"Too far from heaven, too close to America." I believe that many people have heard such a saying, in fact, it is true that the Latin American countries closest to the United States, except for Cuba and Venezuela, have become "colonies" of the United States and have been given what the Americans want.
The other kind of disobedient Cuba and Venezuela have long been suffering from US sanctions and blockades, especially Cuba, which has been blocked by the United States for 60 years, but why has Cuba always had to survive, unlike the Americans who bowed their heads and "admitted their mistakes"?
First, fight side by side
Cuba and the United States are across the sea, the nearest place is only 90 nautical miles away, and the most advanced warships in modern times can reach each other's territory in just one and a half hours.
It is said that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, but for Cuba, the behemoth-like neighbor of the United States has become a lingering nightmare, like an inextricable shackle, trapped deadly.
After Cuba was discovered by the voyage of Columbus in 1492, it immediately became a Spanish colony, the Indians on the island were slaughtered, and many European immigrants made a fortune by relying on the African black slaves who were trafficked.
However, with the passage of time, Cuba and its suzerainty Spain have had a huge conflict of interest, and more and more newborn Cubans hope to get rid of Spain's shackles and embark on an independent development path.
In particular, after the Americans across the sea defeated the British to establish an independent country, the Cubans saw the hope of independence, and in the next hundred years, many civilian armed uprisings broke out, but the final result was a heavy defeat without exception.
With the rise of the United States, coupled with the importance of Cuba's geographical location, it is the most important step on the road to U.S. foreign expansion.
Therefore, the Americans came to Cuba and promised the Cubans that they would be willing to defeat the Spaniards with their own army and give Cuba independent status as a brotherly country.
The desperate Cubans accepted the advice of the Americans, cooperated with the U.S. army to land in Cuba, and defeated the Spaniards in a very short time.
Second, turning against each other
After the expulsion of the Spaniards, American soldiers were stationed in Cuba, replacing the northwestern rule over Cuba, and the independence that Cuba wanted did not come.
Even if Cuba wants to establish a country, it can only build a limited country with the permission of the Americans, and it must obey the command and dispatch of the Americans and cooperate with the performance of the Americans in the world.
In fact, this is still a kind of colonization, just another way of saying it.
However, at this time, Cuba was weak and weak, and could not compete with the Americans at all, and could only watch the Americans rampage and plunder their own land.
Under the manipulation of the Americans, the so-called Cuban government existed in name only, a large amount of capital entered the Cuban market, monopolized Cuba's sugar industry, mining industry and other pillar industries, so that Cuba became a vassal of the United States economically, more than 80% of the financial revenue was pocketed by the Americans, and the hard-working Cubans did not get anything but poverty.
With such days not changing in any way, the Cubans began to fight, and the resistance gradually grew. Castro and Che Guevara are among them.
In 1959, with the tacit help of the Soviet Union, Cuba won a revolutionary victory, overthrew the Batista regime, which represented the interests of the United States, and established a socialist revolutionary government in Cuba, thus entering a new era.
3. Blockaded by the United States for sixty years
Seeing their backyard on fire, the Americans could no longer sit still, especially when the land controlled by the American capital was forcibly reclaimed by the Cuban government and distributed to the nationals, the Americans did not hide it and began to sharpen their knives against Cuba.
In 1961, the United States Government unilaterally announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Cuba and at the same time imposed a full-scale blockade, so that if foreign oil could not be transported in, industry could not be developed, and domestic agricultural products could not be transported out, so they could not exchange enough foreign exchange and could not accumulate capital, which became the most important reason for Cuba's inability to develop for sixty years.
At this time, the Soviet Union was competing with the United States for hegemony on a global scale, and Khrushchev saw the opportunity to contact Castro and give Cuba a lot of assistance.
The Americans did not allow the Cuban agricultural products to be bought, the Soviet Union dared to buy them, the Americans did not allow the oil shipped to Cuba, and the Soviet Union helped to transport them.
Of course, all that the Soviets did was not completely selfless, but also had their own selfish intentions, and thus brought about an extremely serious Cuban Missile crisis, and even made the world tense for a time, and the human world was only one step away from destruction.
With the help of the Soviet Union, Cuba temporarily broke away from the shackles of the Americans, lived a carefree life, and once became the richest presence in Latin American countries.
However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba's big backers fell and had to face the Blockade by the Americans alone, and Cuba's economic situation deteriorated once again.
Fourthly, Cubans are constantly striving for self-improvement
Despite the difficulties, the Cubans are still self-reliant, still regard "anti-American" as their ultimate goal, and are always unwilling to bow their heads.
Under Castro's strong leadership, Cuba has the world's leading health care system and a comprehensive compulsory education system, which is beyond the reach of many developed countries.
According to relevant statistics, the average life expectancy in Cuba has long exceeded that of the United States, and one out of 14 Cubans has graduated from a bachelor's degree, almost eliminating illiteracy, and the literacy rate has reached 100%.
As the leader, Castro, in the face of the assassination of the Americans, has escaped 634 assassinations, survived 9 US presidents, until 2016 in Cuba due to old age, died at the age of 90.
Although Cuba and the United States have established diplomatic relations today, the continuous economic blockade and trade blockade have always existed, which has become an important ironclad evidence of the strength and indomitability of Cubans, which has also made Cuba one of the few countries in the world with "independent and autonomous" status.