The Problem Faced by the Christian Church in Cuba
In this insight blog, we analyze the background of the problem and the significance of questions that arise due to The Phenomenological Effects of Fidel Castro’s Communist Revolution on the Christian Church in Cuba. According to Sara Kozameh, the revolutionary Government confiscated land under the Agrarian Reform Law. She states: “Perhaps in response to the pressure waged by peasants and agricultural workers, in mid-1960, the pace of expropriation and land redistribution sped up.” [1]
Click HERE to read the previous insight and HERE to listen to the last podcast.
Sorry, Your Land is Now My Land
So, let us first talk about the Agrarian Reform Law. The agrarian reforms in Cuba confiscated land from owners and divided it among the peasants for continued work on the land. Several laws were passed between 1959 and 1963, just after Castro’s Revolution. The Institutio Nacional de Reforma Agraria (INRA) is a Cuban government agency responsible for implementing the Agrarian Reforms. The agency adopted the Soviet communist model of organization—small collectives (Asociación et al.) and large(er) state farms. The Soviet model means a person owns nothing and works on stolen land. Click HERE to listen to the full podcast.
That is What Communists Do: Steal
When any government takes over land once held by another, that is called stealing; communists steal what people have worked so hard in laying the groundwork. Think about this for a moment. There are countless factual stories, including mine, where you produce an incredible presentation. You have an idea; you compile all the work over 12-hour days for months, and now comes the time to present. Now, your boss says, please send it to me, and the next thing you know, they are taking the credit for your idea and hard work. What is that called? Robbery, and nothing can be done about it because you cannot prove otherwise. Remember, everything you create with company property belongs to them. Persecution begins, and eventually, termination.
Marxist’s Goals Are the Same as the Followers of Christ?
In an interview with Frei Betto, Fidel Castro likened the goals of Marxists to those of Christians. We will get to the dedicated Marxism podcast in a future episode. One author expressed it this way: “he had the impression that the Bible has very revolutionary content; I believe that the teachings of Christ are very revolutionary and completely coincide with the aims of Socialists, of Marxist-Leninists” ” [2] According to Castro, Christ was also a revolutionary who dedicated his time to aiding the impoverished, combating injustice, and preventing humiliation. Fidel offers absolutely no Scriptures to support his catastrophic idea because there is none, but that would not stop anyone from manipulating the Word of God for their suited agenda. After all, Jesus states” “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lot” (Luke 19:9-10, NKJV), which included Fidel Castro, but now it is too late because he died in 2016. This is a reminder that every word spoken will be held accountable on the day of passing, which, for Fidel, has already come.
God bless and see you on the next one.
[1] Sara Kozameh” “Agrarian Reform and the Radicalization of Revolutionary Cuba, 1959–196″.” Cuban Studies 51 (2022): 42.
[2] Fidel Castro and Freo Betto. Fidel and Religion: Castro Talks on Revolution and Religion with Frei Betto, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987), 19.