Castro portrait
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Cuban Comics in the Castro Era
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The Art and History of Cuban Revolutionary Propaganda
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¡Revolución!
In 1940, Fulgencio Batista had won the Cuban presidency after he and others led a coup against the legitimate Cuban government in 1933, called the "Sergeants' Revolt." Batista orchestrated a string of puppet presidents until he took full control from 1940 to 1944. In 1952, after living in Florida for eight years, he again ran for president of Cuba. Realizing his imminent defeat, he again orchestrated a coup, supported by the American government. Between American economic control over the sugar industry and the relationship with the American mafia, Batista right-wing government became oppressive, repressing all media and carrying out violence and executions against any who spoke out against him. These acts led to the guerrilla uprising against Batista and the emergence of Fidel Castro.
In 1959, as Fidel Castro’s Revolutionary victory over the dictator Batista was finally at hand, the planning of a new nationalistic government became paramount. The new socialistic cultural identity had to be enacted swiftly and cemented in the minds of the Cuban populace. Media needed to be used to mobilize the masses. This was not only radio and television, but print as well, including the realm of comics. Castro in his famous speech, ‘Palabras a los intelectuales,’ or ‘Words to the Intellectuals,’ acknowledged the importance of mass media with respect to the education of the people:
Castro understood that media and graphic art could guide ideology and could be used as an educational tool because he knew that it had already being used before in Cuba.Among manifestations of an intellectual or artistic type, there are some which are more important with respect to the education of the people or the ideological instruction of the people than other kinds of artistic manifestations. I do not believe that anyone would dispute the fact that the cinema and television are one of these basic and very important media.
Graphic Art
Graphic art has been a substantial part of Cuban culture for over a century. The first use of use of graphic subversive caricature humor in Cuba can be traced back to as far as 1848 when Cirilio Villaverde lambasted the count of Pozos Dulces in a widely distributed handbill. Newspapers published comic strips and political cartoons and trading cards included with a plethora of products including tobacco and food were and are quite popular. Foreign comics, leading into the mid-20th century, became part of this tradition.Comics and Culture
In the United States, the comic book medium first became popular in the 1930s after the iconic Superman exploded onto the scene in Action Comics in 1938. In the 1940s, after World War II, the American superhero became a mainstay in popular art and culture and has been so ever since.
The popularity of the comic book genre in Cuba occurred later than in the U.S., becoming popular in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. Most of their exposure to the Cuban people came from these same American comics, translated into Spanish. In the 1960s, during the same period that the revolution remade the country of Cuba, comics were already mainstream.
While popular, the suspicion that American comics were tools meant to indoctrinate children toward imperialistic viewpoints, including Cuban children who consumed North American comics, was widespread. This idea was not lost on the new Cuban government which increasingly utilized comics as a means to educate the populous about the principles of the new Castro revolution and against American ideals. Cuban comics immediately replaced American ones on the shelves and exclusively promoted Cuban cultural identity. They were uniquely created by Cubans for Cubans and appealed to the populous youth with a mix of adventure and comedy that solidified the socialistic views of the government while lambasting capitalistic principles. Initiatives such as the literacy brigades, led by Che Guevara, reduced the Cuban illiteracy rate from 60% during Batista’s tenure as president, to 2% by the end of 1961, when Cuba has been declared an illiteracy-free territory. This led to even more widespread dissemination of Cuban comics and therefore the ideological tenets of the new Cuban government.Heroes and Citizens
New and exciting characters were introduced that supplanted the now maligned American produced characters such as Superman and Dick Tracy and replaced them with more Socialistic and anti-imperialist ones. The immensely popular Colonel Elpidio Valdés fought against Spain for a peasant army. Yarí struggled against the brutal Spanish conquistadores who relentlessly attacked his people. Capitán Plín fought against lazy pirates that would steal rather than work. Revolution was portrayed as both necessary and exciting, especially for the country's youth. While the new government supported Cuban-produced comics included heroic characters and exciting plots, a palpable difference from the American superhero comics came in the form of the ordinary citizen who could be a part of the fighting revolution or simply being part of the community fabric. Comics were not just about how to be extraordinary but how to live an ordinary life as a model socialist. This could be done by upholding the tenets of Socialism. Production benefits workers and their community. One must work against Imperialism and Capitalistic tendencies. All people must be held as equal in terms of ownership and value. Moral character made citizens heroes. -
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Heroes and Anti-Heroes
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Cuban comics utilized satire to roast many of the people and policies that were in contradiction to the Castro government, but were careful to positively portray their leaders and other figures deemed heroic or that espoused the socialistic ideals of the government. Cuban heroes were portrayed as adventurous, brave, and most importantly, of the people.
Castro, Fidel, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban communist revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.
Guevara, Che, Ernesto "Che" Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture.
Gagarin Conquistador del Espacio, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet Air Forces pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space, achieving a major milestone in the Space Race; his capsule Vostok 1 completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was an American army general and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was a five-star general in the United States Army and served as supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was a Soviet statesman who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964.
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban poet, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. He was very politically active, and is considered an important revolutionary philosopher and political theorist. Pepe Marti, Jose Marti's biography until he was 18 years old.
Alejo Carpentier Alejo Carpentier y Valmont was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Carpentier grew up in Havana, Cuba, and despite his European birthplace, he strongly self-identified as Cuban throughout his life.
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in Cuba's Ten Years' War against Spain. He was also Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence.
Polo Velez
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and as its U.S.-backed military dictator from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown during the Cuban Revolution.
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician who is currently serving as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the socialist state, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro in April 2011.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to by initials JFK and Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963
Simón Bolívar and also colloquially as El Libertador, or the Liberator, was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led the secession of what are currently the states of Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama, from the Spanish Empire.
Julio Antonio Mella co-founded the Communist Party in 1925.