The Evolution of Cuba Pt 4: Fidel Castro’s Cuba

The Evolution of Cuba Pt 4: Fidel Castro’s Cuba

This is it guys, the final instalment of The Evolution of Cuba. In this post we’re looking at Fidel Castro’s Cuba, which will bring us right up to modern day. After this, we will kiss fair well to Cuba’s history & go forth with a full understanding of the present-day situation. ¡Fabulosa!

If you remember, we left off at a very happy scene indeed. Cubans were celebrating & dancing in the streets. Batista, either scared or fed up losing, abandoned Cuba & Fidel had returned to Havana. Where, he was met by throngs of people cheering his name & hanging on his every word.

He even gave one of his famously long speeches… and get this, here’s his closing statement: “I also know that never again in our lives will we see such a gathering, except on another occasion – on which I’m sure the crowds will mass again – and that’s the day we die, because when the time comes to bury us, on that day, as many people as today will be here, because we will never disappoint our people!”… Sigh.

Prime Minister Fidel

Let’s jump right in. PM Fidel dons his Robin Hood hat & makes some serious changes. Some good (at face value) & some bad.

He starts to nationalise all of the hotels, casino’s, restaurants and bars – many of which are owned by Americans. And from what I am gathering, some of the hotels and casinos were run by badass mobsters who were dangerous MF’s – and who wants them around anyway? Not me, no sir. With the revenue from the aforementioned businesses redirected into the governments pocket, roads & buildings begin to improve and most importantly, healthcare & education becomes accessible to all. (Yay for health & knowledge!).

Sugar farms are also snatched back, and land is redistributed to the Cuban’s. The poor are just thrilled, the rich people… not so much. Whilst the poor are WAY better off, the rich have their wages practically cut in half.

It’s not just about money either. Fidel brings in some pretty oppressive rules of his own. I just don’t get how he didn’t see the irony. Like his predecessor, he totally quashed free speech. No one was allowed to speak out against the rebellion. Like, at all. Not in the press but also not in books or art. LGBTQ were persecuted. Christmas was cancelled & the country was announced as atheist. People who opposed any of these rules, got sent to UMAPs, Military Units to Aid Production… ummm, in Spanish those words are in the order that correspond with the acronym. UMAPs were labour camps for gays, Christians & anyone who didn’t do exactly what their new DICKtator told them to do.

USA vs Fidel

So, Castro’s dream came true & Cuba was returned to its people. But sadly, it wasn’t all plain sailing from there… In 1960, Fidel made it onto the CIA’s hit list. Is it because he’s ripped the US’s investments away from them & is now charging them super high rates on sugar imports? Or because he is oppressing his people? My guess is the former, but we’re all about freedom of speech here so you can make your own decision! The US are livid, and not only because of the aforementioned cash related FU’s from Cuba. But Fidel has also decided to get pally pally with the Soviet Union – fellow Marxist-Leninists. In an attempt to support Cuba’s new Government, akin to their own, the Soviet Union happily import sugar at a super inflated price. Just one big old country, helping out another.

Cuba basically stirs the pot by embarrassing the US & thwarting all of their attacks. So, the US go around gathering up Cuban refugees who have fled Cuba, train them up and send them back. This is now known as ‘The Bay of Pigs Invasion’. It failed miserably.

Now, it’s the swinging 60’s and half of the polarised US are all about peace and love maaaaan. So, in a super sneak attack – which honestly, I’m not sure is legal… JFK paints US bomber planes to look like Cuban military planes and sends them over to do their thing. He didn’t want anyone to know the US was behind it, because, well politicians are just big old liars aren’t they. Anyway, the bombers miss and piss Fidel right off. Cuba manages to gather up hostages and negotiate $50 million dollars bill green american (12 year old Fidel must be thrilled) received in baby food and medicine for his people.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

In 1962, JFK catches wind of all of these Soviet missiles locked and loaded in Cuba (only 90 miles off the coast of Florida) and instigates a block aid. Long story short, the US manages to sweet talk Russia into taking their missiles away. But here’s a little nugget for you, Russia actually left a bunch of tactile rockets on the island that the USA didn’t know about. I mean, they must know now, I can’t possibly be the one breaking that news.

Refugees

In 1965, Cuba became officially communist & in the coming years, the US would open its doors to Cuban asylum seekers. Fed up with the new oppression, thousands and thousands would flee from Cuba. Things just seemed to go on like that for some time. I personally believe that Fidel had a stubbornness issue because it seems like he was cutting his nose off to spite his face. He was so hell bent on not going to the USA for help, that his people were left to suffer the consequences. Risking their lives by sailing on tiny homemade rafts to Florida, just to escape his rule.

Eventually, in 1980 Fidel told the people that they needn’t leave stealthily. The doors were open – quite literally. He opened the harbour at Mariel and told his people, if they wanted to leave, they could. If this sounds a little familiar, that’s because it’s the opening scene of Scarface. In Cuba mode, I watched Scarface last week with new eyes. Just from that opening sequence, I learnt that 125,000 Cubans fled for America… But never one to bow down to the US, an estimated 25,000 of these, were actually criminals shipped off by Fidel.

It’s worth a watch to get a sense of what was really going on. It’s quite something seeing the excited faces, old and young sailing off. Celebrating landing on US soil & being held at immigration detention centres. The pre cage days (thanks Obama) & pre splitting up of families (thanks Trump).

The Cuban Special Period

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, things only got harder for the Cuban’s that stuck around. The Soviet Union were no longer paying a premium for sugar & Cuba was struggling to make ends meet. This period of time is known as ‘The Special Period’ and not because it was special in a good way. During this time, Cuban rations were just 1/5 of the UN daily recommended intake. Read more about the special period here.

There was a serious shortage of oil, or inability to pay for it which in turn led to a reduction in cars and an increase in horses, bikes & public transport. Apparently, these can still be seen in big numbers today. I also wonder if the low requirement for cars explains why every cliché picture of Cuba features vintage, pretty coloured cars?

Cuba opens its doors to the uSA

So, after almost 10 years, Fidel is on his knees. He finds new hope in a partnership with Chavez, the Prime Minister of Venezuela. But importantly, tourism is open to the US under certain circumstances. American’s are told they can only spend money and stay at certain establishments. Still, the tourism money is very much in demand and welcomed.

The Castro’s & The USA

In 2006, Fidel is unwell and asks his brother Raul who has been by his side since day one, to step in for him. I guess he realises he’s not going to recover, because he officially steps down after 48 years(!!!) in 2008. In 2016, Obama becomes the first US president to visit Cuba since 1928. His family take a tour of Havana as relations between the two countries begin to mend. Later that year, Fidel passes away at the age of 90. Honestly, it’s an absolute miracle no one got to him in any of those 600 assassination attempts.

For a short while, things were looking up for the US/Cuba relations but then… Trump. Basically, he is reversing the changes that Obama made & also trying to limit tourism again after some US embassy workers got mysteriously sick.

In 2019, a man by the name of Miguel Diaz-Canel became president. He’s been VP since 2013 so without going down another rabbit hole, I’m going to assume he’s cut from the same Castro cloth and leave it there because PHEW. That was a lot.

And there you have it! The 4-part history of Cuba. I hope you learnt A LOT. I know I certainly did. I’ll be back with more about Cuba today so keep an eye out.

Until then, take care & remember… No Info is Too Much Info

xoxo

TL ; DR: Fidel takes all the big businesses (including US owned) and nationalises them. Pumps money into healthcare & education but is also oppressive and now a DICKtator in his own right. US try to assassinate him (a lot). Cubans start to flee to the US as asylum seekers. Cuba relies on Soviet Unions & suffer when it collapses. Eventually Cuba opens its doors to US tourism. Relationship with US starts to mend – but less so now with Trump in charge.

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