A History of the Cuban Revolution E-Book

Aviva Chomsky

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Viewpoints / Puntos de Vista
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 465

Beschreibung

A fully-revised and updated new edition of a concise and insightful socio-historical analysis of the Cuban revolution, and the course it took over five and a half decades. * Now available in a fully-revised second edition, including new material to add to the book's coverage of Cuba over the past decade under Raul Castro * All of the existing chapters have been updated to reflect recent scholarship * Balances social and historical insight into the revolution with economic and political analysis extending into the twenty-first century * Juxtaposes U.S. and Cuban perspectives on the historical impact of the revolution, engaging and debunking the myths and preconceptions surrounding one of the most formative political events of the twentieth century * Incorporates more student-friendly features such as a timeline and glossary

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Cover

Series page

Title page

Copyright page

Illustrations

Maps

Figures

Series Editor’s Preface

Acknowledgments

Timeline

Introduction

Talking about Freedom

Scholars Weigh In

Why Revolution?

Comparing Capitalism and Socialism

Latin American Attitudes

1 Cuba through 1959

Colonial History

The Colony in the Republic

Revolution: A War, or a Process?

2 Experiments with Socialism

Analyzing the Situation: Economic Backwardness

The 1960s: Experimentation and the Great Debate

The 1970s: Institutionalization and the Soviet Model

Cuba in the 1970s: How it Worked

1986: Rectification

How Democratic was Cuban Socialism?

3 Relations with the United States

The United States and Cuba

In their Own Words: U.S. Policymakers Respond to Revolution

Covert War: Up to the Bay of Pigs

Covert War: After the Bay of Pigs

The Missile Crisis

After the Missile Crisis

The War Continues

4 Emigration and Internationalism

Miami

Beyond Miami

Cuba’s Global Reach: Beyond the Cold War

Cuba and Black Internationalism

Cuba in Africa and Latin America

Civilian Aid Missions

5 Art, Culture, and Revolution

Literature

Film

Music

Sport

Dance

Food

Political Culture and Cultural Politics

6 Cuba Diversa

Race

Gender

Sexuality

Religion

7 The “Special Period”

1993–95: Rapid-Fire Reforms

Social Impact of the Market Reforms

Limits to Capitalism

Charting New Territory

Contradictions: Inequality and Jineterismo

Opting to Leave: The 1994 Exodus

Debate and its Limits during the 1990s

Debating Democracy

Limits to Debate

8 Cuba into the Twenty-First Century

From

Perfeccionamiento

to Recentralization

Disillusionment

Cuba after Fidel: A New Era?

Civil Society into the New Century

U.S. Policy: The Bush Era

Cuba, Venezuela, and the ALBA

Barack Obama and Raúl Castro: A New Relationship?

Analyzing the Changes

Conclusion

Glossary

Notes

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Introduction

Figure I.1 Billboard quoting José Martí: “Either Free Forever, or Forever Fighting to be Free.”

Chapter 01

Figure 1.1 Bust of Hatuey in the main plaza of Baracoa in eastern Cuba. “Hatuey: The First Rebel of America. Burned at the Stake in Yara, Baracoa.” Oriente Workers Lodge.

Figure 1.2 Print by Cuban artist Sandra Ramos, “Seremos como el Che” (We will be like Che).

Chapter 02

Figure 2.1 Literacy Museum in Ciudad Libertad outside of Havana, 2000.

Chapter 03

Figure 3.1 Billboard near Playa Girón. “Girón: First Defeat of Yankee Imperialism in Latin America.”

Chapter 05

Figure 5.1 ICAIC headquarters, Havana, 2008.

Chapter 07

Figure 7.1 A

bodega

in Havana, 2009.

Figure 7.2 A dollar store in Havana, 2008.

Figure 7.3 A farmers market in Havana, 2000.

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

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Viewpoints/Puntos de Vista:

Themes and Interpretations in Latin American History

Series editor: Jürgen Buchenau

The books in this series will introduce students to the most significant themes and topics in Latin American history. They represent a novel approach to designing supplementary texts for this growing market. Intended as supplementary textbooks, the books will also discuss the ways in which historians have interpreted these themes and topics, thus demonstrating to students that our understanding of our past is constantly changing, through the emergence of new sources, methodologies, and historical theories. Unlike monographs, the books in this series will be broad in scope and written in a style accessible to undergraduates.

Published

A History of the Cuban Revolution, Second EditionAviva Chomsky

Bartolomé de las Casas and the Conquest of the AmericasLawrence A. Clayton

Beyond Borders: A History of Mexican Migration to the United StatesTimothy J. Henderson

The Last Caudillo: Alvaro Obregón and the Mexican RevolutionJürgen Buchenau

A Concise History of the Haitian RevolutionJeremy Popkin

Spaniards in the Colonial Empire: Creoles vs. Peninsulars?Mark A. Burkholder

Dictatorship in South AmericaJerry Dávila

Mothers Making Latin AmericaErin E. O’Connor

A History of the Cuban Revolution

Second Edition

Aviva Chomsky

This edition first published 2015© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Edition history: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1e, 2011)

Registered OfficeJohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Editorial Offices350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UKThe Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.

The right of Aviva Chomsky to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chomsky, Aviva, 1957–A history of the Cuban Revolution / Aviva Chomsky. – Second edition.  pages cm Original edition published in 2011. Includes bibliographical references and index.

 ISBN 978-1-118-94228-4 (pbk.)1. Cuba–History–Revolution, 1959. 2. Cuba–History–Revolution, 1959–Influence. I. Title. F1788.C465 2015 972.9106′4–dc23

      2014040325

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: José Fuster, Untitled, 2003. Reproduced by kind permission of the artist.Collection of Janine & Joseph Gonyea III, Photograph by Jonathan B. Smith.

Illustrations

Maps

Map 1

Cuba with major cities

Map 2

Cuba with respect to the Caribbean and the Americas

Figures

Figure I.1

Billboard quoting José Martí: “Either Free Forever, or Forever Fighting to be Free”

Figure 1.1

Bust of Hatuey in the main plaza of Baracoa in eastern Cuba. “Hatuey: The First Rebel of America. Burned at the Stake in Yara, Baracoa.” Oriente Workers Lodge

Figure 1.2

Print by Cuban artist Sandra Ramos, “Seremos como el Che” (We will be like Che)

Figure 2.1

Literacy Museum in Ciudad Libertad outside of Havana, 2000

Figure 3.1

Billboard near Playa Girón. “Girón: First Defeat of Yankee Imperialism in Latin America”

Figure 5.1

ICAIC headquarters, Havana, 2008

Figure 7.1

A

bodega

in Havana, 2009

Figure 7.2

A dollar store in Havana, 2008

Figure 7.3

A farmers’ market in Havana, 2000

Series Editor’s Preface

Each book in the “Viewpoints/Puntos de Vista” series introduces students to a significant theme or topic in Latin American history. In an age in which student and faculty interest in the Global South increasingly challenges the old focus on the history of Europe and North America, Latin American history has assumed an increasingly prominent position in undergraduate curricula.

Some of these books discuss the ways in which historians have interpreted these themes and topics, thus demonstrating that our understanding of our past is constantly changing, through the emergence of new sources, methodologies, and historical theories. Others offer an introduction to a particular theme by means of a case study or biography in a manner easily understood by the contemporary, non-specialist reader. Yet others give an overview of a major theme that might serve as the foundation of an upper-level course.

What is common to all of these books is their goal of historical synthesis. They draw on the insights of generations of scholarship on the most enduring and fascinating issues in Latin American history, while also making use of primary sources as appropriate. Each book is written by a specialist in Latin American history who is concerned with undergraduate teaching, yet who has also made his or her mark as a first-rate scholar.

The books in this series can be used in a variety of ways, recognizing the differences in teaching conditions at small liberal arts colleges, large public universities, and research-oriented institutions with doctoral programs. Faculty have particular needs depending on whether they teach large lectures with discussion sections, small lecture or discussion-oriented classes, or large lectures with no discussion sections, and whether they teach on a semester or trimester system. The format adopted for this series fits all of these different parameters.

Now in its second edition, this volume was the inaugural book in the “Viewpoints/Puntos de Vista” series. In A History of the Cuban Revolution, Avi Chomsky provides a compelling and fascinating synthesis of the Cuban Revolution. Drawing on historical literature and primary sources from Cuba, Europe, and the United States, the author takes the reader on a historical tour, from the beginning of the revolution in the Sierra Maestra up to the present day. Along the way, Professor Chomsky covers the emergence of Fidel Castro’s rule, the dramatic confrontation with the United States that included the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, before considering the revolution’s course and its social and cultural legacies. The first edition of Professor Chomsky’s text was a great success, and we are pleased to present a second edition. This new edition not only brings the story of the Cuban Revolution up to the present and adds a timeline and glossary, but it also updates Professor Chomsky’s analysis as a result of the input from students, faculty, and new scholarship that has appeared in the last five years.

Jürgen BuchenauUniversity of North Carolina, Charlotte

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Peter Coveney and Jürgen Buchenau, who proposed this project to me and who have helped it along at every juncture. Several anonymous readers provided welcome suggestions for both the proposal and the manuscript. Thanks also to copyeditor Gail Ferguson and to my sister-in-law Amy Apel for indexing the book. Above all, I must thank Alfredo Prieto and his family. Alfredo has been my guide to Cuba and socio in Cuba-related intellectual and political endeavors over the past decade. Hundreds of hours of conversations in Havana, Maine, Massachusetts, and even Miami, have helped me better understand the complexities of Cuba’s past and present. Alfredo also served as editor extraordinaire for this manuscript, catching errors, reminding me of what I’d missed, and pushing me towards new discoveries. ¡Muchísimas gracias!

Timeline

1493

Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba

1868

Grito de Yara sets off Ten Years’ War (beginning of struggle for independence)

1879

Guerra Chiquita (second phase of war of independence)

1886

Slavery abolished

1891

José Martí publishes “Our America”

1895

Cuban War of Independence renewed

1898

U.S. intervention/Spanish − Cuban − American War

1901

Constitution incorporates Platt Amendment

1902

U.S. withdrawal

1912

Massacre of Afro-Cubans

1920

CNOC founded; PCC founded

1923

FEU founded

1925

Gerardo Machado president

1933

Machado overthrown, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes installed, then replaced by Ramón Grau San Martín

1934

Constitution; Platt Amendment abrogated

1940

Fulgencio Batista president; 1940 Constitution

1947

Partido Ortodoxo founded

1952

Coup by Fulgencio Batista

1953

Failed attack on Moncada Barracks launches July 26th Movement

1958

Granma sails from Mexico to Cuba

1959

Cuban Revolution victorious; first Land Reform proclaimed; Casa de las Américas founded; ICAIC founded

1960

Urban Reform Law; CDRs established; FMC established; U.S. imposes economic embargo and travel ban

1961

Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs) invasion; literacy campaign; Fidel Castro declares Revolution socialist

1962

Missile Crisis

1963

First Cuban medical mission abroad, in Algeria

1965

UMAP established

1966

U.S. passes Cuban Adjustment Act

1970

Ten Million Ton harvest

1972

Cuba joins COMECON

1975

Partido Comunista de Cuba First Party Congress; U.S. Senate Committee (Church Committee) investigation of assassination plots against Fidel Castro; Cuba sends forces to Angola to help MPLA repel South African invasion; Family Code

1976

Constitution establishes Cuba as a socialist state

1977

Cuban troops support Ethiopia against Somalia

1980

Mariel Boatlift

1982

Foreign investment code

1986

Rectification campaign rolls back market openings

1989

Collapse of Soviet bloc leads to economic crisis

1991

Special Period in Time of Peace declared

1992

Constitutional Amendments allow foreign investment in joint ventures and declare Cuba a secular (rather than atheist) state; Torricelli Bill strengthens U.S. embargo

1993

Dollar legalized; UBPCs created to cooperativize state farms

1994

Farmers’ markets reinstituted; exodus of rafters

1995

Clinton implements Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy;

paladares

authorized

1996

Raúl Castro speech signals slowing of economic reforms; Helms-Burton Act strengthens U.S. embargo

1998

Cuba establishes Latin American Medical School; Pope John Paul II visits Cuba; Varela Project established; Hugo Chávez elected in Venezuela

2000

Exception to trade embargo allows U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba

2003

Convertible peso introduced; 75 dissidents arrested

2004

ALBA launched, beginning with petroleum-for-doctors exchange between Cuba and Venezuela

2006

Year of the Energy Revolution; Fidel Castro cedes presidency temporarily to his brother Raúl and steps down as First Secretary of the Communist Party

2008

National Assembly elects Raúl Castro President of Cuba

2009

Cuban authorities arrest USAID contractor Alan Gross

2010

Dissidents arrested in 2003 freed in accord brokered by Spain and Catholic Church; self-employment revitalized with new categories created and restrictions on size and employment of workers eased

2011

Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba elects Raúl Castro as First Secretary, approves

lineamientos

(guidelines) for economic and political reform; new housing law allows Cubans to buy and sell real estate

2013

New migration law allows Cubans to travel abroad without obtaining an exit visa

2014

Cubans permitted to purchase new, imported automobiles from state dealers

Map 1 Cuba with major cities.

Map 2 Cuba with respect to the Caribbean and the Americas.

Introduction

Rarely does popular opinion in the United States diverge so strikingly from scholarly analysis as in the case of the Cuban Revolution.

It’s one of the few events in Latin American history that U.S. students have heard of. When I ask my students to come up with names of important figures in Latin American history, the only one that reliably emerges is that of Fidel Castro. And students are fairly unanimous in their opinions of Castro: “Dangerous,” “evil,” “bad,” and “dictator” are the words they most commonly come up with to describe him. Survey results show that my students’ positions are widely shared among the U.S. population: 98 percent of those surveyed in the United States had heard of Fidel Castro, and 82 percent had a negative opinion of him.1

Fidel Castro has certainly inspired his share of scholarly attention, including numerous biographies. Some are by historians. Some are by journalists. One is by a doctor. There is even a graphic novel recounting Fidel’s life. In a “spoken autobiography” the Cuban revolutionary recounted his own story of his life.