— by Charisma Renatus Bavuma —
“To speak of Fidel Castro is to speak of Cuba – they are bound by history and revolution.”
Fidel Castro was surely the most influential figure in Latin American policies in the second half of the 20th century; He was also the most ominous one. His legacy goes beyond subjugating and impoverishing Cuba for over 50 years to also inspiring and sponsoring armed insurgencies throughout the region that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans.
Pre-Castro Cuba, Before the late 1950s Cuba was an unlikely setting for a major superpower confrontation. Ever since the Spanish–American War of the late nineteenth century this small island had effectively been a protectorate of the United States. This semi-colonial status, added to the extreme economic and social divisions, led to growing anti-Americanism. To many Cubans, the dictatorship of the Cuban leader, Fulgencio Batista, who had been in power since the 1930s, symbolized foreign domination and inequality.
How did Fidel Castro get into power?
Fidel Castro’s revolutionary career began when he was enrolled at the School of Law of the University of Havana, where he participated in resistance movements in the Dominican Republic and Colombia. He became active in Cuban politics after graduating in 1950, and he prepared to run for legislative office in the 1952 elections. Those elections were canceled when Fulgencio Batista forcibly seized power. Castro began organizing a resistance movement against Cuba’s new dictator, leading several ill-fated attempts against Batista’s forces, such as the assault on Santiago de Cuba and another on Cuba’s eastern coast. The tide of battle would turn, however: Castro’s guerrilla warfare campaign and his propaganda efforts succeeded in eroding the power of Batista’s military and popular support while also attracting volunteers to the revolutionary cause. Batista was forced to flee the country, Finally, the revolutionary forces (the Fidelistas) headed by a young lawyer, Fidel Castro, entered Havana in January 1959, as he assumed complete authority over Cuba’s new government.
Guerrilla Warfare in Cuba refers to the unconventional tactics employed by Cuban revolutionary forces, particularly in their struggle for independence from Spanish rule and later during their fight against the Batista regime in the mid-20th century. This method of warfare played a crucial role in both the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898) and the Cuban Revolution (1953-1959). Guerrilla tactics involve small, mobile groups of fighters using surprise attacks, sabotage, and hit-and-run strategies to fight against larger, more conventional military forces.
Cuban revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro and his revolutionary forces, including figures like Che Guevara, overthrew Fulgencio Batista, the U.S.-backed dictator of Cuba. Castro’s rise to power was a significant geopolitical shift, especially for the United States, which had been a close ally of Batista. After assuming power, Castro implemented socialist reforms, nationalized U.S.-owned businesses, and aligned himself with the Soviet Union, which heightened tensions with the U.S.
Fidel Castro in Power, He knew that his success depended in large part on the willingness of the United States to tolerate his new regime. This, as well as memories of the American role in the 1954 overthrow of a leftist government in Guatemala, made the leader of the new Cuba extremely anxious about a prospective military intervention from the United States. By 1960, such concerns made Castro turn increasingly towards the USSR for support. The new Kennedy administration responded by approving the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961.
Bay of Pigs Invasion, The site on 17 April 1961 of an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles opposed to the Castro regime. It had the support of the American government and the CIA was heavily involved in its planning. By 20 April most exiles were either killed or captured. The failed invasion was the first major foreign policy act of the Kennedy administration and provoked anti-American demonstrations in Latin America and Europe and further embittered American–Canuban relations.
The Plan, original invasion plan called for two air strikes against Cuban air bases. A 1,400-man invasion force would disembark under cover of darkness and launch a surprise attack. Paratroopers dropped in advance of the invasion, which would disrupt transportation and repel Cuban forces. Simultaneously, a smaller force would land on the east coast of Cuba to create confusion. The force would advance across the island to Matanzas and set up a defensive position. The United Revolutionary Front would send leaders from South Florida and establish a provisional government. The success of the plan depended on the Cuban population joining the invaders.
The Invasion, first mishap occurred on April 15, 1961, when eight bombers left Nicaragua to bomb Cuban airfields. The CIA had used obsolete World War II B-26 bombers and painted them to look like Cuban Air Force planes. The bombers missed many of their targets and left most of Castro’s air force intact. As news broke of the attack, photos of the repainted U.S. planes became public and revealed American support for the invasion. President Kennedy canceled a second air strike.
On April 17, the Cuban exile invasion force, known as Brigade 2506, landed at beaches along the Bay of Pigs and immediately came under heavy fire. Cuban planes strafed the invaders, sank two escort ships, and destroyed half of the exile’s air support. Bad weather hampered the ground force, which had to work with soggy equipment and insufficient ammunition.
The Counterattack, Over the next 24 hours, Castro ordered roughly 20,000 troops to advance toward the beach, and the Cuban air force continued to control the skies. As the situation grew increasingly grim, President Kennedy authorized an “air umbrella” at dawn on April 19—six unmarked American fighter planes took off to help defend the brigade’s B-26 aircraft. But the planes arrived an hour late, most likely confused by the change in time zones between Nicaragua and Cuba. They were shot down by the Cubans, and the invasion was crushed later that day. Some exiles escaped to the sea, while the rest were killed or rounded up and imprisoned by Castro’s forces. Almost 1,200 members of Brigade 2506 surrendered, and more than 100 were killed.
The Aftermath, the brigade prisoners remained in captivity for 20 months, as the United States negotiated a deal with Fidel Castro. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy made personal pleas for contributions from pharmaceutical companies and baby food manufacturers, and Castro eventually settled on $53 million worth of baby food and medicine in exchange for the prisoners.
The disaster at the Bay of Pigs had a lasting impact on the Kennedy administration. Determined to make up for the failed invasion, the administration initiated Operation Mongoose—a plan to sabotage and destabilize the Cuban government and economy, which included the possibility of assassinating Castro.
Cuban Missiles Crisis 1962
Castro although successfully defeated by the invasion force, the Bay of Pigs experience, and growing concerns about continuing American attempts to remove him from power, made the Cuban leader receptive towards further offers of Soviet military support. The end result was one of the most dangerous crises of the Cold War era when, a year after the Bay of Pigs, Khrushchev offered to deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Castro accepted and by the summer of 1962 Soviet ships were delivering the necessary materials, including missiles, to their new allies. Hoping that a future public announcement about the presence of Soviet missiles stationed a mere 160 kilometers from the American heartland would be a substantial propaganda coup, the installation of these weapons was undertaken in secrecy.
However, in mid-October 1962 American U-2 spy planes flying over Cuba spotted the ballistic missile sites under construction. The crisis was now imminent. Although the Americans had already deployed missiles in Turkey and both Moscow and Washington had the capability of inflicting serious damage on each other with their inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the psychological impact of Soviet nuclear installations in the Caribbean – as well as the secrecy of the operation – persuaded the Kennedy administration of the need to take action. Kennedy formed a special inner cabinet of advisers, the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExCom), to discuss the situation. They initially considered several options, including a possible military invasion of Cuba and aerial attacks against the missile bases. In the end, though, the Kennedy administration chose to ‘quarantine’ Cuba by erecting a naval blockade to stop any further Soviet shipments from reaching their destination. On 22 October, Kennedy went public in a televised address, disclosing the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba and announcing that a blockade was in force against all ships bound for the island. He also demanded the removal of the missiles.
For the next few days, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be moving towards a nuclear war. The Kennedy administration took its case to the UN and prepared for air strikes and a massive invasion of Cuba. The Castro government called up more than a quarter of a million Cubans ready to repel an American invasion, and the Soviet forces on the island, with their nuclear-tipped tactical missiles, were placed on full alert. In the United States, a wave of panic buying swept across the country as people tried to prepare for a possible nuclear holocaust. In the Soviet Union, some news about the crisis reached the public, causing a more limited panic. In Western Europe America’s NATO allies prepared for the implications of a potential nuclear war that might easily spread to Berlin and elsewhere.
After some bargaining, under increasingly tense conditions, the crisis was finally resolved. What happened was that on 26 October Khrushchev offered to withdraw his missiles from Cuba in return for an American pledge not to invade the island. While Kennedy was considering this compromise, the Soviet leader suddenly made another demand: that the Americans must also remove their missiles from Turkey. Meanwhile, the situation was made more ominous as an American U-2 was shot down over Cuba on 27 October. On the same day, however, Robert Kennedy, the attorney general, and the president’s brother, struck a deal with Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin whereby Soviet missiles would be removed from Cuba in return for a subsequent, unpublicized, removal of missiles from Turkey. On Sunday, 28 October, Khrushchev announced the withdrawal of the Soviet missiles from Cuba. Under close American surveillance, Soviet ships took the missiles back home.
Support for Revolutionary Movements: Castro saw Cuba as a vanguard of global revolution, providing material and ideological support to liberation movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For instance:
In Angola 1975-1991, The Cuban intervention it began on 5th November 1975.
The Cubans sent combat troops in support of the communist-aligned people’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) against the pro-western coalition of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola UNITA and the National Liberation Front of Angola FNLA. The intervention came after the outbreak of the Angolan Civil War, which occurred after the former Portuguese colony was granted independence after the Angolan war of independence. The previously unimportant civil war quickly became a proxy war between the Eastern Bloc (led by the Soviet Union) and the Western Bloc (led by the United States).
The Cuban intervention in Angola authorized by Castro also provides insights into the much broader question of the purpose served by external support in civil wars or postcolonial conflicts. Cuban external support contributed little to reconciliation as the military strategy took precedence over civil aid. The deployment of civilians was well coordinated and concentrated on strengthening state administration. Cuban engagement therefore focused primarily on a political and military strategy to support the MPLA’s position of power; it made no effort to encourage reconciliation. Cuban military engagement in Angola ended in 1991, while the Angolan Civil War continued until 2002. Between 1975 and 1991, Cuban casualties in Angola totaled approximately 10,000 dead, wounded, or missing.
In Latin America 1960s-1980s
The revolution also fostered a spirit of resistance and independence among Latin Americans. The success of the Cuban Revolution inspired other revolutionary movements across Latin America, as people saw that it was possible to challenge the status quo and fight for a more equitable society.
Castro’s successful revolution promoted socialist ideals and anti-imperialist sentiments, which resonated with many Latin Americans who were grappling with social inequality and foreign interference. One of the most significant impacts was the promotion of socialist realism. This was a style that focused on the lives of the working class and the poor, highlighting their struggles and promoting socialist ideals. The revolutionary government in Cuba launched a massive literacy campaign, which was successful in significantly reducing illiteracy rates.
Vietnam
Under the leadership of Fidel, Cuba was the pioneer in the movement of supporting Vietnam’s struggle for independence as well as national construction. Cuba was the first country to recognize the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam in September 1963,
During that period, Cuba also faced many difficulties. However, during a meeting in Havana with the participation of tens of thousands of people, Fidel Castro stated that “unfortunately, we – Cuban people – do not have enough milk and sugar to send to Vietnamese people. If we did, we would send not only milk and sugar but also our blood”.
The year 1976 was named “Heroic Vietnam Year” by Cuba as part of its support to Vietnam. In 1972 when the dyke system in the north of Vietnam was destroyed by the US, Cuba took August 28 as “Dyke Day” and launched a campaign to denounce the crimes of imperialism.
In September 1973, Fidel Castro was the first and only foreign leader to visit the southern liberation area of Vietnam when the war was ongoing, bringing great encouragement to Vietnamese soldiers and people. And a promise to help realize President Ho Chi Minh’s wish to build a more prosperous country, This showed the special sentiments of him and the Cubans.
The image of the Cuban commander-in-chief, in his olive uniform, standing in an enemy’s blockhouse raising the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, became an extremely impressive image and a source of encouragement to Vietnamese people.
Non-Aligned Movement-NAM
The legacy of Cuba’s NAM leadership, in addition to Fidel Castro’s successful military involvement in Africa and enhanced political relations with Latin American communist parties, He improved its standing within the NAM, for which it received the consistent praise of its socialist allies. In the 1970s when Havana became a significant player in the movement (Fidel Castro assumed the chairperson of NAM at the 6th summit in 1979) elevating Cuba’s influence within the organization. As one of the original NAM members and its sole Latin American representative, Cuba played a key role in bridging Soviet interests with this growing international arena. With the increasing number of newly independent governments in the 1960s and 1970s, the NAM emerged as a significant political actor on the global stage.
Fidel Castro defined Cuba’s participation in the organization as “unrelated to any military bloc with a simultaneous determined anti-imperialist attitude against colonialism, neo-colonialism, and racism, while fully respecting the principles of international solidarity with nations struggling for political and social liberation.” Consequently, in Castro’s analysis, the Cuban notion of non-alignment, which was not identical to traditional political neutrality, served as a rationale for Havana’s military and political participation in progressive African countries fighting for national and social independence from colonialism. In September 1979, Cuba hosted NAM’s sixth summit, presenting its ambitious proposals for the movement’s strategic reorientation, earning East’s praise for Cuba’s “great revolutionary force” around the world.
