[en] Cuba

Nevím, jestli se to dá nazvat úvahou, můžete mi napsat do komentáře, k čemu byste to řadili :o)

It’s been almost fifty years since the Cuban Revolution changed the direction of the country. After this fifty years The Republic of Cuba acquired title “outpost of tyranny”, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton used the term „Beyond the Axis of Evil“ in the connection with Cuba and a lot of Cubans in exile in Miami are getting enraged when they talk about situation in Cuba. Are you sure who is really responsible for the current state in Cuba?

First, I think it’s important to know what led to the Cuban Revolution. Cuba was a long time Spanish colony and the independence of Cuba was finally declared in 1902. It seems to be a rule in history that after setting free from a usurper people feels opportunity to rule and the violence continues. In the first half of 20th century Cuba headed towards one attempt of a revolution after another because presidents wanted to stay in power after the conclusion of their terms. Main problems of the country at the time were strong dependency of economy on sugar industry, political corruption, censoring of the press and liabilities. Therefore it would be naive to think there was a simple solution how to cope the problems.

In 1952, former president Fulgencio Batista staged a coup and suspended constitutional guarantees which comprised even the right to strike. I think he counted on the fact that many countries in the world were still exhausted by the Second World War and so that they would not interfere in the matter.

But things were getting worse with the growing frustration and protests against president Batista. In fact who wouldn’t protest if president spends money on new casinos and his friends are members of mafia. The reaction of president Batista was severe as he wanted to prevent insurrection. He founded the group of policemen to arrest anyone suspected of insurrection. It led to arresting ordinary people and cruel interrogations.

In 1959, Fidel Castro and other guerrillas finally defeated Batista’s army and Fidel Castro was named Premier of Cuba. Following reforms as was Agrarian Reform Law and nationalizing of U.S. factories and other property was a clear signal that Castro was inspired with USSR. Actually the same scheme was used in Czechoslovakia in 1950s.

In my opinion there were two critical moments that affected lives of Cubans for decades. The First critical moment was when U.S. imposed trade embargo on Cuba. The second one was when President Kennedy found in 1962 that Soviets were building ballistic missiles in Cuba and he agreed with the agreement that Soviets would remove missiles and he wouldn’t attack Cuba.

To return to the question from the first paragraph. I find guilty U.S., USSR and Fidel Castro in pari delicto. I don’t see a reason for the trade embargo. People from the government buy what they want or need abroad. It’s just punishment for ordinary people. Moreover, I think that lifting trade embargo would lead to the same development as in China and Russia. As for USSR its attempts to play a superpower in world is very sad when you realize how many people lost life for this absurdity. I was hard thinking why Fidel Castro fought in the revolution to ruin his own country at last. I didn’t find the answer.

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