Fidel Castro is a word and fashion icon. Gray beard, green military fatigues, a forbidden cigar located between his lips and a one-word name, “Fidel” precedes Cuba’s president. He is the world longest serving political leader and the last tree in the communist forest. Some give the one word name he possesses adoration and some revulsion; all of us have ideas about Castro.
Fidel Castro is both myth and reality.
The fall of communism came November 9, 1989 with the removal of the Berlin wall. A symbol of the end of the cold war. Castro must not have got the memo- his revolution began before the cold war and holds firm as he dies in his beloved Cuba. Fidel Castro is not a hero of freedom or choice. He sends anyone who opposes him to prison. But he is a study of power, ideas, and a history firmly in the past, yet affecting the present.
There has been a lot written about the life of the revolution and it's leader. His place in history will be disputed forever by his fans and foes. I wanted to gaze into a side of the Castro story, both as a point of history and caution. Castro’s relationship with religion.
Cuba is not Poland, where the Catholic faith was strong and decisive against communism. Before Castro, many to strongly identified with the Batista dictatorship viewed the Catholic Church poorly. While paradoxically, Castro owes his life to the Catholic Church. In 1953, one year after Batista's coup, Castro led a failed attack against the Moncada Garrison where many young revolutionaries lost their lives. After the fiasco, Castro ran to seek refuge with Santiago de Cuba's Archbishop, Monsignor Perez Serantes, who got from Batista the warranty that Castro's life would be respected and that he would receive legal due process according to the constitution. However, in 1959, after Castro's rise to power, he turned his rage against the Catholic Church. August 1960, Castro-controlled mobs attack worshippers emerging from mass; all Catholic radio and TV programs are cancelled. April 1961, all Catholic publications are halted; churches are vandalized by Castro's mobs; Cuban Cardinal Arteaga seeks political asylum in the Argentine Embassy. June 1961, Castro expropriates all religious schools(about 350 Catholic), removing parents' right to determine their children’s education - their only choice is Castro's public schools where the children are discouraged to believe in God and are indoctrinated for a communist society where hatred for Castro's enemies is highlighted. September 1961, Castro expels Bishop Boza Masvidal along with 131 other Catholic clergy; by years end, 3,400 priests and nuns are forced into exile. November 1965, Castro calls remaining priests and believers "social scum", sending many of them to the newly created UMAP concentration and labor camps, in the province of Camagüey along with gays and others “unfit” for his communist revolution. By 1971, the population of Castro's Cuba was 100,000 - while conservative estimates place the number of executed at 5,000.
February 2007, Castro is 80 years old and in poor heath.
2 comments:
who else in histoy could you or would compare to mr castro, i think all the names would be considered heros.
in some ways after reading what you wrote about fidel castro the dala lama comes to mind maybe im missing what you are saying, does that make any since at all?
boy said
i remember last spring when every one thought he would die any day......a vast number of cubans mourning and just really feeling like they would be lost without fidel.since he is a dictator i just found it curious. i dont think Communism works really but in its purest conceptual form i dunno it has its moments i guess? Or maybe he is just such a large part of their identity? Either way i think cuba would be an amazing place to see and talk to people.
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