Cuban Revolution Vs Mexican Revolution

Revolutions are often thought to bring about radical changes that result in the upheaval of the previous social order and replace it with a new, bold political, economic, and social apparatus prepared to move that society towards progress. However, does revolution truly mean progress? How does one define progress? How does one assess the success or failure of a revolution? The Mexican Revolution of 1910 and the Cuban Revolution demonstrate how intricate and fluid the tentacles of revolution move in the face of sociopolitical, economic, and cultural patterns. This debate book examines the Mexican and Cuban revolutions by comparing each of the revolutions through the lens of political infrastructure, land reform, and women’s rights. Neither the …show more content…
Prior to Fidel Castro’s rise to power, much like Mexico, Cubans experienced similar periods of authoritarian political leadership. Like Mexico’s Díaz, Fulgenico Batista exercised his power over Cuban politics for a twenty-five year period. Within this twenty-five year period, Batista generated a political state that worked through puppet leaders that formed a power stronghold with the elites that “rendered impotent” any of the previous Cuban nationalist movements (Skidmore, Smith, Modern Latin America, 304). In the narrative tale of revolution, Batista represented the oppressive ruler that sacrificed a nation at the expense of growth, prosperity, and …show more content…
Although both revolutions did not necessarily provide women guaranteed rights as in Western nations, the revolutions did create enough of a framework to allow a greater access to particular civil rights. The Mexican constitution of 1917 demonstrates some these fluid relationships. While Mexican women do not gain suffrage until much later in the 20th century, the constitution does consider women as citizens and nationals of Mexico. The constitution states that all Mexicans are guaranteed nationality through “birth or naturalization” and citizenship by the age of eighteen if married or twenty-one if unmarried (Article 30, 34). Women also gain particular labor rights when it comes to childbirth and hours of work. The film Like Water for Chocolate, although a parable of the Mexican Revolution, demonstrates that women like Tita maintained Mexican traditions while at the same time women experienced further freedoms created by the Revolution. That being said, though, neither the Constitution nor the other articles discussed in this section, do not necessarily provide a broad enough picture to understand the changes to women’s roles within Mexican