Castro attended public school near the town of Mayari. He then enrolled in Santiago de Cuba's La Salle School, run by French Priests. Castro was often undisciplined and his father sent him to Dolores Colegio, a private Catholic school renowned for its discipline and high academic standards. There he saw how American soldiers treated Cubans as inferiors and came to resent American influence in Cuba's political affairs. In 1940 he attended the Belen Secondary School. There he studied Cuban history and Jose Marti, the father of the Cuban independence movement.

While enrolled in the University of Havana Law School he became involved in the school's politics. Politics was usually violent there, with fights between rival political gangs. He became bored with university politics and became a member of the Party of the Cuban People, or the Ortodoxo Party. The Ortodoxos exposed the government's corruption under Rao Grau San Martin, of the Autentico Party. They demanded reform, advo

On April 17, 1961, 1500 Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs, intending to get the support of the countryside in overthrowing the Castro regime. The invasion failed and the people showed their support for Castro. His troops captured the exiles and ransomed them off.

The economy suffered as Castro pursued a policy of diversification. He wanted to develop Cuba industry, but agricultural profits suffered at its expense. And Cuban industrial goods were shoddy. After 1965 he began to again focus on agriculture, especially on sugar production. The production targets, however, were never reached and Cuba came dependent on Soviet financial aid. Although he accepted Soviet economic control, he asserted his own political agenda. After 1976 he began to allow the people to vote for government sanctioned candidates for local positions. These elected officials would elect members of the national assembly, who would oversee the national government. In 1976 the newly created National Assembly of Peoples power chose the President of the State council, who would become head of state and commander of the armed forces. The position went to Castro. Although he permitted farmers to sell those goods they produced in excess from 1975 to 1985, in 1986 he prohibited and arrested participants.

Castro developed the New Man Theory, by which he believed Cubans would no longer work for profit but for the good of society. He wanted to distribute health services and education to all. All other political parties were disbanded and the state controlled the press tightly. He allowed those loyal to him to advance in society. Castro also believed in exporting communism.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost an important economic and military ally. With the American embargo still in place Castro had to declare a "Special Period in a Time of Peace," which involved rationing and "voluntary" labor. When economic crisis deepened Castro permitted foreign investment in government sanctioned areas. To stop the rampant inflation Castro allowed Cubans to use foreign currency, including U.S. dollars. Some Cubans began to flee the country by ra

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1461
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)