ia_2009_c_rod

__ Source A __ Source A is called “History will Absolve Me”; it is the concluding sentence and succeeding title of a four-hour long speech made my Fidel Castro on 16th October 1953. Castro made the speech in his own defence in court against the charges brought against him after leading an attack against the Batista Government. No record of Castro’s words was kept, however he later reconstructed them for publication in what was to become the manifesto of his 26th of July Movement. This source is very valuable because it originates from Castro himself, thereby depicting the genuine reasons for the Cuban Revolution. As said previously, the fact that the source comes from Castro himself will enable us to see he wanted to overthrow the Batista Government, and it puts his principles forward, showing us exactly what he wanted the public to hear. “If there is in your hearts a vestige of love for your country, love for humanity, love for justice”. This previous passage introduces why Fidel Castro started the revolution. He did it to save his country, to save the civilization and impartiality in Cuba. This comes back to the reasons why Fidel Castro wanted to overthrow Batista; because he was letting Cuba be influenced by America, Batista introduced gambling, and brothels, and allowed Americans to make huge profits in a country, that was already drowning in poverty. “While the long-cherished hopes of freeing our people lay in ruins about us we heard those crushed hopes gloated over by a tyrant more vicious, more arrogant than ever. The endless stream of lies and slanders, poured forth in his crude odious, repulsive language, may only be compared to the endless stream of clean young blood which had flowed since the previous night”. In this passage from the speech, Fidel powerfully elucidates Batista’s nature, the nature of a lying tyrant. However the limitations of this source are that for one, it only shows the interpretation of Fidel Castro, the person who started the revolution against the Batista Government, and it shows a detailed analysis of his reason why he was against Batista, however it is biased as it doesn’t equally show Batista’s message to the people, and his judgment on ruling Cuba at the time, which could have been in his favour. __ Source B __ Source B is an essay titled “The Spirit Of Moncada: Fidel Castro’s Rise To Power, 1953- 1959” by Bockman, Larry James, Major U.S. Marine Corps. This source is very valuable as it holds some interesting facts which strengthen the fact that the Cuban Revolution was done for the good of the people. “Interestingly, social conditions during the 1956-1959 insurrection against Batista were considerably better than they had ever been. General worldwide prosperity, plus the demands of the Korean War, kept Cuba's sugar exports high. During this same period wage earners were receiving the biggest share of the national income they had ever experienced, 65 percent between 1950 and 1954. Per capita income, while not high by U.S. standards, averaged $312 per year, ranking as one of the highest in Latin America at the time”. This passage is very valuable as it shows that Castro’s rule was more efficient in terms of social conditions than Batista’s rule. “In an effort to stabilize Cuba's economy and rekindle American investments, Washington and Cuba signed a trade agreement in 1934. This agreement reduced U.S. tariffs and sugar quotas, and guaranteed Cuba higher than world market prices for its sugar crop. Between 1935 and 1959, Cuban-American economic ties remained relatively stable”. This passage I found extremely interesting. As it clearly states that yes, Cuba did have some American influence, however America did help Cuba a great deal to build up its economy, which shows that Castro may be partially wrong by thinking that America was simply using Cuba as way to make profits.