2. Cuba Before the Revolution Cuba was a nation born into foreign in rule In the 20th century, it was under the rule of Fulgencio Batista He had poor economic planning Allowed American Imperialism Had a Corrupt military
3. Cuban People Before the Revolution 58% of Cuba’s people lived without electricity Only 25% of its people had a sort of refrigeration Only 44% of Cuba’s people had a shower and of those, only 35% had running water Only 28% of Cuba’s people had inside toilets, and some 23% had none Only 35% of the population had gone to school, and only 1 in 4 could pass a literacy test.
4. Cuba’s Economy Cuba had a monoculture economy Was dependent on the US Cuba’s economy was largely owned by US companies, such as National City Bank The US was the largest importer of Cuba’s sugar and it controlled 90% of its utilities and telephone services The US owned 50% of Cuba’s railroads
5. Cuba: Sin City of the World Batista used his military to threaten any political opposition and to put down rebellions He allowed Havana to become the center of organized crime, led by American mafias Batista had an estimated 400 million dollars stolen from his own people
6. Barista’s reign Would rig election polls so that he would win Anyone who opposed him was killed, with na estimated 20,000 people killed or tortured under his US supported reign.
7. Cuba’s medical and sanitary problems before the Revolution A Chicago newspaperman by the name of Ray Brennan recalls a personal account on Cuba’s medical and sanitary problems in which he describes how “Parasites grow and multiply within the bodies of little children. Some of those worms, the size of an ordinary lead pencil, gather in clusters or balls, clog the intestinal system, block elimination, and cause anguished deaths…after a child dies the parasites may come slithering from the mouth and nasal passages, searching for a living organism on which to feed.”
8. Why there was a Revolution A Cuban revolution occurred because the people of Cuba had realized that enough was enough, and that they had to free themselves from their corrupt and abusive “leaders,” that were backed by outside governments (USA).
9. Bibliography Huberman, Leo, and Paul M. Sweezy. Cuba: Anatomy of a Revolution. 2nd ed. New York: Monthly Review P, 1961.
