The effect Fidel Castros 1959 revolution had on Latin American countries - Essay Example

The Impact of Fidel Castro’s 1959 Revolution on Latin America The Cuban Revolution that began in 1953 and reached its peak in 1959 was not only considered the turning point of Cuban-US relations, but also of the Latin American continent as a whole. Fidel Castro, the revolution’s leader, had just earned a degree in law when US-backed Fulgencio Batista staged a coup to wrest power from the legally constituted government and outlawed the Communist Party of Cuba, abolished labor unions and forcibly restrained labor strikes that had characterised pre-1952 Cuba. The revolution that began by a failed attack against a military compound in 1953 ended in a 1959 with heroic welcome given to Castro as he entered Havana against the midst of cheering crowds, while Batista fled to another country after his forces totally crumbled in the hands of the combined forces of Castro and Che Guevarra (Brewer 119-120). In a region that was largely stymied by its very powerful and rich neighbor, the 1959 Cuban revolution became a catalyst for other Latin American countries to engage in their own revolution using the same guerilla tactics employed by Castro and company against their own governments. Although revolutions were not entirely new in the region, the Cuban revolution stood out for its radicalism and the fact that it was essentially a triumph against the United States, a country that had long controlled the small Latin country. The success of the 1959 Cuban revolution was largely attributed to the ability of Castro in exploiting anti-US sentiments nursed by Cubans after the US intervened in its independence campaign against Spain, its colonizer. Forced to sing the Platt Amendment Republic, which gave the US the right to intervene in domestic affairs, Cubans were deprived of its own sovereignty defeating the years of work that Cuban revolutionaries put into to exorcise Spanish colonization. Despite the abolition of the Platt Agreement by Franklin Roosevelt in 1934, the US continued to intervene politically in Cuba because of economic and political vested interests. Cuba’s economic dependence on the US because of most of its sugar was imported to it even made it more susceptible to US control. It was not therefore, surprising that Cubans felt resentment against the US, which Castro succeeded in exploiting (Scott 13-14). Two factors highlighted the 1959 Castro revolution in the eyes of the other Latin American countries: the success of guerilla tactics that was used by Castro to topple Batista’s government, and; the David-versus-Goliath-like defiance that accompanied Castro’s challenge against the US-backed Batista. To top all that was the style Castro adopted to show off his regime. A charismatic person with excellent speaking skills, Castro used the various forms of media to show off to Latin America the most positive effects of the revolution. In addition, Castro did not waste any day to implement his agenda by immediately nationalizing US investments, implementing a revolutionary agrarian reform program, and launching a literacy campaign that saw 271,000 volunteer students reaching out to the illiterate masses to teach reading and writing (Wright 35-36). The impact of Castro’s revolution can be gleaned from the entry of the word ‘fidelisimo’ and ‘fidelista’ into the realm of Latin American vocabulary. Castro did not only inspire revolution in Latin America, but helped it happen by sending arms and personnel to help guerilla movements forcing Latin American governments to expel Cuban diplomats, severe diplomatic ties with Cuba and even ban travel of their citizens to that country. In a region and time where dictatorships were on the wane with the demise of Peròn in Argentina, Odría in Peru, Pinilla in Colombia and Jiménez in Valenzuela, the success of the Cuban revolution threatened the existence of the remaining dictatorial regimes. These were the regimes of the Somoza family in Nicaragua, Duvalier in Haiti, Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Stroessner in Paraguay and a military-dominated regime in El Salvador. The threat brought about by the success of the Cuban revolution was, however, more apparent in the civilian governments, which outnumbered the countries under dictatorship rule (Wright 40) The success of the Cuban revolution was feared to bring about the collapse of many Latin American governments. Instabilities in varying degrees in these Latin countries resulted from the Cuban revolution. Some civilian governments attempted to preempt such an occurrence through the overthrow of their governments. In Ecuador, for example, Carlos Arosemena was overthrown as president in 1963 by a military junta and the communist party banned. That same year Guatemalan president General Fuentes was overthrown by military officers after pro-Castro rallies, guerilla movements, government sieges had rendered the country unstable and in turmoil. Honduras and the Dominican Republic were also besieged by coups that same year. Peru was besieged by land invasions, bank robberies to finance revolutions, peasant movements and the establishment of pro-Castro organizations and newspapers. In Colombia, where violence was already endemic, an increase of both urban and rural violence was seen, where an estimated 200 people died monthly. In Venezuela, US-backed Romulo Betancourt had to resort to martial law to survive pro-Castro elements. In Argentina, the already politically split country brought about by the pro and anti-Peron groups was severely more weakened by the impact of the effects of the Cuban revolution making it susceptible to a military coup in 1962. In Panama, a group of Panamanians previously exiled in Cuba invaded the country, an act that was deemed to be against the US domination of Panama due to vested interest in keeping the Panama Canal safe (Wright 42-44). Except for El Salvador, most Latin American countries with dictatorial regimes were able to subdue revolutionary elements brought about by the Cuban revolution. This was accounted to the fact that these governments had solid repressive machineries as well as few oppositions that allowed them to succeed in subduing revolutionary movements. El Salvador was the exception because the challenge came from progressive officers although their reign lasted only a few months and replaced by a rabid anti-Castro regime (Wright 44-45). Only those Latin American countries with strong institutional basis were able to weather the instability that was brought about by Castro’s 1959 revolution. In Uruguay, for example, the country stood the test of various anti and pro-Castro demonstrations, militant labor and student groups and a fidelista party called FIDEL, while cracking down on communist propaganda from Cuba. Chile, on the other hand, initially weathered the political storm brought about by the Cuban revolution, but subsequently was persuaded to elect into power a government with reformist agenda. In Mexico, despite the proliferation of new leftist groups, the government was generally spared from instability because it had the distinction as the only OAS country that did not break off diplomatic ties with Havana at the instigation of the US. Together with Bolivia and Costa Rica, Cuban revolution had little impact on these countries (Wright 42-44). The Cuban revolution had created a big impact on Latin American countries. Although revolutions were nothing new to this region in the mid-20th century, the Castro-led revolution stood out not only because of the charisma of its leader, but because of what it stood for. The 1959 Cuban revolution, in the eyes of Latin Americans, was a thorn in the US world hegemony considering that Batista was backed by the US. It was therefore, romantically seen as a triumph by a David against a Goliath. The Cuban revolution had inspired and motivated Latin Americans to go against their own governments with the thought that it is not impossible even for small groups to wage guerilla warfare against their government and succeed. Moreover, the notion that communism can survive outside of Europe in a Latin American country was a novel idea giving impetus to leftist movements to strengthen their ranks in that region. Works Cited Brewer, Stewart. Borders and bridges: a history of U.S.-Latin American relations. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. Scott, Leonard Victor. Macmillan, Kennedy, and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Political, Military, and Intelligence Aspects. Palgrave Macmillan, 1999. Wright, Thomas. Latin America in the era of the Cuban Revolution. Second Edition. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. Read More