Before the revolution Cuba was a de facto American colony. American companies owned most of the good farmland, mines, etc.
From Neocolony to State of Siege The History of US Policy Toward Cuba
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In 1898, Cubans, waging their Second War of Independence, were close to driving out the colonists from Spain. The US government decided the fruit was ripe. Congress declared war against Spain, ostensibly to help free Cuba. In US history, this is known as the Spanish-American War; the United States emerged with four new ports-the Philippines and Guam in the Pacific and Puerto Rico and Cuba in the Atlantic.
But Cuban history calls it the US Intervention in Cuba's War of Independence. US troops occupied Cuba for four years. In exchange for removal of the occupation army, Cuba attached the Platt Amendment, a US law, to their Constitution, granting control of Cuba to the US government. Cuba converted from a colony of Spain to a neocolony of the United States. Among its dictates, the Platt Amendment provided that the United States could intervene militarily at any time and could maintain ports on the island. This amendment was abrogated in 1934 except for the US naval station at Guantanamo, which remains.
US-approved elections led to US-approved repression. US troops occupied Cuba again from 1906 until 1909 and periodically sent troops to help quell rebellion. In 1940 the Cuban people created a new Constitution, along with hopes for a peaceful transition to democracy.
Batista Dictatorship and Revolution
In 1952, a young lawyer was running for Congress in Cuba when General Fulgencio Batista returned from Florida to stage a coup financed and supported by the US government. Batista suspended the Constitution and canceled elections. That young man, Fidel Castro, was not allowed to win or lose an election. The Helms-Burton Act, signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, specifies that neither Fidel nor Raul Castro will be allowed to run in a "free election" that would be certified by Washington. So it's easy to comprehend why US talk of "free elections" sounds hollow to Cuban ears. Besides, the United States does not have a record of supporting elections won by someone not stamped continued on page two with approval in Washington (note Guatemala in 1954 and Chile in 1973).
Under Batista, about 85 percent of Cuba's trade was with the US. Foreigners, mainly from the United States, owned 75 percent of arable land; 90 percent of services like water, electricity, and phones; and 40 percent of the sugar industry. Super exploitation and Batista's dictatorship incited the revolution, led by Fidel Castro, that finally triumphed on January 1,1959.
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Cuba had an American puppet government that let the American companies get possession of the farmland, mines, and other resources so American ownership was illigitimate. From the Cuban perspective the revolution was mainly about getting back control of their resources so that they benefited the Cuban people instead of just leaving the country to make Americans rich. They were justified in annexing everything after the revolution won.
The blockade was not the only problem the US was causing for Cuba. There was also economic sabotage.
http://arcticbeacon.com/books/William_Blum-Rogue_State(2002).pdf (Do a page search on the word "Cuba" here.)
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Cuba
1) In August 1962, a British freighter under Soviet lease, having damaged its propeller on
a reef, crept into the harbor at San Juan, Puerto Rico for repairs. It was bound for a Soviet
port with 80,000 bags of Cuban sugar. The ship was put into dry dock and 14,135 sacks
of sugar were unloaded to a warehouse to facilitate the repairs. While in the warehouse,
the sugar was contaminated by CIA agents with a substance that was allegedly harmless
but unpalatable. When President Kennedy learned of the operation he was furious
because it had taken place in US territory and if discovered could provide the Soviet Union with a propaganda field day and set a terrible precedent for chemical sabotage in
the Cold War. He directed that the sugar not be returned to the Russians, although what
explanation was given to them is not publicly known.21 Similar undertakings were
apparently not canceled. A CIA official, who helped direct worldwide sabotage efforts
against Cuba, later revealed that "There was lots of sugar being sent out from Cuba, and
we were putting a lot of contaminants in it."22
limit reached-continued next post...