num_pages: 376
description: Of the many works analyzing and defining the Cuban Revolution—perhaps the most important event of this [20th] century in Latin America—Boris Goldenberg’s study is especially significant: It treats the upheaval not as an incident deriving only from Cuba’s own past and from the character of Fidel Castro and his closest associates, but as an expression of tensions that exist throughout Latin America. Despite their many differences—geographic, social, economic, and cultural—the Latin American countries share a common semi-feudal, Ibero-Catholic heritage; and Mr. Goldenberg brilliantly analyzes the effects of this heritage on the major revolutions—in Mexico, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guatemala, Argentina, and elsewhere—that predated Castro’s seizure of power in Cuba.Authoritatively and dispassionately, he describes the historic roots of the Cuban Revolution—the factors that make violent social change almost inevitable; the structure of the Cuban economy and society; and the role of the Communist Party before 1959. Step by step, he traces Castro’s triumph over Batista’s disorganized army; the establishment of a Communist system in Cuba; and the development, achievements, and failures of the revolutionary government. He also describes Cuba’s relations with the United States and the U.S.S.R., and the genesis of the missile crisis of 1962.Finally, Mr. Goldenberg considers the impact of Castro on the rest of Latin America and the likelihood of a democratic solution to the Latin American crisis in the light of the Cuban experience. It is his tentative conclusion that there is little likelihood of a democratic-capitalist solution of the crisis, however desirable this may be on purely rational grounds, and that the future political framework of the Latin American nations will have many socialist characteristics.—from the front flap of the dust jacketIncludes a Bibliography and an IndexPublisher’s series: Library of International StudiesPublisher’s imprint: Books That MatterFirst US edition published in 1965pre-ISBN
language: English
title: The Cuban Revolution and Latin America
publisher: Frederick A. Praeger