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Cuba: The Castro Effect

Have you ever patronized a Cuban establishment and wondered why they were so passionate to emphasize “Before Castro” when referring to their product? Before the regime of Castro, Cuba was a different place socially, economically, and politically.
Before Castro, Cuba was under Spanish rule from the days of discovery back in 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed on the island, until 1898 when the Cubans finally won their independence from the mother country. The United States helped greatly in their victory and in 1899 a treaty made Cuba a free republic under U.S. protection, which also allowed the U.S. to intervene in Cuban affairs. This treaty was terminated by Cuba in 1934. In 1933, a group of army officers, including army sergeant Fulgencio Batista, overthrew the President at the time- President Gerardo Machado. Batista became president in 1940 at which time he ran a corrupt police state. In 1956, Fidel Castro launched a revolution to overthrow Batista. After many unsuccessful attempts previously, in 1959, Batista fled into exile and Castro took over the Presidency.
Fidel Castro received overwhelming popular support. The Cuban people had never idolized someone like they did Castro. He won them over with his extraordinary leadership and vision with the ability to relate to all Cubans. The U.S. initially welcomed what looked like a democratic Cuba, but within a few months they had a rude awakening. Castro’s government established military tribunals for political opponents and jailed hundreds. Castro turned away from Cuba’s military pact with the U.S. He confiscated U.S. assets and established Soviet-style collective farms. Castro's firing squads had murdered an estimated 600-1,100 people, and Cuba's jails held ten times the number of political prisoners as under Fulgencio Batista, who Castro overthrew with claims to liberating Cuba. The U.S. broke relations with Cuba on Jan 3, 1961, and Castro made formal his alliance with the Soviet Union. Thousands of...