After seven years of authoritarianism under Fulgencio Batista, the oppression and brutality of the last 64 dark and bloody years has been significantly worse under the totalitarian Castro family dictatorship.
Via Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter:
71 Years of Dictatorship in Cuba: 64 Years of Castro and 7 Years of Batista
From bad (authoritarian dictatorship) to worse (totalitarian dictatorship)
Cuba is suffering under seventy one years of dictatorship. Cuban democracy was ended by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952. The last democratic president, Carlos Prio, and his first lady went into exile. Over the next seven years, a corrupt and authoritarian dictatorship ruled Cuba, becoming increasingly unpopular.
The refusal of Batista to nonviolently give up power through a process of dialogue opened the path for Fidel and Raul Castro to violently seize it, and put an end to a half century of democratic governments.
Cuba’s official motto was changed from Homeland and Liberty (Patria y Libertad) to Homeland or Death, We Shall Triumph (¡Patria o Muerte, Venceremos!).
With the support of the Communist International, The New York Times, an arms embargo imposed on Batista in March 1958 by the United States, and pressure from the U.S. Ambassador to Cuba in December 1958, the authoritarian dictator Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba in the early morning hours of January 1, 1959.
Since the beginning of their struggle in 1953, the Castro brothers promised a democratic restoration, but all along planned a Marxist-Leninist takeover. They imposed a totalitarian communist dictatorship, killing tens of thousands of Cubans. The Castro regime systematically denied human rights to all Cubans while exporting their repressive model to Africa and Latin America, creating misery for millions.
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OK, let’s stop playing into the “correct” narrative. Batista was a political problem. He did NOT mess with or screw over people’s lives, and he certainly didn’t screw the economy. Cuba was doing VERY well during the Batista years in nearly every way or metric. The vast majority of Cubans were going about their lives just fine. There is NO comparison between his rule and what came after it, and the obsession with getting him out at any cost was ultimately stupid and hugely counterproductive, considering what it led to. He would have left office anyway after the 1958 presidential election, in which he did NOT run, and even if he’d retained some influence behind the scenes, he would have faded away soon enough, and he died in 1973. So yes, he was ultimately bad for Cuba, but too many CUBANS were also bad for Cuba, so let’s get real.
In case it wasn’t clear, my point is that we should NOT make concessions on the real story to be more in tune with the official narrative. We owe the usual suspects nothing except contempt.
If Batista had been anywhere near as bad as he’s been painted, the Castro brothers would have been eliminated after the bloody Moncada attack in 1953. At the very minimum, they would have been jailed for life, and their jail time wound up being a joke. In other words, Big Bad Batista was a relative wuss.
I never cease to be struck by how the Castro bastards, neither of whom was ever real military at any level, spent decades wearing military costumes and associated bling as if nobody knew it was all fake. It’s not just that it was no secret, but that it was so over-the-top that it should never have been taken seriously.
Asombra,
All you say is true except that the dissatisfaction with Batista was real and not just a narrative. i.e. Just because something is a lie does not prevent people from believing it and acting upon it. The ideas might be false but the actions of those who believe the lies is very real.
Consider what the US has been through over the last six years. The Russia collusion hoax, the Hunter Biden laptop coverup, Trump derangement syndrome, the January 6th protests, the FBI in bed with Tweeter, BLM riots, defunding police, sex change surgery for children, the woke ideology, along with hundreds of other outrages and false ideas. AND YET, major US corporations are still pushing the equality, inclusion and diversity agenda, Biden is in the White House and the Dems control the Senate. If the current Neo-marxist ideology DOES end up turning us into a communist country, then you will be able to say all the same things about the USA and our current period. Then tell me what part of the last six years was not real.
The truth is that Cubans were not happy with Batista, they were supportive of the rebels and supportive of Baptista leaving. Cubans now regret what happened but hindsight is always 20/20.