Cuba

CUBA, an Island in More Ways than One. (1945-1990)

**1953** - Fidel Castro leads an unsuccessful revolt against the Batista regime. **1956** - Castro lands in eastern Cuba from Mexico and takes to the Sierra Maestra mountains where, aided by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, he wages a guerrilla war. **1958** - The US withdraws military aid to Batista. Triumph of the revolution **1959** - Castro leads a 9,000-strong guerrilla army into Havana, forcing Batista to flee. Castro becomes prime minister, his brother, Raul, becomes his deputy and Guevara becomes third in command. **1960** - All US businesses in Cuba are nationalised without compensation. **1961** - Washington breaks off all diplomatic relations with Havana. The US sponsors an abortive invasion by Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs; Castro proclaims Cuba a communist state and begins to ally it with the USSR. **1962** - Cuban missile crisis ignites when, fearing a US invasion, Castro agrees to allow the USSR to deploy nuclear missiles on the island. The crisis was subsequently resolved when the USSR agreed to remove the missiles in return for the withdrawal of US nuclear missiles from Turkey. Organisation of American States (OAS) suspends Cuba over its "incompatible" adherence to Marxism-Leninism. **1965** - Cuba's sole political party renamed the Cuban Communist Party. **1972** - Cuba becomes a full member of the Soviet-based Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. Interventions in Africa **1976** - Cuban Communist Party approves a new socialist constitution; Castro elected president. **1976-81** - Cuba sends troops first to help Angola's left-wing MPLA withstand a joint onslaught by South Africa, Unita and the FNLA and, later, to help the Ethiopian regime defeat the Eritreans and Somalis. **1980** - Around 125,000 Cubans, many of them released convicts, flee to the US.
 * //__ Timeline: __//**
 * 1952 ** - Batista seized power again and presides over an oppressive and corrupt regime.
 * 1982 ** - Cuba, together with other Latin American states, gives Argentina moral support in its dispute with Britain over the Falkland islands.
 * 1988 ** - Cuba agrees to withdraw its troops from Angola following an agreement with South Africa.

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(Youtube.com)

I n 1952 [|__Fulgencio Batista__] seized power over Cuba, his reign was cut short though thanks to a man by the name [|__Fidel Castro__]. Castro wanted full dictatorial control over Cuba, therefore by 1959 he marched approximately “9,000 guerrilla army men into Havana, forcing Batista to flee” out of power. Castro became Cuban prime minister shortly thereafter, with brother, Raul, his deputy in command. In October of 1962, nearly ten years after Fidel Castro came into power, what is known today as the [|__Cuban missile__] crisis ignites by dint of the 1959 conflict between Cuba and America. "The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict (history.gov)". Following this major event was what is known today as the [|__Bay of Pigs Invasion__]. U.S sponsors decided to invade Cuba in hopes of taking out Castro via sending Cuban exiles (1,500) into the country. This secret operation was lead by American President J.F.K and the CIA. It was a major failure, which resulted in thousands of Cubans exiles blood being spilt. Because of U.S engagement, Castro proclaimed Cuba a communist state and began to ally himself with the [|__USSR__]. By “1972 Cuba becomes a full member of the Soviet-based Council for Mutual Economic Assistance’’. An embargo against Cuba was placed by America, restricting Cuba’s ability to prosper, and in 1988 Cuba intervenes into Angola in response to South African invasion.
 * //__ Historical Background: __//**


 * //__ I __//****//__ nteractive Site: __//** How would you have handled the Cuban Missle Crisis?

http://edsitement.neh.gov/student-resource/cuban-missile-crisis-interactive


 * //__ Interactive Site: __//** Quiz time!!! on the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

http://www.ducksters.com/history/cold_war/bay_of_pigs_questions.php

Up until 1940, “Cuba had a multiparty electoral system as late as President [|Fulgencio Batista] staged a coup with military backing on March 10, 1952 (wikipedia.org)”. Cuba then became an authoritarian regime once Castro took control of the country. There became a restriction in “fundamental freedoms, repressed political opponents, and violated human rights (state.gov)”. The "ramifications" of these repressions prompted the United States to impose an embargo on Cuba in 1960. With the U.S instatement of this embargo, Cuba was not receiving the supplies it needed to thrive and prosper. Both economically and politically, for a while, Cuba became quite poor and in debt, Cuban people left homeless and starving. Thankfully by 1961, the Cuban Government moved more toward the adoption of a [|__one-party communist system. __] thinking it may improve the country’s economic suffrage.
 * //__ Government Change: __//**

(Fulgencio Batista)

(Fidel Castro speaking in Havana, 1978)



With Fidel Castro’s dictatorial reign still in motion [|__political executions__] became more and more common in Cuban society. “ Death sentences from 1959-87 numbered 237 of which all but 21 were actually carried out (wasatch.edu)”. The Cuban Government justified such measures on the “grounds that the application of the death penalty in Cuba against war criminals and others followed the same procedure as that seen in the trials by the Allies in the [|__Nuremberg trials__] (wasatch.edu)”. Many of the Cuban people decided to take matters into their own hands. Due to all the violence that upheld throughout this time, the number of citizens in Cuba dramatically decreased within a forty-year period. Immigration to the United States from"1959 through 1993 was about 10% of the current population. Some 1.2 million Cubans had sought [|__refuge__] in the Americas (wasatch.edu)".
 * //__ Social Movements/Cultural Elements: __//**



Education had become government run by 1961. The Government had managed to “nationalize all private educational institutions and introduced a state-directed education system (myanmarstudyabroad.org)”. The system in which education was run constantly monitored the political opinions of students, continuously getting criticized for [|__political indoctrination__]. The government began “prohibiting any private alternatives to the state-directed education system and for limiting the power of parents to influence their children's education (wikipedia.org)”.
 * //__ Education: __//**



Cuban economy remained stable throughout the 1950s, “consumption of foreign imports, particularly North American products, increased dramatically from $515 million in 1950 to $777 million in 1958 (coldwarstudies.com)”. Cuba at the time, was still subject to U.S. trade sanctions, “the United States remained Cuba’s largest supplier of food (state.gov)”. Although by the early to mid 1960’s, it was quite a roller coaster for the Cuban economy, in April of 1960, thanks to soviet ties oil began to arrive. Instantly thriving prosperity throughout the country and its people. Though this success was short lived, by “June 7 U.S. oil companies in Cuba refuse to refine Soviet oil. Within the next month Texaco, Esso, and Shell oil refineries will be nationalized (pbs.org)”. In response the U.S. Congress eliminates Cuba's remaining sugar quota. Resulting in their cut of 700,000 tons of sugar by American [|__President Eisenhower__], damaging their economic stature severely. Protests began to break out amongst the different classes of people; social frustration, economic loss, political anger and the rationing of food began to sweep the nation. In 1961, approved by [|__President Kennedy__], the United States decided to place a __ __embargo__ __upon Castro, also known among Cubans as "el bloqueo" or "the blockade." This particular embargo consisted “ of economic sanctions against Cuba and restrictions on Cuban travel and commerce for all people and companies under US jurisdiction (cuba-embargo.procon.org). The sanctions harmed both US economy and Cuban citizens, preventing opportunities to promote change and democracy in Cuba. As the Embargo prolonged, U.S began to seize assets ranging “from $6.4 to $20.1 billion (cuba-embargo.pro.com.org)” from Cuban government. Resulting in economic failure and people’s suffrage with hunger and starvation for Cuba could not afford to feed its people. This embargo left its permanent mark on the country of Cuba, even to this day.
 * //__ Economic Developments: __//**



(President John F. Kennedy) (U.S embargo isolating the Cuban main lands)

On November 4, 1975, Fidel Castro decided to send Cuban troops into Angola in response to the South African invasion of the country. This accounted as a large-scale military intervention by Cuba in supporting Angola and The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led by [|__Agostinho Neto. __] Also included in the conflict was The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) led by [|__Holden Roberto__], which had strong ties to the U.S. The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) led by [|__Jonas Savimbi__]. The crisis in Angola developed during the Cold War as the superpowers and their allies “delivered military assistance to their preferred clients (history.state.gov)”. The MPLA had long-established relations with Fidel Castro’s Cuba. “Before November 11, the MPLA had negotiated with Castro for Cuban assistance (history.state.gov)” with the aim to end the use of Angola as a base for rebels fighting the independence of South Africa. With this strong established tie in mind, “Castro sent Cuban Special Forces to halt the South African advance (history.state.gov)” “Cuba may have used [|__200 passenger capacity IL-62 aircrafts__] (Soviet) in its airlift support operations (gwu.edu)” With this, South Africa withdrew its forces in the spring of 1976 while the MPLA remained as the official government of Angola. The Angola crisis seemed to end all viable relations with the U.S.
 * //__ Military: __//**

1) Camarada Agostinho Neto

2) Jonas Savimbi

3) Holden Roberto

1.

2 . 3. **//__ The Big Question... __//**   // How and to what extent was Cuba affected by the evolution of a globalized and increasingly interdependent world during 1945 to 1990? //   Cuba was forced out of globalization once Fidel Castro took control of Cuba in 1953 and made himself ruler, proclaiming the dictator role in society. As a result, isolating the country from having any foreign relations (trade) with the more prosperous superpowers of the world such as the United States. No country wanted to do business with Cuba, for they felt Castro was a stubborn, arrogant man who could not be trusted in relationship ties. Because of the doctorial strong hold over Cuba, Cuba became more and more economically isolated, which meant the country was not majorly affected by globalization on an economic spectrum. When nations did begin to trade with Cuba in the early 1960's, it came to their attention that their own economy would suffer as a result. So they backed away and refused to continue, buying or consuming any future goods. In 1961 the U.S. placed upon Cuba, so that they would no longer be able to import or export goods to one another, as stated earlier, instated an embargo. This hurt Cuba's economy and political positioning. By the early 1990s Cuba lost at least "87 percent of its exports and its gross domestic product (GDP) collapsed by 35 percent (globalautonomy.ca)". With no real technological or cultural advancements for over 30 years, with Fidel Castro still in power. Thankfully, that was all the economical spectrum, moving on now toward the social spectrum of globalization and interdependence, "with the tightening of the US embargo in 1993, again in 1997, Cuba had managed to not just maintain, but actively strengthen, many of its domestic social programs. Demonstrating a very slow transition from the past to present on Cuba’s behalf.