Fidel Castro, like many other political powerheads before and after him, has been a figure of both admiration and revulsion. In the minds of Latin Americans, he’s the grandfather of post-modern independence; in the minds of Cubans, he’s the father of modern Cuba; in the minds of American citizens, he’s an inhumane dictator. From his role in a Lenin-Marxist political moderate group during his early years of law school, to the intense years of guerrilla warfare he waged against the corrupt forces of Batista’s army, to the decisive moments of the Cold War and the Cuabn Missile Crisis when he was nationalizing Cuba into a socialist state, Castro has played both the role of the protagonist and antagonist in post-modern world history throughout his …show more content…
According to the personal accounts of Ana, “the revolution had completely transformed the country by 1962 … laws that once protected Cuban citizens were destroyed in the first two years and that the government which was once democratic and organized was transformed into tyranny” (Correa, Daniel S. and Sarah Z., Jonas). After the end of President Batista’s reign, Castro initially presented himself as a moderate leftist, but became increasingly radical. Castro even declared that a purge was necessary to purify the nation; extrajudicial imprisonment and arbitrary executions continued throughout Castro’s political career. In addition to abuses against prisoners, Castro also abused civilian rights via imposed economic reforms. The First Agrarian Reform, which was also the nation’s main priority, stripped lands from civilians, regardless of their support or challenge towards Castro’s rule. However, instead of being evenly distributed among Cuban civilians, according to the principles of communism, the lands all went to the government, under Castro’s name (Correa, Daniel S. and Sarah Z., Jonas). Aside from forcing children to work in fields as a mandatory requirement to be educated and fed, Castro’s government also