Figure 1.--Here in a press photo a Cuban boy visiting his inprisoned father. The press caption read, "Wide eyed and sober, this Cuban youngster peers through an opening in the gate of Havana's La Cabana Prison. He was visiting his father, awaiting trial with other prisoners before Revolutionary Tribunals." This UPI photograph was taken February 3, 1959.

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 proceeded 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 after he was sure that he controlled the country, 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 almost 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 1960s, Socialism was replacing capitalism as the future world 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. Even with massive Soviet economic sypport, Cuba declined from one of the most affluent Latin American countries to one of the poorest.

Fidel Castro

26th of July Movement

Castro's Objectives

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.

Dictatorship

Castro used his control of the military to establish a dictatoship. He proceeded 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.

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (1928-67)

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara became an icomic figure of Latin American Communism and violent armed struggle. He bcame known simply a 'Che'. He has been described in various ways, including Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and self-described military theorist. There seems to be no appreciation among the Left that dictatorship of the left or the right means societal failure and a source of poverty. Many idealize Che who has become a counter-cultural icon on posters and T-shirts. [Casey, p. 128.] There is, however a murderous legacy thant many seek to ignore or excuse for ideological reasons. [Vargas Llosa] He encoraged Castro's brutally crushing any and all dissent, and concentrating wealth in the hands of a Communist elite. Ernnesto was born in Rosario, Argenina (1928). He studied to be a doctor and as a young student he made motocycle (actually motorized bicycle) trips to other South American countries. Guevara claims that the povery and squalid conditions was the primary experience that radicalized him. There is no doubt the poverty he described in the 1950s was very real. I winessed the same in the 1960s. Cut Che went a step further. He concluded that capitalist exploitation of Latin America by the United States was the primary reason for that poverty. He became involved Guatemala's social reforms program under President Jacobo Árbenz. The CIA-assisted overthrow and the United Fruit Company's role only strengthened his evolving political ideology. [Guevara] Subswquently he met Raúl and Fidel Castro in Mexico City and joined the 26th of July Movement. He was with them when they sailed to Cuna aboard the Granma to launch a eevolution against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara with Castro;s support rose to prominence among the insurgents. Castro to Comandante (commander) of a second army column, essentialy becoming Castro' second-in-command. It is not entirely clear what Castro saw in him, but his interest in fundamental chabge and lack of interest in a democratic system surrly must havebeen factors. Time Magazine sescrined him as as 'Castro's brain'. ["Castro's brain"] Guevara would play an imprtant role in the guerrilla campaign that deposed Batista. ith Castro's success, Guevara was given several key assigments in Cuba's new revolutionary government. Revolutionary Tribunls tried and convicted Batisa loyalists. Guevara oversaw the appeals and firing squads executing Batista loyalists. [Taibo, p. 267.] He then oversaw the rural agrarian land reform as Minister of Industries. He was put in chrge of a successful nationwide literacy campaign. He then served as the National Bank president and instructional director for Cuba's Armed Forces, Guevara was a the center of transformung the Batista dictatorship into the Castro dictarorship. In this he was very successful. A he helped buld a military capable of repelling the American-financed Bay of Pigs invsion. [Kellner, pp. 69–70.] He also played a key role in seizing private property and building a socialist planned economy. Only the result was economic chaos and turning Cuba from a country with some poor people into a country in which virtually everyone was poor. Castro and Guevara essentially eliminated social inequities by making everyone poor. Despite Revolutionary Cuba's economic failure, Guevara began traveling the globe the world as a diplomat for Communist Revolution. He also play a key role in convincing oviet Premier Nikta Khruschev to depluy nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to Cuba, precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. [Anderson, pp. 526–530.] Cementing his revolutionry credenbtials, Guevara was a prolific writer and diarist. He composed a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare as wekll as a best-selling memoir about his youthful continental motorcycle journey. His central belief was that Marxism–Leninism was the key to building a just society where workers and peasants lived comfortable lives. And that imperialism, colonialism, and monopoly capitalism were the cause of poverty. [Anderson, pp. 526–530.] The only problem with Guevara's asessment is that the economic reforms he orcestrated caused economic chaos and that production declind. Cuba went from a medium-income country to one of the poorest in the world, kept alive by massive Soviet assistance. Guvara also claimed that the United states exploited Cuba abd other countries. It was then difficult to explain after the United states cut economic ties that Cuba not only did not benefit, but got progresively more poor. Fidel's and Guevara's ideals as one historian explains simply "rehashed centralized power'. It meant creating a leftist caudillo, but with ultimately the same impact--pbverty nd hr upresion of baic human rights. [Vargas Llosa] Guevara had a huge public profile in Cuba. But then he precipitously left (1965). It is not exavtly clear why. There are several theories, all unproveable. It is widely believed that his relation with Castro were deteroriating. This can not be proved nor can the issues be known with any certainty. Castro may not have appreciated Guevara's emense popularity. Guevara wanted a more aggressuve effort to promote revolution. Castro seems to hve been desenchanted fowith the economic chaos and failure of Guevara's economic management. For weharever reason, Guevara embarked on new revolutionary adventures, first in Congo-Kinshasa and then Bolivia. Since the failure of his Boliviam guerrila campaign and execution, Guevara has become a legendary figure in the couter-culture world. Alberto Korda photograph which he titled 'Guerrillero Heroico' has been cited by the Maryland Institute College of Art as 'the most famous photograph in the world.

Communist Declaration

Castro after he was sure that he controlled the country, 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 almost 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.

Decolonization

From Castro's point of view and that of many other Third World leaders in the early 1960s, Socialism was replacing capitalism as the future world economic system. The only problem with this was that he was dead wrong.

Economics

Castro had the ability to control Cuba politically, but he like his patrons in the Soviet Union could not reverse the iron laws of economics. Even with massive Soviet economic sypport, Cuba declined from one of the most affluent Latin American countries to one of the poorest.

Sources

Anderson, Jon Lee. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (New York: Grove Press, 1997).

Casey, Michael. Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image (Vintage: 2009).

Guevara, Ernesto. 'On Revolutionary medicine,' Speech to the Cuban Militia (August 19, 1960).

Kellner, Douglas. Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Chelsea House Publishers, 1989), 111p.

Taibo II, Paco Ignacio. Guevara, Also Known as Che (St Martin's Griffin: 1999). 2nd edition.

Vargas Llosa, Alvaro. The Che Guevara Myth: And the Future of Liberty (The Independent Institute: 2006), 88p.

"Castro's brain," Time Magzine (1960).

Created: 11:50 PM 8/13/2008
Last updated: 5:10 PM 12/19/2015