Communism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communism - Essay Example Mixed results can also be found in one of our large trading partners, Chile. Until the beginning of the 20th century Cuba had been a Spanish Colony. Cuba was formally granted independence in 1903 and throughout the century Cuba fell under a series of radical and often corrupt regimes. In the 1950s Batista ruled Cuba with a strong dictatorship under the influence of Mafia corruption. Opposition to the Batista regime resulted in the overthrow of the government by Castro backed forces. Castro increasingly turned to communism as an ideology. Today, the per capita income is $3,000 per year, largely restricted by reduced trade opportunities ("Background Note: Cuba") Castro's popularity was severely tested by the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, which led to a cutoff in aid, the loss of a guaranteed export market for Cuban sugar and the loss of a source of cheap imported oil. Conditions in Cuba are indicated when Mantilla reports, " [...] a home with a washer and dryer would be a very rare home indeed". In Cuba, however, these events were not sufficient to persuade Cuban Communists that they should voluntarily give up power. General Pinochet Ugarte was head of the military council that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, which took control in a violent coup that overthrew the Socialist President Salvador Allende.