20th Century DictatorFidel Castro

Lacey PilgrimHumanities 30-1 Mr. Kabachia

Fidel Castro was a member of the Ortodoxo Party which was a social-democrat party, and strongly criticized the government of Fulgencio Batista. Their parties goals were nationalism, economic independence, and social reforms. On July 26, 1953, Castro launched an attack on the Moncada army barracks, which failed. He was then sentenced to fifteen years but was pardoned after two. He then went to exile in Mexico and trained and assembled the 26th of July Movement, gaining the support o f different people before leaving to invade Cuba in 1956. Castro’s plan succeeded, outnumbering Bastista’s army, and Bastista was eventually forced to flee in 1959, and Fidel Castro took over, giving hope to the lower classed Cubans.

• Castro was a sign of hope to the citizens of Cuba, therefore enabling him to gain the support of the people very quickly, as well as the help of propaganda and promises being made to the citizens for bettering their situation. Many people would view this as an authoritarian • The Ortodoxo Party began to shed light on the corruption of the government to the citizens of Cuba. When the citizens heard this, many of the people began to support them because they wanted to be freed from this corruption, and to many it seemed that Fidel Castro has the solutions.• Castro was also a major candidate for supporting third world countries against imperialism. • Castro gained support from the lower classed citizens of Cuba, making them believe that Castro was going to help and prosper them.

Rise to Power

Support Lost from PeopleWhen Castro became the leader of Cuba, he began to make some radical changes, such as nationalizing industry,

collectivizing agriculture, and seizing American-owned businesses and farms. He also alienated the United States and created a strong relationship with the Soviet Union, as well as transforming Cuba into a communist country.

Castro’s educational and land reforms benefitted some Cubans, however others suffered from the food shortages and lack of personal freedoms caused by Castro’s dictatorship. The relationship Cuba had with the United States began to take a toll on the economic situation of Cuba because on the embargo the United States had on Cuba, especially in the 1990s.

The economic state of the country forced many Cubans to flee to the United States. Since there was no trade between the two countries, many of the Cuban citizens suffered, putting a large amount of strain on the support people had for Castro.

• In 1961, Castro declared that he is a Marxist-Leninist, and that the government of Cuba was going to adopt a communist economic and political parties. This struck fear into the citizens because of the potential consequences that could result from being a communist nation. • When America, one of the world’s superpowers, accused Cuba to be a communist country when America disagrees with the idea of a communism, the citizens of Cuba began to question Castro. They began to seem unsure about his ideologies, and this greatly affected the citizens perspectives on Castro. • The citizens of Cuba were anxious about the relationship Castro had with the Soviet Union because they knew America and the Soviet Union did not get along. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an event that the Cubans did not agree with because of the unnecessary risk it was creating for the Cubans, which in turn created a loss of support for Castro.

Extent Government Should Ignore Will of People

When the government ignores the will of the people, they should take careful consideration of the potential consequences that could arise from their decisions. For example, Castro allowing the Soviet Union to place missiles in Cuba, aimed at the United States was an intense and extremely consequential event, and was clearly put the citizens of Cuba in a position of fatality and disaster. The citizens strongly disagreed with this incident, however Fidel Castro had ignored their will. If a country is in a state of danger and is in need control the situation and recover or maintain the stability of the country in a moments notice, is the only time a country should be able to ignore the will of the people. In many cases however, listening to the citizens is usually a better solution because the leader may need to hear the possible consequences from the people who are involved. Also they can easily lose a lot of support if they ignore the people . The citizens should have a voice in what their country is doing especially when it is dealing with their own lives, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Bibliography18355, T. (1998). Fidel Castro. Retrieved May 14, 2010, from The Cuban Experience-People: http://library.thinkquest.org/18355/fidel_castro.html

A&E Television Networks. (2010). Fidel Castro Biography. Retrieved May 19, 2010, from Bio. True Story. : http://www.biography.com/articles/Fidel-Castro-9241487?part=1

BBC . (2001). Fidel Castro. Retrieved May 19, 2010, from Historic Figures: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/castro_fidel.shtml