Cuba - preparing for change
Castro has shaped the last 50 years of Cuba's history
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Saturday, 10, Feb 2007 12:00
A review of Fidel Castro's colourful presidency and the history of antagonism between the US and the West's first communist state.
Castro's rise to power
Castro took control of Cuba in 1959 following a lengthy militia campaign. After being released from prison for his role in a 1953 rebel attack, he promptly formed a new band of insurgents in Mexico and returned to the Caribbean island in 1956 to fight the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Batista's cruel repression fuelled Cuban resentment and gradually swelled the ranks of Castro's rebels. A steady stream of victories in 1958 prompted Batista to flee to Portugal in February 1959, leaving the path clear for Castro.
A thorn in the side
Despite supporting Castro by imposing a Cuban arms embargo in 1958, the US soon grew to distrust its neighbour. A wide-ranging set of political reforms implemented by the new government included the nationalisation of Cuban assets, meaning the US lost millions of dollars worth of investment almost overnight. The ejection of US-based Mafiosi and the violent suppression of political dissenters soured relationships further, while an aid agreement struck in 1960 between the Soviet Union and Cuba terrified the US as the Cold War loomed large.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
Responding to the perceived threat, the CIA began secretly training up Cuban exiles in Florida to help them overthrow Castro. However, the Bay of Pigs invasion was a disaster as US president John F. Kennedy denied aerial support in a bid to appear impartial and Cuba repelled the attack. This prompted the US to adopt more covert methods of regime change. In 1999, the then head of the Cuban secret services estimated there had been 638 plots to assassinate Castro down the years, with the CIA was believed to have tried explosives-laden conch shells, poisoned diving suits and even exploding cigars.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
However, the Cuba-US neighbourly dispute assumed a global significance in 1962 at the height of the Cold War. The Soviet Union, keen to gain a strategic foothold on its rival's doorstep, struck a deal with Castro to install nuclear weapons on the island. The resulting crisis was the closest the world has come to nuclear war.
The crisis started when the Soviets launched a convoy of ships across the Atlantic to deliver nuclear missiles to Cuba. However, the US learned of the plans and immediately surrounded Castro's island, threatening to destroy any ship found running the blockade. As the convoy neared, both superpowers prepared their respective nuclear arsenals for launch. However, a war was narrowly averted when the Soviet ships withdrew and the world breathed a collective sigh of relief.
An enigma
Modern-day Cuba is a puzzle. On the one hand, the island has a legendary healthcare system and an education-for-all programme that is almost as famous. On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of Cubans have fled to Florida and beyond following Castro's crackdowns against free speech, freedom of association and anything "contrary to the decision of the Cuban people to build socialism and communism".
In 2006, as Castro temporarily ceded power, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice called upon the Cuban population to rise up in support of a full and open democracy. The methods may have changed somewhat, but almost half a century later, it appears the US is still preoccupied with its diminutive communist neighbour.
Richard Frost