Fidel Castro - Authoritarian Leader Study

FIDEL CASTRO: RULER OF CUBA

1) Origins, development and nature of the regime:
What were the three main causes that produced the authoritarian state?
1) Batista & Corruption- Batista took over power from the former president, in a coup 3 months
before the elections were to even happen. Batista wasnt projected to win, so in order to verify
that he would win, he fixed the polls in order to do so. However, due to the amount of
corruption within Cuba previously, the country was basically used to what Batista had done.
2) United States involvement with Cuba- United States President, Harry Truman, began to
provide military and economic support in exchange for Cubas support, due to Batistas new rise
to power. During this time, the US was very involved in Cubas economy. This progression
towards capitalism led to the rise & revolution of Castro.
3) Castros Revolution- Overall, Castro was a strong advocate for the lower class and poor
population of Cuba. By joining the Cuban Peoples Party, Castro was able to begin changing the
quality of life for the peasant community. Castro was able to convince members of this party
that change needed to happen, and that Cubas government needed to be removed. This
ultimately sparked a revolution, which eventually allowed Castro to take over power, force
Batista out of office, and began to move away from Cuba becoming a capitalist type
government.

Describe the specific aims of the leader as they rose to power?

1) Fidels first and main belief was that he himself was not actually interested in power. Castro
claimed that he became the leader of Cuba, not because of the position of power, but rather so
he could help improve the life of the lower-class population as well as change the government
for the improvement of the people. Right after Castros victory over Cuba, people were
celebrating because the revolution was over. Castro wanted to improve the country as a whole,
rather then just improve himself, and take a bunch of power. This is one reason that he was
able to gain such a large support group.
2) Furthermore, Castro wanted to implement his socialist views throughout Cuba. This began
when Castro singed the First Agrarian reform in to law, which put a cap upon the amount of
land a certain person was allowed to own. The implementation of this reform, appealed to the
peasant community, because they began to receive portions of land from wealthy owners,

ultimately building up Castros support group. Furthermore, Castro declared Cuba a socialist
state in 1961, which was a step towards communism, even though Castro himself was not
considered to be completely communist.

Below is an interview with Castro that shows his opinion on communism.

Reporter: Comandante, what is the character of the Cuban revolution?
Castro: You newspapermen are crazy for definitions and neat schemes Youre impossibly
dogmatic. We are not dogmatic At any rate, you wish to write that this is a socialist
revolution, right? And write it, then Yes, not only did we destroy a tyrannical system. We also
destroyed the philoimperialistic bourgeois state apparatus, the bureaucracy, the police, and a
mercenary army. We abolished privileges, annihilated the great landowners, threw out foreign
monopolies for good, nationalized almost every industry, and collectivized the land. We are
fighting now to liquidate once and for all the exploitation of man over man, and to build a
completely new society, with a new class contents. The Americans (Cubans say just that, los
americanos, to mean the United States) the Americans and the priests say that this is
communism. We know very well that it is not. At any rates, the word does not frighten us. They
can say whatever they wish. There is a song, which is popular among our peasants, that goes
more or less like this: Bird of ill omen of treason and cowardice that are throwing at my
joy the word: communism! I know nothing about these isms Yet, if such a great
welfare conquest which can be been by my own eyes is communism, then you can
even call me a communist!
Reporter: Comandante, what do you think about the Popular Socialist Party, which is the party
of Castro communists?
Castro: It is the only Cuban party, which has consistently called for a radical change of social
structures and relations. It is true that at the beginning the communists distrusted me and us
rebels. Their distrust was justified, their position was absolutely correct, both ideologically and
politically. They were right in being distrustful because we of the Sierra who were conducting
the guerilla were still full of petit bourgeois prejudices and defects, in spite of our Marxist
readings. Our ideas were not clear, although we wished to destroy tyranny and privileges with
all out strength. Then, we met with each other, we understood one another, and started to
work together. The communists have shed much blood and heroism for the Cuban cause. At
present, we continue to work together in a loyal and brotherly way.

 Describe two - three of the main aspects describing the ideology of the leader?
- 1) Castros love for Cuba. Fidel Castro can be considered an extreme nationalist. Once in
power, this helped him motivate the population of Cuba against the US. By referring to the
quality of past treatment of Cubans by the US, he was able to convince the majority of the
population to remain as far away from the US as they could. The majority of Castros basis for
the revolution was created based of his nationalism and support for those who could not
support themselves.
- 2) Castros foreign policy. Castros foreign policy consisted of support from multiple different
support groups throughout other Latin American countries. (Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua) In
addition, Castro obtained support from the USSR, who shipped goods and materials to Cuba to
help the country out. Castros main foreign goal however, was to promote the freedom of
smaller countries from their much more powerful and wealthier controllers. In addition, since
the United states attempted to cripple the Cuban government through a trade barricade, many
other countries that were against the US, began to support Castros regime.
- 3) New mans theory- this theory was an idea that Castro and Che Guevara created, that
regulated work and employment throughout Cuba. It consisted of the idea that all Cubans
should no longer work for the benefit of themselves, but rather for the good of everyone in
society. This increased benefits for Cubans, such as education. From this, Castro aimed to
improve the entire society as a whole, rather then just certain individuals.
To what extent did the leader achieve totalitarian rule?
- Fidel Castro acheieved totalitarian rule to a certain extent, due to some policies he
implemented; however due to his socialist principles, Cuba cannot be considered a totalitarian
ruled country.
- First off, at the beginning of Castros regime, he implemented new policies that took care of
the poor community, by taking away money and land form the rich, and distributing it to the
peasants. Creating social equality, in the sense that there was no personal gain on jobs,
everyone gets paid the same amount, no matter what they had been previously paid, created a
world of equality, and hard working people. This ideology can be considered extremely
communist, however Castro was still considered a socialist, and therefore did not implement
complete communist ideology.
- Castro improved many problems within cuba, through implementation of communist
ideology. For example, the literacy rate began to increase drastically throughout his rule, and
quality free health care was accessible to almost everyone. These economic policies and
importance of such, somewhat reflect that of a totalitarian ruled nation.

- Furthermore, Castro controlled the propaganda throughout Cuba. From controlling the media,
to banning certain books to be public accessible, Castro was able to create a totalitarian ruled
state to some extent, however not completely.

2) Establishment of Power:
Describe three specific methods that were used to establish power? (force and/or legal)
1) First off, Castro used the corruption of Batista and other government officials, as well as his
distaste for the US, to gain power through the Cuban Peoples Party and gain a large support
group in order to spark a revolution. The Cuban revolution was based off the support for the
peasant population, and how their voices and opinions needed to be heard within the new
government. Thus, if Castro won the revolution, he would make sure that this would happen.
2) Castros personality and intelligence was a major factor in gaining supporters for the
revolution. Additionally, if they had won the revolution, and Batista were to be taken from
power, it would only make sense, for Castro, the leader of the revolution to become the new
leader. Yet, even after Castro won, he put a different leader in power, which showed to the
public that he himself wasnt after the power, rather he just wanted to improve the social
situation of the country.
3) Ultimately, when Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba, he began to focus upon the poor
community and population of Cuba. By highlighting the importance of education, making it
accessible, redistribution of land to all people of Cuba, so that all members of Cuban society
had equal income and land, he was able to gain a massive support group that agreed and
wanted his ideology.
Would you describe the authoritarian leader as left wing or right wing? Explain.
- Castros ideology and the implementation of such, reflects those of a left wing authoritarian
leader. Communism in general is considered to be left wing ideology. Once Castro came into
power, his main goal was to create a sense of equality, making everyone live with the same
rights, and income. In addition, the implementation of his New Agrarian Reform and other
reforms, reflect those of a left wing leader. However, Castro cannot be considered as extreme
as some other rulers, such as Stalin, because his methodology was somewhat forgiving. Castro
did not kill his opposition or force anyone to believe in what he did. He highlighted, that
through implementation of new laws that he wanted to improve Cuba in a peaceful way.
Although he sometimes did imprison those who opposed his ideals, which reflects some right
wing ideology, Castro can be considered a left wing ruler.

 What was the nature of the treatment (give specific examples) of opposition and to what
extent was it successful?
1) The main rival throughout Castros regime was the United States. Even throughout his own
party, there was hardly any opposition, due to the fact that almost everyone believed in what
he was doing. As for the US, Castro used every possible way to get rid of US involvement in the
Cuban government and in the country in general. As an example, Castro re-took control over US
owned land in Cuba, so that the US had no means to be involved with Cuba whatsoever.
2) Castros opposition with middle to upper class members of Cuban Society- throughout the
first couple decades of Castros regime, most of Cubas upper class members migrated into the
US. Many of these people were doctors, teacher, businessmen etc.. all people with money.
Many of them left due to the fact that they did not want to abide by Castros new social
policies, which would down grade there income and land, creating over all equality. In this
sense, Castro did not force out the people that didnt agree with him, like Stalin did, in fact,
Castro left them to decide for themselves, whether they wanted to leave or not, making it very
successful.

3) Domestic Policies and Impact:

How did the the structure and organization of the government assist the rule of the
authoritarian ruler?
- The way that the government was set up, at the time Castro came into power, made it
achievable for Castro to create an authoritarian state. First, the structure of the government
before Castro came into power, began to look very similar to that of the capitalist United
States, thus, the reason Castro wanted to start a revolution. The people of Cuba wanted
someone to look up to, as well as someone who supported the poor community. At this time, a
large majority of Cubas population was in financial trouble.
- Additionally, Castro eliminated all government officials that did not agree with his ideology,
which created a government that reflected his socialist views and ideology. Even though
Batistas government was turning towards Capitalism, the base for it was still based on
communism, which allowed Castro to easily alter the government in order to create a new
socialist government, fit best for Cuba.

Describe the social policies used to maintain power.

- Social Policies Castro used his popularity, and his focus upon the importance of education, as
a means to maintain power. As for popularity, Castro used this as his main tactic to maintain
power. By highlighting the importance of the people of Cuba, and how he wanted to help
improve the lives of Cuban society, through equality, he was able to maintain a large support
group, which ultimately allowed him to maintain power. Furthermore, Castro stressed the
importance of education. By making education easily accessible for a majority of the
population, Castro was able to improve the educational situation in Cuba drastically. The
literacy rate increased momentously. Here is a url to a website that shows the increasing
literacy rate within cuba : http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?v=39&c=cu&l=en

Describe how the leader used propaganda as a means of impacting or influencing the
population.
Propaganda Throughout his regime, Castro controlled all propaganda throughout Cuba, in
order to make sure that no one had a negative view or opinion of him. Castro allowed certain
propaganda murals, ones that depicted him fighting for Cuba along with all the other
revolutionaries, or as the overall leader of the revolution. His overall objective with propaganda
was to paint the idea within the population that he himself, was like everyone else within Cuba.