592. The Cuban Revolution and Its Legacy

The triumphant arrival of Fidel Castro and his fellow revolutionaries in Havana in January 1959 was a defining moment of the Cold War and a watershed for left-wing political ideology in the region. The successful guerrilla campaign that ousted a pro-U.S. dictator alarmed Washington and inspired Latin American leftists who sought an alternative to capitalism and an end to U.S. imperialism. After examining U.S.-Cuban relations dating to the nineteenth century, this talk explores the unlikely success of the guerrilla campaign, the evolution of the revolution over the decades, and the complex historical residue that has Cuba in the sights of the Trump Administration more than 50 years later.