Question

Background information: This is a paraphrased excerpt from a speech given by Fidel Castro entitled "Second Declaration of Havana.”
What is the history of Cuba but the history of Latin America? What is the history of Latin America but the history of Asia, Africa, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean? What is the history of the peoples of these lands but one of cruel exploitation by the imperialist world? At the end of the previous century and at the beginning of the current one, a small group of nations that were economically developed split up the world among themselves, forcing their economic and political domination on two-thirds of the world’s population. People had to work for the ruling classes among the nations that had set up a developed capitalist economy.

Fidel Castro, 1962

What is the main idea of the passage?

A. A few strong nations held economic and political power in the global world.
B. Cuba needed to develop a capitalist economy.
C. People had to work for the ruling class in a capitalist economy.
D. A few economically dependent countries were strong enough to rule other territories.

Answer 1

The correct answer is A) A few strong nations held economic and political power in the global world.

The main idea of the passage is "A few strong nations held economic and political power in the global world."

After so many hostilities, the CIA espionage,  and the failed invasion of Bay of Pigs in 1961, Cuban leader Fidel Castro delivered the Speech "Second Declaration of Havana” on February 4, 1962. In that speech, he referred to the political and economic dominion of powerful countries over most of the poor nations of the world. Fidel Castro sent the clear message that Cuba was going to resist the attacks of the imperialist nation, referring to the United States.

Answer 2

Answer:

A. A few strong nations held economic and political power in the global world.

Explanation:

Fidel Castro is writing this during the Cold War, a period where the the world was divided into 2 blocks: a Capitalist block led by the US and a Communist block led by the USSR.  Cuba belonged to the communist block and was a strong enemy of the capitalist countries like the US and western Europe because he believed that these countries had historically enslaved the rest of the world.  He uses the term "imperialist" to make a reference to the age of Imperialism in which these European countries "split up the world among themselves, forcing their economic and political domination" on other countries, mainly in Africa and Asia.