Cuban Revolution
Vania Ramirez
Humanities
Period 4/5
3/27/09
Vania Ramirez
Guerrero
Period 4/5
3/27/09
Cuban Revolution
“Yes four tickets to the United States how much will that be?” said Mr. Lopez. “That would be $750,” said the ticket master. Mr. Lopez was thinking of a way to get his family out of Cuba with so little money as he had to pay $750 for his family to go to the United States. “Actually just two tickets to the United States.” He had to make a sacrifice, so only two could leave. As the Cuban revolution was going on many parents wanted to send their families to the United States for safety. Some families were not able to because of money problems or because the husbands were having to stay and help in the revolution. Some families were able to leave but then once they got to the United States they did have some economic problems because they did not have the same currency as America but some families were also having trouble because only the a wife was sent and they had to support their family with only one person working which back then the wives would always stay home.
Many people ask the same question about how the Cuban revolution started. Well it started by Batista who was taking people’s money through the government which the only way he was able to get to the money was he had a hold of a lot of power which then as he took money made him richer. Of course people were upset but their voice was unable to be heard until Fidel got really upset that Batista was taking the money from the government which was also leading to economic problems. That is when the Cuban revolution began. Between Batista who was getting people’s money and between the people of Cuba who were upset that the fact that their money was getting taken by somebody who does not deserve it. As this revolution went on people were not happy that all this was going on so many people decided to leave Cuba because of all the problems also to protect their families from any harm. The only thing was when the revolt was going on at some points it was kind of violent because they would take some men in and hold them with other people and then after a while they would torture them by leaving them in a room then they would let them go. They of course thought ahead and knew that people would ask what they did to them so they would neglect that person so that nobody would go against Batista.
In the novel From Amigos to Friends parents were sending their children to the United States due to the Cuban revolution. Not many people got permission to leave Cuba except some children did before their parents. So the parents would send them so that they would be safer than be in danger in Cuba due to the revolution. As some children were sent to the United States they were put in this church which from there they would be sent to a family. In the book some boys decided to not go with the family so they had to live on their own and had to support themselves with food and shelter and other things they needed to live with. Others were able to live with their own families but they had to start all over in money because Cuba does not have the same currency as the United States (Garcia).
The economy of Cuba had put itself in a predominant place because Cuba has the economy of importance of sugar and tobacco (Dearborn). Even though sugar had received considerable attention tobacco was the leading export in Cuba’s economy during the first three centuries (Dearborn). Then in the 18th and early 19th century sugar displaced tobacco as the primary export (Dearborn). Many countries just use money for their economy but in Cuba well for Guerra the key to understanding Cuban social, political and economic development was the plantation which meant the sugar canes (Dearborn). People may think that sugar must be easier to use for an economy but in Cuba the economy provoked increasing numbers of Cubans to leave the country (Castro Fidel Alejandro). Which of course when families went to the United States they were not able to pay their needs with sugar or tobacco.
The economy that Cuba has is something that Fidel Castro introduced Cuba to. Fidel Castro’s administration had introduced a centrally planned economy based on production for export of sugar, tobacco and nickel (Castro Fidel Alejandro). Fidel nationalized the property of wealthy Cuban’s, Americans and other foreigners in 1960. This led to cutting of relations by the United States, an economic embargo and United states attempts to subvert and over throw Cuba’s government. Which this economy was different compared getting money taken by Batista but this economy still lead many people to leave Cuba (Dearborn). In the book From Amigos to Friends Families were leaving due to the fact that Fidel was going to kill every single person until Fidel’s victory was assured. This revolution led to many people leave the country because of the economy, all the things that were going on, safety for their families and more.
In the novel many people were not allowed to go to the United States because they did not have permission from Fidel Castro. When one of the boys in the novel had already went to the United States he was waiting for his parents to arrive but Fidel would not give them permission to leave but then he would change his mind and the boy in the book had to wait longer for his parents to arrive to the United States. Fidel was only doing this because he didn’t want everyone body to leave such as the doctors, police, repair men and others that were tools to things people needed. So there was very little chances for somebody to get permission leave Cuba and who would not leave but most families decided to send their children earlier because soon it was going to be harder as they would need boys to help in the revolution.
Cuba’s economies problems had to do with corruption and economic inequality associated with the growth of peasant markets which led Castro to adopt another strategy which when they changed to the new strategy dealing with sugar Cuban government faced an economic setback when it attempted to decrease Cuba’s dependence on sugar by diversifying the economy(Cuban Revolution, Encarta).Although this happened efforts were being made to encourage less consumer goods and other things that were effecting the economy. These efforts failed, partly because of poor planning, organization, and incentives by the government; partly because of lack of incentives; and partly because many of Cuba’s most qualified businessmen and technicians fled the country when Castro began nationalizing businesses in the early 1960s (Cuban Revolution, Encarta). Many things happened during all the economy problems such as rents were controlled and limited to 10% income. Rationed food prices were controlled and 80% of Cubans owned their own homes (Staten 81). Which many people were having trouble with money because of all the problems also trying to pay their family to leave the United States.
Although some families had economic problems due to the Cuban revolution families still sent their children because they were concerned for their safety. Not only did they send their children for that reason also because sooner in the years or also months Fidel will stop letting boys go to the United States to use them or for them to help in the revolution. At the end of the novel the families were able to survive the revolution and return to there children.
Bibliography
“Cuba.” Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing. London: Fitzray Dearborn, 1999. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 19 Feb.2009 http://www.historystudycenter.com/
“Castro(Ruiz) Fidel Alejandro(1927- ).” Helicon+ Encyclopedia of World History. Abingdon/Cambridge Helicon, 2007. History Study Center ProQuest LLC. 20 Feb. 2009 http://www.historystudycenter.com/
"Cuban Revolution," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Staten, Clifford L. The History of Cuba. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003
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