FREE ESSAY ON MACHIAVELLI

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 the overthrowing of Batista... the most
difficult is the one that we are engaged in today: the task of building a new country on
the basis of an underdeveloped economy; the task of creating a new conscious, an new man"
(Sutherland 93).
Unquestionably a leftist, it is almost certain that he was not a Marxist during this time
in the mountains before his attack on the Batista government. The opinion a Castro
employee had on his ideology in late 1957 suggested 'broadly' that:
"The Fidel Castro I knew in the Sierra Mountains... was definitely not a Marxist. Nor was
he interested to Social Revolution. He was above all a political opportunist, a man with
a firm will and extraordinary ambition." (Thomas 1053)
At this time Fidel Castro had no ideology, even if he coveted it privately. All was
vague, if heroic. Both he and the leaders of the 26 July generally had certain general
ideas of nationalism and of social reform, but there was no explicit program. When the
revolution had to be defined it divided. Like all revolutions, its vision of the Utopian
future, where there is a genuine compassion for the masses at the bottom of the social
structure, was sustained by a view of the past. (Thomas 1056) 
Through his willpower Fidel Castro was eventually able to move his men together, holding
a common ideology. Castro did not want to organize a movement but rather try to unite all
the existing forces against Batista. He only intended to participate in this struggle as
just one more soldier. It was the leaders of the other forces that showed they did not
have the ability, the resolution, and the seriousness of the purpose or the means to
overthrow Batista. This lack of input left Fidel Castro worked out a strategy of his own.
Before his Revolution movement in 1959 Castro implied: 
"I was a pure revolutionary, but not a Marxist Revolutionary. I thought that change could
be brought about under the Constitution of 1940 and within a democratic system." (1052) 
He was able to attract members of other forces by his enormous leadership qualities. He
has huge appeal to Cuban patriotism, his traditional appeal to the Cuban poor and stance
against the rich. Overall, Fidel Castro has delivered himself as a Latin American
"caudillo"- a strongman, a boss. 
There are two circumstances that made Fidel Castro a revolutionary, those are the mere
vocation, special duty, tied to being a revolutionary and secondly, the fact that the
revolution for revolutions sake, not any particular revolution. Fidel Castro and his
revolutionaries rejected all forms of human conformity and wanted this profound change in
the political system in a relatively brief period. They regarded most of societies
governmental institutions as mere devices to enslave human spirit, denying it them of
liberty for which they were destined. 
As a revolutionist Fidel Castro appealed to all social classes of the Cuban population.
For the unemployed Castro promised livelihood, for both the rural and industrial workers
he promised to put an end to embezzled retirement funds, for peasants he promised land
that they could call their own, and finally for the 10,000/year young professionals he
promised employment. In its early phase, Castro's revolutionary regime included moderate
politicians and democrats; gradually, however, its policies became radical and
confrontational. Though Castro remained the unchallenged leader, and the masses--whose
living conditions he improved--rallied behind him. 
Even shortly after the Revolution, with his social structure now in disarray, Castro's
political system was a crisis's, but still the revolutionaries were celebrities, folk
hero's, and the final hope of the hopeful. But a Revolutionary party can not rule
forever, there comes a time when they have to adopt a new ideology. 
This is a controversial time in the history of Fidel Castro; it is his conversion to
Marxism-Leninism after coming to power that makes him unique. 
The hostility of the United States government towards the Castro regime from 1959 to 1961
drove Castro to seek protection of the Soviet Union and thereby wedding Cuba to the
Soviet bloc and expanding Soviet interests into the Western Hemisphere. These new ties
with the Soviet Union solidified Castro's Marxist belief. Fidelismo, the adaptation of
Marxism by Fidel Castro, combined dialectic and idealistic rhetoric with anti-Yankee
policies to create the new Cuba (Baradat 312).
Under the Socialist ideology there are three main features, they are, Public ownership of
production through nationalized industries or cooperatives, secondly, a welfare state
that assures the material well-being of the citizens, and finally, the intention to
improve the liberty and well being of all citizens, thus creating a happier, more
tranquil social existence. When the dictatorship of the proletariat had replaced the
bourgeois rulers, a system that rewarded people according to their work would be
established. Through education, material rewards, and the elimination of the worst
dissidents from society, the proletariat would grow until it was the only economic class
to exist in the society. Mike Harrington wrote,
"To sum up, socialism is more than an economic system. It forces a completely new
relationship among individuals based on a plentiful supply of material goods. Socialists
argue that the elimination of material hardships will relax human tensions as never
before, creating a much more pleasant atmosphere, in which people can live and develop."
(Baradat ---)
Despite the fact that Castro's regime is still hampered by the United States policies the
country has still achieved some social progress for its people. Abiding the framework of
Marxist-Leninist, based on the assumption that economic factors were the primary human
motivation and that history was propelled by struggle among competing social classes.
Advances in education, public health, and racial equity have been significant. 
Fidel Castro's work within the socialist framework is also exemplified in the ownership
of production. The traditional way to socialize an economy is by nationalization, thus at
the same time making everyone a working individual, eliminating tensions between social
classes. Nationalization occurs when the government expropriates- takes over the
ownership of- an industry. This was the case in Cuba when Fidel Castro after the 1960
sugar crop was harvested; over 600 sugar cane co-operatives were set up. Their finances
were centrally organized, with regional headquarters, technical staff accounts, machine
repair shops and so on. The Agrarian Reform Institute usually set up people shops, where
basic goods could be bought at reduced prices, up to 15% cheaper. All profits that were
made from these co-operatives would be distributed (for the first five years four-fifths
of the profits were to be invested into the schools, housing, roads, and so on).
Not only were sugar cane plantations being turned into co-operatives. By April 1961 there
were 266 state farms, covering over five million acres. Many of these farms were divided
into separate parcels of land. These state-owned farms employed nearly 100,000 workers,
and paid $2.11 per day (with free housing, medical care and education). The whole
category of private farmer was ignored by this regime. Banks were also being
nationalized, transport and distribution being disrupted and the INRA given all the
advantages, they found it both hard to get supplies and to deliver their goods. These
difficulties eventually led to food shortages, as well as to the beginning of the black
market. By 1967, 70% of Cuba's agricultural production, all of its heavy industry,
foreign trade, education and culture were state owned. (Sutherland 99) 
Castro's second example of the Socialist thought is the belief that the welfare state
assures the material well being of the citizens. The welfare state that can exemplify
such a function is one that provides a large number of social programs for it's citizens,
including social security, publicly supported education, public assistance for the poor,
and public health services.
Castro was extremely proud of the accomplishments that he made in the area of the welfare
state. He gave credit to the elementary measures of justice that the revolution had to
adopt- measures in Castro's opinion could not be postponed. Social Security was the first
program that Castro claimed as being an overwhelming success. A total of 320 million
pesos were outlayed for social security in 1970, compared to 114.7 million in 1958, or
pre-Revolutionary Cuba. Likewise, the outlay for public education was 77 million before
Castro's triumph, and rose to 290.6 million in 1969.
Keeping with the welfare state the health care system also flourished. The outlay for
public healthcare service increases 210 million peso's in ten years under Castro's
movement. The total outlay for these three sectors was 213.8 million peso's in 1958, and
rose to exceed 850 million in 1970. (Bonachea 320) 
Castro's final features that he exemplified were his intention to improve the liberty and
wellbeing of all citizens, thus creating a happier, more tranquil social existence. This
was done through creating equality, making everyone a middle-class worker, or creating a
Utopia state.
Equality among the masses was to be eliminated by achieving a Utopian state. The Utopian
State would desire for equity within the society and from genuine compassion for the
masses at the bottom of the social structure. The lavishing sumptuous wealth on some
while allowing other to languish in squalor was immoral, since the economy produced
enough for all to live comfortably if goods were distributed more evenly. 
Fidel Castro enacted upon this equal state shortly after the revolution occurred. It is
through the two previous conditions of socialism that helped Fidel make the Cuban
population relatively equal in most external aspects of life. Through the nationalization
of production, no longer did monopolies exist that were owned by an individual family.
With the nationalization of the means of production all money was distributed evenly
throughout the country. Also, with the implementation of the welfare state, the
population all had free education, medical care, etc. making it readily available to all,
not only the elite.
Fidel Castro now in his 70's has had to make slight modifications to his political
ideology. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Castro has had to modify his
Soviet-style socialism. Although one of the final supporters of Marxism-Leninism, Cuba's
current deep economic crisis and in the light of the developments in the rest of the
Marxist-Leninist world, one wonders how long Castro's island of communism can endure
blows of this decade's hurricane of political change. (Baradat 248) It is thought that
Fidel Castro will enjoy political power for one overriding reason, Canada, who is driven
by unadulterated profiteering when it comes to Cuba. The billions of dollars that Canada
invests into Cuba is a lifeline to Castro, while at the same time being able to thumb
their noses at their powerful and envied neighbor, the United States. 
I feel that the Marxist-Leninist ideology that is worked by Fidel Castro has proven to be
too reliant. For 30 years Cuba has been very much dependent on the Soviet Union. After
the collapse of the Soviet Union, while in economic despair, Fidel Castro turned to the
United States to blame for his countries economic problems. Many well-intentioned Cubans
still believe Castro's claims that the country lacks sugar and oranges because of the
U.S. enacted embargo. Tragically, Cubans believe that any change in policy is good for
the country, a victory for Castro.
Works Cited
Baradat, L. (1997). Political Ideologies: Their Origin and Impact. New Jersey; Prentice
Hall.
Bonachea, R. (1972). Cuba in Revolution. New York; Anchor Books.
Sutherland, E. (1969). The Youngest Revolution. New York; The Dial Press.
Thomas, H. (1971). Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom. New York; Harper & Row Books.