Question

Why did Cuba want independence and self rule

in the 1950s and 1960s?

Why did the U.S. push back against this?
class

Answer 1

Cuba wished for a communist government, which the US did not like since it blocked US trade interests and did not allow US corporations to exploit the workers and market of Cuba for monetary gain. Cuba's close proximity to the US also allowed American citizens to learn more about socialist programs such as free healthcare universal housing which would damage profit for exploitative corporations. the US also feared that the USSR would place weapons of mass destruction on Cuban soil.

Answer 2

Dissatisfied with the corrupt and inefficient Spanish administration, lack of political representation, and high taxes, Cubans in the eastern provinces united under the wealthy planter Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, whose declaration of independence in October 1868, the Grito de Yara (“Cry of Yara”), signaled the beginning