Cuban History: The Cuban Revolution

Cuban Revolution
Cuba was a poor country, but not in the same category of poverty as India, Mexico,
Bolivia or Haiti. There was a wide gap in living standard between the city (especially Havana) and the countryside. Only 7% of rural houses had electricity. Cuba had a large class of permanently or partially unemployed, sometimes as much as 1/3 of the labor force during certain months of the year, since Cuba's main crop, sugar, was seasonal. In 1958, Cuba's economy was not so much underdeveloped as it was sluggish. It was sluggish due to lack of enterprising motivation. In the late 1930s, labor was a major force. Succeeding governments desired to pacify labor with a series of advanced laws, providing employees an eight hour day, forty-four …show more content…
Employees could only be dismissed with proof of cause (Caro Web).
"It seemed indeed that the government always intervened on the side of labor. By the
1950’s in fact labor had almost a stranglehold over the government and it would not be an

Schmidt 2 exaggeration to say that Batista, during his second period of power, ran Cuba by means of an alliance with organized labor. In return for the support of labor, Batista underwrote the vast number of restrictive practices, the limitation on mechanization and the bans on dismissals, that were such a characteristic of the Cuban labor scene." Hugh Thomas, "Cuba, The Pursuit of
Freedom" (Caro Web).
When Castro arrived in Havana, the Times reported, he "received a delirious welcome from the city's populace" (DePalma Web). Later that day, as he addressed the huge crowd, someone released white doves as a sign of peace and one landed on Castro's shoulder. Many
Cubans took that as a sign that he was destined to lead them to a better future.
Fidel Castro was the son of a wealthy planter from the eastern province of Oriente, …show more content…
But when Batista canceled the elections and declared himself President, Castro decided to take up arms and overthrow the government.
Although Batista openly accused Castro and his followers of being under the influence of
Communists, Castro promised to restore Cuba's constitution and hold free elections. He did not talk about Communism or radical economic theories. "You can be sure we have no animosity toward the United States and the American people," he told a reporter (DePalma).
Many Cubans of all classes supported Castro because they wanted to get rid of Batista and the corruption that surrounded him; they were not looking for a radical change in their political or economic systems. Cubans in the poorer countryside believed Castro would

Schmidt 3 improve their lives.
The Cuban revolution was not fundamentally a revolt by the poor. Before the revolution, Cuba was considered one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America. It had a well-developed educational and health system. Havana was also a popular tourist spot, especially for Americans, with ferry service to Florida, which was only 90 miles away.

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