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Fidel Castro: a Leader Without Limits

In: People

Submitted By JGuba
Words 1188
Pages 5
William Mati
Mr.Laing
CHC- 2D0
June 1, 2012
Fidel Castro: A leader without limits Fidel Castro was an extraordinary leader who fought for the good of his people and led them to victory in the Cuban revolution. This victory did not only prove Fidel's courage by standing up against the Cuban government and standing up for the poor, but it also demonstrated his determination to become victorious. However, in order to overthrow the government, Castro would have needed supporters for his cause, in which his charisma helped influence. Such a revolution would be impossible to achieve if Castro was not an extraordinary leader. Fidel Castro was courageous, charismatic, and determined. First, Castro always displayed courage and bravery throughout his lifetime. After he witnessed what was truly occurring in Cuba, Fidel began to doubt the political system and the rein of Batista. As a result, Fidel had begun to participate in revolutionary campaigns and speaking out against Batista. On July 26 1953, Castro participated in a battle between the guerillas and the military. Many of the guerillas were killed, but luckily for Castro, he was sent to prison and later exiled to Mexico, where he formed a revolutionary group. Forming another group displayed courage by attempting another assault on Batista and risking death. Since Castro supported communism, he was put at further risk because the concept of communism was looked down upon. "The Communist Party with only some ten thousand members, was in an uphill battle and did not have any influence to speak of"(Diary of the Cuban Revolution, page 12). Being aware of the consequences to follow, Castro continued to fight for what he believed in. Also, Castro supported the poor and lower class families. Although, this was known to be disgraceful, Castro still fought for them and supported them. Castro remained true to his values, regardless of what others said. Without Castro's vigorous courage, Castro would not be able to lead, his revolution. All campaigns require a large amount of courage to be successful, in which Castro had. Second, Fidel possessed charisma, the power of influencing or inspiring large numbers of people to fight for a common cause. Castro was a talented speaker and he was able to convince hundreds of people to support his cause. Although this number was nothing compared to the number of soldiers who supported Batista, this was enough supporters for Castro's uprising. As mentioned before, Castro was able to create a small revolutionary organization of Cuban exiles in 1955 called the 26 of July movement (inspired off of his first revolutionary movement July 26th 1953). "Most of the members of the 26 July Movement were new adherents of Castro...they were looking for a new leader committed to the idea of revolutionary action against Batista" (The Cuban Revolution, page 80). Consequently, Castro's new adherents looked up at Castro as a role model and were inspired by his campaign. After Castro was able to become part of the Cuban government, he had a wide variety of supporters. Since a majority of families from Cuba were poor, they agreed on Castro's thoughts on communism. As a result, Castro became the dictator of Cuba where he provided free health care and free education which satisfied and inspired a large population of Cuba. Thus, Fidel greatly inspired thousands of Cubans and demonstrated his charisma. Lastly, Fidel demonstrated determination in every single moment of his life. After witnessing and experienced several failed attempts to overthrow Batista, Fidel had visions and high hopes that he would become Cuba's leader. On December 2nd, 1956, Fidel led an expedition on the eastern coast of Cuba. As a result, there were only 13 survivors of this expedition out of the several hundreds of people. It was believed that this would discourage Fidel and he would give up on his revolution idea, but this belief was incorrect. Instead, Fidel returned with resilience and with a better planned strategy. "All of them were killed or captured except Fidel and Raul Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara, and nine others, who retreated into the Sierra Maestra to wage guerrilla warfare against the Batista forces" (The 100 Most Influential World Leaders, page 318). Although these were sad defeats for Castro, he continued on with his revolution and in the end, he was able to reach his goal and became the dictator of Cuba to introduce Communism. Fidel was determined to achieve this position and claimed it was his destiny even from birth. "From all the indications, I was born to be a politician, to be a revolutionary" (Diary of the Cuban Revolution, page 1). Fidel began from scratch and achieved in becoming Cuba's leader due to his boundless determination. Fidel Castro impacted the world after he became the dictator of Cuba. At the time, the American and Soviet cold war was occurring and Castro decided to side with the Soviets. This worsened the cold war situation and there were several attempts of assassination on Fidel Castro, but none were successful. Theoretically speaking, Fidel also saved many lives by siding with the U.S.S.R. The soviets places missiles in Cuba to attack America, but at the same time, America had missiles placed in Turkey to attack the U.S.S.R. The Americans made an agreement that they would remove their missiles out from Turkey, if Castro removed his missiles from Cuba. This ultimately lead to saving lives and reduced the risk of beginning another world war. Furthermore, another way that Fidel Castro impacted the world is by providing an example of revolution and freedom. Due to Fidel's revolution, many nearby countries in Central America and other countries began to have revolutions of their own. This concept still presently existed. For instance, it is a high possibility that some of the more recent revolutions in Africa like in Libya and Egypt are influenced by Fidel Castro. Libya and Egypt now have freedom and have the power to make their own decisions because they grew weary and tired of a corrupt government. In conclusion, this world would be much different if Fidel Castro never existed and never stood up against the government. There would have possibly been a bloodier war than World War II and countries would still be living in silence and misery. In conclusion, Fidel demonstrated to the world that he was courageous, charismatic and determined. He proved his courage by sticking out against the government and risking his life to save the people. He was able to influence his people through his charisma which was a significant trait for Castro to possess in order to be successful. Above all, Castro displayed his determination through facing several dangers and facing several failures and keeping himself motivated to remain in battle and achieve victory. Without Castro's victory, the world that we would live in would be bloody, cruel and corrupt. An extra war was possible without Castro's occurrence and many people would live in darkness without his influence. In closing, Fidel played a mighty and powerful role in recent history and provided hope and strength to who seek a light in this world.

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