Was He Then as He Has Always Been?

Shortly after the attack at Bay of Pigs began, Castro declared that Cuba was and would continue to be a socialist nation. Some believe that Castro was always a communist, with plans to rule Cuba forever, and an eye on the rest of the Western hemisphere. It doesn’t matter that the Cuban Communists didn’t openly befriend Castro until they absolutely had to. Others believe that the Cuban revolution was pushed into the arms of the Soviets by unrelenting, hard-edged imperialism, and a history of U.S. support for right-wing regimes on the island. From the beginning of the Revolution, many suspected that Castro held deeply leftists views. Where were the tax cuts for the rich? Where were the cuts on services for the poor? Why such a push for educating and feeding the poor and disenfranchised? With the new book by De-Palma shedding light on the triumph over Batista, and the 45-year anniversary of an invasion that should have never taken place coinciding with the length of a brutal economic embargo that should’ve never existed, it’s now possible for the American people to take a deep breath and reflect on relations with their Cuban neighbors. Peace.