The history of Cuba is a case study in how communism takes over a country. Cuba achieved independence from Spain in 1902 and was a free market country up until Castro took control in 1959. Cuba was like two different countries. The urbanites lived comfortably while the rural population was mostly in poverty. The country people worked harvesting sugar but that was only 4 months a year and they could not earn enough money to take care of their families. The giant sugar companies owned by the US did not share the profits with the workers so they were ripe for rebellion. Castro appealed to the poor who were desperate and he promised a better life. He immediately nationalized all the businesses most of which were owned by US firms. This gave him an infusion of cash. He gave the farm land to the poor and over 200,000 became land owners. In time he set up public education and free healthcare. Castro put limits on how much people could earn and this led to a brain drain as all the professional people emigrated to Florida. Castro then aligned himself with Russia and received billions in aid which he used to support his regime. When Russia collapsed the income stopped and Cuban suffered from lack of most everyday items. They gave up their freedom. It was a repressive government and people gave up their rights. Those who objected were sent to prison or killed. During Castro’s rule, thousands of Cubans were incarcerated in abysmal prisons, thousands more were harassed and intimidated, and entire generations were denied basic political freedoms.