As Cuba moves on from the late dictator Fidel Castro, Illinois State University Professor of Languages, Literature, and Cultures Jim Pancrazio looks at events leading up to the Cuban Revolution to contextualize the how and why of Castro's rise to power.
According to Pancrazio, Castro was an outgrowth of the 19th century nationalist leader Jose Marti', and the Castro-led revolution that toppled the government of President Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959, was a vindication of the struggle for independence began by Marti'.
Pancrazio notes it will be interesting to see how a Donald Trump presidency affects the course of U.S.-Cuba relations. Trump owns six luxury resorts in Florida, and most of the Florida hospitality industry in Florida was against the opening of relations with Cuba out of the justified fear that the Cuban tourism industry can pay lower wages and undercut prices of resorts in Florida.
