Fidel Castro officially inaugurated as Prime Minister of Cuba in History Today, February 16, 1959

JAKARTA - History today, 67 years ago, February 16, 1959, the figure of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro was officially inaugurated as Prime Minister. The inauguration was greeted with a bang. The Cuban people were also waiting for Castro's breakthrough in improving the living conditions through health and education.

Previously, Cuba's rule under Ruben Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar was full of harm. The government he built was anti-critical and repressive. Not to mention that Cuba was a puppet of the US. Castro also moved against and voiced the Cuban Revolution.

The prosperity of the Cuban people is often a key question in the era of the Batista government. Batista's leadership from the 1940-1944 and 1952-1959 rule periods is considered to have brought more harm than benefit.

The narrative is evidenced by the occurrence of many social gaps. The owner of the power is exacerbating the situation with many corrupt officials. The act of stealing state funds continues because the government tends to not care.

Whoever protests against the government will be eliminated - killed. A condition that confirms the repressive power of Batista. The fate of the Cuban people is getting sad because Batista brought his country into chaos with the United States (US).

All kinds of assistance are provided by the US. However, in return, Cuba is a puppet of US power. US interests in Cuba are inevitably fully supported. This situation makes all Cubans dissatisfied. They want the people's living standards to improve.

The official protest was then submitted by a political figure, Fidel Castro. Castro is known as a figure who is noisy in criticizing the government from the time he was a campus activist. His protest was not heard, he chose the option of weapons.

He and other revolutionary fighters chose to take up arms. Progressive youth made Batista their common enemy. He launched the resistance movement Movimiento 26 de Julio alias M-26-7 (July 26 Movement) on July 26, 1953.

The movement is considered the starting point of the Cuban revolution. Castro tried to overthrow the attempt by attacking Cuba's second largest military headquarters, Moncada, as the starting point of the Cuban Revolution. The attack failed. Castro was imprisoned. However, his spirit of courage was recorded throughout the country.

Castro was later released and built the movement again in exile, Mexico. The struggle became more stable when he met another revolutionary youth, Che Guevara.

"Castro rebuilt his strength. He immediately led a group of guerrillas in an endless effort to overthrow the batista dictator. In exile, Fidel officially founded the July 26 Movement in honor of commemorating the Moncada Tragedy."

"Those who are part of this movement coordinate with their colleagues who are also in exile in New York and Miami. They also coordinate with those who are still doing underground movements in Havana," said A. Pambudi in the book Fidel Castro: 60 Years Against America (2007).

The July 26 Movement progressed rapidly. Slowly, Castro's troops grew. At its peak, Batista's power was shaken in 1959. Castro's name was also trumpeted as the new leader of Cuba.

Castro was then officially inaugurated as the new Prime Minister of Cuba at the Presidential Palace, Havana on February 16, 1959. This step made Castro begin to draw up an agenda to improve the living standards of the Cuban people.

He began to mature plans to advance Cuba in the fields of health and education. Castro also brought Cuba, which initially leaned towards the US, to change course to the Soviet Union. The cooperation made Cuba a country that was taken into account in the world.

"The original program was a radical reform, comparable to the program adopted by populist governments in Latin America for the previous 30 years. The acquisition of large tracts of land, the nationalization of foreign companies, and the establishment of schools and clinics throughout the island were the initial demands of the movement," Richard Gott wrote in his article on The Guardian titled Fidel Castro Obituary (2016).

Fidel Castro was born in Biran, Oriente, Cuba on August 13, 1926. He died at the age of 90 in Havana, Cuba on November 25, 2016 due to illness.