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Castro's Authoritarian State (Opposition (Former landowners and…
Castro's Authoritarian State
Governance
Merging of 26 July Movement with Communist Party
Castro head of state and Communist party
Trial, imprisonment, executions of former officials
Restrictions on press and other freedoms
Cuban Constitution, 1975
Fidel Castro = 1st Secretary of the cuban Communist Party and President of the Council of Ministers was head of government
Cuba = socialist state (Communist Party only recognised political group)
local assemblies, drawn from members of the Communist Party, were to provide delegates for the National Assembly, an elected body of 600 members
Council of Ministers was to be drawn from the National Assembly
Vulnerabilities
US embargo
By 1968, 350,000 Cubans (nearly 5%) had left the island
most went to the United States where many of them formed cells planning to return to reclaim Cuba by force should the opportunity arise
reliance on Soviet Union for oil and sugar purchase
Economic stress with loss of Soviet support starting in 1989
Economic Policies
nationalisation of businesses and farms
farms redistributed to agricultural labourers
Sugar industry was nationalized
state investment was directed into Cuba's infrastructure
aimed to improve communications and public services, including communal housing in urban areas
failed attempts to end sole reliance on sugar
original plan had been to diversify the Cuban economy so that it would no longer be wholly dependent on sugar
by mid 1960s he realised this was not going to work
planned to develop industrial programmes as alternatives to sugar production
skilled personnel required for successful diversification were simply not available
did not possess the economic freedom to diversify
subsidies for rents and fees
introduced in order to lower rents and rates paid by the poor
'rectification' of 1970s leads to major economic growth
2/3 of the land came under Government control
Decision to break economic ties with the USA
left Cuba heavily reliant on the Soviet Union for economic survival
stress on efficiency, incentives for work, technology improvement
Opposition
Editors, journalists, writers
divided by oppression and conflicting goals
writers and artists whose works were subjected to government censorship
editors and journalists who objected to curtailment of their press freedoms
academics who resented the government's encroachment on university freedoms
Former landowners and business people
landowners who had been forced off their land
industrialists who had their factories taken over by the state
peasants who felt aggrieved at having been forced into collectivisation
pro-Americans who had been forced to break their commercial and financial links with the USA
professional bodies and associations eg. those representing businessment, solicitors and teachers
angered at their being brought under state control
Students and others who opposed foreign policy or single-party state
Former officials and union leaders
those who were offended by the ineffectiveness with which Castro's government operated
those who considered that the political constraints and repression imposed by the regime were unjustified by any of the internal or external threats supposedly facing Cuba
trade unions = loss of independence
Weaknesses
never a united, organised body and the disaffected groups were unable to concert their efforts, even had they ever seriously planned to challenge Castro
Castro's status as the embodiment of Cuban aspirations meant that opposition to him seemed unpatriotic and so rarely gathered popular support
The firmness with which Castro dealt wth challenges it a hazardous venture t try to oppose him
Cuba's close-knit society made it easy to monitor opposition movements through eavesdropping and surveillance.
the DGI (Direccion General de Inteligencia - an operation which operated under Fidel Castro's direct control) was a hghly effective means of detecting his enemies in Cuba and outside
Assassination attempts
Castro = a leader who excited either intense affection for the way he attempted to elevate the poor or profound dislike for the way he was prepared to destroy rights and liberties
One of his bodyguards claimed to have counted 638 assassination attempts on Castro
suggests the danger castro was constantly in and the degree of hatred towards him
CIA was thought to have been behind most of the attempts
Castro's treatment of opposition
intially made little effort to stop people leaving
"If they did not want Cuba, Cuba did not want them"
deliberately encouraged criminals, the insane and anti-social types to go
grew concerned that Cuba was losing too many of the skilled personnel it needed
regulations were introduced forbidding Cubans to leave without acceptable reason
Foreign Policy
Domestic Policy
Social
Healthcare
Education
Women
Minorities
Economic