Furthermore, we can mention as a significant skill to rise to power, his ability to attract widespread support with his ideas and actions. In his “History will absolve me” speech, Castro denounced Batista’s regime, and blamed Batista for the problems of the Cuban society. By speaking of him as a “despicable tyrant”, Castro gave an appearance of strength and determination, something key to become leader. By saying he will deal with problems such as land distribution, putting an end to the corruption and ruthlessness of Batista’s government he slowly started growing more and more supporters from the agrarian portion of the population and the middle-classes. What is more, in 1956 “The Program Manifesto of the M-26-7 Movement” was released. Not only it laid down the movement’s political ideas but it also showed a tendency away from “exploitative” capitalism. For the first time we see that Castro implicitly transmitted the idea that he wanted Cuba to become a communist country, as he used the Marxist term “exploitative”. Up until then, he had nimbly delayed accepting he was a communist not to loose the support of the middle classes; people referred to him as a national reformer. This can definitely be studied as a significant skill in his path to power, because as we know, many times, support is the key factor to get to power and then of course manage to keep it. So, the idea of sovereignty and the right of Cuba to pursue its own economic and cultural interests without foreign intervention were fundamental to the rebels. It was thanks to this that people in Cuba started regarding Castro as their possible leader. In addition, Castro’s ability to build up a movement that found effective tactics to topple Batista’s regime can also be regarded as one of his significant leadership skills to rise to power. In 1955, Raúl and Fidel Castro left prison and joined would-be guerrilla fighter “Che” Guevara. The group was initially of few men, but slowly started gaining strength. By 1957, Batista’s situation was bad and in 1958, a savage guerrilla war was fought characterized by: hit and run, bombings, sabotage and harassment. These tactics proved to be effective to topple Batista’s regime. Although a new provisional government was established, it was clear that Castro’s armed revolutionaries held all the power. Moreover, we can talk of assertiveness as a leadership skill, extremely important in Castro’s rise to power. Castro was characterized by his firmness and strength of purpose. He knew what he wanted and needed and went for it. Historian Balfour believes that his strong determination and will for power extended his capacity to survive disaster. At any point, did Castro forget what he wanted nor did he compromise his ideals. He was avid in their opposition to foreign intervention in the revolution, and aspired to a political and economic future independent of the USA. He would not negotiate independence of foreign control with other sectors. It was because of this that the M-26-7 succeeded while the prior movements failed. This was a major leadership skill in his path to power. We can not left aside, Castro’s ability of exploiting the country’s miserable political and economic conditions as a significant leadership skill in his path to power. In order to win support, he proposed programmes and social reforms, showing people he cared about them, when they skimped (for example, during Batista’s government).
All in all, it can be said that Castro’s leadership skills were of extreme significance and importance in his path to power because if it weren’t for them, Castro would have had a hard time in gaining the people’s support to achieve his aims.
On the other hand, it can be said that although Castro’s leadership skills were significant in his rise to power, there were other factors involved that also helped him bring Cuba under his domination. For example, the economic, social and political conditions were also important in Castro’s rise to power. Cuba’s dependence on the USA: American political and economic control and its effects brought enormous changes to Cuba’s socio-economic structure. Since 1898, the USA began a formal military occupation on the island and although in 1902, there was transference of government from the Americans to the Cubans, through Platt Amendment, issued in 1903, the USA still had the right to intervene the country “in case of crisis”. The USA claimed they intervened to protect their independence, but truly they had their own economic interests. This made the Cubans feel the Amendment as an instrument of domination and arouse nationalistic feelings. In the search to really become independent they started looking at the one person who promised to get it: Fidel Castro. What is more, USA’s intervention in the Cuban economy encouraged the formation of a rich Cuban elite with no sense of national identity. Eighty percent of the land was owned by the seventeen percent of the population and the rest had no access to it or to other things that the rich had. Therefore, an unhappy population, wanting to change their situation, landed their eyes on Castro, who promised egalitarian rights and a re-distribution of the wealth to help the less fortunate, among other things. Also, the fact that Cuba’s economic well-being depended too much on a single crop (sugar plantations) and on trade and investment from a single source: the USA was a problem in the urgent need to be solved. The need and will for independence became bigger and bigger. From the Cuban nationalistic point of view sugar was a symbol of the island’s subjection to the Americans. Furthermore, this sugar-dependant economic system meant unemployment was always a problem, since people worked only during harvests times. A rural proletariat developed, demanding better wages and working conditions. The economic system developed due to American intervention fostered the creation of a social sector available for mobilization. Again, all of these contributed to arise an extreme feeling of nationalism and national unity which led people into, eventually falling for Castro’s promises of sovereignty and independence. In this way, it can be said that the dependence on the USA created certain economic and political circumstances under which Castro’s rise to power, was made possible.
This political and economic context was then aggravated by Batista’s regime which awoke feelings of resentment, anger and fear among the Cubans for his regime was characterized by the ruthlessness with which it was being conducted. This, of course made people want to have another leader; someone who would actually defend their country, fight for them: Fidel Castro. The fact that Batista favored economic interests of American industries and the Cuban elite generated resentment and a deep sense of nationalism among the Cuban society. The majority of the population in Cuba was ignored and did not profit from any of the government’s decisions. Gambling establishments, encouraged by Batista, in Cuba led to a moral degradation of the regime. What is more, Batista’s regime continued being politically dependant on the USA because the Americans saw him as an ally against communism. For Batista and the USA it was a win-win situation. The USA kept Cuba under control and Batista’s economic interests were fulfilled; but what about Cuban people? Well this economic and political dependence on the USA was very bad seen and tolerated, especially by the lower middle classes, excluded from the system. It is because of this that they started looking at Castro and his ideas as the replacement of Batista’s regime. Furthermore, Batista’s regime generated discontent among the Cubans because it was corrupt and repressive, a series of actions by Batista, like eliminating opposing political parties, suspending the right to vote, aroused the dislike of many Cubans. To historian Matthews, the regime embodied the maximum level of inefficiency and internal strife for the needs of the people. Under this context, nationalism and the need to be one strong independent country and be led by such person developed. In this way, it can be said that the country’s conditions before Castro came to power, were also significant for his rise to power and helped him a lot. Had it not been for this, this feeling of nationalism and independence would have probably been developed in a smaller scale. Finally, we can mention one more factor as significant in Castro’s rise to power: Batista’s own weaknesses. For example, releasing the Castro’s brothers from prison was a terrible mistake. Because it gave them the opportunity to start gathering forces and become more and more powerful and eventually led the revolution that overthrown him. Moreover, using ruthless tactics to fight the guerrilla movement was a bad call. This caused a reaction in Castro’s followers and people started to be afraid of Batista, and this increased the number of opposition and rebels to his regime. Because of this, the USA cut off arms supplies to his regime and the army was condemned. Without an army, Castro’s opportunity to come to power became easier than ever. Not to mention that there already was some discontent among the army because it was low-paid, so soldiers were showing less enthusiasm for fighting the levels. So as we can see, these mistakes, committed by Batista, generated the perfect environment for Castro’s rise to power. Therefore, it can be said that although his leadership skills were significant in his rise to power, there were other factors that helped him succeed as well. Upon consideration of all factors, we can say that Castro’s emergence as Cuba’s leader was due in large part to the poor administration of the Batista government. Castro was available when Cuba desperately needed a leader, and used the anti-Batista feeling to guarantee his role as Cuba’s political leader.
To sum up, it can be said that although it is true that Castro’s leadership skills were very significant in his rise to power, other factors like the ones we’ve studied above, also helped him emerge as the political leader he then became. I believe that it was a combination of his qualities and skills and the historical conditions that helped him and his supporters succeed. Castro wouldn’t have been able of accomplishing that much if it weren’t for his excellent use of the media, powerful oratory, his tactics, determination, etc. nor would he have been able to do so without the helped provided by the unstable situation at that time. Both, historical condition and leadership skills compliment each other. It was the combination of both that turned Castro into Cuba’s dictator.
After he was released from prison, Castro escaped to the jungle of Sierra Maestra in the Oriente.
He proposed a social programme that would recover national pride, become a strong independent country with no foreign intervention and people to have egalitarian rights.
He talked about introducing changes in the education and health system, dealing with land distribution and corruption.
Was written in the form of document in 1953.
In May 1955, Batista granted Raúl and Fidel Castro a political amnesty, in order to improve his image and regain support.
Fulgencio Batista came to power in 1933 as a result of a coup d’état. He had no experience in government, economics or administration and no desire to promote a social revolution. He went along with business interests and the USA.