History of the Caribbean

Wednesday 13 April 2011

Prayer to the Holy SpiritO Holy Spirit, soul of my soul

I adore you.

Enlighten, guide, strengthen and console me.

Tell me what I ought to do and command me to do it.

I promise to submit to everything that you ask of me

and to accept all that you allow to happen to me.

Only show me what is your will.

Examinations Prayer to St. Joseph of Cupertino

O Great St. Joseph of Cupertino who while on earth did obtain from God the grace to be asked at your examination only the questions you knew, obtain for me a like favour in the examinations for which I am now preparing. In return I promise to make you known and cause you to be invoked.Through Christ our Lord.St. Joseph of Cupertino, Pray for us.

Our Lady of Good Studies pray for me Sacred Head of Jesus, Seat of divine wisdom, enlighten me. Amen.

Quick logic questions!

1.Three mature and hefty women were walking in San Francisco under one regular-sized umbrella. Why didn't they get wet?

2.What can a jug be filled with so that it is lighter than when it is filled with air?

3.What occurs once in a minute, twice in a week, and once in a year?

4.A man travelling in a taxi and is talking to the driver. After a while the driver tells him, " You must excuse me, I am deaf and cannot hear a word that you are saying. The passenger stops talking. After the passenger gets out of the cab, he realizes that the driver had lied to him. How did he know?

Answers

1. It was not raining2. A hole3. The letter 'E‘4. If the cab driver had been deaf, He

would not have heard the address the passenger had giving to him. He only motioned he was deaf when the passenger wouldn't stop talking

Review activity (10 minutes)

“I took Panama”• How true is this statement made by

Theodore Roosevelt about events in 1904?

• Give examples to support your answer.

The Castro Revolution

Objectives

• Describe the policies of the Castro revolution

• Assess the United States’ response to the Castro revolution, 1959 to 1962

• Explain the impact on the Caribbean of the Castro revolution between 1959 and 1985

Some terms to understand and use

• Socialism/Communism• The Cold War

– info• Reform • Embargo • Spheres of influence• Nationalisation

Who is Fidel Castro?

– One description not online?

Why is Castro’s coming to power in 1959 considered a revolution?

What were the social and economic policies (decisions made and actions taken) of Castro’s regime?

Social and economic policies• Castro followed the policies of the

Soviet Union and China• Sought to make Cuba less dependent

on the USA• Instead became very dependent on

the Soviet Union.

A socialist economy: state ownership• nationalisation of property. Government takeover

of – most farms larger than about 400 hectares (about 1000

acres). – foreign-owned petroleum refineries that refused to

process Soviet oil– all private firms except small agricultural plots belonging

to individual Cubans. • encouraged industrialization, including the

manufacture of light consumer goods, as well as machinery and equipment.

• tried to increase the variety of agricultural crops grown by Cuban farmers.

Pair-share activity

• You are the manager of a US owned sugar plantation.

• Prepare a brief statement either agreeing with OR condemning the nationalisation of all business firms and large farms in Cuba.

• Give at least one reason.• Make a brief speech for the group.

• The Soviet Union (USSR) became Cuba’s main trading partner especially after…

Reaction to Castro’s economic policies• When Cuba re-established diplomatic ties with

the USSR, and made an agreement to import Soviet oil and took over foreign-owned petroleum refineries that refused to process Soviet oil:

• the U.S. government outlawed the purchase of Cuban sugar, the mainstay of Cuba’s economy.

• Cuba then assumed control of all U.S. property on the island and established a military alliance with the USSR.

• In January 1961 the United States broke diplomatic relations with Cuba.

• As Cuban policy shifted to the left, many moderate leaders resigned from the government or were forced out of office.

Trade embargo

• The United States organized a partial embargo on trade with Cuba in late 1960 and expanded it to a full embargo in early 1962.

• The embargo made it illegal to import goods from Cuba to the United States, or to export to Cuba any products that were manufactured or had parts that were manufactured in the United States.

• The result was severe shortages of consumer goods in Cuba within a few years.

Economic difficulties

• Effects of the trade embargo on Cuba• Failures due to

– poor planning, organization,– lack of incentives

Also:

• many of Cuba’s most qualified businessmen and technicians fled the country when Castro began nationalizing businesses in the early 1960s.

• The Cuban economy declined drastically in the years that followed and the government began rationing food, clothing, and most goods and services.

Socialist social programmes

Improving social conditions among poor and uneducated Cubans • crash program to increase literacy,

and follow-up efforts • all health paid for by the state • clinics in rural areas • graduates of medical schools to

provide two years of health care service

Promotion of cooperative activities

• Neighbourhood clean ups, • recycling of materials, • helped in mass vaccination

campaigns. • Workers built housing units next to

their work places. • A favourable view not online?

Review question:

• Why is Castro’s coming to power in 1959 considered a revolution?

• Give one example to support your answer

Why did the USA respond negatively to the Castro Revolution?

What were some of the ways in which the US reacted to Castro’s revolution

Role of ideology

• Capitalism vs. communism• Rejection of socialism• Reaction to spread of socialism• How socialism affected investments

Role of politics and defence issues: The Cold War

The Bay of Pigs invasion

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/35_kennedy/filmmore/ra_cuban.html

Kennedy was very concerned about getting rid of the Cuban issue. He knew that as long as Castro remained in Havana, as long as a communist regime was allowed to flower, he would have a very bad domestic political problem. In 1961 the CIA came to him and said that Eisenhower had ordered them to plan for an invasion of Cuba. In retrospect the plans for the invasion look a little bit silly… more. See also

A group of Cuban counter-revolutionaries, members of Assault Brigade 2506, after their capture in the Bay of Pigs. 1,000 people were imprisoned by Castro's forces during the US supported invasion

The Cuban Missile Crisis

The closest the world has come to nuclear war was the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. The Soviets had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States. U.S. armed forces were at their highest state of readiness. Soviet field commanders in Cuba were authorized to use tactical nuclear weapons if invaded by the U.S. The fate of millions literally hinged upon the ability of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, to reach a compromise…. more