Fulgencio Batista Government: The Rise Of The Cuban Revolution

Under the Fulgencio Bastista government Cuba suffered from immense poverty. Poor education and healthcare contributed to the country’s poverty and many people were unhappy. On July 26th Fidel Castro launched a revolutionary movement that eventually led to him obtaining power of the Cuban government. Under Castro’s government, relations with the United States were strained. The Bay of Pigs and the Helms-Burton Act of 1992 were two major events that took place regarding the United States and Cuba. The Special Period was a period in the early to mid-1990’s that was similar to a U.S. depression. This transformed society and during this period, many people fled Cuba for the U.S. Because Castro’s government focused on the greatest good, for
the people, I feel that it was good.
Fulgencio Batista was a Cuban army officer who took command of the military before rising to the presidency, from 1940-1944 and later made himself dictator from 1952-1958.
He also held a great deal of national influence from 1933 to 1940, although he did not at that time hold any elected office. Batista is perhaps best remembered as the Cuban president who was overthrown by Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Under the Bastista government Cuba suffered from poverty. Poor education and healthcare contributed to the country’s immense poverty and many people were unhappy. During Batista’s rule, the people in government were the only citizens of Cuba with the power to excel and prosper financially. As was common in Central America, the U.S. was always involved and as a result, the majority of the country’s money and resources belonged to their government. The production of sugar was one of the main sources of income for the Cuban population. A lot of the land in Cuba was owned by the U.S. The U.S. purchased over half of the Cuban sugar production, controlled over 40% of the sugar 80% of Cuba’s
imports.
On July 26, 1953 Fidel Castro helped lead a failed rebel attack that resulted in the immediate capture, torture and execution of 68 of the attackers and the two year imprisonment of Castro. Later, in December 1956 (after he was released from prison) Fidel Castro and 82 of his rebel followers landed in Cuba on the “Granma” and attacked the government. This attack resulted in a government takeover that would lead to his obtaining power of the Cuban government (around 250,000 people left Cuba for the U.S.). Under Castro’s communist government, relations with the U.S. were strained and in 1959 the Eisenhower administration instructed U.S. refineries in Cuba to not refine Soviet crude oil. In 1960 Cuba retaliated and nationalized the refineries. Eisenhower cancelled the Cuban sugar quota for the rest of the year, and in exchange for $100 million in credits and low priced crude oil, Cuba agreed to sell the Soviets one million tons of sugar.
The Special Period occurred when The Soviet Union broke up and as a result, all ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union were broken.
Because the USSR was a major source of income for Cuba, the Cuban population suffered and society was greatly transformed. Major life changes let to approximately 7,000 people fleeing Cuba for the U.S. In 1992 Congress passed the Helms Burton Act, an act that banned trade with Cuba and allowed U.S. citizens to sue foreign corporations who profited from trade or investment with companies that conducted business with Cuba. The Bay of Pigs was a failed U.S. attempt to invade Cuba and push Castro from
power.
Castro established a system of free education, health and child care, social security benefits and subsidized housing. Cuba had the most equal distribution of income in all of the Americas. The country of Cuba is still run under Fidel Castro’s form of government rule today. Much can be said for Castro’s form of government and because it focused on the greater good for the people, overall I feel that it was good.