There were many reasons for the Bay of Pigs invasion. The main reason was to stop communism from reaching our country. After World War 2, the United States was practicing containment. Cuba is located 90 miles off the coast of Florida, and Americans feared a country that close falling to communism. Another reason
The relationship between our two nations turned sour shortly after Fidel Castro forcibly took control of the island in the late 1950’s. The embargo, put in place just a couple years later was, as Patrick Doherty (2009) pointed out in his article published in Washington Weekly, done “in the vain hope that doing so would lead to the downfall of the island’s Communist regime” (p.10). Fifty years later, the embargo, even with the few changes made to it over those many years, is still as it was in 1962. The embargo is “one of the last great historical anachronisms of the Cold War, outliving the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union, despite the fact that it has never accomplished what it was supposed to do” (Doherty, 2009, p.10). The feelings that the United States needs to put aside our differences with Cuba has been a topic of discussion not only here in America, but also around the world.
Ariel Peralta CPO 4360 September 26, 2013 The Failure of a Racial Democracy in Cuba This week’s readings are particularly interesting because of the focus on racial democracy as a viable ideology for post-revolutionary Cuba. A racial democracy downplays the importance of race in everyday life by repressing racial identity. In 1961, Fidel Castro said that there would be no more racism in Cuba. He talked about a “new man” who would treat everyone equally and wanted to silence talk about race inequality in Cuba. This speech and a lot of the rhetoric in this time was part of Castro’s focus on “humanism” as a way to garner support for the revolution in Cuba.
The coup d’état that saw Fidel Castro’s army roll into Havana on January 8, 1959, marked the end of President Fulgencio Batista’s government and the birth of another led by a young, bearded, and popular Castro. Despite denying any communist tendencies in his politics, Castro was quick to ally himself to the USSR and to expropriate many American businesses in Cuba, further alienating himself from the United States until finally declaring himself a communist in December 1961. A short time later, in February 1962, the United States imposed an embargo on the Republic of Cuba. Castro’s republic, by that point, had grown closer to the USSR and had, following its ally’s example, tightened its control over all levels of government, education, and media. In his nearly fifty years in power, Castro never diverged significantly from his communist views, and in keeping with them, never loosened his grip over the Cuban media.
For Afro-Cubans it’s not that easy, if they attempt to achieve Civil Rights through a Civil Rights movement there will be complete chaos. The government, as far as they are concerned, thinks that the issue of racism is over just because of the speech Castro gave in the mid-late 1960s. So if a movement is attempted the government will feel threatened and will attack. When African-Americans sought to gain Civil Rights the southern government fought and did all it could to try and prevent it, the same thing would happen in Cuba except instead of it being just half of the country’s government it will be the whole country’s government trying to shut them
Trade Embargo with Cuba El Bloqueo, is the near total embargo the United States has with Cuba. This is a commercial, economic and financial embargo that was partially imposed on Cuba in October of 1960. This was imposed due to Cuba nationalizing properties of our citizens and corporations. On February 7, 1962 it was increased to a near total embargo. In this essay I will be describing the embargo, our reason for enforcing the embargo, whether or not the embargo is effective and if I agree with the embargo.
Reinaldo Arenas lived in an era of great heartache which was known to many as the Cuban Revolution, which he helped bring to power in 1959. Arenas was given a scholarship by the Castro regime, that allowed the government of Cuba to steer the young men to become communists. Arena writes, "But we were so full of enthusiasm that we could not believe, or did not want to believe anything seriously bad might happen. It is almost impossible for human beings to imagine so many calamities befalling them at the same time; we had suffered continuous dictatorships, incessant abuse, and unrelenting mistreatment by those in power" (56). Even though Arenas was faced with serious challenges, he found a way to continually write what came to his mind so
The new government took control of the country by nationalizing industry, redistributing property and collectivizing agriculture. In June 1960, Cuba's sugar import quota was reduced by 7,000,000 tons, and as a result, Cuba nationalized some $850 million worth of U.S. property and businesses (Knowles, 1962). Health care was also socialized. In addition, Castro created policies that would benefit the poor. While popular among the poor, these policies alienated many former supporters of the revolution among the Cuban middle and upper-classes.
Allan Adderley 3/9/2015 | | The Tribune | Cuba Under Attack | | Spanish-American War! Letter to the Editor of The tribuneI am more than please to acknowledge President William McKinley strategic plan to help Cuba against Spain. President McKinley made sure that Cuba was protected from any raids, ensured the safety of the people and made sure there was a stable government to operate Cuba. As a result, Cuba gain their independence. Despite the bloodshed that 100,000 people were killed made me sick to my stomach and can’t imagine how many bodies were scattered on that island.
Daniel Wolfson Chapter 3 questions 1. After reading the chapter opener about Haitian and Cuban refugees, can you think of any circumstances in your home land that would compel you to risk your life to leave and find refuge in another country? For me to have to leave my country, political, social, and economic conditions must be in a very terrible state. I am content with my life today, and have in my short life already experienced powerful events like 9/11 that have changed the dynamic of my country. If, however, conditions like the Great Depression occur again, I may be forced to leave the country in search of jobs and money.