Cuba The Totalitarian Regime That Still Goes On Essay, Research Paper

CUBA THE TOTALITARIAN REGIME THAT STILL GOES ON

Introduction

When Columbus came to Cuba in 1492, he and his predecessors would probably never have imagined of this island?s outcome within the centuries ahead. from conquering the country, to its independence, to the totalitarian regime put into it, all these major events have made the island what it is today. Before giving the whole story about the Communists, one must understand how the country was born so here?s a little bit of a background history: Spain had conquered Cuba in 1511 under Diego Velasquez. Frequent insurrections failed to end Spain?s harsh rule. From 1868 to 1878 occurred the Armed rebellion known as the Ten Year?s War, led by plantation owner Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a co-author of Cuba?s declaration of independence. After the loss of more than 200,000 lives, the revolt ended in failure. In 1933, Fulgencio Batista led a ?sergeants? revolt? that toppled the despotic rule of Gen. Grarado Machado and it was at that time that Batista became the most powerful man in Cuba. He was elected president in 1940 and made himself chief of state with dictatorial powers. Years of corrupt government, terrorism and embezzlement made by the United States led to a revolt in 1958 under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Batista fled to the Dominican Republic and the Fidelistas were in control of Havana. Castro then became premier at the young age of 32. At first people applauded the downfall of Batista and hoped that Castro could bring the country the prosperity it had wished for. Unfortunately, before long, people came to realization that the new regime had embraced Communism.

At home, Castro?s regime has created the most repressive police state apparatus in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba is like the George Orwell nightmare predicted in the book ?1984? except that this time the country is set in the tropics with Big Brother sporting a beard and cigar. Cuba never believed in Human Rights as Castro refused to ratify any major international law protecting these human rights. As well, he refuses to sign the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Castro formed Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), which operate on almost every block in Cuba. They are the perfect example of the thought police as their mission is to spy on neighbors and reporting back to the regime. Castro also doesn?t believe in being defied as he still has large numbers of individuals incarcerated in prisons for political crimes ranging from speaking against the regime to trying to leave the island. The only difference between Cuba and Oceania is the telescreens in every household. Cubans don?t own that but are replaced by more spies to do the job instead. Just like the book, there?s no freedom in saying that ?2+2=4?. Fidel Castro?s picture hangs on all walls in major building and even outside. This is also a strong resemblance to Big Brother?s image hanging everywhere saying that he?s ?watching you?. Instead of those words, Castro has his own words that say: ?History will absolve me?.

How does Fidel Castro?s leadership qualities allow him to remain the political leader of Cuba for so many years? First of all, his machismo, his independence, his appeal to Cuban patriotism, his traditional appeal to the Cuban poor and stance against the rich, he?s a strong man and a boss. He uses his considerable charisma to appeal to the people on a cultural level. In this sense, he is a master politician. Furthermore, he has significant support among the poor and the Afro-Cubans because they identify him with their interests against the lighter-skinned Cubans up the middle and upper-classes who he deposed in the late 1950?s. Another reason is his courage as he played the role of the independent Latin American leader who could successfully stand up to the giant of the north-the United States of America. In reality, Fidel Castro is responsible for every appointment. As president of the Council of Ministers, chairman of the Council of State, commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and first secretary of the PCC (Cuban Communist Party), Castro controls everything and anything that can make him more powerful.

Fidel Castro?s regime is guilty of numerous documentable crimes ranging from the jungles of Peru to the deserts of Ethiopia. There are document reports that exist of Cuban troops in cahoots with the Ethiopian government denying food to starving Ethiopians because of their political ideology. Even in Latin America, Castro funded guerrilla groups throughout the hemisphere generating fear and terror for decades now. The regime?s response to the AIDS crisis has been a mandatory nation-wide testing that resulted in forced incarceration for anyone who tested positive for the HIV virus. In addition, Castro is also known for imprisoning homosexuals and transsexuals as ?undesirables?. All of these imprisonment is mostly based on mere suspicion or rumors. There was another report that a number of prisoners with AIDS rioted on August 19, 1992, demanding better food and medical attention. Guards used rubber batons, wooden sticks and other blunt instruments. Several of the AIDS sufferers were transferred to the maximum security area of the prison. The fate of these prisoners are now unknown. He especially tortures the sane political opponents that defy his beliefs by sending them into psychiatric hospitals.

A MONOPOLY ON ALL MASS COMUNICATION

The government has continued restricting the ability of foreign media to operate in Cuba. Journalists are required to show visa and the reporters that the government consider hostile aren?t even allowed in the country. It is also known that authorities have expelled a Committee to Protect Journalists staff in June of 1993. In forty years Castro drove the country?s healthcare to the ground. In 1959 Cuba had 337 hospitals but in 1989 that number has decreased to 264. Diseases in Cuba has steadily increased since 1959 and suicides have more than doubled from 1,011 figure for 1970 to 2,220 in 1989. Also there were many imprisoned activists who have asked Castro for permission to meet publicly earlier in 1996 about the detention and harassment, the forced exile of independent journalists, the mistreatment of independent lawyers, the withholding of medical care from seriously ill political prisoners as punishment and about the negative impact on labor rights and the environment of some foreign investment in Cuba. Technically, when it comes to the media and communications, Castro has full control about what the journalists can or cannot write, who can come into his country and who is allowed to make public interviews either on television or in the newspapers. Castro himself has done an interview with the United States of America on the show ?Dateline NBC? in which Maria Shriver discussed his role in his country and the relationship between Cuba and the States. For what it is known, there are very few radio stations in Cuba and most of them are either approved by him, funded by him or even created by him meaning that he has full say about what is about to be broadcasted on the air.

During the 40?s and the 50?s, Cuba was in desperate state of the economy. Since then Castro has had tight control over the economy. Cuba?s economy is known as the world?s least free.

FREEDOM TO HOLD PROPERTY

Citizens do not have private property rights. Agricultural cooperatives have limited independence from state oversight, but the state owns the land and all decisions must fall within parameters determined by the state. Small land parcels are leased on a long-term basis to families who must fulfill a quota to the state before selling their excess in farm markets.

FREEDOM TO EARN A LIVING

Workers who have attempted to organize independently are subject to persecution like blacklisting, arbitrary arrest and attacks by government including organized mobs. The right to bargain collectively is not allowed either. The CTC (Confederation of Cuban Workers) does not protect a worker?s rights. Its responsibility is to ensure that the government production goals are met and to carry out worker layoffs as part of the current downsizing of state payrolls. The worker?s rights is much the same than Big Brother?s regime as they don?t really care about the workers but the work being done to help the leader and its people prosper. All wages are also set by the government. Workers who refuse extra ?voluntary? work assigned by the state risk job discrimination and even as far as dismissal. Citizens cannot change jobs or residence without government permission.

FREEDOM TO OPERATE A BUISINESS

The self-employed must pay a license fee and taxes. They can?t hire employees and must purchase all materials from the state. The state also oversees the markets and takes a cut of all sales. For this reason, the state keeps the prices artificially high in many of the markets.

FREEDOM TO TRADE INTERNATIONALLY

All international trade is negotiated and carried out, directly by the government. Direct participation by citizens in any foreign venture is prohibited. Attempting to leave the country for any reason without permission is a punishable offense. Foreign investors may own up to 100% of businesses in Cuba and enjoy free repatriation of profits. They can buy buildings but not land. All deals are subjected to approval by Cuba?s Council of Ministers headed by Fidel Castro, in a process that can take up to a year. Cuban exiles seeking to invest in Cuba have the same rights as other investors.

When it comes to controlling weapons, Castro does so much more than that. He not only control and picks the soldiers in his army to go into combat when he needs them but spends a lot of the Cubans?? money on missile construction and other weapons that would make the contrary more powerful once in war or combat. Castro also built many military bases where no one has the authority to trespass unless you are a government official like himself. Much of his time and money is into turning these soldiers into warriors. It is estimated that millions of dollars were spent on missiles and weapons alone. Much like Big Brother, Castro likes to be the most powerful man in the world and uses military actions and bases to enforce that power in him.

Although Castro is quite proud of the way he has prospered his country, many are skeptical that this regime hasn?t done much for Cubans. So despised by some of his people that the word assassination is as known to him as his name. On that matter Castro says: ?If surviving assassination were an Olympic attempt, I would win the gold medal?. What do other countries think of him? Well, we all know what the U.S. thinks of him: as being a troublemaker and a fascist who?s out to conquer the world to make it his own and perhaps cause another world war. All this may seem absurd now, but maybe they?re right. Look what happened to Hitler and his people and all the poor Jews when it was too late to interfere in his brutal and cruel persecutions, his evil ways. The only way Cuba, today, will undergo good change is the day Fidel Castro dies. It is rumored that he?s ill but that doesn?t mean it?s fatal. Now the Cubans who despise him are only awaiting his death because they are the ones that probably realize that if nothing is done to stop the atrocities created by him, history just might repeat itself over again. Think about it!

When Columbus came to Cuba in 1492, he and his predecessors would probably never have imagined of this island?s outcome within the centuries ahead. From conquering the country, to its independence, to the totalitarian regime put into it,

all these major events have made the island what it is today. Before giving the whole

story about the Communists, one must understand how the country was born so here?s

a little bit of a background history: Spain had conquered Cuba in 1511 under Diego

Velasquez. Frequent insurrections failed to end Spain?s harsh rule. From 1868 to 1878

occurred the Armed rebellion known as the Ten Year?s War, led by plantation owner

Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a co-author of Cuba?s declaration of independence. After

the loss of more than 200,00 lives, the revolt ended in failure. In 1933, Batista led a

?sergeants? revolt? that toppled the despotic rule of Gen. Grarado Machado and it?s at

that time that Batista became the most powerful man in Cuba. He was elected

president in 1940 and made himself chief of state with dictatorial powers. Years of

corrupt government, terrorism and embezzlement made by the United States led to a

revolt in 1958 under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Batista fled to the Dominican

Republic and the Fidelistas were in control of Havana. Castro then became premier at

the young age of 32. At first people applauded the downfall of Batista and hoped that

Castro could bring the country the prosperity it had wished for. Unfortunately, before

long, people came to realization that a new regime had embraced Communism.

In reality, Fidel Castro is responsible for every appointment. As president of the Council of Ministers, chairman of the Council of State, commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and first secretary of the PCC (Cuban Communist Party), Castro controls everything and anything that can make him more powerful. Even in Latin America, Castro fundedguerrilla groups throughout the hemisphere generating fear and terror for decades now.

The regime?s response to the AIDS crisis has been a mandatory nation-wide testing

that resulted in forced incarceration for anyone who tested positive for the HIV virus.

In addition, Castro is also known for imprisoning homosexuals and transsexuals as

?undesirables?. All of these imprisonment is mostly based on mere suspicion or

rumors. There was another report that a number of prisoners with AIDS rioted on

August 19, 1992, demanding better food and medical attention. Guards used rubber

batons, wooden sticks and other blunt instruments. Several of the AIDS sufferers were

transferred to the maximum security area of the prison. The fate of these prisoners are

now unknown. He especially tortures the sane political opponents that defy his beliefs

by sending them into psychiatric hospitals.