While Cuba's 1940 constitution was among the most progressive in the western hemisphere, few knew its details until political leader Chibás, whose suicide in 1951 precipitated the Cuban Revolution, read it on his radio program. This work explores Chibás's life in order to explain the nature of Cuban politics from the mid-twentieth century to today.

A leading scholar sheds light on the experiences of ordinary Cubans in the unseating of the dictator Fulgencio Batista In this important and timely volume, one of today’s foremost experts on Cuban history and politics fills a significant gap in the literature, illuminating how Cuba’s electoral democracy underwent a tumultuous transformation into a military dictatorship. Lillian Guerra draws on her years of research in newly opened archives and on personal interviews to shed light on the men and women of Cuba who participated in mass mobilization and civic activism to establish social movements in their quest for social and racial justice and for more accountable leadership. Driven by a sense of duty toward la patria (the fatherland) and their dedication to heroism and martyrdom, these citizens built a powerful underground revolutionary culture that shaped and witnessed the overthrow of Batista in the late 1950s. Beautifully illustrated with archival photographs, this volume is a stunning addition to Latin American history and politics.

Cuban politics has long been remarkable for its passionate intensity, and yet few scholars have explored the effect of emotions on political attitudes and action in Cuba or elsewhere. This book thus offers an important new approach by bringing feelings back into the study of politics and showing how the politics of passion and affection have interacted to shape Cuban history throughout the twentieth century. Damián Fernández characterizes the politics of passion as the pursuit of a moral absolute for the nation as a whole. While such a pursuit rallied the Cuban people around charismatic leaders such as Fidel Castro, Fernández finds that it also set the stage for disaffection and disconnection when the grand goal never fully materialized. At the same time, he reveals how the politics of affection-taking care of family and friends outside the formal structures of government-has paradoxically both undermined state regimes and helped them remain in power by creating an informal survival network that provides what the state cannot or will not.

Organized labor in the 1950s -- A crisis of productivity -- The employers' offensive -- Workers take stock -- Responses to state terror -- Two strikes -- Last days of Batista -- The first year of the new Cuba -- Conclusion: what was the role of organized labor in the Cuban insurrection?

Between 1920 and 1940, Cuba underwent a remarkable transition, moving from oligarchic rule to a nominal constitutional democracy. The events of this period are crucial to a full understanding of the nation's political evolution, yet they are often glossed over in accounts that focus more heavily on the revolution of 1959. With this book, Robert Whitney accords much-needed attention to a critical stage in Cuban history. Closely examining the upheavals of the period, which included a social revolution in 1933 and a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista one year later, Whitney argues that the eventual rise of a more democratic form of government came about primarily because of the mass mobilization by the popular classes against oligarchic capitalism, which was based on historically elite status rather than on a modern sense of nation. Although from the 1920s to the 1940s politicians and political activists were bitterly divided over what "popular" and "modern" state power meant, this new generation of politicians shared the idea that a modern state should produce a new and democratic Cuba.

Traces economic development, social dynamics, and political processes in Cuba from the end of Spanish colonial rule to the 1959 revolution. Focusing especially on class structures, gender roles, race relations, and political change, the author describes the social and economic circumstances in which most Cubans lived before 1959, and he explores the complex and compelling relationship between North American capital investment and the formation and deformation of Cuba's national institutions. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

United States-Cuban Relations breaks new ground in its treatment of this long and tumultuous relationship. The overall approach, mirroring the political science background of both authors, does not focus on historical detail that has been provided by many other works, but rather on a broad analysis of trends and patterns that have marked the long relationship between the two countries. Dominguez and Prevost argue that U.S. policy toward Cuba is driven in significant measure by developments on the ground in Cuba. From the U.S. intervention at the time of the Cuban Independence War to the most recent revisions of U.S. policy in the wake of the Powell Commission, the authors demonstrate how U.S. policy adjusts to developments and perceived reality on the island. The final chapters of the book focus on the contemporary period, with particular emphasis on the changing dynamic toward Cuba from U.S. civil society. Dominguez and Prevost describe how the U.S. business community, fearful of being isolated from Cuba's reinsertion in the world's capitalist markets, have united with long-standing opponents of the U.S. embargo to win the right to sell food and medicines to Cuba over the last four years. Ultimately, the authors are realists about the possibility of better relations between the U.S. and Cuba, pointing out that, short of the collapse of Cuba's current political and economic system, fundamental change in U.S. policy toward the island is unlikely in the immediate future.

A thorough examination of the history of Cuba, focusing primarily on the period from the revolution in 1959 to the present day. This historical overview connects significant events from Cuba's past with the country's current social and political changes. Author Clifford L. Staten reviews the changing landscape of Cuba and explores subjects such as the relationship between the domestic and international political economy of Cuba; the successes and failures of Castro's revolution; the importance of the U.S. role in Cuban politics and commerce; and the problems associated with an agricultural fiscal structure based upon sugar. The revised edition includes additional biographies of key figures from recent history and an expanded bibliography of notable resources. Updated content features a look at censorship issues with the rise of the Internet and social media in Cuba and the transfer of power to Raul Castro in 2006. Other topics include Spanish colonialism, the struggle for independence, Castro's revolution, the Cold War, and the impact of globalization.