In a 2006 ‘spoken word’ autobiography, Castro affirmed, “From that moment on, I had a clear idea of the struggle ahead.” Testifying to this, Fidel Castro enacted colossal reforms over his five or so decades in power. Whilst some policies he implemented, for instance reducing illiteracy, changed Cuba for the better, suppressive ones accompanied these reforms.
Having come into power on the premise of his vows to restore the 1940 constitution and reinstate political freedom, Castro, albeit his successes, cannot be omitted from the long list of politicians who changed their agenda. A self-proclaimed ‘Marxist-Leninist’, once in power, Castro pursued more radical policies: nationalising all US-owned businesses. Castro’s fervent new anti-American rhetoric was detrimental to the rapport between the US and Cuba, fuelling a trade embargo of which the implications lasted well into the 21st century. His trade agreement with the Soviet Union in February 1960 intensified the American’s distrust. In 1961, the US government secretly equipped Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro’s government at the Bay of Pigs, although this attack was dextrously intercepted by Castro’s forces. Tensions were only exacerbated by the economic and military rapports, which had been established between the Soviet Union and Cuba: nuclear weapons were stationed in Cuba which could deliver nuclear warheads to American cities.
Castro can be likened to Hitler, in that he created a one-party state, in search of totalitarian power. Whilst Castro ostensibly intended to restore the Cuban constitution, it seems his pursuit for dictatorial control undermines this line of argument. Effectively, he is arguably just like Batista in this respect. Instead of staging a coup, he managed to expedite a revolution. Like all totalitarian figureheads, Castro censored all political dissent: shutting down opposition newspapers, and jailing thousands of political opponents. He imposed restrictions on religion also. Anti-religious persecution started and many convents were taken and transformed into schools. He also created the CDR, which was a civilian organization, which implemented neighbourhood spying to detect counter-revolutionary activities.
Having said this, Castro expanded the country’s social services, extending them to all members of society. For instance, he brought electricity to the countryside. Legal discrimination was abolished under Castro- a fundamental human right. This focus on primordial human necessity differs from his religious persecution. He significantly advanced the causes of education and healthcare: subsidising new schooling and medicinal facilities, as well as making health services available free of charge. Most notably, Fidel Castro guaranteed full employment.
Conversely, in promoting his communist ideals, he is credited with stifling economic and political freedom. This is because, in a bureaucracy, only the head of state handled economic power; Fidel Castro was incidentally poor economist. This is why Cuba became increasingly dependent on Soviet trade policies in order to maintain a basic standard of living in the face of the United States’ continuing trade embargo. The Cuban economy was thus unable to diversify; no significant growth was achieved.
To conclude: Castro’s inherent flaw was his alignment with the Soviet Union as a communist ally, thus alienating his country from the United States. Despite the fact both Batista and Castro were dictators who suppressed the press, freedom of speech, religion and committed egregious human rights violations, it is incontrovertible that better education, housing and health made Castro the preferred out of the two.
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