Fidel Castros consolidation of power in Cuba 1959

Fidel Castro’s consolidation of power in Cuba 1959 http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=kjpnf. Dw. Wd 7 Y

Castro’s seizure of power in Cuba from 2 Dec 1956 – 3 Jan 1959

Consolidation of Power – common features; 1. Treatment of external opposition – Batista followers 2. Initial support, securing military control and appointments in Govt. 3. The implementation of new laws and ideology - Revolutionary Laws 4. Internal party opposition – anti-Communist element in Castro’s Govt 5. Identifying a common national enemy & unifying the country against them - USA

Factor 1: Treatment of external opposition – Batista followers Treatment of Batista associates These, along with policemen and torturers were shot by firing squad. Trials of war criminals were held in the Havana sports stadium and shown live on television. These actions appalled foreign opinion, including the USA. Raul Castro was alleged to have presided over the mass execution of 70 of Batista’s soldiers, shot down with machine guns in front of an open trench. Che Guevara signed at least 50 death sentences. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=w. UPqsh 52 QPc https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Htf. Ev 5 k. Aey. E&oref=https%3 A%2 F%2 Fwww. youtube. com%2 Fwatch%3 Fv%3 DHtf. Ev 5 k. Aey. E&has_verifie d=1

Factor 2: Initial support, securing military control and appointments in Govt. Public support - Castro initially received wide support across the divisions in Cuban society because of: Widespread hatred of Batista’s government Revolutionaries did not preach class war The fact that he had survived in the mountains His military successes and Cuban people wanted an end to war, so moved behind the winning side. Castro advertised the victory and acknowledged the support of the people by travelling from Santiago to Havana for a week in an open-top jeep or at times on top of a tank. This was transmitted on TV, thus cementing his take-over. Securing Military control – This was established from Jan 1959 because Castro had been fighting a long guerrilla conflict, which culminated in the take-over of the main cities and military bases. Castro captured Santiago. In Havana, Cienfuegos took the military base at Camp Colombia and Guevara took over the fortress of La Cabana at the mouth of Havana’s harbour.

Initial support (Cont/d) Government appointments/decisions Castro appointed Manuel Urrutia to be president and Jose Miro Cardona as prime minister. Only three members of the cabinet came from the guerrilla army. Having moderates in the government would enable him to gain wider support once the initial euphoria had worn off and opponents of the revolution were being killed. Nevertheless Castro became Military Commander-in-Chief of the Rebel Armed Forces, and held the real power. Raul Castro was selected as Fidel’s official successor and as the defence minister (p. 168). The revolutionary regime used old government machinery but also created new institutions where necessary. (pg 170)

Factor 3: The implementation of new laws and ideology - Revolutionary Laws Actions taken by the government January 1959 – President Urrutia closed down brothels, gambling dens and the national lottery. This created resistance from those it affected. Castro intervened by saying that people could not be thrown out of work until alternative jobs had been found for them. Castro lowered the salaries of government ministers and judges, but raised the pay of junior members of the state bureaucracy. Ministry of Housing Reduction in rents of houses and apartments, in some cases by half. Cut in mortgage rates Landlords forbidden to evict tenants Owners of urban land obliged to sell vacant sites at low prices to anyone planning to build a house. March 1959 – Price controls over telephones and electricity were introduced. Several utility companies were ‘intervened’ including the branch of the US-owned International Telephone and Telegraph Company. Telephone charges were lowered.

April 1959 – Medicine prices were lowered. A minimum wage was introduced for cutters of sugar cane. May 1959 – Land reform announced. This was designed to be popular with landless peasants (p. 170). Land reform was organised by the National Institute for Agrarian Reform (INRA) and this was to become the real headquarters for the revolutionary government (p. 171). Castro was at the head of this with Antonio Nunez Jimenez as its director (p. 171). Put an end to all large estates (landowners allowed to keep 402 hectares) (p. 170). Some large cattle holdings were exempted, as were sugar and rice plantations that produced exceptional yields (p. 170). Any land expropriated (40% of Cuba’s farmland) was to be divided into plots of 67 acres (p. 170). Larger ranches and plantations were to be run as agricultural cooperatives (p. 170). It was said that in the future land could only be owned by Cubans (worrying for the Americans (p. 171).

November 1959 – Castro was beginning to turn toward communist countries abroad and the communist party (PSP) in Cuba. At the Trade Union Congress he imposed a leadership the included many communists, even though only 10% of delegates to the congress were members of the PSP. After the congress, the Labour Ministry, under Castro’s control, purged large numbers of trade union leaders who had resisted Communist influence. This would be done through staged union meetings rather than elections. Marifeli Perez-Stable argues that any candidates supported by Castro would have won elections, however holding elections would have allowed the unions to retain their autonomy. The way that Castro conducted the replacements meant that the government retained control over the Trade Unions.

Factor 4 - Internal party opposition – anti-Communist elements in Castro’s Govt The land reform law was signed by the Cabinet, although many members thought the provisions too ‘communistic’. President Urrutia and other moderates now defined themselves as anti-communists because they were concerned about the influence of communists on the Castro brothers. Pedro Diaz Lanz, head of the airforce, left Cuba in June after complaining about the ‘indoctrination classes’ being held within the military. (pg 171) President Urrutia was forced to resign by Castro in July 1959 after he had outlined his anti-Communist views in several published interviews. Castro replaced him with Osvaldo Dorticos, a lawyer who was not unsympathetic to the Communists. (p. 172) There was growing hostility to the direction of the revolution from the country’s former political and social elite, many members of which were themselves large landowners or beneficiaries of the old economic system. They also disliked the way that Castro championed the cause of the black population.

Factor 5 - Identifying a common national enemy & unifying the country against them – USA 6 August 1960 – Castro announced the nationalisation of all major American properties on the island, including 36 American-owned sugar mills and their plantations; US oil refineries, electric power and telephone utilities. September 1960 – US-owned banks were confiscated. Over the next three months these decrees extended to US-owned railways, port facilities, hotels and cinemas. The First Declaration of Havana, 2 September 1960 Castro denounced the USA for its imperialistic domination of Latin American peoples and included the Cuban revolution within the great struggles of the Latin American continent for liberty from domination. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=f. Y-bz 4__d. Ps