By the mid-1950's, Cuba was ready for a revolution. When Castrol marched his rebels into Havana in 1959 he did so with wide public support and the cheers of millions of Cubans. Batista fled on New Year Day 1959, as unsuspecting tourists gambled, drank and celebrated the night away in Havana's clubs and casinos.
Castro delivered his victory speech to a cheering crowd in Havana on January 8, 1959. A white dove landed on Fidel Castro's shoulder during the speech. The crowd saw the dove as a message from God. [Here ]
One person who was not impressed was U.S President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The U.S. had been a strong backer of Batista. The U.S. saw Batista as a great ally in Latin America. He was anti-communist, against social reform and welcomed U.S. corporations and gangsters who exploited Cuba's resources and people. Batista was the kind of brutal right-wing despot that the U.S. liked.
So when one hears propaganda about Fidel Castro, one needs to remember what it is he replaced. One should also keep in mind other Latin American countries that have had strong U.S. support, interference, C.I.A. coups, and U.S. backed right-wing governments and brutal despots over the past 55 years.
Look at Mexico [HERE ], Columbia [HERE ], Guatemala [HERE ], Haiti [HERE ] Honduras [HERE ] and Peru [HERE ].
Whenever a country is compliant with U.S. neoliberal policies, the U.S. government and main stream media turn a blind eye to human rights abuses. Whenever a country such as Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela are non-compliant to U.S. wishes, it doesn't matter how democratic they are, they are never democratic enough for the U.S. and the main stream media.
The Literacy Campaign
One of the first things Castro did was to start a literacy program to wipe out illiteracy in Cuba. Over 250,000 young people were inspired to join Cuba's National Literacy Campaign and to go into the countryside to teach rural peasants how to read and write.
Over half of the volunteers were women. It was dangerous work because of C.I.A. Operation Mongoose that had infiltrated terrorists into Cuba who tried to kill the program by assassinating the literacy volunteers. [HERE ] and [HERE ]
Today Cuba has a virtual 100% literacy rate. That is why one of the biggest annual events in Cuba is the International Book Fair. During the annual book fair, tens-of-thousands of Cubans attend every day and millions of books are sold to the public at subsidized prices. Venders sell hot Cuban sandwiches, cold soft drinks and ice cream, as well as books. [HERE ]
Healthcare
Cuba's healthcare system has also been a big success. Everyone gets free primary, preventive and prenatal healthcare. Infant mortality is a low 7 deaths per 1,000 live births and better than in the U.S. Life expectancy is a high 77 years even though the use of tobacco products is still very high in Cuba. There are 500 neighborhood clinics and 33,000 family physicians providing healthcare to virtually 100% of Cuba's 11.5 million people.
According to the World Health Organization "the average clinic offers 22 services, including rehabilitation, X-ray, ultrasound, optometry, endoscopy, thrombolysis, emergency services, traumatology, clinical laboratory, family planning, emergency dentistry, maternal--child care, immunization, and diabetic and elderly care. Various other specialties -- including dermatology, psychiatry and cardiology -- are available too, in addition to family and internal medicine, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology." [HERE ]
Foreign Aid
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