The history of Cuba is very important in portraying the activities that took place in the country under the leadership of various individuals. However, the history of the country under the leadership of Fidel Castro seems to be more interesting since it affected political, social and economic welfare of Cuban residents. Cuba is a country situated in the Caribbean islands and it mostly consists of people who are black in color. The country was initially colonized by the Spanish, who first entered in the country in 1492. The major reason why the country consists of black people is due to the immigration of the black Africans. Most of the Africans who came to this country were slaves. This also explains why most countries of Caribbean islands consist of black people.
A concentration of the political history of Cuba will lead us to the analysis of the life Fidel Castro. Castro’s leadership started in 1959 when he became the prime minister of Cuba. This happened after the fall of Batista. The United States of America had the interest of forming social reforms in the country. They therefore feared that Fidel Castro would weaken their efforts. This was after they had come to the conclusion that Batista had high chances of being defeated. After Castro became the prime minister of Cuba, he exercised some political powers in the country. This was possible since he was popular among the residents of Cuba. More so, he had wide support from people who thought that he would be a good leader.
What gave Castro more popularity was the fact that he had advocated for justice for victims who were affected by the rule of Batista. There were certain soldiers who were involved in the torture of Cuban citizens. As a result, Fidel made an effort to ensure that these people were executed in order to exercise justice in the country. However, the United States of America felt that the execution of these individuals was not done as expected since the trials were not done fairly. In one of the meetings held with government officials, there was an argument that arose based on the laws that were passed. The outcome of the disagreements was characterized by the resignation of the then prime minister, Jose Miro. Jose became a rival of Castro. It is after this event that Castro became the prime minister of the country.
The leadership of Castro in Cuba initially formed a lot of expectations to the people of Cuba. Many people expected that the economy of the country would grow due to the change in leadership. Many people were also enticed by the promises made by Castro regarding the economy of the country. Initially, Castro limited the number of acres of land that could be owned by an individual person. This was done with a view to prevent the wealthy people from taking advantage of the middle income earners and the poor people in the country. However, this action did not satisfy the middle income earning group. Most of them supported Castro, although Castro’s action made them to defect.
The era of Fidel Castro was initially characterized by strong opposition from the government of the United States of America. This opposition started from the time the American government started supporting Batista. After this period, there was the emergence of the cold war. This war was between the world’s leaders, the United States of America and the united Soviet Union. Castro exercised strong opposition to the United States of America based on his past experience with the country. On the other hand, he supported the Soviet Union. He also met with some agents of the Soviet Union with a view to improve relations and trade between Cuba and the country. This yielded positive results since the Cuban government was able to exchange goods with the Soviet Union. The goods that were exchanged include fertilizers, sugar and industrial goods.
The relations between the United States of America and the Cuban government had adverse effects, especially to Cuba. Cuba depended on the United States of America for some important commodities. On the other hand, the United States of America depended on Cuba for sugar. The relations of Castro and the American government worsened when the latter closed imports from the former. This angered Castro since he thought that this action was political in nature. At some point, the American government also reduced the exports that were made to Cuba. This adversely affected the economy of Cuba, which depended on United States of America for imports.
There was a lot of evolution at the time of Castro’s leadership. For instance, in 1959, there was a multi-party system that allowed other political parties to participate in elections. However, this system was abolished by Castro. Many people criticized this action, arguing that the leader did this since he feared to lose the next general elections. It was obvious that Castro was against capitalism in the country. He wanted his government to be very strong. He did this by ensuring that all the people who were appointed by him were very loyal to him. At this point, people started to see some changes in the country. Some of the actions that were undertaken by this leader were against the expectations of the citizens.
Many activists argued that Fidel Castro was a dictator. The major reason for this is that he did not promote democracy in the country. At some point, organizations that were in the form of unions were abolished. The dismissal of labor unions in the country made a negative impact to the country. For instance, there were no people to fight for the right of the workers in the labor sectors. More so, the workers had no channel to advocate for higher wage rate in the country. This lowered the morale of some workers, leading to a decrease in the labor supply. This in turn led to a reduction in the productivity of some industries. During the reign of Castro, opponents were arrested and tortured. This made some people to fear going against the government.
The reign of Castro was characterized by many economic problems. Some of the businesses owned by individuals were taken over by the government. There was no certainty that the government would run these businesses more effectively. Some of the victims whose businesses were taken over by the government became jobless. The increase in unemployment was more prevalent when Castro closed a number of industries in the country. There were many people who were working in these industries. The closure of the industries meant that there were many people who lost jobs. Some of the plantations that were owned by the government involved harsh treatment by the leaders involved. Due to this reason, many people avoided these areas to avoid discontent.
There were numerous changes in prices in the country at the time of Castro’s leadership. For instance, the market system started to become inefficient. This led to fluctuation of prices in the economy. The political environment of the country was also uncertain. This made the foreign investors to avoid investing in the country for fear of less returns on investment and losses in the market. In addition to this, there was inadequate supply of commodities from the industries in the country. This made the prices to increase rapidly, leading to inflation. Inflation and unemployment in the country occurred due to some economic policies enacted by Castro. Many people argued that these policies were not satisfactory.
The benefit of looking at the history of Cuba is that one is able to learn from experience. The experience learnt from the people living in this country is important for other economies. The problems that were faced by the people of Cuba could be translated into strengths in other countries. The history of Cuba during the era of Castro is also important in learning the origin of people. For instance, there are many Cubans who live in various parts of the world. Most of the Cubans who migrated to other parts of the world did so in order to escape the brutality of Castro. Many of these could not bear the dictatorship of Fidel. Others were adversely affected by the policies imposed by the Cuban government.
The era of Castro can be analyzed based on the personal experience of certain individuals. This experience is analyzed by Garcia, the author of the book “Child of the Revolution: Growing up in Castro’s Cuba” In this book, he talks of how they were affected by the leadership of Castro. One interesting thing about this author is that he was born at the time Castro held the position of a prime minister in Cuba. According to the author, the government snatched them their little business. This adversely affected them since their level of income decreased. This made them to file for an application to leave the country. This was the time when Castro introduced the policy of nationalization of business properties. The government of Cuba went to the extent of taking over the personal properties of people.
The author of the book argued that they faced more problems when they applied to leave the country. As a result of this, his father joined the list of the unemployed people in the country. He was therefore forced to go to the labor camps. In these camps, people underwent a lot of torture. Most of the labor camps involved working on sugarcane. The transfer of the author’s father to the labor camp adversely affected him since the former worked at a place which was not near his home. However, after three years, the family was able to leave the country after getting permission to do so.
Despite the fact that the affected citizens of Cuba migrated out of the country to avoid the problems encountered, they did not have a smooth time to adjust in other countries. For instance, it was difficult for the immigrants to adopt the culture of other countries. Most of the emigrants went to Australia and Spain. Some of them were a little conversant with Spanish language and therefore better off. However, others went to other countries where people spoke completely different languages. Although there was a problem of adaptation in the countries of emigration, the emigrants preferred living there instead of going back to the Cuba where there was dictatorship.
The limitation of looking at these developments is that it reminds the affected people of the pains they underwent in the country during the era of Castro. This mostly affects the people who lost their businesses as well as their personal properties. Some of the people who lost properties have been left to be poor. More so, their standards of living have lowered due to a reduction in the real disposable income. Therefore, looking at this history reminds them of the cause of their current situation. Many psychologists argue that the history of a country should act as a foundation for the growth of the citizens. The affected parties should strive to work hard to ensure that such problems do not occur in the future. More so, they should come up with ways to prevent the risk of loss of business in future.
In conclusion, the experience by the people of Cuba during the reign of Castro shows that leaders may influence the economic, social and political behaviors in a country. Leaders of other countries should therefore practice good leadership in order to ensure stability in the political and economic environment. Based on the experience of Cuba, dictatorship did not yield positive results in the country. Leaders should therefore practice democracy since it will promote flexibility in the political and economic systems of the country. This will also encourage the sharing of ideas that is necessary for proper planning, development and economic growth.
