Cuba/Castro

Nationalization Campaign of 1960

After the revolutionary government nationalized all U.S. property in Cuba in August 1960, the American Eisenhower administration froze all Cuban assets on American soil, severed diplomatic ties and tightened its embargo of Cuba. ... Following the American embargo, the Soviet Union became Cuba's main ally.

Committee for the Defense of the Revolution

CDR, are a network of neighborhood committees across Cuba. The organizations, described as the "eyes and ears of the Revolution," exist to promote social welfare and report on "counter-revolutionary" activity. The CDR system was formed by Fidel Castro on September 28, 1960, following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, which overthrew Batista.

Camilo Cienfuegos

Camilo Cienfuegos Gorriarán (Spanish: [kaˈmilo sjeɱˈfweɣoz ɣorjaˈɾan]; 6 February 1932 - 28 October 1959) was a Cuban revolutionary born in Havana. Along with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Juan Almeida Bosque, and Raúl Castro, he was a member of the 1956 Granma expedition, which launched Fidel Castro's armed insurgency against the government of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. He became one of Castro's top guerilla commanders, known as the "Hero of Yaguajay" after winning a key battle of the Cuban Revolution. His signature weapon was the Thompson submachine gun. He was appointed head of Cuba's armed forces shortly after the victory of Castro's rebel army in 1959. He was presumed dead when a small plane he was traveling in disappeared during a night flight from Camagüey to Havana later that year. Many have speculated and conspiracies have arisen concerning his mysterious disappearance. Cienfuegos, whose name translates in English to "a hundred fires," is revered in Cuba as a hero of the Revolution, with monuments, memorials, and an annual celebration in his honor.

Carlos Prío

Carlos Prío Socarrás (July 14, 1903 - April 5, 1977) was the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new elections were to be held.[1] He was the first president of Cuba to be born in an independent Cuba and the last to gain his post through universal, contested elections. He is sometimes called Charles Prio Socarras in English.[2]In 1940 Prío was elected senator of Pinar del Río Province. Four years later fellow Partido Auténtico member [3] Ramón Grau became president, and during the Grau administration Prío served turns as Minister of Public Works, Minister of Labor and Prime Minister. On July 1, 1948 he was elected president of Cuba as a member of the Partido Auténtico.[4] Prío was assisted by Chief of the Armed Forces General Genobebo Pérez Dámera and Colonel José Luis Chinea Cardenas, who had previously been in charge of the Province of Santa Clara. The eight years under Grau and Prío, were, according to Charles Ameringer, [...] unique in Cuban history. They were a time of constitutional order and political freedom. They were not 'golden years' by any means, but in two elections (1944 and 1948), Cubans had the opportunity to express their desire for a rule of civil liberties, primacy of Cuban culture, and achievement of economic independence. If there were sharp contradictions in Cuban society under the Auténticos, the circumstances differed only in degree from the complexities and dynamics encountered in free societies everywhere (how often did Cubans compare Havana with Chicago?).[5] Prío, called el presidente cordial ("the cordial president"), was committed to a rule marked by civility, primarily in its respect for freedom of expression. Several public-works projects and the establishment of a National Bank and Tribunal of Accounts count among his successes. However, violence among political factions and reports of theft and self-enrichment in the government ranks marred Prío's term. The Prío administration increasingly came to be perceived by the public as ineffectual in the face of violence and corruption, much as the Grau administration before it. With elections scheduled for the middle of 1952, rumors surfaced of a planned military coup by long-shot presidential contender Fulgencio Batista. Prío, seeing no constitutional basis to act, did not do so. The rumors proved to be true. On March 10, 1952, Batista and his collaborators seized military and police commands throughout the country and occupied major radio and TV stations. Batista assumed power when Prío, failing to mount a resistance, boarded a plane and went into exile. According to Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Prío later said of his presidency:

National Association of Small Farms

Cooperative federation dedicated to promoting the interests of small farmers in Cuba. ANAP was formed in 1961 and its membership was limited to farmers whose land holdings were less than 67 hectares.The Cuban government supported ANAP by providing interest-free loans to its members

1958 Pastoral Letter

Dear Harold : Since my return from Denver I have discussed more fully your letter concerning the Cuban problem2 which Chris kindly acknowledged for me at my request.3 It is indeed most gratifying [Page 1050]and reassuring that we are in general agreement in our analysis and estimate that the Castro regime is fully committed to a course inimical to our mutual interests in the area and that the only hope for an improvement in the situation must lie in its replacement. As you have so accurately pictured, the great majority of the liberal middle-class elements in Cuba, which were primarily responsible for Castro's accession to power, have now withdrawn their support and many have fled the country to engage in open opposition to the Castro regime. From these very people who are the most knowledgeable as to the internal political situation we have received the unanimous view that the Castro regime's police control and Communist terror tactics have thoroughly initimidated the politically articulate Cubans, and that left undisturbed, the regime will increase its domination to the point that internal opposition is unlikely ever to attain sufficient strength and resolution to overthrow Castro. Scarcely a day passes that opposition leaders do not stress to us their view that with the clear promise of support from the U.S.S.R. and Red China, time is now working for Castro. In the short run I doubt that this is true; Castro's open bid for a satellite role has had the effect of thoroughly alarming most of the Governments in this Hemisphere and, hopefully, has disposed many of them to support pressures and efforts to bring about a change of regime in Cuba. Yet their foundations too often rest uneasily on outmoded societies ripe for change, and to make such changes in an evolutionary manner is the responsibility of any wise government. Should Castro manage to survive for another year or more, these nations run the risk of being overtaken by revolution with conditions such as those now existing in Cuba. This kind of change, when it brings Communism in its wake, is intolerable from the standpoint of our national interest and that of the liberal democratic Christian tradition which we all share. You ask quite understandably how we really mean to achieve our aim of unseating Castro and replacing him by a more suitable regime. Depending somewhat on the results of the forthcoming Council of Foreign Ministers in San Jose, Costa Rica on August sixteenth, we expect to move ahead with further economic measures designed to bring pressure on the Cuban economy. To be sure, this will cause some Cubans to rally to Castro's support, but the great mass of Cubans, who were completely apathetic toward Castro and Bastista before January first, 1959, are still chiefly concerned with their own individual well-being. We are now receiving more and more reports of a return to that earlier apathy on the part of the campesinos, particularly as they discover that most of the promises have been empty ones and that often they are worse off than before. Moreover, although relatively poor and accustomed to hardship by our standards, by Latin American standards Cubans have had one of the highest levels of living in the area and far higher than comparable [Page 1051]classes in the Middle and Far East. A recently returned long-time resident among the country people remarked, "The average Cuban sugar worker wants to receive his earnings in cash and go to the store, buy a white guayabera, white shoes, a bottle of rum and go to a dance; not be paid in script redeemable at a government (people's) store where only work clothing and rice and beans are to be had and a lecture by a Government official is the only entertainment offered." I do not underestimate the strength of the fanatic minority still dedicated to Castro nor conceive of any broad support for the abandonment of all of the measures taken by his regime. On the other hand, we have ample evidence to suggest that even among the masses there is as of now no deep unquestioning commitment to his revolution. Moreover, the Government's virulent anti-United States campaign until now has had singularly little effect despite its control and utilization of all the public information media in the country. The recent spontaneous gesture of protest by the Congregation at the Cathedral in Habana which shouted "Cuba, Yes; Communism, No" has been followed by a pastoral letter read on August 74 in all the Catholic churches on the island in which the Communist influence now evident in the present Cuban regime is strongly condemned. Reports of growing opposition among students to the seizure of the University of Habana by a Communist-led minority is another hopeful sign. We must emphasize that the world struggle is not Communism against capitalism; it is dictatorship against freedom. The Cuban development is one manifestation of this truth. We are steadily intensifying our counter-propaganda efforts in the other countries of the Hemisphere. We shall emphasize to the OAS and to the UN whenever the occasion may arise the extent to which Communism has assumed control in Cuba. We shall seek and use every possible opportunity short of outright intervention which might bring pressure to bear on Castro. In line with this latter point we have sought informally by various means not only to discourage and prevent the chartering of tankers with some degree of success, but have also discouraged the shipment of lubricants, spare parts, catalysts and other needed items to the extent that, although by no means certain, we feel the seizure of the refineries may yet cause serious difficulties for the Cuban economy. Needless to say, such help as you can continue to give us in this effort will be most welcome. You will have learned that over the week end Castro announced the seizure of the bulk of the remaining private American investment in Cuba.5 This action was not unexpected as the legal facade on which it is based is the Nationalization Law of July 6, 1960, which was the [Page 1052]subject of a formal protest by this Government on July 16.6 Nevertheless it is indicative of the extremes to which the Castro Government is prepared to go, and is a further clear indication of its intention to accept satellite status in the Communist bloc. You will also have noted Castro's presumed effort to drive a wedge between us by his failure to nationalize the Shell property at the same time he nationalized the American oil properties. We shall be reviewing possible courses of action responsive to this latest unjustifiable action while we await the results of the San Jose meeting. In closing, I wish to stress that we shall also be substantially increasing our efforts on the positive side by way of economic, financial and technical assistance to the countries of Latin America. As we have so often said to the Cubans to no avail, we recognized the need for major changes, revolution if you will, in the Cuban social and economic structure, and were and are prepared, if asked, to assist Cuba and any one of the other countries in bringing about needed improvements carried out legally and responsibly under democratic regimes. Although we must make sure of the ultimate achievement of our aim, I fully agree that our course is fraught with difficulties and dangers. Your cooperation and support are therefore especially appreciated. With warm regard, As ever, Ike 7

Ramón Grau San Martín

Dr. Ramón Grau San Martín (September 13, 1881, La Palma, Pinar del Río Province, Spanish Cuba - July 28, 1969, Havana, Cuba) was a Cuban physician and President of Cuba (1933-1934, 1944-1948). He was the last president other than an interim president, Carlos Manuel Piedra, to be born during Spanish rule. He is sometimes called Raymond Grau San Martin in English.[1] The One Hundred Days government was in part a mixture of reformist-moderate minded individuals such as Grau and radicals including Antonio Guiteras Holmes. The One Hundred Days government is mainly remembered for left-leaning or progressive reforms such as the establishment of the 8-hour work day as per Grau's presidential decree no. 1693, a raise of minimum wage, nationalization of Cuban Electric Company, and granting autonomy to the University of Havana. Despite the government's progressive agenda, the government faced significant political power struggles. On the one-hand it was not recognized by the U.S. government, secondly there were still other groups especially members of the traditional parties such as the Liberal, Conservative and Union Nacionalista parties as well as the ABC who either did not support Grau's government or wanted a more inclusive administration. Finally, while the Army Chief of Staff Fulgencio Batista, nominally surrendered the power of the army to the new government, in reality Batista was having talks, making behind-doors deals with Sumner Welles and other political groups.[2] Eventually Batista would force Grau's resignation on January 15, 1934. Grau, however, still maintained significant power throughout the beginning of his presidency and on one occasion various ranking members of Grau's cabinet as well as students from the Directorio Estudiantil Universitario wanted Batista removed or assassinated. This was partly because Batista was holding talks with Sumner Welles and other members of the Cuban opposition regarding a potential change in government without the knowledge or public sanctioning of Grau's administration. [3] In addition to the political struggles, the dire state of the economy due to the Depression of the 1930s and the massive debt left over by Machado's administration, there was also the issue of the army officials regrouping and setting up camp in the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. After failed negotiations between army officials and Grau's government, this deadlock would ultimately end with the Battle of the Hotel Nacional of Cuba on October 2, 1933. In 1934 Grau went on to found the Partido Auténtico. His niece, Pola Grau Alsina (1915- 2000), served as First Lady of Cuba during his first presidency.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Spanish: [ˈtʃe ɣeˈβaɾa][4] June 14, 1928 - October 9, 1967)[1][5] was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture.[6] As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout South America and was radicalized by the poverty, hunger and disease he witnessed.[7] His burgeoning desire to help overturn what he saw as the capitalist exploitation of Latin America by the United States prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Árbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow at the behest of the United Fruit Company solidified Guevara's political ideology.[7] Later in Mexico City, Guevara met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht Granma with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.[8] Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command and played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.[9] Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. These included reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals,[10] instituting agrarian land reform as minister of industries, helping spearhead a successful nationwide literacy campaign, serving as both national bank president and instructional director for Cuba's armed forces, and traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism. Such positions also allowed him to play a central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion[11] and bringing the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to Cuba which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.[12] Additionally, Guevara was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare, along with a best-selling memoir about his youthful continental motorcycle journey. His experiences and studying of Marxism-Leninism led him to posit that the Third World's underdevelopment and dependence was an intrinsic result of imperialism, neocolonialism and monopoly capitalism, with the only remedy being proletarian internationalism and world revolution.[13][14] Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and summarily executed.[15] Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs and films. As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class struggle and desire to create the consciousness of a "new man" driven by moral rather than material incentives,[16] Guevara has evolved into a quintessential icon of various leftist movements. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century,[17] while an Alberto Korda photograph of him, titled Guerrillero Heroico (shown), was cited by the Maryland Institute College of Art as "the most famous photograph in the world".[18]

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (/ˈkæstroʊ/;[1] American Spanish: [fiˈðel aleˈxandɾo ˈkastɾo ˈrus] (About this sound listen); August 13, 1926 - November 25, 2016) was a Cuban communist revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. Politically a Marxist-Leninist and Cuban nationalist, Castro also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state, while industry and business were nationalized and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. Born in Birán, Oriente as the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, launching a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. After a year's imprisonment, Castro traveled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, the 26th of July Movement, with his brother Raúl Castro and Che Guevara. Returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batista's forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batista's overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cuba's Prime Minister. The United States came to oppose Castro's government and unsuccessfully attempted to remove him by assassination, economic blockade and counter-revolution, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. Countering these threats, Castro formed an alliance with the Soviet Union and allowed the Soviets to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis - a defining incident of the Cold War - in 1962. Adopting a Marxist-Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. Policies introducing central economic planning and expanding healthcare and education were accompanied by state control of the press and the suppression of internal dissent. Abroad, Castro supported anti-imperialist revolutionary groups, backing the establishment of Marxist governments in Chile, Nicaragua and Grenada, as well as sending troops to aid allies in the Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angolan Civil War. These actions, coupled with Castro's leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cuba's medical internationalism, increased Cuba's profile on the world stage. Following the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, Castro led Cuba through the economic downturn of the "Special Period", embracing environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "pink tide" - namely with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela - and signed Cuba up to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. In 2006, Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice President Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008. The longest-serving non-royal head of state in the 20th and 21st centuries, Castro polarized world opinion. His supporters view him as a champion of socialism and anti-imperialism whose revolutionary regime advanced economic and social justice while securing Cuba's independence from American imperialism. Critics view him as a dictator whose administration oversaw human-rights abuses, the exodus of a large number of Cubans and the impoverishment of the country's economy. Castro was decorated with various international awards and significantly influenced different individuals and groups across the world.

Fulgencio Bastista

Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (Spanish: [fulˈxensjo βaˈtista i salˈdiβar]; born Rubén Zaldívar;[1] January 16, 1901 - August 6, 1973) was the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and U.S.-backed dictator from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown during the Cuban Revolution. Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants, which overthrew the provisional government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada. He then appointed himself chief of the armed forces, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the five-member "pentarchy" that functioned as the collective head of state. He maintained this control through a string of puppet presidents until 1940, when he was himself elected President of Cuba on a populist platform.[2][3] He then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba [4] and served until 1944. After finishing his term he lived in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup against President Carlos Prío Socarrás that preempted the election.[5] Back in power, and receiving financial, military, and logistical support from the United States government,[6][7] Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans.[8] Eventually it reached the point where most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land.[9] As such, Batista's repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships with both the American Mafia, who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts.[8][10] To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—which was subsequently displayed through frequent student riots and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities secret police to carry out wide-scale violence, torture and public executions; ultimately killing anywhere from hundreds to 20,000 people.[11][12][13][14][15][16] Catalyzing the resistance to such tactics, for two years (December 1956 - December 1958) Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement and other nationalist rebelling elements led an urban and rural-based guerrilla uprising against Batista's government, which culminated in his eventual defeat by rebels under the command of Che Guevara at the Battle of Santa Clara on New Year's Day 1959. Batista immediately fled the island with an amassed personal fortune to the Dominican Republic, where strongman and previous military ally Rafael Trujillo held power. Batista eventually found political asylum in Oliveira Salazar's Portugal, where he first lived on the island of Madeira and then in Estoril, outside Lisbon. He was involved in business activities in Spain and was staying there in Guadalmina near Marbella at the time of his death from a heart attack on August 6, 1973.[17]

Gerardo Machado

Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1871 - 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933. Machado entered the presidency with widespread popularity and support from the major political parties. However his support declined over time, especially following his 1928 re-election, which violated his promise to serve for only one term. As protests and rebellions became more strident, his administration curtailed free speech and used repressive police tactics. Ultimately, in 1933, he was forced to step down in favor of a provisional government headed by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada and brokered by US ambassador Sumner Welles. He has been described as a dictator.[1][2]

Bastista 1952 Coup

In 1952, Batista again ran for president. In a three-way race, Roberto Agramonte of the Orthodox Party led in all the polls, followed by Carlos Hevia of the Authentic Party. Batista's United Action coalition was running a distant third.[41][42] On March 10, 1952, three months before the elections, Batista, with army backing, staged a coup and seized power. He ousted outgoing President Carlos Prío Socarrás, canceled the elections and took control of the government as a provisional president. The United States recognized his government on March 27.[43] When asked by the U.S. government to analyze Batista's Cuba, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. said The corruption of the Government, the brutality of the police, the government's indifference to the needs of the people for education, medical care, housing, for social justice and economic justice ... is an open invitation to revolution.[44] Upon his seizure of power, Batista inherited a country that was relatively prosperous for Latin America. Although a third of the population still lived in poverty, Cuba was one of the five most developed countries in the region, according to the figures of the government of Batista.[45] In the 1950s, Cuba's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was roughly equal to that of Italy at the time, although Cuba's per-capita GDP was still only a sixth of that of the United States.[46] Moreover, although corruption and inequality were rife under Batista, Cuban industrial workers' wages rose significantly.[46] According to the International Labour Organization, the average industrial salary in Cuba was the world's eighth-highest in 1958, and the average agricultural wage was higher than some European nations. However, despite an array of positive indicators, in 1953, the average Cuban family only had an income of $6.00 a week, 15% to 20% of the labor force was chronically unemployed, and only a third of the homes had running water.[47]

Major Hubert Matos

Huber Matos Benítez (26 November 1918 - 27 February 2014) was a Cuban military leader, political dissident, activist and writer. He opposed the dictatorship of Batista from its inception in 1952 and fought alongside Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and other members of the 26th of July Movement to overthrow it. Following the success of the Cuban Revolution that brought Castro into power, he criticized of the regime's shift in favor of Marxist principles and ties to the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). Convicted of treason and sedition by the post-revolutionary government, he spent 20 years in prison (1959-1979) before being released in 1979. He then divided his time between Miami, Florida, and Costa Rica while continuing to protest the policies of the Cuban government.

Juan Almeida

Juan Almeida Bosque (February 17, 1927 - September 11, 2009) was a Cuban politician and one of the original commanders of the insurgent forces in the Cuban Revolution. After the rebels took power in 1959, he was a prominent figure in the Communist Party of Cuba. At the time of his death, he was a Vice-President of the Cuban Council of State and was its third ranking member. He received several decorations, and national and international awards, including the title of "Hero of the Republic of Cuba" and the Order of Máximo Gómez.[1]

Eduardo "Eddie" Chibas

Longtime Autentico Party member during late 1930s and early 1940s. Expressed his opinion regarding the corruption of the party in weekly, national radio broadcasts. Started the Orthodox Party, which Fidel Castro was a part of as a young member. Set up to run for president, but unable to prove accusations against another politician so committed suicide at the end of last radio broadcast- sending out message to Cuban people to rise out against governmental corruption.

Melba Hernandez

Melba Hernández Rodríguez del Rey (28 July 1921 - 9 March 2014) was a Cuban politician and diplomat. She served as the Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam and to Cambodia.[1] Melba Hernandez was one of the women who participated in the 26th of July Movement. She helped the movement by obtaining 100 soldiers' uniform and stitching different ranks on them. The uniforms were used to attack the Moncada Barracks.[6] The attack, led by Fidel Castro, failed and Fidel Castro, Melba Hernandez, Haydée Santamaria, and the remaining survivors of the attack were arrested. The Bautista government sentenced Fidel Castro to 15 years in prison since he was the leader of the attack, and Melba and Haydée were sentenced to 7 months in prison. After 5 months Melba and Haydee were released. Melba kept in contact with Fidel Castro, and she was getting order of how to run the 26 of July Movement. Melba also then published Castro's "History Will Absolve Me" speech.[7] "History Will Absolve Me" was a speech that Fidel Castro wrote while in prison that talk about his will and future of Cuba. After Castro was released in 1955, they rejoin forces in Mexico where they kept planning for the guerrilla army and the Cuban Revolution. Melba Hernández return to Cuba to help out Fidel Castro with his movement, and then she became a Rebel Army combatant in the Third Eastern Front. Later, Melba Hernández was given the name "Heroine of the Cuban Revolution" for her actions during the Cuban Revolutionary war.

Movimiento Estudantia

Movimiento estudiantil es el nombre que recibe la acción gremial y política de los estudiantes universitarios, secundarios y terciarios. El movimiento estudiantil varía de país a país y suele estar organizado en centros por establecimiento educativo, agrupaciones, federaciones locales y nacionales, y federaciones internacionales, entre las que se destaca la Unión Internacional de Estudiantes (UIE). En algunos países el movimiento estudiantil forma parte del gobierno universitario o de los centros educativos, razón por la cual se realizan elecciones entre agrupaciones políticas para ocupar dichos cargos de gobierno. Estos movimientos son una forma eficaz y de gran alcance, que poseen los estudiantes para expresar sus ideas e inconformidades, al congregarse en actos públicos con gran número de personas, algunos mítines suelen pasar del pacifismo a la violencia. En general el movimiento estudiantil forma parte de un fenómeno más amplio ligado al protagonismo social de los jóvenes y a la importancia de la juventud como categoría social autónoma, a partir del siglo XX.

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev[a] (15 April 1894 - 11 September 1971)[1][2] was a Soviet statesman who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier. Khrushchev was born in 1894 in the village of Kalinovka, which is close to the present-day border between Russia and Ukraine. He was employed as a metal worker during his youth, and he was a political commissar during the Russian Civil War. With the help of Lazar Kaganovich, he worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. He supported Joseph Stalin's purges, and approved thousands of arrests. In 1938, Stalin sent him to govern Ukraine, and he continued the purges there. During what was known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War (Eastern Front of World War II), Khrushchev was again a commissar, serving as an intermediary between Stalin and his generals. Khrushchev was present at the bloody defense of Stalingrad, a fact he took great pride in throughout his life. After the war, he returned to Ukraine before being recalled to Moscow as one of Stalin's close advisers. Stalin's death in 1953 triggered a power struggle, from which Khrushchev ultimately emerged victorious. On 25 February 1956, at the 20th Party Congress, he delivered the "Secret Speech", which denounced Stalin's purges and ushered in a less repressive era in the Soviet Union. His domestic policies, aimed at bettering the lives of ordinary citizens, were often ineffective, especially in agriculture. Hoping eventually to rely on missiles for national defense, Khrushchev ordered major cuts in conventional forces. Despite the cuts, Khrushchev's rule saw the most tense years of the Cold War, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Khruschev's popularity was eroded by flaws in his policies. This emboldened his potential opponents, who quietly rose in strength and deposed the Premier in October 1964. However, he did not suffer the deadly fate of previous Soviet power struggles, and was pensioned off with an apartment in Moscow and a dacha in the countryside. His lengthy memoirs were smuggled to the West and published in part in 1970. Khrushchev died in 1971 of a heart attack.

Fundamental Law of the Republic 2/1959

On February 7, 1959, the Fundamental Law of the Republic was passed based on the 1940 Constitution which was duly amended in view of the changes that have taken place in the country. Among the changes was giving the Council of Ministers the legislative power and constitutional authority.

Raul Castro

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (American Spanish: [raˈul moˈðesto ˈkastɾo ˈrus]; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban politician and leader who is currently serving as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the Communist state,[6] succeeding his brother Fidel Castro in April 2011. He has also been a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, the highest decision-making body since 1975. In February 2008, he was appointed the President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers. He stepped down as President on 19 April 2018. Previous to being appointed acting President of Cuba in July 2006, he served as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008. His ministerial tenure made him the longest serving minister of the armed forces. Because of his predecessor's illness, Castro was designated the President of the Council of State in a temporary transfer of power. Castro was officially made President by the National Assembly on 24 February 2008, after Fidel Castro, who was still ailing, announced on 19 February 2008 that he would not stand for President again. Castro was re-elected President on 24 February 2013. Shortly thereafter, Castro announced that his second term would be his final term, and that he would not seek re-election in 2018.[7] He announced on state television on 21 December 2017 that he would step down as Cuban president on 19 April 2018 after his successor is elected by the National Assembly following parliamentary elections. However, he retains his most powerful position as First Secretary of the Communist Party,[6] Cuba's ruling party,[8][9] and also continues to have a seat representing Santiago de Cuba's Segundo Frente municipality in the National Assembly.[10]

Richard Bissell

Richard Pike Bissell (June 27, 1913 in Dubuque, Iowa - May 4, 1977) was an American author of short stories and novels. His third book, and second novel, 7½ Cents, was adapted into the Broadway musical The Pajama Game. This won him (along with co-author George Abbott) the 1955 Tony Award for Best Musical. He wrote a book about the experience called Say, Darling, which chronicled the ins and outs of a broadway musical production and featured characters based on those (such as Harold Prince) he worked with; this book was also turned into a musical, also called Say, Darling, in 1958.

26th of July Movement 7-26

The 26th of July Movement (Spanish: Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was a vanguard revolutionary organization then a party led by Fidel Castro that in 1959 overthrew the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship in Cuba. The Movement fought the Batista regime on both rural and urban fronts. The movement's main objectives were distribution of land to peasants, nationalization of public services, industrialization, honest elections, and large scale education reform. On 2 December 1956, 82 men landed in Cuba, having sailed in the boat Granma from Tuxpan, Veracruz, ready to organize and lead a revolution. The early signs were not good for the movement. They landed in daylight, were attacked by the Cuban Air Force, and suffered numerous casualties. The landing party was split into two and wandered lost for two days, most of their supplies abandoned where they landed. They were also betrayed by their peasant guide in an ambush, which killed more of those who had landed. Batista mistakenly announced Fidel Castro's death at this point. Of the 82 who sailed aboard the Granma, only 12 eventually regrouped in the Sierra Maestra mountain range. While the revolutionaries were setting up camp in the mountains, "Civic Resistance" groups were formulating in the cities, putting pressure on the Batista regime. Many middle-class and professional persons flocked toward Castro and his movement.[3] While in the Sierra Maestra mountains the guerrilla forces attracted hundreds of Cuban volunteers and won several battles against the Cuban Army. Ernesto 'Che' Guevara was shot in the neck and chest during the fighting, but was not severely injured. (Guevara, who had studied medicine, continued to give first aid to other wounded guerrillas.) This was the opening phase of the war of the Cuban Revolution, which continued for the next two years. It ended in January 1959, after Batista fled Cuba for Dominican Republic, on New Year's Eve when the Movement's forces marched into Havana.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

The Bay of Pigs Invasion (Spanish: Invasión de Playa Girón or Invasión de Bahía de Cochinos or Batalla de Girón) was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961. A counter-revolutionary military group (made up of mostly Cuban exiles who traveled to the United States after Castro's takeover, but also some US military personnel[5]), trained and funded by the CIA, Brigade 2506 fronted the armed wing of the Democratic Revolutionary Front (DRF) and intended to overthrow the increasingly communist government of Fidel Castro. Launched from Guatemala and Nicaragua, the invading force was defeated within three days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, under the direct command of Castro. The coup of 1952 led by General Fulgencio Batista, an ally of the United States, against President Carlos Prio, forced Prio into exile to Miami, Florida. Prio's exile was the reason for the 26th July Movement led by Castro. The movement, which did not succeed until after the Cuban Revolution of 31 December 1958, severed the country's formerly strong links with the US after nationalizing American economic assets (banks, oil refineries, sugar and coffee plantations, along with other American owned businesses). It was after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, that Castro forged strong economic links with the Soviet Union, with which, at the time, the United States was engaged in the Cold War. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower was very concerned at the direction Castro's government was taking, and in March 1960 he allocated $13.1 million to the CIA to plan Castro's overthrow. The CIA proceeded to organize the operation with the aid of various Cuban counter-revolutionary forces, training Brigade 2506 in Guatemala. Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy, approved the final invasion plan on 4 April 1961. Over 1,400 paramilitaries, divided into five infantry battalions and one paratrooper battalion, assembled in Guatemala before setting out for Cuba by boat on 13 April 1961. Two days later, on 15 April, eight CIA-supplied B-26 bombers attacked Cuban airfields and then returned to the US. On the night of 16 April, the main invasion landed at a beach named Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs. It initially overwhelmed a local revolutionary militia. The Cuban Army's counter-offensive was led by José Ramón Fernández, before Castro decided to take personal control of the operation. As the US involvement became apparent to the world, and with the initiative turning against the invasion, Kennedy decided against providing further air cover.[6] As a result, the operation only had half the forces the CIA had deemed necessary. The original plan devised during Eisenhower's presidency had required both air and naval support. On 20 April, the invaders surrendered after only three days, with the majority being publicly interrogated and put into Cuban prisons. The failed invasion helped to strengthen the position of Castro's leadership, made him a national hero, and entrenched the rocky relationship between the former allies. It also strengthened the relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union. This eventually led to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The invasion was a major failure for US foreign policy; Kennedy ordered a number of internal investigations across Latin America. Cuban forces under Castro's leadership clashed directly with US forces during the Invasion of Grenada over 20 years later.

Communist Party of Cuba

The Communist Party of Cuba (Spanish: Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the political party that rules in Republic of Cuba, although others exist without legal recognition or incorporation.[citation needed] It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the party to be the "leading force of society and of the state". Since April 2011, the First Secretary of the Central Committee has been Raúl Castro, younger brother of the previous First Secretary Fidel Castro, who died on 25 November 2016. The Second Secretary has been José Ramón Machado Ventura.[3]

Partido Autentico

The Cuban Revolutionary Party - Authentic (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Cubano - Auténtico, PRC-A), commonly named Authentic Party (Spanish: Partido Auténtico, PA), was a political party in Cuba most active between 1933 and 1952. Although the Partido Auténtico had significant influence, it eventually became unpopular and, despite significant reforms, Fulgencio Batista returned to power.

Attack on Moncada Army Barracks

The Moncada Barracks was a military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, named after the General Guillermón Moncada, a hero of the Cuban War of Independence. On 26 July 1953, the barracks was the site of an armed attack by a small group of revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro. This armed attack is widely accepted as the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. The date on which the attack took place, 26 July, was adopted by Castro as the name for his revolutionary movement (Movimiento 26 Julio or M 26-7) which eventually toppled the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista on 12 January 1959. The attack began poorly. The caravan of automobiles became separated by the time it arrived at the barracks, and the car carrying the guerillas' heavy weapons got lost. Furthermore, many of the rebels who would have taken part in the attack were left behind for a lack of weapons. In Castro's autobiography, he claims that he drove his car into a group of soldiers at the gate who had realized an attack was in progress. The men in the cars behind him jumped out of their cars, believing they were inside the barracks, and the alarm was sounded before the barracks had been infiltrated. According to Castro, this was the fatal mistake in the operation.[14] The net result of these events was the rebels being outnumbered more than 10 to 1.

Literacy Crusade

The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign, also called the Literacy Campaign, was a campaign launched in 1980 by the Sandinista government in order to reduce illiteracy in Nicaragua.[1] It was awarded the prestigious UNESCO Literacy Award. There have been many other literacy campaigns in the country since the first one was launched in 1980.

Partido Ortodoxo

The Party of the Cuban People - Orthodox (Spanish: Partido del Pueblo Cubano - Ortodoxos, PPC-O), commonly called Orthodox Party (Spanish: Partido Ortodoxo, PO), was a Cuban left-wing populist political party. It was founded in 1947 by Eduardo Chibás in response to government corruption and lack of reform. Its primary aims were the establishment of a distinct national identity, economic independence and the implementation of social reforms.

Revolt of the Sergeants

The Sergeants' Revolt (Spanish: Revuelta de los sargentos), also called the Cuban Revolution of 1933, was a coup d'etat that occurred in Cuba in September 1933. It began as a revolt of sergeants and enlisted men in the military, who soon allied with student activists in the Directorio Estudiantil Universitario. The coup deposed Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada as President, installing a new government led by a five-man coalition, known as the Pentarchy of 1933. After only five days, the Pentarchy gave way to the presidency of Ramón Grau, whose term is known as the One Hundred Days Government. The leader of the revolt, Sergeant Fulgencio Batista, became the head of the armed forces and began a long period of influence on Cuban politics.After the fall of Machado, the military perceived its situation as precarious. Opposition forces controlled Havana, and took their revenge on supporters of the Machado regime, including police and some soldiers. The military was reluctant to intervene in this situation lest the public perceive it as an agent of the old regime. Arrest of 50 soldiers and 21 officers did not satisfy demands for reform.[4] Critics of the Céspedes government, including within the military, charged that it was not taking sufficient action against Machado's backers within the military, and that it had failed to reinstate officers who had opposed Machado.[5] This situation exacerbated longstanding tension (related to age, class, and race) between the ranks of officers.[6]

3/1958 Arms Embargo

The United States embargo against Cuba (in Cuba called el bloqueo, "the blockade") is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba. An embargo was first imposed by the United States on sale of arms to Cuba on March 14, 1958, during the Fulgencio Batista regime. Again on October 19, 1960 (almost two years after the Batista regime was deposed by the Cuban Revolution) the U.S. placed an embargo on exports to Cuba except for food and medicine after Cuba nationalized American-owned Cuban oil refineries without compensation. On February 7, 1962 the embargo was extended to include almost all imports.[1] Currently, the Cuban embargo is enforced mainly through six statutes: the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Cuban Assets Control Regulations of 1963, the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, and the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.[2] The stated purpose of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 is to maintain sanctions on Cuba as long as the Cuban government refuses to move toward "democratization and greater respect for human rights".[3] The Helms-Burton Act further restricted United States citizens from doing business in or with Cuba, and mandated restrictions on giving public or private assistance to any successor government in Havana unless and until certain claims against the Cuban government were met. In 1999, President Bill Clinton expanded the trade embargo by also disallowing foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies to trade with Cuba. In 2000, Clinton authorized the sale of "humanitarian" U.S. products to Cuba. Despite the Spanish-language term bloqueo (blockade), there has been no physical, naval blockade of the country by the United States after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.[4] The United States does not block Cuba's trade with third parties: other countries are not under the jurisdiction of U.S. domestic laws, such as the Cuban Democracy Act (although, in theory, foreign countries that trade with Cuba could be penalised by the U.S., which has been condemned as an "extraterritorial" measure that contravenes "the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention in their internal affairs and freedom of trade and navigation as paramount to the conduct of international affairs."[5]). Cuba can, and does, conduct international trade with many third-party countries;[6] Cuba has been a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1995.[7] Beyond criticisms of human rights in Cuba, the United States holds $6 billion worth of financial claims against the Cuban government.[8] The pro-embargo position is that the U.S. embargo is, in part, an appropriate response to these unaddressed claims.[9] The Latin America Working Group argues that pro-embargo Cuban-American exiles, whose votes are crucial in Florida, have swayed many politicians to also adopt similar views.[10] The Cuban-American views have been opposed by some business leaders who argue that trading freely would be good for Cuba and the United States.[11] At present, the embargo, which limits American businesses from conducting business with Cuban interests, is still in effect and is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. Despite the existence of the embargo, the United States is the fifth largest exporter to Cuba (6.6% of Cuba's imports are from the US).[12] Cuba must, however, pay cash for all imports, as credit is not allowed.[13] The UN General Assembly has, since 1992, passed a resolution every year condemning the ongoing impact of the embargo and declaring it to be in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law. In 2014, out of the 193-nation assembly, 188 countries voted for the nonbinding resolution, the United States and Israel voted against and the Pacific island nations Palau, Marshall Islands and Micronesia abstained.[2][14] Human rights groups including Amnesty International,[2] Human Rights Watch,[15] and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights[16] have also been critical of the embargo. Critics of the embargo say that the embargo laws are too harsh, citing the fact that violations can result in up to 10 years in prison.

Agrarian Reform Law 5/1959

The agrarian reform laws of Cuba sought to break up large landholdings and redistribute land to those peasants who worked it, to cooperatives, and the state. Laws relating to land reform were implemented in a series of laws passed between 1959 and 1963 after the Cuban Revolution. Che Guevara was named head of the INRA as minister of industries and oversaw the land reform policies.

1933 Revolution

The revolution of 1933 resulted from the violent opposition of the Cuban people to President Gerardo Machado's attempt to perpetuate himself in power in 1928. Political dissent was further inflamed by the widespread misery caused by the economic collapse of 1929, and by the fact that the 1920s were for Cuba, as for the rest of Latin America, a period of unrest and transformation. A new and more radical type of nationalism appeared on the island; students and rising labor unions undertook to promote the creation of a new and different type of society; and new leftist political organizations arose to defend the rights of the masses. It was the concurrent action of these forces that metamorphosed the anti-Machado protest into a revolutionary upheaval From 1930 to 1933 Cuba was caught between the violent tactics of the opposition, spearheaded by the Student Revolutionary Directorate and a secret organization known as ABC, and the brutal repression of the government, supported by the army. The struggle seemed to have reached a stalemate when President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who needed political stability in Cuba in order to implement his New Deal Cuban policy, sent his trusted aide Sumner Welles to Havana to seek a peaceful solution to the unrest. At first Welles acted as a mediator, but subsequently he pushed Machado toward making concessions, encouraged the opposition, and undermined the army's loyalty to the president. Machado was desperately trying to stand up to Welles's pressure when, in August 1933, a general strike paralyzed the nation. Fearing a U.S. intervention, the army moved against Machado, who fled the island

National Institute of Agrarian Reform

was an agency of the Cuban Government that was formed to institute the Agrarian Reform Law of 1959. INRA also implemented the Second Agrarian Reform Law of 1963. It oversaw the development of the rural infrastructure. Che Guevara was appointed the first leader of the Institute.