Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba for 49 years from 1959-2008, was an extremely controversial leader who transformed Cuba into a communist state. In that time he has created staunch supporters among his people, along with major opposition, including wealthy Cubans and the United States. He successfully consolidated power over those 49 years and beyond, as he passed on power to his brother after leaving the presidency. However, his tenure also stenched of human rights abuses, arresting opponents, defectors and such. This brings me to my big question: Was Fidel Castro an effective leader? I will address both sides of this question, but believe that Fidel Castro was an effective leader for Cuba, as he successfully consolidated power, stabilized Cuba
His reign withstood the Bay of Pigs invasion, when the US tried to invade Cuba to get Castro out of power, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US, who Cuba had been dependant on under previous regimes, cutting off all ties and enforcing an embargo, the collapse of his allies, the Soviets, and more. Over the course of the embargo, Cuba has lost over $28.6 billion in trade, and yet Castro and Cuba have stayed strong to the nationalist, anti-imperialist policies. Obviously, Castro isn’t very popular here in America, but for what he was trying to do with Cuba, for his agenda and no one else’s, he was an extremely effective leader when it came to keeping out foreign powers and continuing with his nationalist views and
Cuba is 99.8% literate, which is 8th in the world, while youth literacy is at 100%. In Cuba, they had 6 deaths under age 5 per 1,000 births between 2005 and 2010, while the US had 8 per 1,000. Furthermore, Cuba has a life expectancy equal to first world countries around the world, such as the US and the UK. All of this is despite the fact that Cuba is still a relatively poor, impoverished country. It is a testament to Castro pushing education and healthcare as important issues to him, and it is another sign that he was an effective leader for
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).
Cesar Chavez was an effective leader for many reasons, but mostly it was because he never gave up. Chavez was born on his grandfather’s farm during the Great Depression. When he was still young, his family lost their farm and became migrant workers meaning they had to move many times. Chavez attended 36 schools up until eighth grade when he dropped out of school to help his family out with the farming. While he worked in the farms, he was exposed to the hardships of farm life. Since then, Chavez decided that he did not want anyone else that was a farm worker to experience the same things he did. He wanted to follow in the steps of Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi to protest in a nonviolent way.
“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.
There may be some question over Fidel Castro’s achievements in providing economic success, or democracy to Cuba in the last forty five years or so. However Cuba’s record on providing egalitarian health care and education to the masses have generally been agreed as a success story, even by Castro’s old enemy the United States. “To be educated is to be free,” (Marti in Marshall, 1987, p146) has become one of the more popular revolutionary slogans and has been greatly adhered to by Castro’s government. While health care is articulated in the 1975 Cuban constitution as being “the right of all and the responsibility of the state” (Feinsilver, 1993, p26). The social political stance of Castro’s government has been the driving force behind the success in health care and education. Issues such as housing, employment, health care and education are viewed as a basic human right and are in theory guaranteed by the state to all. In Cuba, health care indicators are also seen as a measure of the government’s efficiency and performance. Other socialist states that have come and gone over the last century have also professed to put these issues at the forefront of priority. States such as Russia and China have to a lesser or greater degree failed to provide the standard of services provided in Cuba. “Until 1969 China’s health care system served only the urban population, which represented about 15 percent of the total population” (Feinsilver, 1993, p2). There are certainly factors that make this comparison unfair but Cuba’s achievements in providing these social services are still quite remarkable given its economic position. By truly placing education and healthcare as one of the fundamental priorities of the revolution, and developing specific programs and initiatives to deal with these two social issues, Cuba managed to succeeded where others more wealthy nations failed. The use of popular participation and central government control also were powerful tools in implementing these social policies. It would now be useful to look at some of these initiatives that have been taken by the Cuban government that enabled it to equal if no surpass education and health standards in many developed countries.
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
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.
Castro implemented additional significant social-economical polices which further more increased his popularity with in the public order, such as attempts towards improving health care, medical facilities, and tourism, but mostly highlighting the importance of education by drastically transforming the Cuban educational system. Achieving an extraordinary change required Castro to start the “1961 literacy campaign” which called for raising the literacy rate percentage in the Cuban society, by allowing education and it’s equipment free of charge, building schools, increasing the amount of teachers per student, and making it available to all ages who desired to peruse education. These reforms where a major increase in Castro’s popularity. “The quality of life lies in knowledge”- Fidel Castro (The Right Priorities: Health, Education, and Literacy. PBS.o...
... the majority of which sought refuge in the United States. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba now stands at a crossroads. The battle cry has changed from “ Socialism or death to Resist, struggle and win” (Castro’s Cuba II). Hopefully, Castro and/or Cuba will not be forced into a market-based economy and all the materialistic commodities that go along with capitalism. In my opinion, Castro should hold out for as long as possible griping to the former battle cry “Socialism or death”. Only time will tell what the fate of Castro’s Cuba will be. Trade might once again flourish the economy, tourism might open up new economic opportunities and foreign investments from Italy, France and Spain could possibly dig Cuba out the current economic hole it’s in. Until then however, the battle against capitalism must not lose any of its vigor.
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.
Cuba is an island located in the Caribbean Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida. Before the revolution, Cuba was stepping foot into democratic territory, allowing the people more freedom and respect for human rights. Fidel Castro, the future leader of Cuba, had other plans, soon to be assuming leadership of Cuba. He revolted against the current Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Though it was not successful the first time around, Castro took power of the government from Fulgencio. Soon after, Cuba became communist country under Castro’s rule, thus severing ties with the United States. The majority of Cubans did not want communism yet, it brought more order and less civilian crimes. Despite the U.S government’s wishes, Cuba’s leaders chose to become a communist country versus a democratic one, however it was more beneficial for the people of Cuba.
Whether it 's for the music, people or food, Cuba is a popular and interesting place to visit. Cuba is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. At 42,426 square miles, Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and the 105th largest country in the world. Cuba has a population of 11.1 million. Out of that 11.1 million, Havana is home to 2.1 million (Nation Facts). The official language of Cuba is Spanish, but English and French are spoken throughout the country. The most practiced religion of Cuba is Roman Catholicism, but a large number of people follow the Afro-Cuban and Protestant religions. The president of Cuba is currently Raúl Castro, which is Fidel Castro 's brother. The currency of Cuba is the Cuban peso (Cuba).
2. Not only were they simple and direct, but they were more dependable than the media. While similar, Cuban leaders used propaganda in different ways. Fidel Castro used pirate radio broadcasts, public displays and interviews to make his army seem bigger and more powerful than it was.
In 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution and rose to power in Cuba. William Appleman Williams explain that Castro stated that the problem of education is one of the problems that he would take immediate steps to resolve. (Williams n.d.) Therefore, one of the social policies Castro implemented when he rose to power was his Education Reform Policy. The peak of this policy was in 1961, which Ernesto Guevara dubbed the “year of education”.
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.