FIDEL CASTRO: MY EARLY DAYS – MEMORIES,  CUBAN HISTORY AND REVOLUTION

I do recall my first information about the late Fidel Castro.Information given about the young Cuban rebel was  presented at a cinema in the center of Oslo in about year 1956. The cinema  which presented Norwegian news reels of important events  for the Norwegian public, published also international news. We had to view shots of Cuban guerilla fighters. The shots were made in black and white films.

CUBA IN 2003

In  2003 I paid a visit to Cuba. In Habana I bought some books about  Cuba including an interesting book about Fidel Castro: FIDEL CASTO: MY EARLY YEARS. The book is edited by Deborah Shnookal and Pedro Alvarez Tabio. The first printing of the book took place in 1998.

I had forgotten the book . News about the death of Fidel Castro made me read the book once more. While reading the book, I asked myself some questions about the life of Fidel Castro, about the Cuban history and the history of the Cold War.

WHY DID HE…

-Why did he ( Fidel Casto) put his life at risk for the support of a revolution on Cuba?

-Why was he interested in changing the standard of living for the people of Cuba?

-Why supported USA the corrupt regime of Fulgencio Batista?

-USA: The official policy towards Cuba was?

- What was the main reasons for Russia to support Cuba?

Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar (1901-1973) was the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944. He was dictator from 1952 to 1959. The United States supported Fulgencio Batisa. He left Cuba in 1958. No support given by U.S to Batista after the Cuban revolution. He was denied entry to the United States and Mexico.Portugal's dictator Antonio Salazar allowed him to settle in Portugal.Later on Batista moved to Spain.

FIDEL CASTRO: MY EARLY YEARS

The content of the book.

The book contains a collections of essays and interviews with and about Fidel Castro.

Some of my private questions were answered by reading the book and by viewing some documentries  dealing with the Cuban revolution.

The content of the book is:

-The Preface was written by Deborah  Shnookal in June 1998.

-”  A Personal Portrait of Fidel Castro” by Gabriel Gracia Marquez

”…His supreme aid is his memory, and he uses it to the point of abuse to sustain speeches and private conversations with overwhelming reasing and arithmetic operations of incredible speed. This task of information accumulation begins when he wakes up. He breakfasts with no less than 200 pages of news from all over the world…”. So far the opinion about Fidel Castro and his work observed by Gabriel Gracia Marquez.

-” Childhood and Youth ” –an interviewed of Fidel Castro made by Brazilian liberation theologist , Frei Betto.

” … The society in which I grew up was a society with many difficulties; the people had to make sacrifices. On reflection, that society engendered tremendous selfishness, making people want to gain something  out of every situation, rather than encouraging kindness and generosity…”

” … There are many people in the world today who call themsleves Christians but do horrible things. Pinochet, Reagan and Botha , for example, consider themselves Christians…”. Some statements made by Fidel Castro during his talk with Frei Betto.

-”  University Day ”. Speech  given by Fidel Castro to a meeting in Aula Magna(Great Hall) of the University of Havanna on September 4, 1995.

”… Don’t  take me as a role model. I don’t consider myself to be a role model, much less a model of good student. I have tried to be a good revolutionary. I have tried to be a good soldier. And if it occur to some of you to imitate a case like mine, I beg you to imitate my few successes and spare yourselves the many errors that I may have committed…” . So far Fidel Castro and his personal opinions about himself and advice to Cuban students.

-”  Colombia 1948. A Taste of Revolution  ”. An interviewed with Fidel Castro made by the Colombian journalist Arturo Alape in September 1981.

”… I ’m trying to explain a historical reality. We were told ” independence began on May 20, 1902”, the day when the United States handed us a neocolonial republic  with a constitutional amendment that gave it the right to intervene in Cuba…May 20 was the day they chose for initiating the broadcasts of Radio Goebbels, Radio Reagan, Radio  Hitler- I’m not going to call that subversive radio station ” Radio Marti ”. When the United States imposed the Platt amendment on Cuba, it had already been occupying our territory for four years. It occupied the country for four years and then imposed its infamous right to intervene in our country. It intervened more than once and seized our best land, our mines, our trade, our finances and our economy…”. Statements made by Fidel Castro about the policy of the United States in connection to the work of independence on Cuba.

-” Preparing for Moncada ”. An interviewed with Fidel Castro by Frei Betto in May 1985.

”…Some people knew what I thought and some were already trying to block me. They called me a communist, because I explained everything to everyone rather candidly.But I was not preaching socialism as the immediate objective at that time. I spoke out against injustice, poverty, unemployment, high rent, the eviction of farmers, low wages, political corruption and ruthless expoitation everywhere…” . So far Fidel Castro and the aims of his political actions.

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

To understand the official policy of USA towards Cuba , the study of the ” Monroe Doctrine ” is a must. On December 2, 1824, the American President James Monroe gave his annual message to US Congress. He presented in his speech a four- point doctrine:

1.       The continents of America were no longer to be considered as subjects for future colonization by European power.

2.       There existed in the Americas a political system that was essentially different and separate from that in Europe.

3.       The United States would consider dangerous to its peace and safety any attempt on the part Eurpean powers to extend their system anywhere in the Western Hemispher.

4.       The United  States would not interfere with existing colonies.

The aim of the Monroe Doctrine was to oppose European colonialism in the North and South America  beginning in 1823. Efforts by European nations to take control of any independent state in North or South America would be regarded as ” the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States ”. The United States would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies  nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries.

The Monroe Doctrine was issued in 1823. Most of the colonies of Spain and Portugal in Latin America had archieved independence  when the doctrine was issued.

For years the people of Cuba had been told that the United States was a friendly nation. After the Spanish-American War (1897 – 1898) the Americans had made Cuba an independent nation. The war was also called ” The Splendid Little War ”. A peace treaty was signed in Paris on December 10, 1898.

The Cuban people had rebelled against the Spanish rule  of Cuba. ” The Splendid Little War ” was the war of Theodore Roosevelt. He had proclaimed the rationale of the Monroe Doctrine in supporting intervention in the Spanish colony of Cuba in 1898.

Cubans fought for independence from 1868- 1878. Americans had great sympathy for the Cuban fights against the Spanish rule of the country.

Cuba could offer USA sugar cane, tobacco, agricultural products, mineral  such as copper and nickel.

THE BATTLESHIP MAINE

On February 15, 1898, the American battleship Maine sank in the Havanna harbor. On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain. As a result of the war, Spain lost the control of Cuba.

The Monroe Doctrine had been re- interpreted to satisify the United States as a world power. The U.S was ready to make use of military strenght to force  an American viewpoint in world politics.

 " ... At the beginning of 1959 United States companies owned about 40 percent of the Cuban sugar lands-almost all the cattle ranches- 90 percent of the mines and mineral concessions-80 percent of the utilities-practicallyall the oil industry-and supplied two-thirds of Cuban' imports..." . Statements and remarks made by Senator John F. Kennedy during a Democratic dinner in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1960.Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.

JOSE MARTI  AND FIDEL CASTRO. Jose Marti(1853-1895) was  a Cuban national hero. Fidel Castro admired the man. 

Fidel Castro has studied the history of Cuba. Jose Marti was a poet, an essayist, a philosopher,  journalist, a translator , a professor , a publisher, a political theorist and a revolutionary.

Fidel Castro claimed Jose Marti as a crucial inspiration for the Communist revolutionary government of Cuba.

Conclusion

We do not know much about the future of the political changes on Cuba after the death of Fidel Castro. The main questions to be asked are: Are the political systems on Cuba, the administration of different departments and officers and the present staff of persons working for the state of Cuba, ready for a close contact with the United States, the different European states who had made life on Cuba unpleasant since Fidel Castro ruled the country? How to keep up the standard of living for the majority of the Cuban people without making the economic situation worsen for the people in favour of some few rich people? How to avoid the present political situation of the countries of Latin America? Good luck, Cuba!

References

Documentaries/Movies/

-The Untold History of the Unied States by Oliver Stone.2004
-Comandante by Oliver Stone.2003
-Cuban Story. The True Story about Fidel Castro Revolution by Errol Flynn/Victor Pahlen. 1959
-Fidel:Rebellen.1996
-Dagbok från en revolution.2002
-Fidel & Che by David Attwood.2002
-Guerilla by Steven Soderbergh.2008
-Rough Riders by John Milius. 1997
-Havanna by Sidney Pollacks.1990
-Thirteen Days.2000.
-The Splendid Little War. Spanish-American War 1898 by William B. Styple. 1992
-Historias de la revolucion. Direccion: Tomas Gutierrez Alea. Productora: El Instituto Cubano del  Arte e Industria Cinematograficos ( ICAIC).1960.
-Ernesto Che Guevara. Direccion: Miguel Torres.Productora: El Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria  Cinematograficos(ICAIC). 2000.
-The Century of Warfare. Wars in Peace 1945-89.Nr.23.

Literature/Books
-My Early Days by Fidel Castro.1998
-Dette er Cuba-alt annet er løgn. Av Vegard Bye og Dag Hoel.2000
-Las venas abiertas de America Latina( Latinamerikas åpne årer). Av Eduardo Galeano.1978.
-Retrato de familia con Fidel(Familieportrett med Fidel). Av Carlos Franqui.1982
-Verdens økonomiske og sosiale krise. Av Fidel Castro.1986.
-Che Guevara. By Andrew Sinclair.1999
-Citizen Turner. By Robert Goldberg and Gerald Jay Goldberg.1995
-One minute to midnight-Kennedy, Khrushcher and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War.2008. By
 Michael Dobbs
 (Norwegian title: I tolvte time. Kennedy, Khrusjtsjov og Castro på randen av atomkrig. 2011. Av
   Michael Dobbs)
-Brothers.The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years. 2007. By David Talbot.