1000 words

America: the land of the free, home of the brave, abode for imperialism? The U.S. Government has its citizens believe that whatever the country does is good for itself, whether that be importing cheaper materials from China or fighting terrorism in the Middle East. But what if everything America does is not good? The action in question may not harm its people directly, but instead feeds false information to its people to hinder an opposing force that was once under U.S. Control, thereby shadowing the truth and creating a web of fear and hate. Webster's Dictionary defines imperialism as the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. In retrospect, most European and Eurasian countries have been guilty of this; America included. Because the Cuban people wanted freedom from the cruel American imperialism being imposed upon them without any Cuban vote and after the successful revolution led by Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the U.S. Government set up anti-Cuban propaganda and instilled the Embargo Act, both of which are being used today. By looking at the history of American-Cuban relations, past and present, one will see that the injustice of the Embargo Act should not only end, but should have never been placed to begin with.
Cuba has been an important part of American history, being one of the many Caribbean Islands involved in the slave trade, but being a Spanish colony, America was unable to obtain Cuba until the Spanish-American War in 1898, where the U.S. claimed to want Cuban independence, but in reality wanted to annex it and maintain control of the island and exports. After several failed U.S appointed and non U.S. Presidencies, the latter usually crushed with U.S. Aid, and with Mafia corruption flooding the shores after U.S. Prohibition, U.S. backed and self-appointed Colonel Fulgencio Batista becomes president of Cuba in 1940, legalizes the Communist Party of Cuba during World War II, and conspires with the Mafia to allow them more freedoms and control, then retires(Chadwick). In other words, the U.S. government relied on brute force and allowed cruel dictators to reign and spread corruption in Cuba to maintain American interests, even if that meant cutting out Cuban interests altogether; with Mafia rule added to Cuba, if maintained, America might have made the island into a Caribbean Las Vegas. After coming out of retirement and realizing he is in last place in 1952 Cuban presidential election, Batista performs a bloodless coup de etat, suspends the Cuban constitution and cancels the election, successfully making himself dictator; two and a half weeks later, the U.S. recognizes Batista's government, providing him full support in exchange for kickbacks (Sierra).
Revolts had been taken place in Cuba since Spanish rule, but in 1953, the same year Batista outlaws the communist party, a major event occurred that would set the people on its path to oust U.S. imperialism: lawyer Fidel Castro leads a revolt in which 160 rebel troops attack the Moncada army barracks near Santiago de Cuba. Over 70 rebels died, and soon after Castro, along with his remaining troops, was arrested (Chadwick). Soon after capture, Castro's defense proved to be historic; defending himself, he gave a four hour speech claiming that he and his rebels had the right to revolt for Cuban freedom against the tyrannical government by Cuban law, called for reinstating the Cuban constitution, instating fairer wage cuts for sugar and industrial works, and for punishment of those violated Cuban law, mainly those in power. He ends his speech boldly: “I know that imprisonment will be harder for me than it has ever been for anyone, filled with cowardly threats and hideous cruelty. But I do not fear prison, as I do not fear the fury of the miserable tyrant who took the lives of 70 of my comrades. Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me (Castro).” In 1955, Batista grants amnesty to political prisoners, and Castro is freed; he and several others flee to Mexico, where Castro meets Che Guevara, and in 1956, together with 80 other insurgents, leave Mexico to start the revolution, where, upon arrival, they are met by Batista's soldiers and nearly all are captured or killed, only 15 rebels escaping into the Sierra Maestra mountains (Sierra). By 1957, while Cuban Mafia leaders were entertaining U.S. Senators, US Ambassador to Cuba Arthur Gardener was suggesting to President Eisenhower the assassination of Fidel Castro, claiming that Castro victory would “contrary to U.S. interests.” After Castro and his supporters ousted Batista in 1958 and coming to power in 1959, the U.S. listened to this suggestion; “In February, an American assassin, Robert Nye, working for US crime syndicates, is arrested with a sniper rifle before he can shoot Castro. A CIA memo from J.C. King, head of the Western Hemisphere Division of the CIA, to Allen Dulles recommends “dirty tactics” to destabilize Cuba. King says America must do away with Fidel Castro if they wanted to overthrow the Cuban revolution.(Chadwick)”
Having lost control of Cuba and 1.6 million acres of Havana land, the American government begins working against the new Cuban government, canceling sugar orders, cutting Cuban quota by 95%,after nationalization of foreign companies, and CIA sponsored propaganda projects, all in the name of Capitalism(Chadwick). During the infamous Bay of Pigs, 1300 CIA-trained Cuban exiles,who, according to Cuban history, were “the scions of the privileged propertied class of pre-revolutionary Cuba, coming back to reclaim their substantial holdings”, but in U.S. media were represented as “dedicated champions of liberty-who had lived so comfortably and uncomplainingly under the Batista dictatorship”, hoped to overthrow Fidel's government, but they lost abruptly due to mislead hopes of the Cuban people supporting the counter revolution, which they did not (Parenti). Nevertheless, this event left Fidel uneasy and in the summer of 1962 led him to allow Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to place short-range nuclear missiles in Cuba in hopes averting another U.S. attack; after the discovery of these weapons and endless negotiations, the “Cuban Missile Crisis” was averted on October 28 when Khrushchev announced he would dismantle the missiles in exchange for assurance that the U.S. would not invade Cuba (thinkquest.org).