It's criminal what Castro did to that country the last 60 years.
I'm no fan of Castro, but surely you can't argue that things were great there under Batista. There's a reason the population was eager for revolution.
Cuba Under Batista
• Rural Deprivation: Urban, foreign wealth masked severe rural poverty. The countryside suffered from chronic seasonal unemployment in the sugar industry, poor access to clean water, and widespread malnutrition.
• Foreign and Corporate Control: A large portion of the economy—including the majority of sugar plantations and arable land—was owned or dominated by U.S. corporate interests and American organized crime syndicates running gambling, drug, and prostitution networks.
Political Repression and Corruption
• Suspension of Democracy: After seizing power in a 1952 military coup, Batista suspended the democratic 1940 Constitution, revoked political liberties, and canceled elections.
• State Violence: His regime relied on a secret police force that used arbitrary arrest, torture, and extrajudicial executions against political dissidents, fueling widespread public outrage and the eventual Cuban Revolution.
• Corruption: Government administration was deeply corrupt, enriching Batista and his allies while alienating the broader population.
Social Inequalities and Discrimination
• Racial and Class Divides: Society experienced sharp racial segregation in private clubs and beaches, along with systemic discrimination that left poor and Black Cubans with limited mobility, education, and healthcare access.
While Batista's Cuba offered high macroeconomic figures and a vibrant commercial center in Havana for elites and tourists, it was simultaneously defined by dictatorship, severe inequality, corruption, and exploitation that ultimately led to its overthrow in 1959.
