Castro's Cuba Flashcards
South American countries which historically had been settled by Spain or Portugal
Latin America
named after senator Orville Platt the amendment became the basis for what was in effect a binding treaty between Cuba and the USA
The Platt Amendment
an underworld crime syndicate particularly strong in Florida
Mafia
organized bodies representing such groups as the sugar and tobacco workers in Cuba
Labor Unions
made the US Parliament and made the senate and House of Representatives
Congress
in the Caribbean had been led for two decades up until 1952 by Trujillo, who gained a fearsome reputation for the ferocity with which he suppressed his political opposition
Dominican Republic
one of the most northerly of the South American countries republic underwent a bloody political conflict in the 1940s and 1950s known as The Violence
Colombia
literally translates to “Orthodox Party” but more means “People’s Party”
Partido Ortodoxo
relating to the ideas of Karl Marx, a German revolutionary, who had advanced the notion that human society developed historically as a continuous series of class struggles between those who did not. He taught that the culmination of this dialectical process would be the crushing victory of the proletariat over the bourgeoisie
Marxist
a Central American state bordered by Mexico and Brazil
Guatemala
Central Intelligence Agency, the USA’s espionage, and counterespionage organization
CIA
a style of warfare in which mobile troops living off the land harass the enemy
Guerrilla
Castro’s name for his revolutionary movement chosen in commemoration of the Moncada Barracks attack which had taken place on that day 1953
26 July movement
a mountain range running across the province of Oriente in eastern Cuba
Sierra Maestra
someone willing to engage in a violent struggle but lacking in a true understanding of the revolutionary process
Putchista
USA’s foreign ministry
State Department
Sierra Cristal
a mountain range in northern Cuba
a mountain range in central Cuba
Escambrav
a governing Cabinet
Council of Ministry
special public court hearings meant as propaganda exercises in which the accused were paraded as enemies of the people
Show trial
dedicated communist party workers trained to take over as officials in the event of a revolution in Cuba
Cadres
the period of political and diplomatic tension, 1945-91 between the capitalist USA and its allies and the communist USSR and its allies
Cold War
signed between the USSR and Cuba on February 1960 according to which the Soviet Union was to buy the bulk of the island’s sugar crop in return for selling oil and industrial machinery to Cuba
Commercial Agreement
anti-Castro elements who had fled the islands after the 1959 revolution
Cuban Emigres
A warning given by President Monroe in 1923 that the USA would not allow other powers to colonize or interfere in any part of the Americas and would regard itself as the protector of the region.
Monroe Doctrine
nuclear-armed missile
Polaris
a commonly used term referring to the Soviet government, which was located in the Kremlin fortress in Moscow, the USSR’s capital
Kremlin
the Cuban Landowner’s great estates
Latifundias
basic crop or commodity on which an economy relies
Staple
depriving the peasants of their land and requiring them to live and work in communes
Collectivization
the identification of Chinese Communism with Mao Personally
Maoism
the countries of eastern and Central Europe which were dominated by the Soviet Union between the late 1940s and late 1980s
Eastern Block
General Directorate of Intelligence, an internal security agency, concerned with enforcing conformity within Cuba. It was especially active as an anti-US spy network
DGI
a revitalization of the Cuban Revolution by correction of past errors
rectification
Gross National Product the annual total value of goods and services produced by a country at home. Added to the profits from its exports trade
GNP
a Catholic organization calling for religious and political freedom in Cuba
Varela Project
originally used by US president George W Bush to refer to those countries which he regarded as supporting terrorists or creating weapons of mass destruction, Iran, Iraq and North Korea
The Axis of Evil
