Long Battle of Imperialism: the Case of Cuba
Colonialism, corruption and poverty. How did we get here?
The history of Cuba is heavy and nuanced. For the sake of keeping it concise, here is a summary. Long, long ago (~ 4000 BCE), the island of Cuba was inhabited by Indigenous groups: primarily the Taíno, along with the Guanajatabey and Ciboney peoples. That was until the infamous Christopher Columbus’ arrival in 1492. His “discovery” began the gruesome colonial rule over the island by the Spanish in 1511, which resulted in the Indigenous population being enslaved and forcefully converted to Christianity. Over the next few decades, said population was largely wiped out due to brutality and diseases such as smallpox.
Around 1526, the Spanish imported hundreds of thousands of African slaves to work sugar cane plantations. After centuries, the Criollos (descendants of the Spanish who held no administrative power) were getting tired of colonia rule, which then began the Ten Years’ War of Independence (1868-1878) led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo– a sugarcane factory owner who freed his slaves and asked them to join him in the fight against the Spanish, even though it ended up not being entirely successful. In 1895, a third rebellion began with the leadership of José Martí and ended in 1898 when the U.S. declared war on Spain (Spanish-American War of 1898) and won.
This, amongst other things, gave the U.S. military occupation over Cuba until their official independence in 1902. Independence came at a cost: the implementation of the Platt Amendment (1901) into the Cuban constitution which conveniently – disliked by many – gave the U.S. the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to protect American interests… But why does this matter?
By the early 1900s, Cuban property owners were heavily in debt due to the economic instability and could not pay off their lands, and by 1920s much of the lands were owned by Americans (land = power). During WWI, Cuba supported the Allies and American military bases were built in Cuba. Though, Cuba provided soldiers and doctors, American control was present more than ever. The first dictator of Cuba was Gerardo Machado, who was democratically elected in 1924 but later seized over all political bodies in government from 1925-1933 (going against the division of powers). The U.S. imposed protectionist tariffs and quotas on sugar during the the Great Depression (1929), further devastating the Cuban sugar industry that relied on U.S. exports (ig. the 1930 Smoot Hawley tariff).
As you can tell by now, revolutions and economics instability were a big part of Cuban history.
By 1933, many Cubans were poor, hungry, and sick of economic and racial inequalities under the provisional regime of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, to which the U.S essentially said “you’re done” and influenced a military coup to overthrow the dictatorship. This was yet another revolution (Sergeant’s Revolt) led by Fulgencio Batista (the son of impoverished farmers), who many speculate was backed by the CIA. Anywho, Ramón Grau San Martín got elected as president by popular vote (he is considered to be a flawed leader by many historians), and a hundred days later Batista (backed by the military) declared himself Colonel and the de facto leader, taking over from 1933-1940. During that time, he installed a few puppet presidents whom the U.S. approved of.
In 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt abolished the Platt Amendment, with the goal of a friendly Cuba-U.S. partnership as Batista was seen as a supporter of stability by the American government (even though many Cubans did not approve of him, he was somewhat of a breath of fresh air in leadership). Then, in 1940, he ran for president of the Democratic Socialist Coalition (7 parties including the Communist Party), which was a populist coalition with promises of stability. He won with 60% majority. Cuba witnessed economic growth and stability, and roads, schools, and hospitals were built. A new constitution was implemented, and he led until 1944. For 8 years afterwards, Cuba fell into deep corruption, and Batista returned from his stay in Florida and ran for president, but due to polling poorly, ended up using his popularity within the Cuban army to overthrow the president Carlos Prío Socarrás in 1952. This was a horrendous and violent coup, after which Batista declared himself as a dictator with the support of the U.S. and canceled the upcoming election. He was horrible, controlled the universities, the press, and the Congress. He embezzled huge sums from the soaring economy.
Another prominent figure emerges in Cuban history: Fidel Castro. Castro learned about leftist anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. He participated in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia. These experiences led him to conclude, like many, that the corruption of Latin America was due to the imperialist control of the U.S. He tried to overthrow Batista in 1953, but failed. He was imprisoned, and later went to Mexico to form the revolutionary movement of 26th of July with his brother Raúl Castro, and Ernesto (Che) Guevara. Che ended up being the face of the Cuban revolution and a pivotal figure. Castro began a guerrilla war and overthrew Batista in 1959. He took power, and the U.S. was not happy, so they tried to assassinate him. They failed, and through the implementation of Marxist-Leninism, Castro turned Cuba into a socialist state.
He supported anti-imperialist groups in Latin America, and propelled Cuban literacy and medical sector. Although he did some good, he was in power for 49 years and is either loved or hated by the public. Due to opinions being so mixed on this era of Cuba, I urge readers to research it on their own. Long story short, the U.S. was at war with the USSR and its communist allies during the Cold War, and implemented a series of embargoes on Cuba to crush Castro, devastating the Cuban economy. In addition, roughly 1.3 million Cubans left the country in the last five years in hopes of finding stability elsewhere.
On January 3rd 2026, the United States captured Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro. This gave the States control over Venezuela’s oil exports, and made headlines due to the country having one of the largest oil reserve in the world. For Cuba, this meant that their one of their oil providers and key allies was now out of the game. The two countries’ partnership comes from decades of efforts to build political and economic agreements such as the subsidization of Venezuelan oil, helping maintain Cuba’s power grids during its crisis for the past 2 years since much of the country relies on oil for energy. As of now, the Cuban population is suffering from even more blackouts and further barriers to trade, showing us that the impacts of imperialism are still very much present.
Sources:
- American Experience, PBS. “Pre-Castro Cuba.” American Experience | PBS, 17 Nov. 2015,
- Florida International University – Digital Communications. “Cuba Country Profile.” Cuban Research Institute, 9 Sept. 2024
- Making Sure You’re Not a Bot! 28 Feb. 2026
- Sablik, Tim. “Trading With Cuba.” Richmond Fed, 17 Jan. 2025,
- Sharma, Yashraj. “From Blackouts to Food Shortages: How US Blockade Is Crippling Life in Cuba.” Al Jazeera, 9 Feb. 2026
- Suarez, John. Placing the Cuban Revolution of 1933 in Context: How the Sergeants Revolt Marked a Before and After in Cuban History
- Trump’s Fact Sheet on Cuba: Lies, Blockades, and the Long War Against Cuban Sovereignty | Pambazuka News.
- Topping, Alexandra. “‘Venezuela Helped Us a Lot’: US’s Capture of Nicolás
- “Fulgencio Batista.” Britannica, 12 Jan. 2026
- Maduro Stirs Anxiety in Cuba.” The Guardian, 5 Jan. 2026
- Wikipedia contributors. “Fidel Castro.” Wikipedia, 10 Mar. 2026
