I think thats a bit of an idilic view of Batista's Cuba. Batista was another one of the armed thug dictators we supported during the Cold War, who shot a lot of political prisoners himself. I don't think he was a big fan of free and fair elections either.
What Americans don't want to admit is that Castro did a lot of good things for Cuba. Education and health care for example, Cuba has a higher literacy rate and a lower infant mortality rate.
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Cuba was not perfect under Batista but the people still had some sort of freedom and liberties. They lived as they saw fit. Not like Cuba today. If you are cutting sugar canes now. You will be doing it for the rest of your life. What is the incentive to work hard? Why else has Cuba's sugar production in a 50 year low?
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With all due respect that kind of ridiculos. Peopel couldn't buy their own land in Batista's Cuba becuase it was all owned by Americans. The reason there was a revolution was because people were stuck cutting sugarcane for rich american planters all their lives.
Look at high school enrolments. Pre Castro (1956)they were around 20,000 out of a high school age population of 600,000. Post Castro (1965)they were at 165,000 out of a population of 730,000. How are you supposed to have social mobility if only the rich are getting a high school education.
Of course a lot of the things the Castro government have done have been horrible, I don't want to defend their repressive politics ect. But look at the other countries in the Carribean who didn't go Communist. Is Haiti doing so hot. or the Dominican Republic? Castro isn't a great guy, but he also isn't the antichrist people make him out to be.