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Cuba was wracked by violence and revolution even before the Spanish-American War.
That continued through its being returned to home rule and beyond.
Batista and his cronies ruled with the help of external financial support by American businessmen, legit and otherwise.
The Castro Brothers and Guevera had popular support in the country when they first took Havana.
The Castros were Communists, though, and the US would not truck with them.
The long-standing embargo in the US is ridiculous, but it will not end until the Brothers Castro are dead and buried.
A bit if trivia. My wife was in Cuba when Castro marched on Havana. Raul's bodyguards tried to recruit her for the revolution. She refused, and was allowed to return home.
One of Castro's first acts was to arrest the communists, who he felt were a threat to him. Castro is a fascist and his adoption of communism was only exploiting the Cold War expansionism of the Russians and the Americans.
However many Cuban Americans will realize that they aren't really Cuban, and will have little tolerance for the inefficiency and corruption that will bedevil that island as it transitions from Castroite communism. The Cuban Americans with the most capital and business expertise are derived from the earliest waves, and most of them are not only US born, but were raised by people are arrived from Cuba as kids, and therefore know little of it, and what they do no is irrelevant.
When attempting to see what Cuba will be like, think Russia. And the level of crime will make the South Bronx look like a church. Frustrated people, freed from being controlled by a brutal police force will run crazy, and a market oriented economy will surely leave many of them out.
I don't think so. Russia is Russia, and the roots of what it is now were clearly visible in the undercover nomenklatura culture that existed during the Soviet era. I have not seen the same thing existing in the same way from what I've gathered about Cuba.
Just as Chinese Communism is far different--and always has been--from Russian Communism, so is Cuban Communism different from Russisan Communism.
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Some Cuban exiles however think that Castroism will end suddenly and the country will quickly revert back to what it was in 1956.
Agree with your implication here. It's unlikely to return to the same state as before. I do think that the potential opportunity for American influence both economically and culturally is overwhelming, but even that will prevent a return to what Cuba was in 1956.
If America had been then what it is now, the Cuban revolution itself would have been different.
One of Castro's first acts was to arrest the communists, who he felt were a threat to him. Castro is a fascist and his adoption of communism was only exploiting the Cold War expansionism of the Russians and the Americans.
Of course it was.
It is the story of revolution.
Once the revolt succeeds, the victor must secure his power base by sweeping those who are truly a threat - the fellow revolutionaries.
The philosophy may be communist, but the dictatorship of the Proloteriat, must by nature, be fascist.
and of course the revolution fails the next step, because no one will relinquish power once it is theirs.
I don't think so. Russia is Russia, and the roots of what it is now were clearly visible in the undercover nomenklatura culture that existed during the Soviet era. I have not seen the same thing existing in the same way from what I've gathered about Cuba.
Just as Chinese Communism is far different--and always has been--from Russian Communism, so is Cuban Communism different from Russisan Communism.
Agree with your implication here. It's unlikely to return to the same state as before. I do think that the potential opportunity for American influence both economically and culturally is overwhelming, but even that will prevent a return to what Cuba was in 1956.
If America had been then what it is now, the Cuban revolution itself would have been different.
The existing eiites come from the USSR mold, not China. As in Russia these operatives will use their state power to economically dominate an increasingly capitalistic country. Indeed while we write this is what they are doing with foreign investors.
I do not see this elite going away because there is no other power group who are able to make them go away. Cuban exiles think that they will have great influence, but these groups will ensure that they do not.
Cuba no longer has institutions which work outside of personal relationships ad the communist party. More importantly, Cubans no longer remember how those institutions work. What they do know is how to function in a corrupt society where people who are important are bribed.
And as the state owned sector is forced to lay off thousands, and these people will lack the skills that a more capitalistic employer will want (covering your butt, stealing from your employer, and malingering aren't traits that private employers prize) there will be an enormous very disgruntled population, just as there was in Russia.
Had Cubans not been so isolated from the USA I could more envisage this rapid transformation into a highly efficient capitalist economy. Or had the Castros collapsed thirty years ago. But Cubans have been really cut off, and almost totally lack a realistic notion about how the world functions. Those who do tend to be the ones with relatives living overseas, but then most lack this contact with the outside world.
Of course it was.
It is the story of revolution.
Once the revolt succeeds, the victor must secure his power base by sweeping those who are truly a threat - the fellow revolutionaries.
The philosophy may be communist, but the dictatorship of the Proloteriat, must by nature, be fascist.
and of course the revolution fails the next step, because no one will relinquish power once it is theirs.
All this is, of course, irrelevant to the OP.
And of course now that the "Revolution" has lost its course, the same people who once ranted about the evil capitalists, now lambaste Cubans for lacking the initiative to start their own enterprises. This of course with every obstacle placed in front of those not connected to the powers that be.
The existing eiites come from the USSR mold, not China. As in Russia these operatives will use their state power to economically dominate an increasingly capitalistic country. Indeed while we write this is what they are doing with foreign investors.
I do not see this elite going away because there is no other power group who are able to make them go away. Cuban exiles think that they will have great influence, but these groups will ensure that they do not.
Cuba no longer has institutions which work outside of personal relationships ad the communist party. More importantly, Cubans no longer remember how those institutions work. What they do know is how to function in a corrupt society where people who are important are bribed.
And as the state owned sector is forced to lay off thousands, and these people will lack the skills that a more capitalistic employer will want (covering your butt, stealing from your employer, and malingering aren't traits that private employers prize) there will be an enormous very disgruntled population, just as there was in Russia.
Had Cubans not been so isolated from the USA I could more envisage this rapid transformation into a highly efficient capitalist economy. Or had the Castros collapsed thirty years ago. But Cubans have been really cut off, and almost totally lack a realistic notion about how the world functions. Those who do tend to be the ones with relatives living overseas, but then most lack this contact with the outside world.
Cuba is one of the least corrupt countries in the region according to transparency international. Corruption is rife all over the Caraibian, and Batista's regime was extremely corrupted.
“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.” [RIGHT]— U.S. President John F. Kennedy, to Jean Daniel, October 24, 1963[/RIGHT]
I think without the Castro's, Cuba would be like the Philippines or Dominican republic today.
of course generations of Cuban Americans and other americans have been raised by hatred against the Castro's, so not easy to see things in a clear perspective. However, you have to look at things from a distance. Castro's did achieve some things, such as universal health care, good education, etc. There are no shantytowns where people don't have electricity or enough food as in Guatemala or Dominican republic. But economic performances were disappointing, salaries are ridiculously low. Whhich is due to the Castro's failed policy, but also due to the economic embargo by the largest trading partner and largest economic force in the world.
You can't blame Cubans for being poor and at the same time support the embargo. That's like depriving someone of food and than blaming him for being thin.
I'm a Russian who used to live in Cuba for a year as a kid back in the 80's, not priviliged, just in a normal casa like any Cuban. It's a mixed experience, both good and bad. I went back a few times to visit my friends.
In Russia I can tell you for most people the change from communism to capitalism was painful, and not all that succesful, many feel their life got worse, especially the elder generation. on the positive side Russians can now travel to all parts of the world, if they have money. However living standards in the Soviet-Union were much higher than in Cuba. But I think you can only compare apples to apples, Cuba should be compared to neighbouring countries with the same history, culture and population, such as Dominican republic. Puerto Rico is doing much better, but that's only because more Puertoricans are living in the us than in Puertorico itself, and because it gets billions of us subsidies.
Cuba is one of the least corrupt countries in the region according to transparency international. Corruption is rife all over the Caraibian, and Batista's regime was extremely corrupted.
“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.” [RIGHT]— U.S. President John F. Kennedy, to Jean Daniel, October 24, 1963[/RIGHT]
I think without the Castro's, Cuba would be like the Philippines or Dominican republic today.
Transparency International relies on local people to offer opinions about corruption. Indeed the govyts of Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana are screaming that people who support the opposition are responsible for those nation's ratings.
Now how many local people in Cuba will dare say that Cuba is corrupt?
And get rid of this nonsense that saying that Cuba is a mess today implies that it didn't have problems under Batista. It did then and it does today and what is ironic is that the Castro regime has led to thousands of Cuban females (and males) having to prostitute their bodies to tourist, beg from tourists and engage in a range of unproductive behaviors. Cuba, like the DR, is a haven for perverts looking for sex with minors.
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