How Did Castro Influence The Cuban Revolution

Fulgencio Batista was the dictator of Cuba before Fidel Castro. After he was “elected” into power during crooked elections, he suspended the Cuban constitution and turned it into a one-party dictatorship. His rule was very oppressive. The rich were the only stable class s long as they gave Batista a cut. The poor remained poor and he did nothing about it. He was very friendly with Americans and allowed gambling and other tourist attractions in his country. On July 26th 1953, Castro and a group of his men attempted an attack on Batista. In this attack, Fidel and Raul charged the Moncada Barracks located in eastern Cuba. The plan was to mock a delegation led by a high-ranking official with a 16 vehicle caravan. The element of surprise disappeared

He openly embraced it as he had close ties with the Soviet Union. Castro wanted a reformed Cuba so it did not have to depend on the United States like Batista’s government. Many Cubans frowned upon the fact that the United States had a grip on their economy. They owned many Cuban industries, sugar, tobacco, iron, etc. [“Fidel Castro and The Cuban Revolution.”] The Cuban railroads and telephone system were also owned by the United States. Castro 's view of resentment matched those of many Cubans and helped him gain even more support. Castro brought great change to his Cuban people. He developed free medical services, cheap rent in public housing, and opened new schools which caused Cuban people to have the highest literacy rates in Latin America. He did changed the Cuban constitution to allow the Communist party to censor all Cuban media if they didn 't follow their ideology or promote opposing views. Castro wanted to spread the arts and make them accessible to everyone. He demonstrated this by donating $200,000 to a ballet studio in Havana called “The National Ballet of Cuba.” Many Cuban children were encouraged to dance both boys and girls. Women were given more freedoms with the creation of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) in 1960. The FMC was created to advance gender equality and health standards for women throughout the country. While things were looking up for women, they still were expected to work during the day and come home and take care of their family during the night. This unfairness was brought to light by the FMC and led Castro to pass the Family Code of 1975. The Family Code of 1975 stated that a man and woman would both equally share the burdens of having a family. As mentioned before, UMAPs housed homosexuals, oppositions, and also Jehovah Witnesses. They were confined to combat counter-revolutionary activities and thousands were executed. He stated that they