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Castro's 'cult of personality'
University: Harford Community College
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Discuss how Castro established his
‘cult of personality’ (5 marks)
Fidel Castro greatly manipulated propaganda in order to
establish his ‘cult of personality’. He used eye-catching,
memorable slogans and posters such as “Hasta la Victoria
sempre” meaning “final victory will be forever, or that the fight
for victory will last forever”. He also continually used the flag of
Cuba to insinuate humility in that he was simply ‘doing it for
Cuba’. Additionally, Castro claimed that “he did not want to
appear on posters in that his depiction on statues, dolls, walls
and billboards was a distraction unless it was being used to
communicate a particular political point”. Castro’s manipulation
of his ‘humble’ public image was a factor of his cult of
personality. While Castro claimed he didn’t want posters of
himself everywhere for no apparent meaning, he certainly
understood the power of propaganda in that he used it to
secure victory through journalists and photographers and
continued to slyly use it throughout his reign. By controlling all
magazines, newspapers and broadcasting facilities, Castro was
able to manipulate the public’s view of himself greatly,
portraying Castro as a hero and leader. His persuasive
speeches were full of personal pronouns to try and get the
public to see Castro as one of them, to show that he was
‘empathising’ with them. Castro kept his respectful stance
toward Cuban citizens and therefore won the hearts and
devotion of many. Once Cuba was loyal to Castro, the city was
decorated with murals, poster and art of him that was spread
nationwide. This meant that the almost everybody knew what
Fidel Castro looked like. Bright, political murals replaced run-
down advertisements and provided hope for a collapsing
country.