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You are here: Home / History / How many people left Cuba right after the Castro revolution?

How many people left Cuba right after the Castro revolution?

April 28, 2020 by Karen Hill

From 1959 to 1962, about 155,000 people fled Cuba for the United States. Some were Batistianos, rich allies of Batista.

Known as “golden exiles,” they brought along the fortunes they had made from his corrupt regime. Some were wealthy people whose ranches, plantations, or industries had been nationalized.

Many were professionals who were considered a little too prosperous: doctors, lawyers, judges, bankers. And many were middle-class people who were also targets of Castro: office workers, teachers, and civil servants.

The peasants who were the vast majority of Cubans were less inclined to leave. Castro lowered food prices and redistributed land to benefit farm workers. He gave every Cuban access to medical care.

He established schools so that Cuba’s literacy rate is now 94 percent, the highest in Latin America.

Related Facts

  • Which part of Cuba remains in U.S. territorial control after Fidel Castro took over?
  • Why do people in Cuba celebrate July 26 and When did Castro attack the Batista regime?
  • How did the United States government plan to kill Fidel Castro after the Cuban Revolution and Cuban Missile Crisis?
  • When did Fidel Castro win his leadership in Cuba?
  • How did the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 affect Cuba and Castro's government?
  • When did Fidel Castro try to restrict emigration from Cuba?

Filed Under: History

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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