SOCIAL MEDIAE How do you think history should remember
Fidel Castro? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook:
twitter.com/knowledgemagind
facebook.com/knowledgemagazineindiaStates, global capitalism and colonialism.
Remarkably, this challenge proved
far more consistent and enduring
than the Soviet Union’s. In Africa,
Castro’s troops fought against colonialism
and apartheid South Africa. In Latin
America, the Cuban Revolution’s example
transformed politics and society, putting
long-standing questions of land reform,
education and healthcare firmly on
the agenda. It also mobilised thousands
to take up arms, believing they could
emulate Castro’s success.
By launching military invasions,
violent counter-insurgency campaigns
or reformist programmes designed
to immunise the region from Cuba,
those who feared Castro’s example
made him far more powerful
than he might otherwise have been.
Indifference was simply not an option.
However, history desperately
needs to put Castro in context to
understand his impact. For too long,
the potent narrative of the heroic
guerrilla (believed by admirers and
enemies alike) that Castro so ably
promoted has obscured far more
complex and long-term causes
of the Cuban Revolution.
Castro was a man of his times,
who channelled widespread desire
for change. His revolution addressed
pressing problems and provided
an alternative to moderate reform
efforts cut short by elites and
CIA-backed military coups. As well
as remembering him for changing
the world, we need to remember
the reasons his actions and ideas
resonated as powerfully as they did.Tanya Harmer is associate professor in
the department of international history at
the London School of Economics and
Political Science, the UK.Castro receives
the acclaim of
supporters just before
entering Havana
during the Cuban
Revolution,
January 1959A Cuban refugee in Miami
watches President Kennedy
addressing America during
the Cuban missile crisis,
October 1962US coast guards rescue Cuban refugees from their capsized
raft in the Florida Straits, August 1994Cuban exiles congregate on the streets of Miami to celebrate
Castro’s death, 26 November 2016
a revolutionary ‘conciencia’ (conscience)
among his people, to eradicate pre-
revolutionary attitudes, and to mould
a ‘new Cuban man’. Sadly, new attitudes,
including those regarding the role of
women, the centrality of manual labour,
and a revolutionary education, generally
failed to materialise, and the revolutionary
vision faded as the Cuban economy
deteriorated and a hopelessness cast
a shadow over the island.Julie Bunck is professor of political science at
the University of Louisville, the USA.Castro’s challenge
to global capitalism
was far more
enduring thanthe Soviet Union’s
TANYA HARMER
Fidel Castro changed the world, defying
the logic of global power and geography.
From a small island, 90 miles from
Florida, the revolutionary regime he led
posed a radical challenge to the United91 April 2017 April 2017^83