Castro

I. Fidel Castro – Cuba A. Conditions that produced authoritarian and single-party states. a. Pre- revolution i. Cuba successfully revolts against Spain in 1895, but U.S. steps in and places in their own government. ii. Cuba is an economic colony of the USA, Cuban leader Batista American-backed. The U.S. “returned many times to repress revolts” (Rayne). b. Revolution of 1953 i. 160 young militants attacked the Moncada barracks in Santiago. ii. Many imprisoned, tortured, Castro imprisoned and sentenced to 15 years. His brother Raul was sentenced to 13 years. c. 1955 – Castro’s exile i. In 1955, under broad political pressure, the Batista regime freed all political prisoners in Cuba – including the Castro brothers. ii. The Castro brothers joined with other exiles in Mexico to prepare a revolution to overthrow Batista. 1. Fidel met and joined forces with Ernesto "Che" Guevara during this period. d. 1956-Revolution i. Batista’s forces are not used to guerilla fighting and lose to Castro and revolutionary forces even though the latter is greatly outnumbered (Becker). B. Emergence of Castro as leader a. Original Aims and Ideology i. Originally, wanted a democracy and said “power does not interest me, I do not want it” (Quirk). ii. In 1959, however, when he was sworn in as P.M., his slogan was “revolution first, elections later” as he opposed free elections in effort to consolidate his power (Quirk). iii. Originally denied being a communist, and said that they were a democracy who opposed all dictators. b. Cold War i. Soviets saw Cuba and Castro, who had socialist tendencies already, coupled with the fact that Castro denied a meeting with Eisenhower, as an opportunity to spread communism very close to America. a. some socialist tendencies include nationalizing US property and industry, socializing health care, redistribution of property, and generally creating programs that helped the poor and alienated the rich (Uriarte). ii. Soviets seize the opportunity and sell Castro USSR oil and Castro and Nikita Khrushchev met often. C. Totalitarianism – the extent to which Castro’s consolidation of power was achieved. a. Policy i. In September 1960, Castro created [|Committees for the Defense of the Revolution], which implemented neighborhood spying in an effort to weed out "counter-revolutionary" activities (Uriarte). ii. Socialist tendencies listed above. iii. Homosexuals were locked up, tortured or killed. b. Cuban Missile Crisis i. US spy planes took pictures of Soviet Missile silos that housed nuclear weapons. a. evidence of: Cuban/ Soviet relationship, and (at least) the means to destroy the US and the world. The missiles were close enough to reach every part of the US except Seattle and some north-western/ western states. c. On May 1, 1961, Castro declared Cuba a [|socialist state] and officially created a single party state with no elections. Castro feared elections would eject him from power (Rayne). i. On the same day Castro announced to the hundreds of thousands in his audience that “the revolution has no time for elections. There is no more democratic government in Latin America than the revolutionary government. ... If Mr. Kennedy does not like Socialism, we do not like imperialism. We do not like capitalism”. d. In a nationally broadcast speech on December 2, 1961, Castro declared that he was a [|Marxist-Leninist] and that Cuba was adopting Communism (Becker).

Works Cited - Castro

Becker, Marc. PhD. Overview of the Cuban Revolution. April 19 2011. [|http://www2.truman.edu/~marc/webpages/revsfall99/cuba/] Quirk, Robert E. The Political End of President Urrutia: Fidel Castro. April 19 2011. [|http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/castro_year1/urrutia.dorticos.html] Rayne, Trevor. History of the Cuban Revolution. April 19 2011. [] Uriarte, Miren. PhD. Cuba Social Policy at the Crossroads: Maintaining Priorities,

**I.** Methods **A.** Addressed needs of people **1)** Previous ruler, Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar, established oppressive dictorial rule over Cuba through employment of force and terror.  **2)** Rallied revolutionary opposition through calls for free elections, restoration of the 1940 constitution, creation of  an honest administration, reinstatement of full civil and political liberties, and moderate reforms. **3)** Showed democratic leanings, toured the United States shortly after coming to power. **B.** Forceful overthrow  **1)** Organized small troops of guerilla fighters while in exile in Mexico, 26th of July Movement. **2)** Launched a military offensive against Batista's Cuban army in the fall of 1958, led to collapse of Batista regime on January 1, 1959. Castro and his forces would immediately take control of the capital and the country.  **3)** Oppressed political dissenters within Cuba, dealt with American threats head on. **II.** Form of government **A.** Communism **1)** Developed strong relations with the Soviet Union, which soon became the country's chief supporter and trade partner.  **2)** Openly critical of American imperialism for inflicting economic backwardness on Cuba and the rest of Latin America, would lead to severe trade restrictions on Cuba by the United States. **3)** Soviet aid enabled Castro to redistribute wealth in Cuba, introduce a free public health system, expand educational opportunities, and provide full employment. In exchange for the aid they provided to Cuba, the  Soviets hoped to use Castro's revolutionary enthusiasm to further the cause of communism on an international  scale.  **B.** Absolute Dictatorship  **1)** Castro also introduced a Soviet-style political structure; the Cuban Communist Party was the only legal political party. Press and television were heavily censored, and most businesses were owned by the state. **2)** Once established as Cuba's leader, began pursuit of more radical policies: Cuba's private commerce and industry were nationalized; sweeping land reforms were instituted; and American businesses and agricultural  estates were expropriated.  **3)** Instituted dictatorial control over all aspects of Cuba's political, economic, and cultural life. **III.** Nature, extent and treatment of opposition **A.** Single party state **1)** A newly authored constitution in 1976 created a National Assembly, which Castro would be appointed head of while also retaining post of commander in chief of the armed forces. Continued to exercise unquestioned and  total control over the government. Castro's brother Raúl, minister of the armed forces, ranked second to him in all  government and party posts.  **2)** New constitution would also allow appointment of Castro to secretary-general of the Communist Party of Cuba, the then only legal political party of Cuba. **B.** Opposition **1)** All political dissent and opposition were ruthlessly suppressed. Many members of the Cuban upper and middle classes felt betrayed by these measures and chose to immigrate to the United States.  **2)** Did not cede to trade restrictions imposed by United States. **3)** Frustrated attempts by the Cuban people to generate grassroots movements to challenge the state power from within.  4. Bay of Pigs, Cuban military quickly confronted small group of US trained-Cuban exiles, leading the whole operation to collapse within days. The victory was a major boost for Castro and a major embarrassment for the Kennedy administration. The invasion provoked demonstrations against the United States in Latin America and Europe and increased the tensions between the United States and Cuba. The event also encouraged Castro to seek military ties with the Soviet Union so he could protect his government against another attack
 * __Establishment of authorities and single party states- Fidel Castro__**