What did Fidel Castro do to take control of Cuba?

Answer 1

In 1953, Fidel Castro and his brother Raul were among a group of rebels who attacked the Moncada Barracks. They were defeated and captured.

Later in 1955, Castro and his brother were released due to political pressure.

Fidel Castro led the revolution, eventually deposing the dictator Fulgencio Bastista in 1959.

Answer 2

Well, first thing to note is that Fidel Castro took power in Cuba by means of a military revolution. This would obviously mean there were at least two sides with differing opinions on the matter of his rise to power: his supporters and the people they were fighting against. When he claimed victory his supporters initially celebrated, and they thought they were ending Batista's cruel reign to replace it with freedom and prosperity for Cuba. On the other side, Batista himself and any of his supporters still alive at the time were not too thrilled to be ousted of power. Some in the US were not happy about Batista's downfall either since the US had supported his regime despite him being a dictator and murderer himself (his hold over Cuba kept things fairly well under control until the revolution, and his agenda did not seem like much of a threat to US interests so they overlooked his less noble features).

However before too long Castro started showing his true colors and solidified his iron grasp over Cuba through the rewarding of his supporters and the merciless and unambiguous incarceration, torture, or murder of any and all outspoken political dissidents he could find. Throughout his regime he has also done his best to brainwash the people of Cuba through regular televised speeches he himself delivers and a very strict control over the education system and the media and permitted books, magazines, videos, etc. And yes such things as permitted literature or videos are very much enforced, for example watching a banned soap Opera can at the very least get your party member revoked (which is a big deal in Cuba) and will probably include some jail time, depending on your ability to bribe some officials onto your side (and yes corruption is rampant). The brainwashing doesn't really work all that well since people are not stupid and still have a pretty good idea what is going on and things are bad enough that even the young people can see it for themselves soon enough even after passing through years of an education system built on lies (when your house is falling apart, your family is struggling to put much food on the table, and your buddy that got a job as a valet at a tourist hotel makes literally about 10 times more money than your aunt who is a doctor, you start thinking something's not quite right). The brutal oppression tactics, on the other hand, do work rather well: it's difficult to talk much about politics when any comment speaking negatively of Castro's regime would be sufficient "legal" grounds to at the very least get you thrown in jail, and you don't really know who you can trust because that acquaintance of yours might sell you out to the police in exchange for a liter of milk for his kids (and some don't even need such a "justifiable" reason to sell you out). Of course, in Cuba many people are members of Fidel's Communist Party, which affords some very limited benefits, but to put it bluntly most Cubans would quite frankly rejoice to hear the son of a bitch is finally dead. There are some "true patriots" that still support Fidel, but most of these are his inner circle and ignorant youths who still haven't learned any better; most Fidel supporters in Cuba are probably having their lives made a little more bearable because of this overwhelming support of theirs, which can often include selling out neighbors or random people or even "friends" for "unpatriotic" actions or statements (for example any political dissidence, or something like killing a cow and eating it is illegal in Cuba even if the cow belongs to you and carries a fairly long prison sentence, so I imagine turning in someone who does that carries a handsome reward). And Cuban Castro supporters that live in the US are hypocritical [insert expletives here]. I've never actually met one myself, but I'm told they exist. If you do meet one please ask them why they don't pack their bags and move to Cuba, I'm sure their response will be entertaining.

All in all, most Cuban peoples' feelings towards Fidel Castro have gradually but very firmly become the bitter resentment, or straight up hate, that many of us feel towards him today.

And if you're wondering about the sourcing of my information, yes, I am a Cuban living in the US (I came here legally, if you're wondering about that. The process is a pain in the ass, but it is possible to legally leave Cuba under some circumstances). I am still rather young (22), so I don't have any firsthand knowledge of Batista's regime or the Cuban Revolution that brought Castro to power, but I am a student of history and my father is very educated on the subject and has taught me a lot of what I know. Any and all specific examples I used in this response were either things that my nuclear family has experienced or a close relative or friend has experienced. The one exception to that is the example about a man turning in a political dissident for milk for his children: I do not personally know of such a case, but believe me it's not an unrealistic scenario. Milk and other staples we take for granted here in the US are valuable commodities in Cuba. For example possessing large quantities of salt was illegal when I left Cuba, not entirely sure if that's still true but I see little reason for it to change. My mother got into trouble for watching an American-made soap opera, but my father made it go away. I have 3 aunts that are all doctors and have worked in Cuba (two still do), and they are paid in Cuban Pesos a yearly amount that somebody working as a valet getting tips in US Dollars from tourists can easily make in a month or even less. My father risked jail on several occasions to, along with an uncle, go under the cover of night to kill and butcher a cow to provide meat for our family. My next door neighbor in Cuba lived with one eye in the window and one ear out the door. I personally don't know of any specific people she turned into the authorities, but stories about disappearing people are rather commonplace (at least here in the US where we feel free to talk about things like that). And knowledge that political dissidence of any kind is strictly forbidden is public knowledge in Cuba. And yes, you can bet very safe money on the fact that I will be among the Cubans taking to streets honking car horns and dancing and whatever other stupid things we can think of to celebrate Fidel Castro's long-overdue death. Though honestly any theories on how things may improve in Cuba after Castro's death are purely speculative, although many agree his is the iron fist that holds his regime in order and when he finally does die the transfer of power may not go smoothly.