For many years the bearded, green fatigue-clad figure of Fidel Castro was a symbol of political revolution in the Western Hemisphere. The premier--and, later, president of Cuba--Castro led the rebellion that drove out oppressive dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Castro has become known as one of the last outspoken advocates of Communism. While Eastern European nations embraced Democratic political systems in the early 1990s, Castro's policies remained firmly grounded in Communist theory.Fidel Castro was born on Aug. 13, 1926, on his family's sugar plantation at Mayari in Oriente Province. As a boy he worked in the sugar fields. He attended Jesuit schools and Belen College in Havana. Castro entered the University of Havana in 1945. In 1947 he played a minor role in an attempted overthrow of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. He escaped capture and returned to the university to study law, receiving his degree in 1950. In 1948 Castro married Mirta Diaz Balart. They had one son, Fidel. Castro's wife divorced him in 1955.
As a Havana lawyer, Castro defended the poor, the oppressed, and people who were in political difficulties. In 1952 he was a candidate for the Cuban Congress, but Batista canceled the elections. Convinced that the time had come to act against the regime, Castro and his brother Raul used their own money to buy guns for about 150 cohorts. On July 26, 1953, they made a vain assault on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The Castros were sent to prison. Out of this revolt came the name of Castro's organization, The 26th of July Movement. An edited version of his self-defense at his trial was to become Castro's major statement during the 1950s. Known by its concluding words, "History Will Absolve Me," the document called for greater political and civil liberties.
The Castros were released in 1955. As exiles in New York City and in Mexico, they reorganized their forces. In 1956, with about 80 rebels, they landed in Oriente Province. They were attacked, and most of them were killed.
The survivors, including the Castros, escaped into the mountains. For the next two years they waged guerrilla warfare. The guerilla's were supported by the farmers and common workers. Food and supplies were often set out at night for the guerilla scouts to pick up. The revolution gained increasing popular support and Batista fled from Cuba in January 1959, Castro and his army entered Havana.
Castro new regime was not accepted by the US administration. Many of the US Administration's key figures and supporters held large investments in US companies doing business in Cuba. Castro took over property owned by United States nationals. The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba on Jan. 3, 1961. In April 1961 anti-Castro Cuban exiles backed by the United States government invaded Cuba in an attempt to overthrow the regime. Castro led the forces that defeated them at the Bay of Pigs. The US situation worsened. Castro needing world recognition found himself being solicited by the Soviets looking to gain foothold in this hemisphere.
In the fall of 1962 an international crisis arose over the presence of Soviet long-range missiles and bombers in Cuba. Castro was not directly consulted during the negotiations between United States president John F. Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. After Khrushchev agreed to remove the armaments, Castro refused to allow any inspection team to enter Cuba. In December Castro released 1,113 prisoners taken at the Bay of Pigs in return for American food and drugs. Castro allowed thousands of Cubans to migrate to the United States in the mid-1960s, late 1970s, and early 1980s. In other actions he sent troops to Angola in its war of independence and in the 1980s supported guerrillas in El Salvador and the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. The Castro regime has maintained popular support througout Cuba. The revolution brought many positive changes to the island nation. Education is mandatory and health care is provided by the govt. Cuba's infant mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world.
[Cuba Net]
Post a Comment