Cigar History: Fidel Castro
By Jennifer Jordan
Many cigar lovers who form their roots in the United States view Fidel Castro as an enemy. He is, after all, partly to blame for Cuban cigars being banned from the US quicker than a classic novel. But his influence is not limited to Cuban cigars, it transcends cigar types: many Cuban citizens came to America to flee Castro’s reign. In one way or another, he took some cigars away from the US and gave some back. In the end, it is hard to think about cigars without visions of Castro dancing in our heads.
Many of us may know of Fidel Castro, regarding him the same way we regard a Stalin or a Mussolini, but most of us know little about him, other than his name is an “F” word. This article discusses the history behind Fidel Castro, his name, his reputation, and his legacy.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born August 13, 1926. Climbing the ranks of power, he led the Cuban Revolution in 1959. This not only took control away from Fulgencio Batista, and made Castro Prime Minister, but it also established Cuba as a country governed by Stalinism and Marxism.
In 1965, Castro went on to become First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, ultimately turning Cuba into a one party socialist republic. Eleven years later, in 1976, he added president of the Council of the State and Council of Ministers to his resume. On a military front, he also held the rank of Commander in Chief.
Before the Cuban revolution catapulted Castro into the spotlight, he began to gain attention by criticizing both Batista and the US influence on Cuba. His following was small but loyal and enough to make the authorities see him as a threat. This threat solidified when Castro led an attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953, an attack that led to Castro’s temporary failure and incarceration.
After release from prison, Castro went to Mexico to train men for guerilla warfare, an unconventional mode of combat based on surprise invasions. Near the end of 1956, Castro took his men back to Cuba and they slowly began to gain the ground needed to support the weight of replacing the government.
In the years that followed Castro’s acquisition of power up until present day, Castro has been a bit of a dichotomy, viewed as an oppressive dictator by some and a likeable liberator by others.
As far as the US is concerned, Castro’s relationship has been turbulent at best. The US and the USSR both used Cuba as their pawn in the chess game of the Cold War. When the US-led Bay of Pigs Invasion was unsuccessful in 1961, the relationship between America and Cuba became even more estranged. This, ultimately, left USSR to field Cuba, opening its arms for the nation to run into. It was this alliance with the USSR that led the US to impose a trade embargo on Cuba in 1962, thus illegalizing Cuban cigars.
When the USSR dissolved in 1991, Castro was forced to seek other leaders who shared his nationalistic views. He has been aligned with both Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia.
In Cuba, Castro has implemented a plethora of practices and policies, aimed at merging land reform, agriculture, and the economy with nationalistic principles. He has also expanded public-funded health care and advocated education reform. Cuba has had its fair share of hardships; some people blame this on Castro, and some people blame it on the US trade embargo.
Castro , due to declining health, transferred his responsibilities on July 31, 2006 to the First Vice-President, his younger brother Raul.
As Castro's health continues to decline, amid mixed reports that he is dying, people wonder what will become of the trade embargo. Some people believe that Castro's death will lift the embargo, others believe it won't. No matter what happens, Castro will leave behind him a legacy, one that has greatly impacted the cigar culture of America.
Jennifer Jordan is an editor and staff writer for http://www.whatsknottolove.com At home in a design firm in Denver, Colorado, she writes articles specific to the finer things in life.
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