Fidel Castro of Cuba (1959-2008) - Research Paper Example

?Running Head: FIDEL CASTRO Fidel Castro of Cuba (1959-2008) Institute Fidel Castro of Cuba (1959-2008) Fidel Castro is the formerpolitical leader of Cuba; he has served tenure of governance from 1959 to 2008. Fidel Castro is popularly known for the Cuban revolution which brought him to power largely by public support. As with all revolutions, two perceptions of Fidel Castro commonly exist in recollections – one portrays him as a heroic leader rescuing his people from the evils of social inequalities and another portrays him as a blood-thirsty lunatic hound shooting his people just to avenge the disagreement with or disobedience for his thoughts. “The seed of revolution is repression” (Wilson). When the public realizes that they are being oppressed by the laws formulated for their betterment, an uprising or rebellion is most sure to follow. However, more often revolutions are long drawn and tiring as governments refuse to let go of power and public refuses to be led into deterioration. “It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws” (Lenin). It is needless to say those in power consider the uprising as evil while those in oppression consider the powerful as evil. Fidel Castro was the son of an illiterate sugar plantation owner. His parents wanted him to get education and eventually enrolled him in a boarding school. His teachers soon realized that Castro was an intelligent student and all-rounder athlete. He graduated in Law and initiated his practice as a lawyer in Havana, the capital of Cuba (Simkin). The conditions that led to his rule stemmed from his inclination to uptake court cases of poor and oppressed individuals who could not afford to pay him adequately. Consequently, Castro was financially unstable. However, this instability and the increasing numbers of cases with poor people involved made Castro realize the injustice prevalent against the Cuban nationals (Simkin). At the time, United States had a large holding in Cuba lands in the form of business properties. Most of those benefitting from these economic activities were foreign people while the vast majority of Cuban people were forced to live in poverty or difficult conditions. Castro saw this as an abuse of Cuban resources and people and set off on his political journey to rectify this error (Simkin). Castro was able to gain control of the governance through his political and rebellious course of action. Initially, he joined Cuban People’s Party in 1947 to put in his efforts in the social revival of Cuba. The party’s motives largely attracted Castro as these were consistent with his own goals. The party pressed for reforms whereby the corruption and injustice would be rectified, unemployment and poverty catered to and obnoxiously low wages looked on for improvements. His patriotism and passion quickly brought him to the forefront of the team. His interpersonal skills made him a hero in the eyes of numerous Cuban people who supported him in his motives till the very end (Simkin). In 1952 when the elections were scheduled to be held, Castro was a member of Congress for the Cuban People’s Party. This party was the most liable to be selected for the formation of the upcoming government. However, General Fulgencio Batista intervened in the elections with the help of armed forces and took over the control of the country’s affairs. This infuriated Castro and his fellow members. He was soon seen plotting against Batista’s make-do governance. Within a year in 1953, Castro attacked the Moncada Army Barracks with the help of 123 other individuals, both men and women (Nosotro, 2010). With a compliance of only 123 individuals, Castro did not stand a chance against the organized armed forces of Batista. Soon the rebellion was suppressed with eight killings during the battle and numerous killings after that. Castro repeatedly got lucky when those individuals in charge of him continually disobeyed orders of assassinating him. The news quickly became widespread about the murder attempts being made on Castro, which further promoted his popularity and fame. Later, he was tried for civil disobedience and organizing an armed upheaval. He was found guilty and sentenced with fourteen years of imprisonment. During this time, his fame and intentions spread among the people like wildfire and Batista was eventually forced to release Castro with just two years of imprisonment (Simkin). Soon after this, Castro again became involved in organizing another armed upheaval against the governance. This time the attack was more planned and organized, taking heed from the early mishap. He and eighty of his supporters stocked arms and ammunition and proceeded to Sierra Maestra Mountain to set their base camp. During their journey they were interfered again by government military men, and the resulting skirmish allowed only sixteen men to accomplish their journey to Sierra Maestra. The ammunition was also low. The group of rebellion was demoralized (Simkin). However, their motive did not die. The remaining men raided isolated military garrisons and camps where they would engage in fire and seize their arms. The poor and working class of Cuba were in full support of Castro and his group. The government attempted to quench this upheaval by questioning masses and delivering ruthless punishments to innocent civilians symbolized as a warning for all those who dared support Castro. This brutality on behalf of Batista and his government transformed masses’ loyalty towards Castro instead. Castro’s dealings with those taken as prisoners resulting from conflicts between Castro and the government sent army was soon to be known as considerate and Castro’s army readily swelled from sixteen to three hundred people (Simkin). Soldiers from both sides took on heavy casualties. Thousands of people died during these civil battles. Castro’s popularity grew whereas Batista’s supporters shrank in numbers. United States provided Batista’s soldiers with latest technology arms and ammunition but these failed in front of Castro and his group’s courage and passion. The United States suggested Batista to hold elections thinking that Cuba’s popular support was still in favor of Batista. The resulting events shattered Batista’s confidence in totality and forced him to flee from Cuba instead (Simkin). Announcements and preparations for elections were made. However, the masses made their disapproval for the present government noted by refusing to vote at all. Instead, protests erupted. In some areas of the country, the refusal to vote was as high as 98% of the residents (Simkin). Seeing this, Castro’s confidence in people and his motives was reinforced. He descended from the Sierra Maestra Mountain and proceeded into town areas towards the capital. Batista fled the country whereas those generals left behind tried to form a coalition and establish their own governance. As anticipated, their rule was readily overthrown by Castro and on January 9, 1959, Castro was declared as the new political leader for Cuba (Nosotro, 2010). Castro’s aims and ideology for such civil rebellion had its roots in the corrupt policies of the earlier government which had placed unnecessary influence and power in the hands of United States. Cuba was proficient in producing sugar, and United States was largely the only importer of Cuban sugar. Hence Cuba’s most vital international trade was restricted to United States. In exchange, United States had immense investments in Cuba and also had the ownership of Cuba’s telephone company. The previous governments and officials were openly criticized by political opponents as accepting bribe in exchange for allowing United States to control Cuba’s national affairs. The wealth disparity in the region was high and a large proportion of poor were Cuban nationals. Social injustices prevailed and people had lost hope in governance. Castro intended to rectify the wealth disparity and to end corruption from the governance in order to have a balanced society (Simkin). As soon as Castro came to power, he indulged in rigorous policy making and implementation whereby the social inequalities in Cuba could be nullified. His economic policies included rents’ cut down for low-income people for their better sustenance. Lands in possession of Batista and his ministers were confiscated and the entire Cuban land including that in ownership of Castro himself was reapportioned among the Cuban peasants. The telephone company was nationalized and its prices also slashed down by almost fifty percent. Racial discrimination in business was abolished as the concept of separate facilities for black and white was eliminated from practice. These policies reflect true patriotism and national welfare that Castro felt for Cuba. However, these policies were exclusively centered on the poor masses of Cuba and did not take into account the interests of the rich and thriving. On the contrary, these policies turned out to be detrimental for the affording masses of Cuba which soon started migrating. The foreign investments also dropped (Nosotro, 2010). Castro’s educational reforms can be attributed for the appreciable percentage of literacy in Cuba. Castro’s educational policy was developed around the motto “If you don’t know, learn. If you know, teach.” (Cultural Orientation, 2004) He encouraged the literate individuals (which were a handful) to go in the rural areas of Cuba and give them basic knowledge of reading and writing. Before the revolution, around sixty-one percent children were out of school. Gradually after Castro’s reforms, the literacy rate of Cuba rose and illiteracy was reduced into the shadows of past (Cultural Orientation, 2004). Castro’s health reforms were also aggressive in nature, but were not welcomed with gratitude. Cuba was then a home for only 6000 doctors, most of which were practicing in Havana, the capital of Cuba and a home for the rich and affording individuals. Healthcare elsewhere in Cuba was below unsatisfactory. Castro, in his attempt to make healthcare equally available for all, announced a redistribution of doctors across the country. Even though his intentions were noble, most of the doctors retaliated and left the country in anguish. To make up for the loss, three healthcare education institutions were set up to train students in medical intricacies and healthcare providence. The alarming situation created with the heavy departure of doctors from Cuba was therefore controlled (Simkin). Another health related issue that was prevalent during earlier times was a high infant mortality rate. At the time, sixty deaths were reported on every one-thousand live births. This figure is by far the worst. However, Castro introduced free healthcare services and immunization services for all. As more people were able to access free healthcare services, the infant mortality rate improved and was eventually reduced to fifteen on every one-thousand live births. This figure is considered as the best in developing countries. With such measures taken by Castro, masses were able to acquire a better living standard both financially and medically (Simkin). Castro was also concerned about the moral well-being of Cuba’s people. At the time, casinos and night-clubs were ample and present in numerous areas. These were known to be the homes for drugs, alcohol, gambling and prostitution which Castro considered to be the major social evils. He therefore ordered these to be closed down so that social evils were eliminated from the society. Hence Castro can be considered an all-rounder in policy making, concerned with an overall well-being of Cuba’s residents and not only their apparent well-being (Simkin). No person is absolutely pure of wrong; such was the case with Castro. With the countless economic reforms stated above, Castro was specifically controversial for his treatment of opposition. He had conducted public trials of those people who were a part of Batista’s government and had killed several innocent Cuban citizens on the orders of Batista. Unfortunately for these criminals, they had managed and kept records of those assassinated and the person who committed the assassination. Through public trials, around six hundred of such people were killed. Families and relatives of those who had died unjustly at the hands of these criminals were relieved with such mass murders. Such type of delivering justice and this immense numbers of murders alarmed the international community. Several resources portray Castro as evil because he had handed out these death sentences to those involved in killings during Batista’s period. Also, public trials are considered as an inappropriate system of justice in most countries as masses tend to decide on the basis of their limited knowledge only. Castro’s dislike can be considered to have started with this step (Simkin). Furthermore, some accounts claim Castro had in fact slaughtered any person who had dared to disagree with him or had failed to obey his orders. Numerous images depict Castro and his men shooting at poor tied people. Documents state these individuals as those who had failed to obey Castro. Though the authenticity of such brutality is not evident, this fact cannot be disregarded (The Real Cuba). Castro had also refused the system of elections as he believed such competition was detrimental for the Cuban economy. All his rivals were either murdered or eliminated. No one was allowed to stay in opposition. Especially with the elimination of the political system of change, it can be said Castro did not allow opposition to be born (Simkin). Castro’s policies also included an increased conversion of dependence from the United States to Soviet Union. Such change of loyalty had also brought the two super powers in close proximity where the world awaited the eruption of a nuclear war. As most Cuban properties and businesses were nationalized, US lost an immense hold in Cuba. It retaliated by reducing its imports from Cuba, which instead of damaging the Cuban economy instead encouraged it to indulge in trade ties with the Soviet Union (Nosorto, 2010). As for the treatment of minorities, Castro’s policies do not reflect much flexibility. A Committee for the Defense of Revolution (CDR) was created during Castro’s reign which was entrusted with the responsibility to identifying the activities of all individuals in the country and also to quench any rebellious uprising that may occur. Even though the international committee regarded it as violation of human rights, the CDR continued to operate. Several political opponents were removed through CDR. Also, several innocent civilians were murdered which was one of the major reasons of no opposition during Castro’s rule (Baker). Religiously, Cuba was faced with bigger challenges. Cuba was officially declared atheist during Castro’s rule and any apparent or hidden religious practices were severely supervised and penalized. The existence of any religion was strictly restricted by forbidding the constructions of religious places, the arrival of religious leaders and any practice of religion at all. No religious material pertaining to any religion was allowed to be in possession of any person. Immense religious restrictions were placed on Cuban nationals. However, in 1992, Castro’s policies regarding religion were flexed as he was seen in proximity with Pope John Paul II. Prior to this, no religion was allowed to thrive in the region (Baker). The biggest and probably the only massive improvement brought about during the reign of Castro was regarding the status of women in the country. Castro had brought women equal to men with respect to all aspects. Equal employment and reward system was established for both genders. Both genders had equal access to health and education. Women were given additional rights by law regarding decision of family (abortion, birth control etc.). Federation of Cuban Women was created which has been active in political concerns of the country. Social security was made equally important for both genders. In short, women were truly and absolutely brought in complete equality with men (Baker). On the whole, Castro’s policies can be regarded as more detrimental for the country and Cuban nationals. His economic policies had failed as claimed by himself (Carroll, 2010). In reality, provision of free education and healthcare services had immensely reduced the quality of both resulting in enormous damages. At times, these services were not quite delivered for free. The financial positions of Cuban nationals also deteriorated with the immigration of businesspeople outside Cuba. As businesses suffered, less employment opportunities were left for Cuban nationals and eventually their minimum wages became impossible to achieve. Most everyday commodities became too expensive to be afforded by these individuals (Clark). With the relentless and record murders of people and mass migrations outside Cuba that occurred during Castro’s reign, it can be said that Cuba’s current population is half than what prevailed before his reign. Additionally, Castro also lost its experienced and capable medical practitioners leading to lethal medical care provided to Cuban nationals. Castro’s policies regarding the opposition and minorities were extremely harsh. Not only this, the religious groups also suffered massively at the hands of Castro’s policies. The only reason Castro was not met with a revolution or rebellion during his rule is because he had put in exclusive efforts to subdue it. Castro’s popularity had steeped downwards during his rule, almost turning into hatred by most people. Also, his increased dependence on Soviet Union was met with disaster when the Soviet Union disintegrated in the 1980s and the aid Cuba had been receiving from the Soviet Union stopped. The economic downfall which started during the beginning of Castro’s rule continued to deteriorate throughout his rule and specifically deteriorated by the Soviet Union’s disintegration. The economic conditions of Cuba deteriorated to such an extent that Castro retired from his rule in 2008 and handed over his governance to his brother Raul Castro (BBC). The only positive achieved during Castro’s reign was the improvement in the status of women in Cuba. The rest of his policies failed to achieve their noble intentions in entirety. Instead, Castro’s policies have descended Cuba to new levels of deterioration and dismay. References Wilson, W. (n.d.). Revolution. Brainy quotes. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/woodrowwil140790.html Lenin, V. (n.d.). Revolution. Brainy quotes. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/vladimirle163265.html Simkin, J. (n.d.). Fidel Castro. Spartacus educational. Retrieved from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDcastroF.htm Nosotro, R. (2010). Fidel Castro. Hyper history. Retrieved from http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b4fcastro12am.htm Cultural Orientation (2004). “The Cuban education system”. Cal.org. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/co/cubans/edu.htm Baker. (n.d.). Castro’s domestic policies (Part 2). Treatment of minorities and religious groups – Part II. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ABpuouwour4J:www.mrbaker.org/Castro's%2520Domestic%2520Policies%2520-%2520Part%25202.ppt+&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg0xqpTjV2qipLJrfgPs6ckvpHWunK_ron06WdyL0RjUquMOi6sE7NEu3mCY6fvWhU9Sm--1WkcHoJisXoTxw7hmAY5ttGNhA1PisfmEY2lNZJBKh-APBYcQYK__1-xM7L0HR3_&sig=AHIEtbQiD-ekUOzRqbxocElxtLsNR9S3IQ&pli=1 The Real Cuba. (n.d.). The infamous firing squad. The real Cuba. Retrieved from http://www.therealcuba.com/page5.htm BBC. (n.d.). Fidel Castro. BBC History. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/castro_fidel.shtml Clark, J. (n.d.). Fidel Castro. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/02/fidel-castro/6692/ Carroll, R. (2010). Fidel Castro says his economic system is failing. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/09/fidel-castro-cuba-economic-model Read More