Daniel Lucatero
Humanities 4/5
Guerrero
March 4, 2009
Fidel’s Way of Winning
Whenever a car breaks down and you take it to a mechanic to get it repaired, is it really going to be worth trying to repair it knowing there is just going to be another problem after it gets fixed? What does a revolution really account for if there is going to be a different problem to deal with in the end? Most of the population in the 20th century of Cuba was against the corrupted ex-president Fulgencio Batista when “La Revolucion” was active. People of Cuba began to flee to Miami because of how bad the economy was. Was it worth getting rid of Batista if Fidel Castro was just going to create new problems for Cuba? After Castro’s victory against the infamous Batista, he began using propaganda in schools and students began dressing like soldiers to become the next working class of pioneers for their country. When propaganda was no longer effective at persuading the people to follow his leadership, Castro used a new formula to solve his problems: threaten, imprison or execute anyone who opposed him. According to Pelayo Garcia’s novel From Amigos to Friends, he shows that although the Cuban Revolution started as a popular movement supported by the people, Fidel Castro used propaganda and scare tactics to maintain his control as he lost the popular support.
Fidel Castro’s first intention as a rebel was to get corrupted Batista out of power. “Fidel Castro believed it was his mission to lead his people to a better future in which everyone had the same opportunities” (Platt, 8). The Cuban revolution began when Castro lead an attack on July 26, 1953 with 150 armed followers against the Moncada Military Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. “Guards set off an alarm and quickly captured the attackers. Castro and several dozen men escaped, but were later arrested” (Stoner). Batista’s Military brutally tortured and killed 68 of the insurgents that attacked the Moncada Military, as the rest of Castro’s followers were either arrested or escaped. Fidel was sentenced to be imprisoned for 15 years along with the rest of the Santiago’s survivors. However, he was released the following year when Batista felt confident enough to free all political prisoners after he won presidential election. Although Castro’s first steps to rebelling Batista’s government was not a successful one, it did not stop him from his mission to take Batista out of power. When Castro was released from prison along with other political prisoners they left to Mexico to plot their next attack.
Leaders like Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raul Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos and others were the ones to lead the Cuban revolution to a success. Fidel Castro was a political activist that was leading the best organized groups of anti-Batista forces to victory. Cuban people showed opposition to Batista’s governing through strikes while at the same time, there were some important armed attacks being aimed at Batista’s government. “Guevara led a troop of insurgents and attacked Santa Clara” (Stoner). On the 31st of December, Cienfuegos led a group of revolutionaries who clinched a victory in Yaguajay, Cuba. Batista was encountering an increasing amount of opposition to his governing from many places of the Cuban society. Batista, realized that his downfall was about to occur. “After his annual New Year’s Eve party, he and his closest advisers secretly boarded a plane for the Dominican Republic” (Stoner). The people of Cuba made Batista give in to the revolution and he fled Cuba. January 1, 1959 was the end of the Cuban Revolution, and the infamous corrupt Batista Fulgencio’s dictatorship. On the other hand, Castro was off to a good start with the revolution being a success and all; he thought he was leading his people of Cuba to a better way of life.
One of Castro’s first objectives after Batista Fled was to centralize control of the economy. “In March 1959, the cabinet passed the Urban Reform Law, designed to reduce or eliminate the large profits made by wealthy individuals who had amassed extensive real estate holdings in the cities” (Stoner). All large property owners were getting their lands confiscated by the government to be redistributed with all the people of Cuba. And, “other economic reforms were passed, and wage and price controls standardized wages and reduced the cost of living” (Stoner, K Lynn). So by reducing the cost of everything in Cuba, it reduced the cost of living. For example, lowering the cost of rent, food, and lifestyle appliances reduced the amount of money needed to be spent for the people of Cuba to survive. Castro meant to achieve equality for the people throughout Cuba with the Urban Reform Law.
The United States had a great deal to lose as a result of Castro’s Reforms; so, the U.S. decided that Castro needed to be removed from power. The United States CIA had plotted two approaches to overturn Castro from power. The U.S.’ first approach was to decrease the sugar quota, so that it would cause serious reduction in Cuba’s income, and worsen Cuba’s economy. In 1960, the battle went on until “October 19, [when] the U.S. Treasury Department declared a trade embargo, which stopped all commerce with Cuba except for food and medicine” (Stoner). When the sugar quota did not work the U.S. decided to go in another approach and take military action. The U.S. plan was an invasion (Air-Strike), but Castro already knew about the invasion, so he scattered his air-force to protect them from abomination. The U.S. invasion was a failure. Those in Cuba remained quiet as “approximately 100,000 people suspected of subversive activities were imprisoned or detained” (Stoner) by Castro. Castro must have felt fear of the U.S. because he began acting paranoid of anyone opposing him. This was getting the people of Cuba worked up and scared of Castro, and was helping the people answer the question,”is there still a future in Cuba for me and my family?”. (His fear of losing popularity became true.)
Cuba’s population was drastically reducing. Its people were leaving Cuba to find a better way of life; somewhere where there would be a future for their families, and escape the bad economy of Cuba. People were suffering because of the economy and had no choice then to start a new life in the U.S, “Between 1959 and 1962, more than 200,000 people, many wealthy property owners and middle-class professionals, registered for passage to the United States under the terms of the airlift agreement of November 1965. By August, when a slowdown resulted from a dispute over repatriation of some 880 families of U.S. Citizens in Cuba, approximately 35,000 Cubans had been flown to Miami” (Stoner). David and Carlos, two boys that lived in Havana during the revolution, in Pelayo’s novel, moved to Miami to escape the economy and the changes that Fidel was making. Most of the population was against the corrupted Batista when “La Revolucion” was active, but now that Cuba was going against the U.S., the economy was getting worse and worse. People were beginning to realize that there was no future in Cuba for them any longer. Castro was basically digging himself into a hole, and the people of Cuba did not like it. Many people decided to leave before Cuba got in too deep into it with the U.S.
As Fidel Castro began to realize that he was losing the people of Cuba, he began using propaganda and forced tactics to make his country believe in what he fought for. “On December 2, 1961, Castro announced that he was a Communist and would implement socialist policies in Cuba” (Stoner, K Lynn). Fidel’s act of propaganda was slowly but effectively beginning to work. Young teenagers were getting “sucked up” in to the whole propaganda scam, especially because it was becoming popular and a style at school. Luis, a young boy living in Havana in Pelayo’s novel, was dragged into the revolution because of school and his father’s influence. “At school, Luis was pressured to join the pioneers, the organization of students for the revolution. After severe peer pressure and paternal manipulations, Luis became a full-fledged Pionero, complete with uniform, which was a junior version of his father’s paratrooper uniform” (Garcia, 166). Luis was influenced by his father; someone who idolized Fidel Castro. That is how Castro’s act of propaganda was slowly but effectively beginning to work.
“Political executions occur but are rare. Cubans suppress their opinions because they fear that their dissenting views might be reported to the government. Without freedom of speech, Cubans have no opportunity to reach political consensus on issues or to choose opposition leaders” (Stoner). Castro’s fear of the U.S overcame the way he wanted to initially run Cuba and was getting him to turn Cuba into a communist government without freedom of speech, and have no opportunity to reach political consensus on issues or to choose opposition leaders.
So if your car’s motor is broken is it worth fixing it knowing the transmission is going to break down next too, would you even bother fixing it or just leave it how it is? Why would you begin a revolution knowing there is going to be little change or no change done? What does it really account for? Batista was a corrupt Dictator, but Fidel Castro is a communist, which made it hard for many people to survive and to continue living because of the encounter Cuba had with the U.S. and the embargo act and for putting the economy into a worse position then it was. The only way Fidel was maintaining his power by getting rid of anyone who opposed him: from threatening them to, imprisoning them, and even executing them. In the end, Castro’s popularity was diminished, so he maintained control by forcing people to follow his way of governing with brainwash, fear and force.
Work Cited
Cheng, Yinghong; Manning, Patrick. “Revolution in education: China and Cuba in global context, 1957-76. “Journal of World History 14.3 (Sep 2003): 359. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 25 Feb. 2009 http://www.historycenter.com/
“Communism.” Helicon Encyclopedia of World History. Abingdon/Cambridge: Helicon, 2007. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC.20 Feb. 2009 <http://www.historystudycenter.com/>
Garcia, Pelayo. From Amigos to Friends. Houston, Tex: Piñata Books, 1997.
Platt, Richard. Fidel Castro. Raintree Steck~ Vaughn, 2003.
