Blog #1 - A Different Side of Cuba: Understanding the Actions of Fidel

A Different Side of Cuba: Understanding the Actions of Fidel

After reading the provided materials and watching Cuba and The Cameraman, the preconceived idea of what Fidel and the country of Cuba are like, differs drastically from the view I was fed growing up.  Coming from the United States, there has always been a stigma behind Fidel as a criminal, but this doesn’t seem to be the reality at all. Based on the document Fidel Castro, it’s true that Fidel allowed Soviet Union nuclear missiles, aimed for the U.S. to be stationed on the island in 1962. However, this occurred after many questionable acts by the United States. First, the U.S. “helped” Cuba against Spain, and freed the country from rule, just to ignore the Teller Amendment, and implement its own control over the island “…by taking over Guantanamo Bay, dictating Cuban’s foreign policy, and giving itself the right to intervene in Cuban affairs” (“A brief history of America and Cuba”, 1:44 – 1:51). Not only did the U.S. hinder Cuban’s independence directly, but also indirectly by backing Fulgencio Batista, a corrupt dictator who suspended the constitution and imposed an increasingly oppressive rule on the Cuban people. Lastly, once Batista had been overthrown by Castro, the U.S. set up an embargo to strangle Cuba’s economy, tried to assassinate Castro, and sent CIA agents to try and take over the island, all because the U.S. feared the idea and spread of communism. Knowing all of this, it seems understandable as to why Castro looked for support from the Soviet Union and was intensely anti-U.S. Additionally, although the United States feared communism, the system of government seemed to work well for the country in the early years of the Revolution. With a consistent flow of money from the Soviet Union, Cuba improved in many areas, like education, employment, and especially health care. This sense of improvement and success was even depicted in Cuba and The Cameraman as all three of the families depicted were living their best lives early on in the film. However, not everything was perfect, and despite the loyalty many Cubans had for Fidel, some of his actions discouraged a sense of independence in many ways by “…closing down opposition newspapers, jailing thousands of political opponents, and making no attempt to move toward elections”, as stated in the article Fidel Castro. Similarly, in this same piece, it stated how Fidel, “limited the amount of land a person could own, abolished private businesses and presided over housing and consumer goods shortages”. For this reason, many Cuban’s, approximately 270,000, left for the United States in 1966 in hopes of a better life, and another 125,000 in 1980. As a result of this, it makes sense as to why there is still a strong belief in the U.S. that Cuba is an unfit place to live with Fidel and communism being the reason behind it. Additionally, this belief is not strange as Fidel also took part in questionable activities such as sending Cubans to infiltrate Cuban-American exile groups in Miami in 1998, the retrieval of a boy, Elian Gonzalez, who attempted to reach his mom in the U.S. in 1999, and partnering with the corrupt Venezuelan President, Hugo Chaves in 2000 to get oil and support in education, health care, science, and technology. Overall, based on the information gathered, I want to know if the death of Fidel Castro brought true grief to the majority of Cuban’s? Also, why did the U.S. fear communism so much, even when it was clear it wasn’t working well in Cuba after 10-15 years?