What argument could be made that connects the two provided primary sources? Be specific and use the sources to support your argument. https://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1961/04/09.htm https://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1960/09/29.htm
These two documents speak to the interesting dimensions of the Cuban Revolution and the way it was tied to the larger socialist and anti-imperialist struggle. The documents reveal the importance of certain ideals and principles, further highlighting how committed the Cuban revolutionaries were. The first chronological source is a speech by Fidel Castro in September of 1960, only a month after the revolutionaries (who seized control of the country in 1959) had nationalized all American property on the island.
Castro's speech, which takes place in Havana, is a fascinating document. In the speech, Castro highlights the strength and courage of the Cuban people in their resistance to anti-imperialism and the capitalist aggressors. This occurs as a couple of bombs—detonated by counter-revolutionary terrorists in all likelihood supported by the CIA—go off. He remains steadfast throughout the speech, saying that despite the bombs, he will continue the fight for Cuban independence and prosperity along the socialist model:
For every little bomb of the imperialists, we build 500 houses. For every little bomb they make in a year, we construct three cooperative houses. For every little bomb, we nationalize a Yankee estate. For every little bomb of the imperialists, we refine hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil. For every little bomb we will build a plant to give employment in our country. For every little bomb the imperialists pay for, we convert a garrison into a school. For every little bomb the imperialists pay for, we arm at least 1,000 militiamen.
This quote captures, in a caricature, the principle methods by which the revolution would be won. It also serves as an excellent segue into the second document.
The second document is a piece written by Che Guevara, a fellow revolutionary and staunch ally of Castro. In the document, written about six months after Castro's speech, Guevara outlines how the Cuban Revolution is a decisive moment in the anti-colonist and anti-imperialist struggle. In the article, Guevara highlights Castro's suitability as a revolutionary leader and places the Cuban Revolution squarely within the narrative contexts of other revolutionary action in the twentieth century—the Russian Revolution and Mao's Revolution in China—seeing it as particularly important because it is also anti-colonialist in its motivations. He cites the way in which the Revolution put power back into the hands of small farmers and dismantled the colonial system of powerful landowners and foreign industrial development. Again, the above quote in Castro's speech captures these motivations powerfully.
Guevara also sees the Cuban Revolution through the lens of the larger struggle for self-determination and freedom in Latin America as a whole, a region that had long been under the thumb of powerful American influence. The United States, motivated by the Monroe Doctrine, ideas of Manifest Destiny, and its newfound role as imperial power, involved itself in Latin American affairs with particular aggression after the end of World War II. The Cuban Revolution pushed back against this, and these two documents powerfully characterize it.
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