whattheheckcastro

[whattheheckcastro]

Conclusion

In the beginning of this blog I asked, Why was there ableist, homophobic and oppressive systems like work camps under his leadership in Cuba? Through research of primary and secondary sources it seems that even those in power at the time, primarily Castro, cannot support a good reasoning. They were wrong to do it and recognize they were wrong. This answer is not very satisfactory but humanitarian crises rarely can be justified. Addressing the contradiction between his alleged values and actions, I would say that the 'machismo' characteristics that Cubans in the 50s and 60s valued probably led to Castro valuing these characteristics in his actions. He was wrong to put social values over people's livelihood.

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All Works Cited

[whattheheckcastro]

"They were moments of great injustice, great injustice!... If someone is responsible, it's me."

-Fidel Castro, 2010

[whattheheckcastro]

Fidel Castro, claiming to be near death conducts an interview in 2010 with Carmen Lira Saade.

Image source: https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/08/fidel-castro-says-he-was-near-death.html

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The second primary source I have chosen is an interview of Fidel Castro from 2010. This interview was published in La Jornada, a publication based out of Mexico City. While Castro’s words in the 60s might display how he felt and his motives more accurately, my research tells me that Castro did not talk about the UMAPs in speech very frequently. Additionally, I found no reference on Cuba’s homophobic past from Castro until this point. However, this interview is very interesting as the interviewer, Carmen Lira Saade, asks Fidel Castro about these work camps and why they were created in the first place. Castro goes into Cuba’s past cultural phenomenon of ‘machismo’ and actually takes accountability for the oppressive forced labor. However, traditional masculinity is not an excuse for human rights violations. He also mentions his brother, Raul's, involvement in the camps. To me this accountability does not suffice to make up for what occurred, but at least he recognizes the injustice. (Demos)

Image source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-11147157

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Still from Before Night Falls film

Shows members of the LGBTQ community behind tall fences surrounded by guards

Image source: https://letterboxd.com/film/before-night-falls/

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Still taken from the Before Night Falls film

Accurate representation of Arenas' life before entering the prison camp

Image source: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/before-night-falls-2001

[whattheheckcastro]

My first and main primary source is Before Night Falls, by Reinaldo Arenas. This is a memoire written by a survivor of a UMAP. In this work, he catalogues the time preceding his encampment, his life in the labor camp and his consequent escape to the United States. He generally opposed the revolution because of the outlawing of same sex relationships and devaluation of the currency. The loss of currency virtually kept everyone stuck in Cuba. He then adopted a bohemian lifestyle of writing poetry, moving around and sexual promiscuity. He writes about this time in a rather joyous tone and focuses on the quirks in his peers' personalities. This happiness was only temporary, as Labor Camps were created for homosexual prisoners. Once in the camp, his tone completely changes and he talks about how gay men, drag queens and transgender people were tortured and raped. Life inside of this UMAP was a complete nightmare. He eventually escapes just to be caught and sent to prison in Havana, where the conditions were just as bad. After another attempt at escaping, this time successful he makes it to New York City, which he viewed as a safe haven for people like him. He was shocked to find that there were people in the United States that viewed Castro as a hero. He talks about how the total abandoning of human rights is completely unjustified. He ends his autobiography by announcing he is dying of aids and he killed himself just after finishing the book. From this primary source, it truly seems like the use of forced labor was an unjustified, nightmarish act of evil. The answer to my question I received is that Castro's leadership was an evil regime that put the production of crops ahead of human rights. (Arenas)

Image source and link to memoire: https://www.amazon.com/Before-Night-Falls-Arenas-R/dp/1781258686

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Partial Answer...

After just slightly delving in to speeches and interviews from Castro, testimonies from survivors and some secondary sources about the era, I was able to partially grasp the reasoning for forced labor. Firstly, Cuba and much of Latin America in the mid 20th century participated in hyper-masculine gender roles for Men. This cultural phenomenon is often referred to as 'machismo' and it asserted that men should be traditionally masculine (strong, competent, aggressive and non-emotional) and probably most importantly, heterosexual. This led gay men to be considered antisocial, garnering zero respect, and made them a candidate for forced labor. I even pondered if the inability to create offspring in homosexual relationships made Castro think it would be best for them since machismo men were needed to have children with women. Secondly, with a goal of proving that communism could work, great amounts of production would be necessary for the global stage to view Cuba as even remotely prosperous. This massive push for production was also a response to foreign governments trying to destroy Cuba's economy.

[whattheheckcastro]

Questioning Castro

As a leftist, intersectionality is incredibly important to me for uniting and mobilizing all marginalized groups that are affected by wealth disparity. Forced labor completely disregards the value of human life and directly opposes Marx’s views on labor exploitation. So, I must ask;  Why was there homophobic and oppressive systems like work camps under his leadership in Cuba?

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Homosexuals and dissidents in a Military Unit to Aid Production in 1967.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Units_to_Aid_Production

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Context to This Blog

The Cuban revolution that took place in the 1950s had roots in humanitarian issues. Cubans were living under an oppressive military dictatorship. Fidel Castro, a major revolutionary and eventual leader of Cuba, spoke of his goals for the country in great detail. He wanted to ease wealth disparity, end labor exploitation, increase education, provide healthcare and centralize the economy. These types of social welfare align with his Marxist–Leninist ideology. However, a contradiction arose when he took leadership in Cuba and forced labor camps began to produce more exports and commodities. These labor camps were called Military Units to Aid Production (UMAPs) and they drafted ‘antisocial’ Cubans to be forced into re-education and forced manual labor. ‘Antisocial’ in this sense means the LGBTQ community, certain religious groups, and those who opposed Castro politically.