (Encarta). People associated with Castro had taken ownership over United States companies and Eisenhower was forced to put in place a trade embargo. Cubans during this time had gone to the United States to escape the communist leadership that Castro was imposing on people. When Eisenhower had told the CIA to train Cuban exiles, they were planning on an invasion when Kennedy became president (Encarta).
Countries that were once colonies went through various stages of evolution in order to develop economically, politically, and culturally while gaining independence. Cuba, a former colony of Spain, has changed drastically throughout the years. Although in some cases, colonialism has had a positive effect on the country in the area regarding education and health care and on the other hand, has created an economic gap between the citizens. The government, social structure, and economy in the country can be compared and contrasted throughout the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial years.
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, lasting from 1953 to 1959, imposed a communist regime onto a republic-turned dictatorial government, a change that resulted in the US trade embargo against Cuba in 1960. Fidel Castro, a prominent leader of the revolution, sought to overthrow the U.S.- backed president, Fulgencio Batista, in order to implement a communist government in Cuba. He proved victorious in this effort and further antagonized the U.S. by establishing a relationship with the Soviet Union. These developments compelled U.S. president Eisenhower to place an economic embargo on Cuba. This transformation in diplomatic relations placed Cuba in a perpetual state of poverty as it was cut off from its neighbor, the most powerful country in the world. Photographer
During the Cold War, the United States and Cuba had a rocky relationship. Turning to Communist rule after the overthrowing of Fulgencio Batista, many desperate Cubans lined up at the United States Embassy to get visas to leave their home country in hopes for a better life. According to Time Magazine’s article Why Did the U.S. and Cuba Sever Diplomatic Ties in the First Place?, “Castro later demanded that the two countries have the exact same number of staffers in their respective embassies (11), the U.S. brought its entire staff home instead” (Rothman). The United States Embassy closed its doors in Cuba early January 1961 with “…more than 50,000 visa applications on file…” (Rothman). This was also the end of all travel to the island. It has
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.
By the early 1960’s the U.S. had cut off ties with Cuba and was engaging to overthrow the Castro regime. In 1961 the Bay of Pigs Invasion, a fumbled CIA attempt to crush the government, inflamed
A revolution is no piece of cake. To make a revolution, there are a few necessary ingredients, like a reason to revolt, a well organized battle plan, and a powerful leader. Mix these all together, and there it is. A powerful Revolution. There are two specific revolutions that were very similar, and very successful. The american revolution was about the Colonists from Britain being treated unfairly from British Parliament. America was still under Britain Rule, and King George III was raising the taxes for the people for no reason. The colonists had no choice but revolt. The Cuban revolution was for a very similar cause. Ruler of cuba Fulgencio Batista was destroying Cuba’s economy, and the people were very angered by this. The organization was also very similar. And both countries got what they wanted, too. America got freedom from Britain, and Fidel Castro and his team overthrew Batista and took over the government. These two revolutions were both very effective.The Cuban Revolution and the American Revolution were both for the good of the people, and both revolts got what they wanted-a new, better government.
However, the US played a much larger role in Cuba’s past and present than the building of casinos and the introduction of the first taints of corruption. In the past, even before Batista, Americans were resented by Cubans because the Americans made a lot of Cuba’s decisions. Under Batista, 80% of Cuban imports came from the US, and the US controlled at least 50% of sugar, utilities, phones and railroads. If Cuba was a business in the stock markets, then the US would have been close to owning 50% of its shares. When combined with a long history of US-backed leaders, and US involvement, it is understandable that Cubans begrudged the Americans....