This and other acts of communist terror prompted mass exodus. More than half a million people fled the country in just five years and the total number of refugees and exiles now exceeds two million. Cuba remains among the handful of officially communist states, although inevitable change is high on the local agenda. The US and Cuba agreed in to normalise relations.
Republic of Cuba Capital: Havana. Image source, Getty Images. Miguel Diaz-Canel, right, took over from Raul Castro, left. Read full media profile. Fidel Castro became one of America's most notorious bogeymen and target of numerous US assassination plots. Thousands of Cubans have tried to flee their island in flimsy craft. Related Topics. Cuba Raul Castro. Fuel, food, and medicine were scarce, electrical blackouts frequent, and feelings of despair widespread. They shouted anti-government slogans and picked up rocks and masonry from building sites, apparently preparing to go on a rampage.
Upon sight of Castro, however, the rioters first fell silent and then began to cheer him, and soon order was restored. It was a remarkable moment, which has since found a prime place in fidelista mythology. As I did, plainclothes agents in the crowd around me stopped a car with an anti-Castro sign, dragged the driver out, and beat him before taking him away.
People around me watched in silence and then moved away. Just then, the trucks full of workers came roaring past. That night, Castro went on television and announced that any Cuban who wanted to leave the island by sea could so.
For the next three weeks, some thirty-five thousand people built improvised boats and rafts and set sail for Key West and Miami. It was an embarrassing episode for Castro, but, as so many times before, he came out the ultimate winner, first by removing a good number of troublesome malcontents from the island, and then by forcing President Bill Clinton to deal with the crisis. Having been embarrassed by the Cuban uprising, he must show strength in order to preserve order.
In any event, it seems a certainty that the unrest in Cuba has not ended. So far, despite widespread expectation that the Biden Administration might engage in a renewed diplomatic opening, it has taken a tepid approach toward Cuba, even leaving in place many restrictions and punitive measures imposed during the Trump years; these include a last-minute listing of Cuba as a state sponsor of terror, which penalizes U.
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