The Tyranny of Fidel Castro in Cuba

In the 1950s the controlling tyrant Fidel Castro took charge of the nation of Cuba. Castro imprisoned and killed thousands of Cuban people that dared to oppose him as well as destroying Cuba’s economic prosperity through his connection to russia. The revolutionary leaders introduction of restrictions had long term effects on the public media in the country.

Fidel Castro’s close relationship with the soviet union annihilated Cuba's previously stable economic state sending the country into a crisis. During the russian revolution global sugar production dropped creating wealth for the nations who continued to harvest the crop. This monopoly created a boom in Cuba's economy and lead to the nation developing into a monoculture relying entirely on money from its sugar exports. During Castro's reign his communist ideals led him to ally Cuba and himself with the soviet union causing the us to retaliate creating a trade embargo against Cuba. The embargo caused the economy of Cuba to collapse as it created difficulty for attaining parts for the predominantly US made machinery used in the sugar grinding mills as well as other imports to the country. Additionally, the loss of the u.s as a viable partner in trade instituted increased costs for transport and greater difficulties in global communication. The collapse of the sugar industry sent mass amounts of the country into poverty yet those in the destitute state became more attracted to ideal of a communist society gaining castro support among the lower classes. This appealing system of government lead Cuba to further involve itself with the soviet union placing further stress on the tense diplomatic relationship with the u.s. It was this involvement that concerned the u.s to such an extent that the us intelligence committee advised that Castro be removed from power by any means necessary. This advice lead to 634 assassination attempts as claimed by Castro's former secret service chief with the us going as far as enlisting infamous american mafia members and bizarre plots such as the ‘exploding cigar’. Yet despite their efforts the tyrant survived each attempt and continued to rule Cuba. Russia's welcomed involvement in cuban politics and global stance upturned the country's monoculture creating mass poverty

Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro had an underlying draconian aspect to his reign misusing his power to restrict freedom of thought and speech. Fidel castro crossed into the boundaries of the legality of national censorship early on in his rule of cuba. In 1963 Cuba became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to jam radio broadcasts, this being achieved using equipment acquired from castro's political ally, the soviet union. The targets for these measures were various stations in the US who had continued to disagree with castro's regime. Havana, cuba's capital, had one hundred and thirty five movie theatres previous to castro's introduction of a Communist regime, with this amount totalling to more than New York City or Paris. Less than twenty of those remain open in present day Havana despite the population of the city having doubled. Castro struck with his controlling communist regime and established full control of Cuba's film industry, making it mandatory for all movies to be censored by the ‘Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos’ (Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry) before broadcast or release to the public.

Castro introduced censorship laws restricting freedom of speech with their effects still evident in modern day cuba with Cubans still prohibited from listening to or watching independent, private, or foreign broadcasts, not being allowed to read books, magazines or newspapers unless they have been approved or published by the government as well as not being able to receive publications from abroad or from visitors. The drastic actions castro took in terms of censorship lost him the support of many cuban citizens and notable figures globally as well as having long term effects on cuba.

Fidel castro inflicted harsh punishment on innocent individuals on the grounds that they simply disagreed or opposed him. Throughout castro's reign, he permitted the incarcerations of thousands of cuban people who were sent to live in the poor conditions of cuba’s prisons. Countless more were exposed to harassment and intimidation tactics with basic political freedoms denied for entire generations. Castro was not opposed to political murder either as though a multitude of different guesses as to the sheer amount of exucutions carried out on behalf of cubas government it is estimated that within the first two months of 1959, Castro's government executed more than 300 Batista officials with Latin American historian Thomas E. Skidmore stating that there had been 550 executions in the first six months of 1959.

The subjugation was made law and enforcement was carried out by security teams and furthered by a a corrupt judiciary system that lacked independence instead being tied to politics and its pressures. These invasive activities impeded the practice of fundamental rights, creating a ‘climate of fear’ within communist Cuba. This fear led to many cubans feeling helplessly pressure into showing their allegiance to the state while unable to emit criticism. The current cuban government is still heavily impacted by fidel castro's rule with many of castro's abusive tactics introduced under his rule such as physical intimidation, battery arbitrary detention, and public acts of repudiation still being used today.

The cuban population had been diseased with fear, leaving mass amounts of people with the mindset that the only option was to escape the dictator. According to statements from the US government, an estimated 1.2 million Cubans, or ten percent of the current population of cuba, deserted the country to seek refuge in the US between the years 1959 and 1993. A vast amount of cubans chose to relocate to miami, florida leading to the cities heavy present day cuban influence. Castro came into power with the promise to be a leader for the people but early on his reign castro demonstrated that he chose only to fairly lead those who agreed with his ways, with him violating the human rights of anyone who opposed him. Fidel castro was a harsh dictator, holding cuba under a strict draconian rule violating human rights, wrekings cuba's economy overseeing and orchestrating frequent murders throughout his rule.