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Fidel Castro: Difference between revisions
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This was not a total loss for the Soviets, however. Marxist-Leninists had been using Latin America as a laboratory to refine their revolutionary technique. Unsuccessful Soviet efforts at subversion in Latin America in the 1930s and the Guatemalan affair yielded important lessons, the most important being how a Communist government in the Western Hemisphere could remain in power. | This was not a total loss for the Soviets, however. Marxist-Leninists had been using Latin America as a laboratory to refine their revolutionary technique. Unsuccessful Soviet efforts at subversion in Latin America in the 1930s and the Guatemalan affair yielded important lessons, the most important being how a Communist government in the Western Hemisphere could remain in power. | ||
[[File:CheyFidel.jpg|thumb|Che Guevara and Fidel Castro (1961)]] | |||
== Revolution in Cuba == | == Revolution in Cuba == | ||
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In 1958, the United States withdrew its support from Batista. Castro, using Soviet funds, bought off the leaders of Batista’s army. This, combined with popular support for Castro from the intellectual and working classes, demoralized the army. On January 1, 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic and Castro seized control of Cuba. | In 1958, the United States withdrew its support from Batista. Castro, using Soviet funds, bought off the leaders of Batista’s army. This, combined with popular support for Castro from the intellectual and working classes, demoralized the army. On January 1, 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic and Castro seized control of Cuba. | ||
[[File:919px-Fidel Castro - MATS Terminal Washington 1959.jpg|thumb|Fidel Castro in Washington, D.C. (April 15, 1959)]] | |||
== Consolidating power == | == Consolidating power == | ||
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The Bay of Pigs was a fiasco. Perhaps it was a planned fiasco. It’s not clear that the U.S. really tried to oust Castro. The Eisenhower Administration had given Cuban dictator Batista weapons to fight Castro. But through the CIA it also secretly gave funds to Castro to fight Batista. Were the CIA “blunders” at the Bay of Pigs really blunders? Or was it another case of managed conflict? We may never know. | The Bay of Pigs was a fiasco. Perhaps it was a planned fiasco. It’s not clear that the U.S. really tried to oust Castro. The Eisenhower Administration had given Cuban dictator Batista weapons to fight Castro. But through the CIA it also secretly gave funds to Castro to fight Batista. Were the CIA “blunders” at the Bay of Pigs really blunders? Or was it another case of managed conflict? We may never know. | ||
[[File:Castro-kruschev.jpg|thumb|Castro with Nikita Khruschev, head of the Soviet Union, in Havana (1961)]] | |||
== The Cuban Missile Crisis == | == The Cuban Missile Crisis == | ||
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Castro’s tenure was more or less assured when the Soviets, as part of the overall settlement, secured a promise from U.S. president John F. Kennedy not to use military force to remove him. Each administration since then has honored this agreement, giving the Soviets license to turn Cuba into a forward base in the Western Hemisphere without fear of direct U.S. intervention. | Castro’s tenure was more or less assured when the Soviets, as part of the overall settlement, secured a promise from U.S. president John F. Kennedy not to use military force to remove him. Each administration since then has honored this agreement, giving the Soviets license to turn Cuba into a forward base in the Western Hemisphere without fear of direct U.S. intervention. | ||
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0614-040, Berlin, Fidel Castro an der Grenze.jpg|thumb|Castro with members of the East German Politburo, Berlin (June 14, 1972)]] | |||
== Exporting Communist revolution == | == Exporting Communist revolution == | ||
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To take away from people the free enterprise system is to destroy the soul’s potential for victory through free will. The economic system we live under has a lot to do with our spiritual path and if we make it on that path. If somebody is making all the economic decisions for you, you have no means for developing your mastery. | To take away from people the free enterprise system is to destroy the soul’s potential for victory through free will. The economic system we live under has a lot to do with our spiritual path and if we make it on that path. If somebody is making all the economic decisions for you, you have no means for developing your mastery. | ||
== The | [[File:Castro 2.jpg|thumb|Fidel Castro (September 26, 2003)]] | ||
== The strategies of the fallen ones == | |||
In a dictation given on January 2, 1982, the Elohim [[Purity and Astrea]] stated: | In a dictation given on January 2, 1982, the Elohim [[Purity and Astrea]] stated: | ||