President Carlos Pro Socarras brought Cuba into the early 1950's. He was overthrown by General Fulgencio Batista who set up a dictatorship in 1952. The Bautista regime ruled for just over a year. Here now is the introduction of Fidel Castro Ruz, an important actor in shaping (and authoring) Cuban government into what we see today. Castro and Che Guevara were both implemental in revolutionizing Cuba.

Castro's Revolution started on July 26, 1953, with 160 rebels attacking a military barracks. Castro had hopes of sparking a popular uprising. But to no avail, he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. Castro obtained political amnesty in 1955 and was released from prison. He was exiled to Mexico where he organized Cuban exiles into the "26th of July" movement. In 1956 Guevara and Castro returned to Cuba with 81 "26th of July" revolutionaries. They were met with stiff resistance from Batista's army and were d

The executive Council of State consists of eight players of Cuban government. Fidel Castro Ruz is President with this brother General Raul Castro Ruz as First Vice President. Five sub-vice presidents and a minister Secretary serve as the remaining members of the executive Council of State. These were all elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. The U.S. president is selected through a national election and then votes are cast in the Electoral College system accordingly. The U.S. vice president is elected on the president's ticket, so they essentially are running mates. The Cuban Council of State is quite powerful, as they exercise all power when the National Assembly is not in session. The U.S. government executives are quite powerful but are kept in check mostly by Congress and some by the judicial system.

Perhaps the most important piece of information to be learned from this study is what communism has done to a nation. We see that communism is perhaps ideal in thought but not always ideal in practice. Communism, in Cuba, tends to be desired by some and despised by many.

The Cuban military consists of an army, navy and air force. Most military equipment is Soviet made (surprise, surprise). Commands of the Cuban armed forces generally are not manned at full strength during peacetime. Units are maintained at three distinct levels of combat readiness: those manned at full strength by active-duty troops, those manned partly by active-duty troops and reserve forces, and others manned by only a cadre of regular troops augmented by reserves. Cuba has the third strongest military (firepower) in the Western Hemisphere. (Rudolph 354)

The local government of Cuba consists of 14 provinces and one special municipality. The U.S. consists of 50 states and one special municipality which is Washington D.C., our nation's capital.

The national legislature of Cuba is the National Assembly of People's Power. It consists of 601 deputies elected by a majority vote from 169 multi-seat municipalities. A municipality is represented by seats assigned according to population of the municipality represented. There is a limit of eight seats per municipality and each seat has tenure of five years. The president of the legislature is elected by secret ballot plurality vote of legislative members. The U.S. national legislature is referred to as Congress and is bicameral. The upper house is the Senate and consists of 100 representatives, two to each state. The lower house is the House of Representatives and consists of 435 representatives, with seats assigned to each state based on population. In each house, the majority party elects the leader of that house: the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate. The Senate term is six years and a House term is two years. Both houses are equally important in the legislative roles. (Rudolph 149)

It is impossible to compare U.S. and Cuba government without thinking of the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba. The United States instituted an economic blockade against Cuba in 1960 as a result of their Soviet dealings. Formal government relations were suspended in 1975 when Cuba deployed troops to Angola. Beginning in 1976, Cuba saw increased improvement in relations with the U.S. Travel tensions were eased and political prisoners were released in Cuba. Cuban troop deployment to Ethiopia in 1977 deteriorated relations once again. The Cuban embargo has since restricted all trade and travel with Cuba. Exceptions made by the U.S. State Department are made to those with relatives in Cuba and journalists and diplomats. Today we are seeing the drastic impact the embargo, and communism, has had on Cuba. Energy shortages in Cuba force them to selectively ration out electricity, shutting off whole districts from power for hours at a time with no warning. Monthly government rations are hardly substantial for families of the lower class (which

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