Teaching with the News
Castro's Legacy and the Future of Cuba (Winter 2008)
On February 19, 2008, Fidel Castro announced to Cuba and to the world that he would not be a candidate for Cuba’s presidency. On February 24, the Cuban National Assembly elected his brother Raul to the post. Head of Cuba since 1959, Castro was one of the longest serving leaders of the modern era. His time in office, along with the revolution that he helped lead, are the subject of great controversy both within Cuba and around the world. In his letter of resignation to the Cuban people, he stated, “This is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas.”
In this lesson students will explore the reaction to Fidel Castro’s decision to resign as Cuba’s president, identify and categorize competing perspectives on Castro and the future of Cuba, and consider the international response to Castro’s resignation and assess possible consequences.
This lesson includes:
Handouts
Additional Online Resources
Teachers might find it useful to have students explore the following online resources about Castro and Cuba prior to doing this exercise.
The New York Times on Castro has numerous articles, photographs, and links to other resources on Castro and Cuba. External web links have annotation describing content.
BBC on Castro provides a synopsis of Castro's role as leader of Cuba and his role during the Cold War. It has additional links to videos and other websites.
Cuba section of Prensa Latina has links to articles about news in Cuba from an alternative, Cuba-based news source.
Granma is the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party.
NPR on Castro’s Health and Cuba’s Future links to numerous short articles, photos, and radio clips about Cuba and Castro. It also provides articles, timelines, and audio clips about Cuba from an historical perspective.
The Miami Herald: Cuba After Fidel provides articles and commentary from a city with a large Cuban-American population.
Al Jazeera on Cuba includes articles, photographs, video clips, and leader profiles related to Cuba and Castro’s resignation from a major Middle Eastern television network.
The Guardian: Cuba provides articles, analysis, and reactions from a leading British newspaper.
Additional Resources from the Choices Program
Contesting Cuba's Past and Future is a one-week unit that places students in the role of Cubans today as they consider a series of questions about Cuba's future in a post-Castro world. Should Cuba continue along the path started by Fidel Castro? How should Cuba relate to its neighbors and the rest of the world? What values will be most important to Cubans in the coming years? What should Cuba's future be? A series of readings in this unit trace Cuba's history from the country's pre-colonial past to its most recent economic, social, and political changes.
See Supplemental Resources for additional resources.
