Figure 1.--Guerrilla leader Fidel Castro as part of the 26 of July Moverment promised to restore democracy to Cuba and to hold free elections. Instead he installed a totalitarian Communist police dictatorship. The result was that Cubans started to flee from the island in droves. And it was not just the well-to-do, the middle class begn fleeing the island even before Castro admitted he was a Communist. Here are refugees arriving in Miami aboard a Pan Am flight (January 24, 1963). Some were relatives of the Bay of Pigs invaders. Amazingly many Latin Americans admire Castro and his Revolution even though despite massive Soviet assistance it brought economic disaster to Cuba. Cubans are today among the porest people in Latin America.

Guerilla leader Fdel Castro seized control of Cuba (January 1959). Relations between the United States and Castro soon began to deteriorate as the Revolutionary Government began expropriating U.S. properties and moving closer to the Soviet Union. It is not clear whay Castro's planswee for Cuba at the time he seized power. He subsequently announced to Cubans that he was and had neen a committed Communist. This may or not be true. What we know for sure was that he was no democrat and had no desire to work through a democratic process and the rule of law--what most of the 26th of July Movement desired and joined with Castro to achieve. Castro in contrast made no effort to institute a democratic reforms. He would like to blame everything on the United States. But America hd little impact on Castro or his policies. From the very beginning he proceeded to etablish a personal dictatorship. He set up kangaroo courts and negan executing peopl in public events. He also began setting up a secret police force and arresting people who critcized him or question the lack of steps toward a democratic Cuba. This and the exporopriations began to elicit criticism by American officials and in the American press. Criticism was something Castro was not about to permit. He wanted to be a dictator. Now it is true that his desire to be a dictator do not seem to be the venal motives of Batista or a long list of other Latin American dictators. He thought he understood both economics and the direction of the Cold War. He may or may not have been a Communist, but thereis no doubt that he was heavily imbued with left-wing ideology which dominated most Latin America universities. He believed that socialism and Soviet-style central planning would convert Cuba into a worker's paradise and that foreign investment was a negative influence. He also knew that the Soviet Union not only had no problem with dictators, but actually inisted on setting up secret police forces and dictators in its stellite puppets. This was not unusual at the time. Major figures in the Third World had reached the same conclusion. At the time it looked like the Soviet Union might well win the Cold War. What we now know about the effiency of Socialism and central planning was not well known at the time. As it begame clear that Castro was moving toward a Communist dictatorship, the United States imposed an embargo (October 1960) and, in response to further provocations, broke diplomatic relations (January 1961). The United States failed in a half-hearted invasion at the Bay of Pigs (1961). So Castro had his opportunity to restructure the Cuban economy and create a worker's paradise. What resulted surprised him. He turned one of the welthiest economies in Latin America to one of the poorest. He did achieve one of his goals to eliminate the disparities between rich and poor. Tragically for Cubans, he did this by making everyone except the Comminist and military elite poor--the same result in every Communist country. Of course, Castro argues it wa all the impact of America and the embargo. But this is absurd. Castro central theme since taking power was that America exploits Cuba and other countries. But if this was true, severing economic relations with an explotive country could have only benefitted, not hurt Cuba. As with other Communist countries, economic failure was the result of the inherent inefficiencies of Marxist doctrine.

Socialist Revolution

Castro had pledged both a return to democratic rule and social reforms and many followers had joined the 26th of July Movement with that goal in mind. Democratic rule was not what Castro had in mind. This would have meant limitations on his power and a limited time in power. Castro used his control of the military to establish a dictatoship. He proiceeded to arrest not only Batista loyalists, but democratic politicans and followers who opposed the new dictatorship. Executions followed. Other resistance fighters were marginlized or imprisoned. Castro declared Cuba a socialist state (1961). It is not clear what Castro's political orientation was before the Revolution. Certainly it was reformist, but it is not known if he was a Communist. He akmost certainly was not. The evolution to Communism was, however, a natural one for Castro. As a democrat his power was limited. Drastic reforms would have been resisted. As a Communist he could exercised absolute authority with no time limits as well as receive support from the Soviet Union. And from his point of view and that of many other Third World leaders in the early 60s, Socialism was replacing capitalism as the future economic system. The only problem with this was that he was dead wrong. He had the ability to control Cuba politically, but he like his patrons in the Soviet Union could not reverse the iron laws of economics.

Refugees

Communism in Russia was imposed on the population by a small group of ideaologues and except for the ruling class with money, there were few opportunities to flee. The same was true of Eastern Europe. Once the Iron Curtain was established, there were very limited opportunities to flee. Cuba was very different. Only 60 miles across the Florida Straits lay Key West and freedom. And despite the still enormous difficulties. hundreds of thousands of Cubans chose to leave their country, often risking their lives. This was substantial movement fora small country. Perhaps 15 percent of the population left Cuba, including much of the educated middle class. There are today in the United States about 1 million Americans of Cuban ancestry. They are among the most successful immigrant groups and the lives they created for themselves in America is in sharp contrat to the poverty that Castro has created in Cuba which before him ws one of the most prosperous Latin American countries. The refugees have arrived in several waves as Castro unfolded his Revolution and American refugee policy fluctuated. The first wave was the wealthy and families associated with the Batista regime (1959). This was in part prompted by Castro's firing squads which executed those associated with Batista. Many of these refugees believed that Castro's government would be short lived and they would soon return to Cuba. They left valuables such as homes, autos, and other valuables with friends, and relatives. Castro quickly acted to confiscate the property of those who left. The next step in the exodus was Operation Peter Pan. A special program was worked out for children. Disdraught parents sent some 14,000 children and teenagers were to America by special flights -- Operation Peter Pan (November 1960-October 1962). These were mostly middle-class children from strong Catholic families. The parents this way could hold on to their property, but their children would be protected from Communist propaganda. The children and youths involved were from 6-17 years of age. Opperation Peter Pan ended with the Cuban Missle Crisis. The operation was conducted under the auspices of the Catholic Church and once in America foster homes throughout the United States was found to care for them. At the time boys were being conscripted into the military and girls into the rural Alphabetization Campaign. The second major wave began as Castro aggressively launched his socialist revolution by seizing schools, hospitals, land holdings, and industrial plants (1961). With these actions, much of the middle-clas wanted to leave Cuba. At the same time Castro launched a political crackdown. These were not Batista men, but many who had fought with him--only they had democratic ideals. Political opponents were arrested, some were executed. This was when the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Castro had launched his revolution as a non-Communist freedom fighter to overthrow the Batista dictatorship. It is at this point he intended to simply replace Batisa as Cuba's dictator only with a Marxist-Leninist. This was helped to obtain Soviet assistance and like mant Third World leadrs, Castro who knew nothing about economics, assumed that Socialism was a superior ecomomic system. A third smaller wave of refugees left from the Cuban port of Camarioca (1965). The Cuban Miami exile community organized a boat lift, They used small pleasure and fishing boats to bring friends and relatives to Key West. Relativity limited information is available on the numbers involved, but it is belieed to be small. A more important and regularized system was conducted over the next decade--the Freedom Flghts / Vuelos de la Libertad (1965-73). These were conducted during the Johnson and Nixon administrations. The fligts were conducted twice daily from Varadero Beach to Miami. This was the only way out of Cuba as the Cuban Government seized control of all sea-going craft like fishing boats which could ve used in sureptious operations. The Freedom Flights were the longest-lasting refugee airlift in history. And now those who wanted to leave were no longer just the middle-class, but many working class Cubans who now realized that Castro and socialism meant permanent poverty. Some 265,300 Cubans flew to to freedom with the aid of religious (mostly Catholic) and volunteer agencies. Flights were limited to families meaning immediate relatives. Children could be taken, but not elderly parents. As large numbers of people wanted to leave, a waiting period of 1-2 years developed. This was a very difficult time as once Cubans applied to leave they lost their jobs and a range of Government and private actions were taken against them and their children. Castro labeled them as 'gusanos' (worms). During this time Congress passed the the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act--CRAA (1966). The Act became the basis of American policy toward Cuban refugees. It applied to any native or citizen of Cuba who has been inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States after January 1, 1959 and has been physically present for at least one year; and is admissible to the United States as a permanent resident. The last major wave of Cuban refugees came as part of the Mariel boat lift during the Carter Administration (April-October 1980). This began with an incident at the Peruvian Embassy. Evebntually an estimated 125,000 came to America.

Cuban Missle Crisis (1962)

Tensions between the United States and Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis (October 1962). Historians still debate why Premier Khruchev attempted to install missles in Cuba. Some historians argue that it was aesponse to the increased military spending of thenew Kennedy Administration. It may have been simoly an effortto guarantee the security of the Castro regime, What ever the reason it was areckless step in part because he misjudged the character of the young new president. The Kennedy Administration began with the Bay of Pigs embarassment (April 1961). This surely affected Khrchev's view of Kennedy. President Kennedy reacted with remarkable skill given his lack of experience. It was not known until years later how close the world came to nuclear war. Castro never a compliant Soviet client was outraged with the Soviets removed the missles.

Revolutionary Economics

Cuba before the Revolution had been one of the most affluent Latin American countries, albeit with great social inquities. Castro and the Revolution suceeded in narrowing the inequities in Cuban society, but tragically for the Cuban people, he did it by empoverishing the entire country. Castro announced that he was a Communist and priceeded to recreate a Soviet planned economy in the Caribbean. It is widely believed that his conversion to Communism was a largely tactical decesion to obtain Soviet backing. At the time, many in the third world were impressed with the Soviet Union and saw Socialism and economic planning as tghe way of rapidly developing their countries. Castro had no knowledge of economics, but appears to have blthely assumed this was the path to the future. It also had the advantage as perceived by other dictaors og giving him the mechanism of completely controlling Cuban life. The Revolution in fairness did address social inquities, but in the process made Cuba one of the poorest countries in the region. Revolutionary Cuba developed close relations with the Soviet Union and in exchange the Soviets provided billions of dollars in military and economic assitance. (Much of this assistance was in the form of loans that Russia has made futile efforts to collect.) Communist economics and mismanagemnt combined with Castro's erratic management style that the Soviet assistance meant to help Cuba develop has left it pooer than it had been before the Revolutuon. Private businesses nationalized by the state were put in the hands of political supporters who had no idea of how to run businesses. No attention was paid to production costs and acoounting. To Castro's suprise, productivity plummeted. And rather than allowing gradual improvement, Cuba remains one of the poorest countries in the region. Cuba's socialist economy is unable to fully provide even basic necesities like soap. No one goes hungry in modern Cuba, but because of an inefficent economic system, basic consumer goods are unavailble to the average Cunan.

Refugees

Thousands of Cubans began fleeing the island. At first it was the upperclass, but they were soon followed by the middleclass as well. The result was that Castro forced about 10 percent of Cubans to leave thor country. By the time of the Mariel Boat Lift, Castro had so reduced the average Cuban's living standard and income, that even working-class Cubans wanted to leave the Socialist paradise. In 1972, Cuba was granted full membership in COMECON, the Soviet's equivalent of the European Common Market. In return, it had to support Soviet foreign policy, which meant that Cuba had to quit supporting revolutionary movements in Latin America. On the other hand, Cuba sent troops to Angola in the Fall of 1975 and to Ethiopia in 1978 as the Soviet Union tried, unsuccessfully, to gain the dominant influence in these places.

Soviet Aid

The Soviet Union provided massive military and economic aid to Cuba. The Soviets did not engineer Castro's successful revolution nor were Communists the main support. But Castro's turn to the Communists promoted by his brother Raúl and Ernesto 'Che' Guevara was a propaganda bonanza. At the time many around the world still believed that Socialism and Communism were a superior economic and political system and Cuba provided the Soviet Union a perfevt show case to demostrate the superority of their system. And to make sure that that their show case suceeded, they not only provided massive military and economiv assistance. This effort began under Primier Khrushchev who makes it very clear in his menoirs that he saw it his duty as a devouted Communist. [Khrushchev, pp. 488-505.] Much of the Soviet ais to Cuba was in the form of long term loans The over all level of Soviet aid is not entirely clear, but a good deal is known about it. Soviet aid to Cuba may be the largest aid package to any developing country. And given the small Cuban population must be the largest level of aid percapita ever attempted in a developing economy. If Communism was to work anyehere, it would surely be in Cuba. The problem for the Soviets is that their economic policies and Castro's mismanagement turned what had been a very affluent Caribbean island with very high percapita income, perhaps the highest in Latin America, into a poverty stricken island. There were shortages of virtually every consumer product. Store shelves were bare. When I visited in 1980, there were even shortages of rice and chopsticks in Chinese restaurants. This was hardly the kind of Communist show case that the Soviet had intended. Cuba became essentially a show case for Communist economic failure, in much the same way that East Germany failed in comparison to West Germany and North Korea failed in comparison to South Korea. The Soviet answer to this was to increase economic aid. Cuba and the Soviet Union signed a $35 billion, 5-year economic deal (1980). The deal essentially meant a continuation of the Soviet bailout of the Cuban economy, estimated at $7 million a day. Press report suggested that it was 50 percent increase over the aid level of 1976 to 1980. It would prove to be the high point of the Soviet aid effort to Cuba. The problem for the Cubans and Soviets, was that their Communist policies and economic planning actually destoyed wealth rather than creatd it. Not incommonly, the output of Soviet cand Cuban factorids were actually worth less than the raw materials that went into them. In essence, the nore Societ ecinomic policies were implemented in Cuba, the more aid was needed to support that economy. The 1980 agreement covering the period through 1985 was the high point of Soviet aid. After that the failing Soviet economy could no longer support such high levels of aid. One has to ask what was the impact of the massive Soviet aid program. As far as we can tell, there was no lasting economic impact. The Cuban economy is today still based on exporting raw materials (nickel) and agticultural products (sugar and tobacco) as well as tourism--precisely the same as before Castro. There has been no meaniggful progress in developing a modern economy. Not only was the aid ineffective if not actually harmful, but the loans massive loans would never be paid off. And the Cuban economy today survives on very limited market reforms and aid from Venzuela in the form of oil deliveries, totaling some $2-3 nillion annually. The only important difference is that Cuba is now among the poorest countries in Latim America rather than one of the wealthiest. One rmarkable conclusion from all of this is Castro's sussccess in getting other countries to pay the bills for his failed economic policies.

Cold War Promotion of Revolution

Guantanamo

One website, begins a dscussion of Guantanao by stating that "Guantanamo Bay has become one the most infamous places on earth." Nowthere are places where millions of people have been kiled, such as the NAZI death camps, or the Cambodian killing Felds. And countless places where thousands of people have been killed, even tens of thousands suchas the Katyn Forrest, Babi Yar, the Warsaw Ghetto, the Japanese Rape of Nanking,Vietmanese 'reeducaion camps,' Soviet Gulag camps, and many more such places. The author who calls Guantamao 'one the most infamous places on earth' does not even mention how many people died at Guantanamo. The United States detained some 780 individuals at Guantanamo. Since the U.S. began holding terror suspects at Guantanamo, there have been six deaths, all reportedly suisides. Now no matter what one thinks of the use of Guantanamo, calling it one of the most 'infamous places on earth' is obviously absurd. ne should look at the starving people killed by totalitarians and compare them with the Guantamo detainees ho actually gained weight. Statements like this simply reveal the author's hidden agenda to darken the image of the United States and President Bush. I do not mean to say that criticism is inappropriate, but only the statements made are absurd made by people who are determinted to prove that America is not a nobel nation and not ouy of any desire to rationally discuss the isues. The history of Guantanamo dates back to Spanish American War (1898-99). French efforts to build a canal across the Istmus of Panana began to make it a real prossibility (1876). And as the United States began building a modern navy (1890s), the United states became intereted in such a canal and Caribbean bases to protect it. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was a Navy entusiast, seving as Under-Secretary of the Navy during the McKinnley administration. The opportunity to obtain a naval base in the Caribbean came when the United States declared war on Spain and intervened in Cuba, at the time a Spanish colony embroiled in a four decade revolution (1898). The result was Cuba's liberation from Spain and an American naval base at Guantanamo Bay, a magnificent natural harbor. The base was used by the Navy for a variety of pourposes, at first as a coaling station. Before the conversion to oil, a navy needed coaling stations in areas in which it operated. A ship could not carry enough coal to go a long distance without needing more coal and at sea refuelng was not possible with coal. It was also used as a ship repair facility, and a naval suppport point for ships headed to Europe during World War I and II. Guantanamo has also served to support Caribbean hurricane relief operations. And finally it us been used as a secure incarceration facility for suspected terrorists. Until the Cuban Revolution, Guantanamo was virtually unknown to Americans outside the Navy. Castro made a major issue of the Cuban base long before the terrorist detention camp became an issue.

Economic Reforms

The demise of the Soviet Union resulted in even greater economic problems because it meant an end to Soviet assistance--most importantly oil (1991). This forced Cuba to rationalize the economy--to a degree. The Government allowed the use of U.S. dollars, permitec the development of a small and tightly regulatedcprivare sectir, and promoted tourism. Even so the country's state-controlled economy continues to be an economic basket case.

Created: 7:41 PM 5/31/2016
Last updated: 3:35 AM 11/16/2018