Fidel Castro and Cuba

1
Fidel Castro and Cuba

• Brianna Mellen

2
Biography

• Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born in 1926 near
  Birán in Orient Province.
• He attended many different schools such as
  Santiago de Cubas La Salle School, Dolores
  Colegio, Belen Secondary School, and in 1945 the
  University of Havana Law School.
• Castro got involved in politics while attending
  the Law School.

3
Ortodox Party

• The Party of the Cuban People
• Founded by Eduardo Chibás.
• The 5 principles of the party are
• - Building a strong sense of national identity
  among Cubans
• - Opposing the influence of foreign nations in
  Cubas affairs
• - Supporting social justice
• - Establishing economic independence
• - Distributing the nations wealth through
  government control of natural and economic
  resources.

4
Bogotazo

• Castro attended the Ninth Pan American Union
  conference in 1948.
• A few days after the conference, Jorge Eliécer
  Gaitán was assassinated.
• Student riots broke out in the streets after the
  assassination and Castro was blamed for
  instigating the uprising.
• This was a turning point in Castros political
  thought.

5
Politics

• Castro was cynical about Cuban electoral
  politics. He believed that they were rigged and
  the U.S. controlled Cuban Politicians. This led
  him to form the Radical Action Ortodox wing in
  1948.
• In the 1952 elections, Castro ran for a seat in
  the Cuban House of Representatives to become
  leader of the Ortodox party. Before the elections
  could happen Fulgencio Batista staged a coup
  detat and established a dictatorship.
• This made Castros cynicism turn to rejection of
  electoral democracy.

6
26th of July Movement

• On July 26, 1953, Castro and his followers
  attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de
  Cuba.
• 1000 trained soldiers manned the barracks and
  there were around 150 revolutioinaries.
• Over half of Castros followers were captured,
  tortured, or killed.
• Castro was captured and along with the other
  prisoners went on trial from August to October of
  1953.
• He was sentenced to 15 years for conspiring to
  overthrow the Batista government. He served less
  than 2 years.

7
Sierra Maestra

• Castro got out of prison in May of 1955 and left
  for Mexico.
• Ernesto Che Guevara joined Castro and in
  November of 1956 they sailed back to Cuba. Their
  plan was to form a revolutionary force in the
  Sierra Maestra.
• Batistas army met them at Playa Colorado and
  only a dozen men escaped.
• Castro established military and political
  leadership.

8
Operation Verano

• This was an attempt by the Batista Government to
  stop Castro in 1958.
• In May 1958, Batista gave General Eulogio
  Cantillo the mission to destroy Castro and his
  forces.
• The first attack was on June 28, 1958.
• The Battle of La Plata took place on July 11.
• The Battle of Las Mercedes was the third and last
  battle.

9
Ousting of Batista

• Castros troops had spanned over the island and
  Batistas government had lost much of its support
  by mid 1958.
• In December 1958, Che Guevara led guerrilla units
  to attack the city of Santa Clara.
• On January 1, 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican
  Republic.

10
Some Effects of the Revolution

• The illiteracy rate went down from 30 in 1958 to
  .2.
• Health care and education are free to all Cuban
  citizens.
• The life expectancy went up from 55 years to 76
  years.
• The number of hospitals has gone up from 97 in
  1958 to 267.
• Supporters of Batista were executed.
• Freedom of speech was suppressed.
• In 1959 both the Agrarian Reform Law and the
  Urban Reform Law were passed.

11
Bibliography

• http//encarta.msn.com/text_761564308__0/Fidel_Cas
  tro.html
• http//www.answers.com/main/ntquery?tnameoperatio
  n2Dveranoprinttrue
• http//havanajournal.com/politics/entry/long_live_
  the_cuban_revolution_people_democracy/
• http//cache.eb.com/eb/image?id78516rendTypeId4
  
• http//www.revision-notes.co.uk/revision/64.html