Prior to the Cuban revolution, Cuba was under the Essays

Prior to the Cuban revolution, Cuba was under the control of Fulgencio Batista, a capitalist dictator. American casinos and occupation caused unrest in Cuba, and the tourism caused a huge disparity within the poor. This sparked the Cuban revolution, whereafter the money earned from the tourism and given to the rich was given to the poor. However, in Cuba following 1959, the Castro regime has infringed upon human rights via unjust arrests, extreme police brutality, the murder of dissenters, and the creation of labor camps for gay men and those who opposed the regime. These occurrences continue in modern day Cuba, with unjust arrests and police brutality persisting in communist Cuba. Coupled with covered up assassinations and death camps disguised as labor camps, the Cuban government has been committing inhumane atrocities since the beginning of the Castro Regime. The earliest form of human rights abuses, is the aforementioned labor camps, known as Military Units to Aid Production, or otherwise as UMAPs. However, they only existed for a short period of time. The Cuban labor camps existed from 1965 to 1968. They primarily targeted political dissenters, though they included gay men and those who's religions went against that of the communist government.( They began as an alternative to those who could not complete their compulsory service in the Cuban military. However, they quickly became an inhumane means of killing off these undesirable' populations. It had been estimated that seventy two men were tortured to death, five hundred and seven were sent to psychiatric wards, and one hundred eighty of them committed suicide. However, these numbers are extremely small, considering the total internee count being up to thirty five thousand. To say nothing of the concerning means that the aforementioned men met their deaths, the conditions of such places were not suitable for any human being to healthily live. Forced to work in farms for up to ten to twelve hours out of the day, men were put in extreme labor conditions, having to work up to seven days out of the week. These inhumane working hours only further showcase the inhumanity of these camps. Not to mention, the poor nutrition, unclean water, poorly prepared food, with even the plates they ate off being unclean. The barracks in these camps were filled to the brim, with men forced to even share beds. Those imprisoned even had no electricity to speak of, the extremity going on to the point that they had no toilets. Castro himself even admitted that the purpose of these labor camps was to punish those who refused to join communist parties while facilitating free labor for the state. Despite the government being open about the existence of these camps, communist supporters try to deny their existence, propagating Cuba as an LGBT friendly country. However, this is simply ignoring the facts. Gay men were punished on account of simply being gay with detention sweeps, which would quickly send them to these labor camps. (Wise, New York Times). Others will say that Castro was not in power', or against it' during the times of these camps' existence. However, that is going against evidence. Fidel Castro was a dictator, who had all the power that came with one, such as controlling the existence of these UMAPs and their execution. The aforementioned labor camps are not the only form of cruelty that the Castro regime has enforced upon the Cuban people. Deliberately small rations quickly caused high death counts, not to mention the democides. No exact amount of deaths from starvation is known, but from primary accounts, the toll is undoubtedly high. Historian from College of Hawaii estimates up to 141,000 deaths while under the Castro regime- not even just from starvation. When considering the death toll in Cuba a small number, be aware that the exact number is unknown due to purposeful, either concealing of records, or simply being willingly ignorant of the death toll and making no such records. Before 1990, the rations would include as two pounds of chicken, six eggs, a pound of picadillo *, and if fish was present, then a pound, for the month. During 1991 in a time commonly known as the special period by people who