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THE U.S. ROLE IN CUBA.
Term Paper ID:30114
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Essay Subject:
Examines U.S. policy toward Cuba.... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Examines historical U.S. policy toward Cuba. The subversion by the U.S. of Cuba's attempts at sovereignity & economic independence. History of U.S. involvement . Establishment of U.S. military presence . Platt Amendment. U.S. business interests in Cuba. Cuba sugar & U.S. corporations. Dependency of Cuba's economy on price of sugar. Fidel Castro & U.S. policy. U.S. trade embargo.
Paper Introduction:
The many complaints that the United States has against Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba can nearly all be traced back to root causes either created or influenced by United States policy. Over the course of Cuba’s history the U.S. has systematically subverted both Cuba’s attempts at sovereignty and its advancements towards economic independence. By acting against the formation of an independent Cuba and supporting despotic regimes, the U.S. fostered a strong anti-American sentiment in the minds of the Cuban people. All of these factors worked together to contribute to the current and longstanding problems between the U.S. and Cuba.
The U.S. began their direct involvement in Cuba at the end of Cuba’s war for independence. Though there was little effort necessary to push the Spanish out of Cuba and its other
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Such conditions are what make communismand socialism most attractive. "Caribbean-U.S. InApril 1961 U.S. corporations purchased land in Cuba and operated huge farmsto capitalize on the export of sugar or tobacco; this had the effect ofshutting down the small and mid-sized farms run by Cubans, and eventuallybecame the death of the middle class in Cuba (Perez). The day after that was the Bay of Pigs invasion in which 1,5 U.S. Because of the economic conditions in Cuba causedby its dependent economy, the majority of the populace wanted a governmentin which the wealth would be shared with them and the power of theplantation owners would be broken. began their direct involvement in Cuba at the end of Cuba'swar for independence. took advantage of the situation they had created bybringing about a trade embargo and giving Cuba the choice of economic ruin,giving up their sovereignty to the U.S., or finding another country capableof supporting their economy, which is what they did. The government repression in Cuba is likely the problem with Cuba forwhich the United States holds the least blame. quickly used theopportunity to establish a significant military presence in Cuba after theend of the Spanish-American war. Any government repression in Cuba is likely a resultof the fact that Cuba is ruled more by Castro's cult of personality than bythe Cuban constitution. The U.S. tariffs on Cuban Sugar by 2 percent and to reduce Cuban duties on American products by 25-4 percent.President Theodore Roosevelt candidly discussed the purposes behind thetreaty: I urge the adoption of reciprocity with Cuba not only because it is eminently for our own interests to control the Cuban market and by every means to foster our supremacy in the lands and waters south of us, but also because we, of the giant republic of the north, should make all our sister nations of the American Continent feel that whenever they will permit it we desire to show ourselves disinterestedly and effectively their friend (Fitzgibbon).The Reciprocity Treaty achieved its goal, and Cuba's economy becamedependent upon the U.S. When Castro purchasedcrude oil from the USSR, he tried to refine it at one of the U.S. Che Guevara Reader. to buy theirsugar. then decreed aunilateral trade embargo against Cuba and severed diplomatic relations. troops fromCuba (Healy). The nationalization of U.S. Shortly after the passage of the PlattAmendment, the U.S. tosupply it with finished products. By acting against theformation of an independent Cuba and supporting despotic regimes, the U.S.fostered a strong anti-American sentiment in the minds of the Cuban people. or U.K.owned refineries in Cuba, who refused to refine the oil. The effect that the Platt Amendment had on Cuba's sovereignty becameapparent in 19 6 when the U.S. The USSR responded byoffering to buy any Cuban sugar that the U.S. That should depend on its will, and only that nation can decide whether a government changes or not. 1 Jan. media and the Cuban government are biased in differentdirections and have significant variation between their versions of theconditions in Cuba. Bad relations between Cuba and the U.S. After that point the U.S.used primarily economic measures of control over Cuba, which if were moreeffective than the military measures. economic interests, so the U.S. The U.S. After over a hundredand fifty years of economic dependency on a one or two commodity market, itis clear that more of the natural resource output of Cuba would have tobenefit Cubans if they were to have any chance of breaking out of theireconomic dependency. tied Cuba's future to unpredictable world sugar prices,thus ensuring an unstable, polarized society that was ripe for socialistrevolution. Fromthe beginning of the U.S. property was something that should nothave surprised anyone familiar with Cuba's history. In the last two centuries American foreign policy has destroyed thetraditional peasant and farmer classes, severely increased the poverty offarm workers, produced a poor urban working class, and created a politicalelite that could only survive through the spoils of the bureaucracy. In the time that followed, U.S. All of these factors worked together to contribute to the current andlongstanding problems between the U.S. It is notsurprising that someone such as Castro (who understands the history of theU.S. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. The major points of contentionbetween Cuba and the U.S. property,Castro's communism, and the government repression in Cuba. U.S. will not buy, thus severingthe major economic tie between the U.S. Revolutionary leaderChe Guevara argued about how important it was for Cuba to resist economiccoercion: National sovereignty means, in the first place, the right of a country to have no one interfere in its life, the right of a people to choose whatever form of government and way of life suits it. The many complaints that the United States has against Fidel Castro'sregime in Cuba can nearly all be traced back to root causes either createdor influenced by United States policy. banks andrefineries was something that could have been easily avoided if the UnitedStates had not first initiated economic action against Cuba. But all of these concepts of political sovereignty, of national sovereignty, are fictitious if there is no economic independence to go along with them. Eisenhower responded by reducing theU.S. Though only twelve men of that group survived the initial battleafter their landing, they had sufficient popular support to eventually turnthe tide of the war until Batista fled Cuba at the urging of the UnitedStates. planes attacked Santiago and Havana as prelude to the Bayof Pigs invasion. Inevitable Revolutions. It became apparent that the stability of dictatorshipswas beneficial to U.S. could have made an ally of Castro rather than forcing him to go tothe Soviets for economic survival. Those who had a stake in the large sugar ortobacco plantations or those in the government who were receiving healthybribes were becoming very rich. are Castro's nationalization of U.S. Throughout this time Cuban society was becoming polarized between thevery rich and the very poor. American forces occupied Cuba forthree years during which future president William Taft governed Cuba andits affairs for the beginning of that period. The Platt Amendment limited the rights of Cuba to conductits own foreign policy and granted the U.S. The short-term effect of this occurredwhen large U.S. Nonetheless,it is possible, even likely that the economic and geographic influence ofthe U.S. and Cuba. New York: University of Georgia Press, 1989.Perez, Louis A. foreign policy soon began to favor stable regimes overdemocratic ones. occupation of Cuba to the end of the Batistaregime, the U.S. In retaliation,Castro nationalized the refineries. madean act of war against Cuba that Castro declared Cuba as socialist. landed troops to intervene against a fearedoverthrow of the elected government. Cuba's communism is something that the United States holdssignificant blame for. Relations." The Reader's Companion to American History. the right to intervene in Cuba"for the preservation of Cuban independence and the maintenance of a stablegovernment, adequately protecting life, property, and individualliberty"(Fitzgibbon). signed the Reciprocity Treaty with Cuba in 19 3. Any government ruled by a person rather than asystem is going to be subject to the danger that the person will not limithimself in all the ways that would be considered proper in some othercountries. The following day Castro declared Cuba as a socialistcountry. trained Cubans invaded Cuba and were overwhelmed by the Cuban army(Deutchmann 8-12). Under these conditions the numbers of the poor grew extensively. TheU.S. Note that it was not until the U.S. Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution. has systematically subverted both Cuba's attempts at sovereigntyand its advancements towards economic independence. That position was quickly used to U.S.advantage when the addition of the Platt Amendment to Cuba's newconstitution was made a condition to the withdrawal of U.S. After the failure ofthat attack, Castro invaded Cuba with Che Guevara and seventy-nine othersin 1956. According to Walter LaFeber "suchinvestment and trade has been pivotal in misshaping those nations' historyuntil revolution appears to be the only instrument that can break thehammerlock held by the local oligarchy and the foreign capitalists"(LaFeber). Theeffect of this agreement was to reduce U.S. Fearful of communism, the U.S. Though there was little effort necessary to push theSpanish out of Cuba and its other possessions, the U.S. The long-term effectwas that Cuba's economy became entirely dependent upon the price of onecommodity. companies investedlarge amounts of capital into developing Cuba's two largest exportproducts, sugar and tobacco. Then the U.S. On the other side, the poor were becomingfar poorer; the majority of those who owned small and medium sized farmslost them and were forced to work on the larger plantations who, as theonly employers, could pay very low wages and still find sufficient workers. New York: Russell & Russell, 1964.Healy, David. The agricultural redistribution of land was infurtherance of this purpose. quickly agreed tosupport Fulgencio Batista's government after its successful coup in 1952.The United States' support of Batista's violent and oppressive regimelikely left a lasting impression with the Cuban people. and Cuba. climaxed with the CubanMissile crisis in 1962; nearly forty years later relations are stillstrained and the embargo is still in place. WORKS CITEDDeutchmann, David, ed. Cuba and the United States. It is hard to get anaccurate picture of exactly what degree of repression occurs in Cuba sinceboth the U.S. to purchase its raw exports and upon the U.S. Over the course of Cuba's historythe U.S. This was not a problem in the spring of 192 when sugar pricesskyrocketed, but just as quickly the prices crashed to a fraction of theirprevious levels, and Cuba's economy crashed with it. The next year, Fidel Castro led a group of rebels in an attack on anarmy barracks, thus beginning the July 26 revolution. began to try to use the same oldeconomic measures to weaken the new Cuban regime. companiesin Cuba and all Cuban and foreign banks in Cuba. created the conditions of poverty in pre-Castro Cuba and they createdthe one-commodity economy that made Cuba dependent on the U.S. (Deutchmann 79) The nationalization of U.S. In response to theeconomic measures taken by the U.S., Cuba nationalized all U.S. 1991.LaFeber, Walter. economic control of Cuba) would react strongly to an attempt to coerceCuba once again through economic measures. order of sugar from Cuba by 7 , tons. Castro's revolution was fought for thepurpose of bringing about a government with socialist ideals. Melbourne: Ocean Press, 1997.Fitzgibbon, Russell H.
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