As a reminder my question is What are the key principles of Marxism as a social, economic, and political theory/how it has influenced various societies and movements throughout history? In my last blog post I talked about what Marxism is and its key principles. In this blog post I will be researching How Marxism has been involved in various revolutions and societies in history and prominent Marxist figures.
Cuban revolution
The first revolution that Marxism has played a key role in that I will be talking about in the Cuban revolution. The Cuban Revolution was an armed uprising led by Fidel Castro and Marxist revolutionary Che Guevera; their goal was to convert Cuba into a socialist system in which the means of production are owned by the workers. This revolution in Cuba overthrew the government of the US backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959 (3). After the removal of Fulgencio Batista, Castro turned Cuba into the western world’s first communist state, it focused on social change and objectives over economic efficiency and prosperity. The revolution achieved significant advances in health and education but drove much of the middle and upper classes into exile (4). Although the success of the Cuban revolution influenced a wave of guerrilla conflict and urban terrorism throughout Latin America (4). Moreover, there are many debates among Marxists about the theoretical problems that the Cuban revolution posed. This revolution happened while not being led by a Marxist party, nor the working class, which is inconsistent with the theory of Permanant revolution (Leon Trotsky). This made many Marxists realize that their theoretical expectations of revolution may be contradicted (2).
Who was Che Guevarra?
Ernesto Che Guevara was a Marxist revolutionary who studied medicine at the university of Buenos Aires and was born in Argentina in 1928. Guevara believed that revolution was the only solution to the socioeconomic inequalities present in Latin America, which he had experienced during his travels throughout the region. Che Guevara joined Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959 and played an important role in the Cuban government before leaving to foment revolutions in Congo-Kinshasa and Bolivia. He was captured and executed by the Bolivian Army in 1967(1). Guevara has since become an icon of sorts, with his face being commodified and put on T-shirts, which I find ironic.
In my next blog post I will be researching What potential future implications Marxist theory could have on the world? And what principles of Marxism could improve/worsen our society today?
- Che Guevara. (n.d.). https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/c/Che_Guevara.htm
- The Cuban Revolution and Marxist theory. Cuban Revolution and Marxist Theory. (n.d.). https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/icl-spartacists/cuba/cuba-mt.html
- Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Cuban revolution. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Cuban-Revolution
- Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.-b). Impact of the Cuban Revolution. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Latin-America/Impact-of-the-Cuban-Revolution
- Márquez, C. R., Sarti, R., Martín, J., Tendency, I. M., Martin, J., Weston, F., Woods, A., In Defence of Marxism, & Sarti, A. W. and R. (2021, March 25). In defence of marxism. In Defence of Marxism. https://www.marxist.com/cuban-revolution.htm