Social justice is a blanket term, used by many different people to describe many different things. In my opinion, social justice is personified by someone who fights for and represents marginalized people when these people may not be able to do it for themselves. There are obviously many individuals who have done this in the past. In the recent history of Latin America, Ernesto “Che” Guevara fought against many powerful opponents to achieve social justice for peasants in Cuba. His fight for social justice was not without opposition. Corporations in the United States were economically affected by the policies Che and his superior, Fidel Castro, enacted. These economic impacts caused American newspapers to negatively report on these two men in
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One of his most influential speeches came less than 10 years after the conclusion of his journey. In January of 1959, Che declared that the primary concern of the Cuban government is to now fight for social justice, starting with land redistribution. Not even 5 months after this speech, on May 17, 1959, Guevara’s Agrarian Reform Law was in effect. This law was directed at the people and corporations who had been exploiting the low classes in Cuba for many years past. After this law was put to action, the limit of all farms was now 1000 acres, and any landholdings that were over this limit were taken by the government who would then redistribute it to peasants in small 67 acre farms, or use the land as community farms. The aspect of this law that caused Che Guevara to be so criticized by American newspapers was the part that prohibited any foreign entity from owning sugar plantations. During this time one of the primary landholders of sugar plantations was American …show more content…
Any person who had land expropriated was given payment in the form of Cuban bonds that matured at 4.5% interest over 20 years. The way the payment was determined was based on the land values from their tax assessments. During the previous president’s time in power, the land owned by American corporations was given low appraisals so they did not have to pay very much in property taxes. This made it so that when these companies were given the payment for the land the payment was far below what it would have been for properly appraised lands. This is criticized in the 1964 New York Times article “Versatile Revolutionist; Ernesto Che Guevara”.
The second social justice policy Che Guevara enacted is commonly referenced as the “year of education”, which focused on the increase in literacy throughout Cuba. Prior to his coming to power, Cuba had a 23 percent illiteracy rate; the main cause of this was the lack of access to education. To encourage Cuba’s citizens to get educated, Che Guevara sent out “literacy brigades”, which was a group of 100,000 volunteers who split up and educated the population of Cuba. This movement was an overwhelming success and at the end of the program, the national illiteracy rate had dropped to nearly
One of his most influential speeches came less than 10 years after the conclusion of his journey. In January of 1959, Che declared that the primary concern of the Cuban government is to now fight for social justice, starting with land redistribution. Not even 5 months after this speech, on May 17, 1959, Guevara’s Agrarian Reform Law was in effect. This law was directed at the people and corporations who had been exploiting the low classes in Cuba for many years past. After this law was put to action, the limit of all farms was now 1000 acres, and any landholdings that were over this limit were taken by the government who would then redistribute it to peasants in small 67 acre farms, or use the land as community farms. The aspect of this law that caused Che Guevara to be so criticized by American newspapers was the part that prohibited any foreign entity from owning sugar plantations. During this time one of the primary landholders of sugar plantations was American …show more content…
Any person who had land expropriated was given payment in the form of Cuban bonds that matured at 4.5% interest over 20 years. The way the payment was determined was based on the land values from their tax assessments. During the previous president’s time in power, the land owned by American corporations was given low appraisals so they did not have to pay very much in property taxes. This made it so that when these companies were given the payment for the land the payment was far below what it would have been for properly appraised lands. This is criticized in the 1964 New York Times article “Versatile Revolutionist; Ernesto Che Guevara”.
The second social justice policy Che Guevara enacted is commonly referenced as the “year of education”, which focused on the increase in literacy throughout Cuba. Prior to his coming to power, Cuba had a 23 percent illiteracy rate; the main cause of this was the lack of access to education. To encourage Cuba’s citizens to get educated, Che Guevara sent out “literacy brigades”, which was a group of 100,000 volunteers who split up and educated the population of Cuba. This movement was an overwhelming success and at the end of the program, the national illiteracy rate had dropped to nearly