Fidel Castro Shares His Political Ideology

In this interview conducted by the CBC in 1959, the middle of what Latin America’s revolutionary period, Fidel Castro shares his thoughts on his own political ideology, as well as how other countries view him. He states that he received tremendous support from people when he traveled throughout South America and even in Canada. “They’re all nice people”, he says, referencing Canada and even the United States. However, he tells the interviewer, the United States’ politicians have problems with him and his ideology. He follows this by saying everybody in Cuba has the right to think, right to have an opinion and an ideology, and that it’s the key to a democracy. He then says the United States does not have this because of that, they have are criminals.

During this time period, the United States would do anything in their power to stop the spread of communism in Latin America and Fidel Castro was a prime target of this. The US governments staged many assassination attempts and coups against Castro and many other socialist and communist leaders in Latin America. They saw communism as an absolute evil and feared Soviet Russia would establish ties to Latin American governments, though often they were not connected. Latin American countries were seen as perfect places for communism to gain a foothold so they tried to stop it at all costs.

Works Cited:

Canadian Broadcast Company. “Fidel Castro Shares His Political Ideology, CBC Archives”. Filmed [1959]. YouTube video, 2:51. Posted [October 2008]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJL1Rj1P_J0