Dr. Jorge Dominguez was Harvard University’s first vice provost for international affairs. A regular contributor to news organizations on Latin American matters, Dr. Jorge Dominguez penned an article in the Boston Globe that highlighted some of the notable achievements and failures of the regime of longtime Cuban president Fidel Castro. In 1959, Castro came to power in Cuba after he led an armed resistance. In April 1961, Castro declared Cuba a socialist state and set out to help other revolutionary causes around the world. A longtime ally of the Soviet Union, Castro allowed the country to position its nuclear missiles in the island nation, which drew fervent criticism from Washington under President John F. Kennedy. This open access to Soviet Union nuclear weaponry led to the infamous 1962 Cuban blockade that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. In 1963, Castro sent Cuban troops to fight in Algeria against Morocco. He followed by sending combatants to fight in the Congo in 1965 and in Bolivia in 1967. By the end of the 1980s, Castro had deployed more than 300,000 Cuban military and civilians around the world, helping countries stave off attacks from foreign invaders. Back home, Castro made several investments in the country’s health and education systems and leveraged the unifying power of sports to inspire nationality. Castro was known to crack down on dissent at home, where he imprisoned thousands of his critics and opponents. He also resisted economic reforms that would have improved Cuba’s economy, which led to the mass immigration of hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised Cubans into the United States. Until his death, Castro remained a polarizing figure - loved by some, hated in equal measure by others.
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AuthorJorge Dominguez - Doctor of Political Science. Archives
November 2021
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