Those aspects of post-1959 Cuban history that are cruel,
brutal and oppressive unfortunately follow a 524-year trend
of Cuban history.
Columbus came there in 1492 (his remains were in Havana for
a hundred years) and the Spanish followed up by sweeping
over the island massacring the indians.
Slaves from surrounding islands and later Africa were
brought in to work on tobacco, coffee and sugar
plantations.
After the Seven Years War when the British arrived in Havana
in 1762, they expanded the slavery system even more.
Spain regained Cuba the following year in 1763 when they
swapped with the British for Florida.
The sugar trade was incredibly profitable (sugar still is a
major part of the economy and vast regions of Cuba today are
still covered in sugar cane) and the slave trade under the
Spanish flourished until it ceased in 1886. Around a million
slaves had been brought in from Africa alone.
Suffice to say conditions were harsh and brutal.
The Cuban revolutionary independence movement can trace its
roots back to the early 1800's but it literally sets sail in
1894 when three ships set sail from Florida for Cuba loaded
with arms, men and supplies under the direction of Jose
Marti who later would become regarded as the county's
founding father.
The U.S. however, influenced by the Monroe Doctrine of 1823,
had other plans. The Monroe Doctrine had basically announced
to the world that Europe should keep its paws off the
Americas. Not specifically written into the Doctrine was of
course the fact that the United States wanted to the
dominant economic force in the region.
Many in the U.S. pushed for Cuba to be annexed.
When the U.S. naval ship U.S.S Maine mysteriously blew-up in
Havana Harbor in 1898, it was just the excuse the U.S. was
looking for to enter the fray with the Spanish.
Popular support for the Spanish-American War was largely
encouraged by a circulation war between two rival newspaper
owners, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. (This
was later fictionalized in the movie Citizen Kane where Kane
telegrams his correspondent not to worry, that he will
supply the war).
When the U.S. and Spain sign a peace treaty in 1898. Cuba is
temporarily handed over to the United States.
U.S. business interests there quickly dominated with land
concessions and permits quickly issued by the U.S. appointed
governor.
In 1901, an election is held but the only candidate is a
U.S. nominated one.
In 1906, the U.S. invaded a second time and U.S. military,
political and economic interests continued to dominate.
When Baptista was only third in the running for the
presidential elections of 1952, he was given U.S.-backing to
overtake the country in a military coup.
Baptista formed close ties with the Mafia (depicted in one
famous scene in the Godfather trilogy where he shows off his
gold telephone given to him by ITT). Gambling, drugs,
prostitution and corruption flourished. Opponents, either
political or commercial, were either imprisoned, shot by
firing squad or assassinated. Some estimates are about
20,000 murdered.
Baptista fled on New Year's eve 1958 with USD300 million in
cash.
John F. Kennedy described the Baptista regime as "one of the
most bloody and repressive dictatorships in the long history
of Latin American repression".
Fidel Castro and the revolution, having fought a guerrilla
war for several years, simply rolled into Havana.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by John F. Kennedy
I believe that there is no country in the world including any
and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic
colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in
Cuba, in part owing to my country's policies during the Batista
regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made
in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice
and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even
go further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the
incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United
States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins.
In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with
the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear.
|
Along with Bapista fled the mafia, many of his junta and those
with businesses interests that were now under threat.
Land reform followed but the imprisonments and firing squads
continued for those who were deemed counter-revolutionaries.
Over the decades there were several waves of exoduses.
The first wave were predominantly linked with organized crime and the
Baptista regime. Soon to follow were those who would lose business
interests owing to exclusive permits ceasing to exist and to nationalization and land reform.
Political opponents and those deemed to be counter-revolutionaries
(many at times who had been imprisoned and tortured) were given
a couple of opportunities to officially "escape".
Criminals were also provided with amnesty to leave.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, so with it did Cuba's economy.
It had depended on the Soviets buying sugar at a highly subsidized rate
in exchange for oil.
That and the crippling U.S. trade embargo resulted in many fleeing as economic migrants.
As for Cuba today, one gets the sense that the Revolution has run
its course. As you drive in the countryside, the billboards with revolutionary
slogans are faded and crumbling.
Whereas in Government buildings in the United States it is common to
see a framed portrait of the current president, Fidel and Raul's face
are mostly absent. Che's pop-art image still dominates the T-shirt
sales.
The dominant discussion there is the hope of the U.S. embargo being lifted.
By definition, most Cubans are now younger than the 1959 Revolution
and though its propaganda is promoted in schools and on television,
it seems to have less relevance to younger Cubans there today.
I sensed that things would most likely change for the better if the embargo
were lifted. Though there is no guarantee that Cuba's ruling regime would
change, the Cuban people definitely need to maintain their independence
free of foreign meddling and control.
Footnote.
I travelled independently through Cuba last year. When I compared and
contrasted the areas of rural Texas and Oklahoma I had been in the
week before going there, I couldn't help but think most Cubans seemed
brighter, happier and healthier.
Literacy is high and health care is free.
Despite the privations, I sense a certain amount of their happiness
comes with a lust for life that seems to come naturally to the Cuban people.
For those interested, some snapshots I took were posted in IceInSpace last year in this thread -
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=138782
