Castros Foreign Policy and his Relation with U.S - Research Paper Example

Then, after the country is formed or has become independent, the leaders will have to play different constructive roles. In the course of world history, while playing these constructive roles, some leaders have succeeded, continuing their good work; however certain other leaders did not perform those roles in an optimal manner raising criticisms from various quarters. Fidel Castro, Cuba’s National leader belongs to the second category of leaders. That is, as a revolutionary, he overthrew a dictatorship regime giving a lot of hope to the Cuban people, however could not continuously carry out constructive and developmental activities, first as the Prime Minister and then as the President. So, this paper will discuss how Castro by leading the Cuban Revolution became the country’s leader, raising a lot of hopes and how he could not fulfill those expectations.

As his father was previously married and did not recognize his marriage to Castro’s mother, Castro taking his mother’s name as the surname spent most of his childhood in foster homes and Catholic boarding schools, finishing high school at a Jesuit school in Havana in 1945. After his father married his mother, when he was 15 years old, he started using his father’s name Castro as his surname. Then in late 1945, Castro joined the law school at the University of Havana and it is there, he was introduced to anti-Americanism. The unasked for the intervention of the U.S. in Cuba in 1898 and the resultant negative impacts on the Cuban society because of the heavy U.S. presence, created ill-will against the U.S. in Castro’s mind. That is, U.S. presence led to the concentration of wealth only in the hands of foreigners and upper-class lighter-skinned Cubans with Spaniard ancestry, depriving the dark-skinned Cubans, and this created increased tension among the classes and growing anti-American sentiments. This social, gender and geographical stratification set the groundwork for Fidel Castro’s rise to power and the eventual success of his Communist revolution. That is, in 1947, Castro joined the Cuban Peoples Party under the mentorship of Eduardo Chibas, as he preached socialism and concepts of social justice with anti-American sentiments. However, when Chibas died and with Fulgencio Batista's presidency (acquired through military coup) exhibiting dictatorship and corruption, Castro abandoning his law practice, formed an underground movement with his friends to overthrow the Batista government.

Castro’s rise as a revolutionary leader

On July 26, 1953, Castro and his group of rebels attacked the Moncada barracks, Batista’s largest military barrack outside Santiago de Cuba, while another group of 27 attacked the Bayamo barracks, in what Castro considered as the beginning of the revolution. However, Castro was caught but was not executed due to the compassionate behavior of one of the military officers, who was also his college friend.  He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1953 but was released in 1955 due to the general amnesty given by Batista, who was under political pressure to do so. After release, Castro went to Mexico, we're reuniting with the rebels, formed the 26th of July Movement. While in Mexico City only, he first met Argentinean revolutionary Che Guevara, the proponent of guerilla warfare. Then, Castro toured the U.S. in an effort to raise support and funding for the continuation of the revolution. Upon return to Cuba in 1956 and due to the resultant defeats, he was forced to flee into the Sierra Maestras where they continued to launch guerilla attacks and provide organization to the growing revolution. In 1957, Castro composed a manifesto promising to adhere to the 1943 electoral standards and importantly facilitating the restoration of a representative government within a year and a half of taking power. “We are fighting to do away with dictatorship in Cuba and to establish the foundations of genuine representative government” (). So, with growing public support, he launched an intensive guerilla campaign throughout the countryside. With the failure of Batista’s Operation Verano to dismantle them, Santa Clara fell to Castro’s men in 1958, with Batista fleeing Cuba.