The Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro, was a complex political, social, and economic movement that lasted from 1953 to 1959. One of the most significant factors that led to Castro's rise to power was the country's economic issues. In this essay, we will explore the reasons behind the economic issues in Cuba, how they contributed to the revolution, and the measures that Castro took to address them.
In the 1950s, Cuba was heavily reliant on sugar exports, which accounted for 80% of the country's foreign exchange earnings. The sugar industry was dominated by large American corporations, which controlled the land, the mills, and the transportation infrastructure. This left Cuban farmers and workers with little control over their livelihoods and left the economy vulnerable to fluctuations in the
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This led to widespread poverty, inequality, and social unrest.
The economic issues in Cuba created a perfect storm of discontent, and Castro capitalized on this by leading a revolution against the corrupt government. His message of social justice and economic equality resonated with the Cuban people, who were fed up with the status quo.
Once in power, Castro implemented a series of economic reforms aimed at addressing the root causes of the country's economic issues. One of the first measures he took was the nationalization of the sugar industry, which had previously been controlled by American corporations. This allowed the government to take control of the industry and use the profits to invest in the country's infrastructure and social services.
Castro also implemented land reforms, redistributing land to small farmers and peasants who had previously been marginalized by the large landowners. This gave them greater control over their livelihoods and helped to address the inequalities in the country's agricultural
They treated the Cubans with a lack of care for their well-being as their treated their own minority populations. As discussed in class during this time if one was not White, they were automatically Black and treated as such. As highlighted in the previous section, under the rule of Batista the Cuban population suffered socially and economically because America granted unlimited access and did not want to mess up a “good
The Spanish managed to calm the insurgency by promising refoms, but change was slow in coming slavey was not abolished until 1886 (schoolworkhelper.net). The worldwide depressioin of 1890s hit cuba hard because it was a one market econoy which was sugar and suffered more because of the American tariff act, which hiked the rate on Cuban sugar by 40 perent and this cutted off Cuban sugar grower from their biggest buyer (us.history.org). A Spanish general, General Valeriano Weyler, was sent to stop the revolts in Cuba. He put much of the Cubam population in concentration camps using violence in order to stop the Cuban revolution. In total, 100,000 Cubans died in the concentration camp including women and children.
After this, he pushed for women's rights, and the ability for them to vote. After, he delt with most of the Colt War Problems that rose up. It started with Fidel Castro, a communistic
Introduction: Cuba from 1959 was a Dictatorship under the control of Fidel Castro. Castro’s Cuba was a communist Cuba, he nationalised all the companies that America owned and made them Cuban, as well as finding friendship in the Soviet Union, leading to the Americans to enforce a trade embargo with hopes of it forcing Cuba into becoming a democracy and not a communist state which many believed to be the reason behind the Cuban Missile Crisis between America, Cuba and the Soviet Union in 1962. Fidel Castro’s rule started off in 1959 by benefitting the people; in the first years he increased the literacy rate to a state where illiteracy was virtually eradicated, he abolished legal discrimination, provided full employment, electricity to the
The Cuban Revolution was of great significance to the U.S. because it put Fidel Castro in power as a communist dictator in Cuba and contributed to the Soviet Union’s power during the Cold War. Castro went against everything that represented democracy and basic human rights, meaning that the U.S. was challenged by his role and meant to overthrow him and keep him out of
People like Castro are jerks and are very forceful, bad leaders. Castro canceled elections, forced non-communists to resign from the government in disgrace, worked secret arms deals with the Soviets, carried out mass executions live on the TV’s, shut down the free press, attacked the church and confiscated its property, tortured critics, criminalized private commercial transactions and blanketed all of Cuba with the enduring terror of his dictatorship. A bad leader is a big push factor that made Mario Loyola and his family leave Cuba and go to the
Throughout history the inferiority of women has been prevalent for hundreds of years, and some countries tried to close the gap, one of them being cuba which ensued, following the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista, Fidel Castro now began to implement his vison for Cuba based off of his communist ideologies. Like Mao Zedong in China Castro looked towards women being one of the groups for support in Cuba. By 1990 many had felt that women’s lives had been changed for better, and now were able to partake in learning and jobs that weren’t available to them before the revolution; however others argued that more had to be done to remove the fragments of patriarchy that had still existed; Although it appeared the revolution had advanced the equality for women in
For a long time, Cuba has brought the entire world many topics of conversation. The time period of 1909-1924 specifically, brought many conflicts to Cuba politically, socially and economically. During the years of 1909-1924 Cuba made huge political changes that affected their society today both negatively and positively. The first thing that affected Cuba politically occurred on January 28th, 1909.
After mistreatment under the Spanish, Cubans expected their freedom which meant being able to be an independent country, however in turn they received more governance from the U.S. When Cuba was colonized by America, they had no say in the government and how they were being treated by the U.S, this went against America's ideal of representative democracy and freedom. Cubans were being treated like little children who were unable to support themselves, America painted the idea that Cubans needed America to take care of and watch over them. When America decided to take
The new Cuban government confiscated American-owned private property and tried to incite Communist revolutions in other Latin American countries. Castro accused the US of undermining his government, leading Congress to pass legislation in June 1960 enabling President Eisenhower to take retaliatory measures, including cutting off sugar purchases from Cuba and imposing an embargo on all exports except for food and medicine. In January 1961, just before President John F. Kennedy's inauguration, Eisenhower broke diplomatic ties with Cuba. (Schaff,
Under Castro’s rule, there were a lot of positive outcomes and disadvantages as well. Some of the positive outcomes were that he brought light to the countryside, and provided health care, employment, and education to citizens. The disadvantages of Castro’s rule were
U.S. manufacturers can sell their products to the markets of these countries and can invest in the resources available. Cuba was an especially sought after territory because it provided a vast market, an investment territory, and a cultural outpost for Americans (Paterson 348). Due to its economic and political influence in the region, the U.S. had a hand in the affairs of many Latin American countries. In the late 1800s, sixty-four percent of Guatemala’s trade was managed by the U.S. (Paterson 346). While this may appear to be a generous gesture, their involvement was conducted with minimal consent from the country they controlled.
The Cuban Revolution had many lasting impacts. One area that was greatly influenced from 1959 to 1990 was gender relations. From the start to the end of the revolution women in Cuba faced many difficulties in gaining civil rights, some people were against it while others fought fiercely for equality, but in the end the quality of these women's lives were changed for the better. Before and during the revolution, Cuban Women were treated unequally and some of the population saw this as a problem and others did not. Throughout this time many people were against women's rights, even women themselves.
Castro pushed education for his people to assist his aim in creating a well-rounded Cuba. In politically, economically, and socially declining environments, Joseph Stalin and Fidel Castro both gained power and attempted to bring the change the people so desperately
Nothing changed things got worse and worse and worse. Cuba remained the same as it did earlier with Batista; a poor country in debt whose livelihood depends on sugar production. At first the United