Castro and his 26th of July Movement took over Cuba’s streets in January 1959. Though Castro’s charismatic and vibrant personality quickly won him astonishing support, he knew that he had to consolidate his political power by ensuring the trust of the population. The consolidation of Fidel Castro’s power between 1959 and1961 was more of a result of domestic issues rather than United States economic policies.
In order, to consolidate power, it was known that the reminder of the revolutionary groups that were involved in the fight against Batista had to be quickly eliminated, so as not to challenge his political ambitions. The revolutionaries brought many of Batista’s prominent military and civilian leaders before trial which were …show more content…

Nevertheless, these land reforms assisted Castro to secure his political power even though there were varying reactions.
Further, the nationalization of property is another tactic Castro employed to strengthen his political power. The government intervened in all aspects of society within the first nine months; telephone and electricity rates cut drastically, virtually all labour contracts were renegotiated and wages rose. “Property owned by all past government officials, senior army officers, mayors, governors, and members of congress during the 1954–1958 period were confiscated.” Confiscating these properties from Cubans was made easier due to the enacting of the Agrarian Reform Act which also facilitated Castro to nationalise foreign property. In fact “on August 5 [1960] Cuba expropriated additional North American properties on the island, including two utilities, 36 sugar mills, and petroleum assets”. Thus, the nationalization of foreign and domestic property served to consolidate the power of the regime as it gave the government an expanded role in the economy.
Conversely, though these domestic policies aided Castro in consolidating political power, United States aggressive policies (particularly the economic embargo) ironically abetted Castro as well. Though the nationalisation of