Machiavelli Essays (2514 words) - Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolution

Machiavelli When you speak of Fidel Castro, what do you speak of? The Cuban Leader is not your everyday leader. To fully understand Fidel Castro you must have a firm foundation with which to work from. I will explore the political ideology of Fidel Castro by explaining what is in an ideology, Fidel Castro's background, and his political position both before the Cuban revolution and presently. An ideology is a number of action-oriented, materialistic, popular, and simplistic political theories that were originally developed as an accommodation to the social and economic conditions created by the Industrial Revolution (Baradat 13). The action can be broken into a five-part definition for idealistic purposes. To begin, the term ideology can be used in many contexts, but unless otherwise specified it is proper to give it a political meaning. All ideologies provide an interpretation of the present and a view of the desired future. This desirable future is thought to be attainable in a single lifetime. Each ideology includes a list of specific steps that can be taken to accomplish its goals. Ideologies are oriented towards the masses, and finally, ideologies are simply stated and presented in motivational terms. In speaking of Fidel Castro and his ideologies I will apply these five definitional segments. Many theorists believe Cuban Leader Fidel Castro was directed in his political thought from an early age. He was born on May 13, 1927, on his families sugar plantation in the town of Mayari, Cuba. As a boy, Castro worked on the family plantation, and at age 6 was able to persuade his parents to send him to school. He attended two Jesuit institutions, eventually entering a Jesuit preparatory school; a member of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus founded by Saint Ignatius Loyola in 1534 and devoted to missionary and educational work. Both through his first hand look at the oppression of individuals and the importance of education help to shape Fidel Castro, and differentiate what was right and wrong. Three years later, in 1945 Castro attended the University of Havana Faculty of Law. That same year he was so fed up with the oppressed working class that he unionized the workers of his father's plantation to fight for a voice in exercising their rights. After graduation from Law School in 1950 be began practicing in Havana with two partners. As a lawyer he devoted himself to helping the poor. Although very active in politics throughout his college career, it was in 1952 that Castro first attempted to run for national politics. Just as Castro intended to campaign for a parliamentary seat, General Fuligenico Batista overthrew the government of President Carlos Prio Socarras in a coup and cancelled the election. Trying to oppose the military dictatorship through peaceful means and failing led Castro to head an armed attack of 165 men, calling themselves the 26th of July Revolutionary Movement. Failing completely through his violent attack, Castro and his brother Raul were taken prisoner until May 1955. After much recruiting, on New Year's Day in 1959 he succeeded in overthrowing the dictatorship of Batista. It was one week later that the United States officially recognized Castro's new government. It was shortly after this time in 1961, and now in power, that Fidel Castro announced to the world that he was a Marxist ?Leninist and would remain so until the last day of his life. The question that arises when you first hear this is what is a Marxist-Leninist ideology and does Fidel Castro qualify to call himself such a thinker. Many theorists argue that Fidel Castro isn't attached to any particular ideology. His only goal is survival and power. Strong evidence pointing to this fact is that Fidel Castro survived the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union. In the case of Castro, however, if you dig enough in search for an underlying ideology, you will find that his thought and action is closer to that of a Marxist- Leninist than to any other ideology. It is for certain that he was a young revolutionist in his preliminary political life. Remember it was he who led the country of Cuba into a revolution against the political power, President Batista, in 1959, believing that change would only happen if he burnt down the political system and rebuilt on its ashes. After the rebellion was over the entire population had to be radicalized, attitudes changed, traditions destroyed, the popular support maintained and deepened, viable organizations and institutions created, and social justice distributed. Fidel Castro in 1967, "The most difficult task was not exactly