You're
listening to Back in the USSR on CFRU 93.3 FM in Guelph, I am Siegfried, and
welcome to the final episode of the show for 2019. We've dealt with some pretty heavy stuff this
year, comrades and friends, or the past half-year anyway seeing I was away in
China for a good part of 2019. We've
talked about the ongoing right-wing military coup in Bolivia, the devastating
results of the British election earlier this month, and the far-right threat
that emerged in Guelph itself during the Canadian federal election back in
October. It's been heavy. But there have also been victories. Real courage is being shown all around the
world as people fight for something better, more just and more humane. Whether that's the ongoing protests in Chile
against austerity, the current protests in France against austerity, in Iraq
and Haiti where protests persist even in the face of brutal violence from a
US-backed government, in Ecuador where protests stopped neoliberal reforms in
their tracks, in Lebanon where protests toppled a corrupt government dominated
by banking cartels, or the heroic resistance against the coup in Bolivia,
resistance to settler-colonialism in Canada and Palestine, to the resistance we
see in Ontario by teachers, students and education workers against the
austerity measures and cutbacks imposed by the Ford government. Resistance is all around. Working class and oppressed people are rising
up and radicalizing. And in tribute to
them, in tribute to the struggles, victories and sacrifices, both past and
present, I would like to dedicate this final show of 2019 to the anniversary of
a truly glorious victory for the people that will be coming up in less than 48
hours time. For it was 61 years ago,
January 1st 1959, when Fidel Castro and Che Guevara led the forces of the Cuban
Revolution into Havana and shook the world with the first socialist revolution
anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.
It was
December 2 1956 when Fidel, Che and 81 other Cuban revolutionaries disembarked
from the vessel Granma and began their struggle to overthrow the US-backed
dictator Fulgencio Batista. Che
described the landing as follows:
“We reached
solid ground, lost, stumbling along like so many shadows or ghosts marching in
response to some obscure psychic impulse. We had been through seven days of
constant hunger and sickness during the sea crossing, topped by three still
more terrible days on land. Exactly 10 days after our departure from Mexico,
during the early morning hours of December 5, following a night-long march interrupted
by fainting and frequent rest periods, we reached a spot paradoxically known as
Alegría de Pío (Rejoicing of the Pious)”.
Bombarded by
warplanes and attack helicopters, only twenty of the original eighty-two men
who landed on that beach made it to the Sierra Maestra mountains to carry on
the fight. After the bloodshed of this
disaster, no one could have expected that only a few years later, on New Year's
Day 1959, the Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro, would triumph and light a
flame that continues to burn to this day throughout Latin America and around
the world. But it did, and it inspired
the Irish singer-songwriter, Ewan McColl, to write this song.
Before I go
into more details about the Cuban Revolution and its impact internationally,
I'd like to share with you the thoughts of a friend and comrade of mine, the
Venezuelan-Canadian writer and activist Nino Pagliccia, and what the 61st
anniversary of the Cuban Revolution means to him. This is A Personal Reflection.
29 DECEMBER
2019
By Nino
Pagliccia
Venezuelan-Canadian
freelance writer and activist
For me at
this time of the year, it is inevitable to remember the momentous day when the
protracted revolutionary process in Cuba came to fruition on January 1, 1959,
marking the triumph of the Cuban Revolution with the ousting of the dictator
Fulgencio Batista and the attaining of the long-overdue independence from
foreign and oligarchy dominance. That is an historic beginning that I
inevitably remember and personally celebrate every year. My celebration is not
with fireworks or public display but more like a time for introspection and
reflection on some of the events that led to that new start. Although I was too
young to have been aware of that historical moment at the time, I am quite
acquainted with Cuba and I have come to know some of the historical leaders of
the Cuban Revolution. I consider myself privileged to be a contemporary of those
personalities.
The modern
history of Cuba is quite rich and full of human episodes. Its retrospective
study gives an insight in the determination of Cubans to resist any foreign
intervention. After long years of fighting the Spanish colonisation in the 19th
Century, Cuba was close to achieving its independence goal militarily, but a
false flag incident of the explosion of the US battleship Maine in the Havana
Bay in February 1898 - blamed to the Spanish - was used by the US as a pretext
to intervene in the Spanish-Cuban war. “False flag” acts are frequently used
today but it’s an old military tactic. There is another infamous false flag act
committed later in April 1961 when the US-sponsored invasion of Cuba at Bay of
Pigs was carried out with planes painted with the colours of the Cuban air
force to deceive the population and the revolutionary government itself as if
it were a mutiny. The invading mercenaries were eventually defeated and taken
prisoners in less than 72 hours.
In 1898,
despite the Cuban troops' advantage over the Spanish, and despite the Cuban
troops' protection of the US landing of its army, Cubans did not receive any
recognition. They were in fact ignored. Spain surrendered to the US in the
Paris Treaty of December 1898. On January 1, 1899, the possession of Cuba was
transferred from Spain to the United States. An inauspicious beginning that
would rather be forgotten, but history is there so we don’t forget. And Cubans
didn’t.
The
importance of Cuba for the US was, and still is, mostly strategic for its
geographic position as a virtual protective gate to the gulf of Mexico. Cuba
also was used for economic exploitation of its vast sugar cane and other
produce plantations mostly in the hands of US corporations. That was sufficient
for the US government to turn a blind eye to the extensive mafia gambling
activities, tax haven and other illegal dealings taking place in Cuba. The
different puppet regimes governing the country had a total disregard for the
well-being of Cubans who lived in extreme poverty and abject conditions
especially in the rural areas.
This was the
social situation under the corrupt regime of Fulgencio Batista that the
revolutionary movement of Cuba in the mid-20th century was attempting to
overturn. The first major attempt took place on July 26, 1953, when Fidel
Castro led an attack at the military garrison in Santiago de Cuba that failed.
The struggle continued including more than two years of guerrilla warfare. In
the words of Fidel Castro, “five years, five months and five days” passed from
that day until victory was finally achieved liberating the whole country of six
million Cubans.
In my
personal reflections I always respect the moral qualities of Fidel Castro
exemplified by his modesty. He always discouraged the personal idealisation
towards him and I think that he set the standard from the very beginning. While
revolutionary commanders Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos entered
into Havana on January 1 and took over the two large military garrisons without
resistance winning over the majority of the soldiers, Fidel was still in
Santiago de Cuba, almost a thousand kilometers away. He did not rush to the
capital to be acclaimed. He took the trip by road stopping at every major Cuban
city to connect with the people who had been his supporters and had been the
most ignored historically. He arrived in Havana eight days later.
Following
his death in November 2016, a funeral procession carried the casket with his
ashes, symbolically travelling the same route back from Havana to Santiago de
Cuba. Large crowds stood along the way to pay their final respects. His
brother, Raul Castro, stated one of Fidel’s dying wishes: that his image and
name never be used in public places, from streets and parks to government
institutions. Legislation to that effect was passed by the Cuban National
Assembly.
January 1,
2020, will mark the 61st anniversary of this legendary revolutionary beginning,
and the term beginning is very appropriate because it indicates a continuous
process of transformation of what is called today: a Revolution in motion. At
every step, a true social advancement is made. The human and social development
of this small nation is outstanding by any stretch of the imagination while
subjected to the most crushing economic and financial blockade by the United
States from 1962 to this day. The UN Human Development Report of 2019 states,
“Cuba’s HDI [Human Development Index] value for 2018 is 0.778— which puts the
country in the high human development category— positioning it at 72 out of 189
countries and territories…above the average of 0.750 for countries in the high
human development group and above the average of 0.759 for countries in Latin
America and the Caribbean.”
I am truly
convinced that be it a personal change or a social revolution, a true
transformative beginning must be marked by a creative process and a radical
change with the profound conviction that a better world is possible.
Victor Jara - "A Cuba"
That was Nino Pagliccia's response to the 61st anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. And I have to tell you that it's hard to do justice to such an earthshaking, pivotal event in the space of a one hour radio show. Comrade Nino does give a good summary of what it was all about, but there's so much more that could be added about Cuban history, the legacy of the revolution, and the details of the struggle itself, which began long before January 1 1959 and can be traced back to the anti-colonial struggle against Spain and the fight to abolish slavery, which persisted in Cuba well into the 1880s. But even after 1898 saw the collapse of four hundred years of Spanish colonial rule, the Cubans were immediately faced with a new colonial master in the United States which dominated the country's politics and economy. Cubans had risen up again and again, there was a strong national tradition of resistance to oppression, but their efforts and sacrifices had either been usurped by foreign imperialists or corrupt local elites. Fidel Castro's words in his first recorded speech following the Revolution on January 1st 1959 reflect this bitter experience:
"The Revolution begins now. The Revolution will not be an easy task, but a harsh and dangerous undertaking, particularly in its initial phase. And in what better place could we establish the Government of the New Republic than in this fortress of the Revolution. With a military uprising at the backs of the people, our Revolution will go forward. This time the revolution will not be frustrated. This time, fortunately for Cuba, the Revolution will really come to power. It will not be like 1895 when the Americans came and took over, intervening at the last moment and afterwards didn't even allow Calixto Garcia even though he had fought at Santiago de Cuba for 30 years. Nor will it be like 1933 when the people began to believe that the revolution was going to triumph and Mr Batista came in to betray the revolution, take power, and establish an 11-year-long dictatorship . Nor will it be like 1944 when the people took courage believing that they had finally gained power, while those who did assume power proved to be thieves. Never thieves, nor traitors, nor interventionists. This time it is truly the Revolution."
That was Fidel Castro speaking at the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1 1959, 61 years ago. Any real struggle for justice in Cuba was necessarily going to involve breaking the hold of the U.S. and the American multi-national corporations and putting the wealth and resources of the country under the control of the Cuban people. Before the Revolution, 70% of Cuba's land was controlled by American business interests, mainly sugar and coffee interests, and virtually all the country's infrastructure, its roads and railways, were geared to get sugar and coffee from those plantations to the ports and into world markets. Many villages and towns did not have roads, let alone hospitals or schools or sanitation systems. Building a country and a society that put the needs of the people first was going to require the redistribution of land to peasant farmers, the nationalization of industry, education, and the development of public infrastructure. Therefore it was going to require socialism in some form and this was something that Fidel and his companions, very few of whom (apart from Fidel's brother, Raul Castro) were socialists at the time of the Moncada barracks attacks on July 26 1953 (which was to provide the name for their political movement against Batista), were to learn through experience over the course of their struggle. The July 26th Movement was founded on the ideas of the Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, who was a poet with many high-sounding ideals concerning social justice but no real program for action. The July 26th Movement's program was to develop and radicalize in the face of the concrete struggles and real obstacles that the revolutionary struggle faced.
This is what Fidel Castro said on April 16, 1961 when he proclaimed Cuba a socialist nation:
"What the imperialists cannot forgive us for is that we are here and that we have made a socialist revolution under the United States' nose. And that we will defend the socialist revolution with our rifles. What the imperialists cannot forgive us for is the dignity, the integrity, the courage, the ideological firmness, the spirit of sacrifice and the revolutionary spirit of the Cuban people. That is what they cannot forgive us for. That we are under their noses."
By that point, the United States had initiated the blockade and sanctions regime on Cuba that continues to this day, had launched a bloody campaign of sabotage and terrorism on the island, and was gearing up for the Bay of Pigs Invasion - all that because Cuba had redistributed land, nationalized industry, and was charting an independent course as a country for the first time ever. But even in 1956 it was clear that some sort of confrontation with the United States was inevitable if Cuba was to experience real liberation.
I'd like to briefly go through some of the leading figures in the July 26th Movement that led the Cuban Revolution, because, while people like Fidel and Che are undeniable heroes, they tend to overshadow some of the other men and women whose contributions to the struggle were also immensely important and should not be overlooked.
The role of the radical student movement in the Cuban Revolution is often overlooked for example. Frank Pais, the vice-president of the student federation in Oriente province, effectively coordinated rebel activities throughout the entire region of Eastern Cuba on behalf of Fidel Castro and the July 26th Movement when the guerrilla war began in December 1956. He was only 23 years old at the time. Faustino Perez (37) and Armando Hart (27), likewise played leading roles in the July 26th Movement after having organized student opposition to Batista on various university campuses.
Celia Sanchez, who was 37 in 1956, had been active in the campaign to free Fidel and his fellow prisoners in the wake of the failure of the 1953 Moncada barracks uprising. She had been a part of the July 26th Movement since its founding, mobilized its supporters to assist with the Granma landings in December 1956 and also recruited the first peasant supporters of Fidel's guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra.
Haydee Santamaria, who was 25 at the time of the Granma landings, had fought in the Moncada Barracks uprising and had been jailed for seven months afterward. She was also a founding member of the July 26th Movement and had joined in the failed November 1956 uprising that Frank Pais had organized in support of the Granma landings.
Vilma Espin, 27 in 1956, had likewise been a member of Frank Pais' student federation in Oriente and had joined the July 26th Movement from there, she too participated in the November 1956 uprising before joining the guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra.
All of these men and women played huge roles in organizing underground activities in support of the guerilla struggle against Batista - recruiting new members, obtaining arms, smuggling weapons and volunteers into the Sierra Maestra, raising money, gathering supplies, spreading propaganda, conducting foreign relations, urban sabotage, and even coming up with a political platform for the movement.
Most of these men and women entered the struggle with the aim of overthrowing a corrupt military dictatorship and restoring civilian rule. Che Guevara and Raul Castro were the only communists in the movement's leadership when the guerrilla struggle began. But Fidel and the others soon drew closer to socialism when the realized that it was the only path the would allow them to make the radical changes and reforms that they wanted to undertake to ensure Cuba's national self-determination in political and economic terms.
The same was true of Harry "Pombo" Villegas, who passed away this past weekend at the age of 79, an Afro-Cuban who would take part in the student movement before joining Che Guevara's Ciro Rodondo column of the rebel army in the Sierra Maestra in 1958, becoming Che's friend and fighting alongside him at the decisive Battle of Santa Clara. A revolutionary internationalist, he earned the nickname "Pombo" in 1965 while serving alongside Che in the Congo. "Pombo" coming from the Swahili word for "leaf". He joined Che again in 1966-67 in the guerilla struggle in Bolivia, and was one of only five guerrillas to survive the battles that would ultimately see Che captured and executed on orders from the CIA on October 7 1967. "Pombo" continued to serve in the Cuban armed forces, supporting the socialist government of Angola against Apartheid South Africa as a military advisor and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua against the American-backed contras. He attained the honor of "Hero of the Republic of Cuba" and reached the rank of Brigadier General, which would have been unthinkable for a black man in Cuba prior to the revolution.
These comrades of Fidel and Che were the people who would challenge the legacy of colonialism, slavery and patriarchy in Cuba. In doing so they were forced to confront capitalism and empire head-on, leading to the first socialist revolution anywhere in the Western Hemisphere and the rise of a new country that has been a beacon of hope to those struggling for liberation all over the world ever since. But I'm going to have to save that discussion for next week, the first Back in the USSR episode of 2020, so please stay tuned comrades and friends.
Quilapayun - El Pueblo Unido
Silvio Rodriguez - Te Molesta Mi Amor
Michael Parenti - On the Cuban Revolution
That was Nino Pagliccia's response to the 61st anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. And I have to tell you that it's hard to do justice to such an earthshaking, pivotal event in the space of a one hour radio show. Comrade Nino does give a good summary of what it was all about, but there's so much more that could be added about Cuban history, the legacy of the revolution, and the details of the struggle itself, which began long before January 1 1959 and can be traced back to the anti-colonial struggle against Spain and the fight to abolish slavery, which persisted in Cuba well into the 1880s. But even after 1898 saw the collapse of four hundred years of Spanish colonial rule, the Cubans were immediately faced with a new colonial master in the United States which dominated the country's politics and economy. Cubans had risen up again and again, there was a strong national tradition of resistance to oppression, but their efforts and sacrifices had either been usurped by foreign imperialists or corrupt local elites. Fidel Castro's words in his first recorded speech following the Revolution on January 1st 1959 reflect this bitter experience:
"The Revolution begins now. The Revolution will not be an easy task, but a harsh and dangerous undertaking, particularly in its initial phase. And in what better place could we establish the Government of the New Republic than in this fortress of the Revolution. With a military uprising at the backs of the people, our Revolution will go forward. This time the revolution will not be frustrated. This time, fortunately for Cuba, the Revolution will really come to power. It will not be like 1895 when the Americans came and took over, intervening at the last moment and afterwards didn't even allow Calixto Garcia even though he had fought at Santiago de Cuba for 30 years. Nor will it be like 1933 when the people began to believe that the revolution was going to triumph and Mr Batista came in to betray the revolution, take power, and establish an 11-year-long dictatorship . Nor will it be like 1944 when the people took courage believing that they had finally gained power, while those who did assume power proved to be thieves. Never thieves, nor traitors, nor interventionists. This time it is truly the Revolution."
This is what Fidel Castro said on April 16, 1961 when he proclaimed Cuba a socialist nation:
"What the imperialists cannot forgive us for is that we are here and that we have made a socialist revolution under the United States' nose. And that we will defend the socialist revolution with our rifles. What the imperialists cannot forgive us for is the dignity, the integrity, the courage, the ideological firmness, the spirit of sacrifice and the revolutionary spirit of the Cuban people. That is what they cannot forgive us for. That we are under their noses."
By that point, the United States had initiated the blockade and sanctions regime on Cuba that continues to this day, had launched a bloody campaign of sabotage and terrorism on the island, and was gearing up for the Bay of Pigs Invasion - all that because Cuba had redistributed land, nationalized industry, and was charting an independent course as a country for the first time ever. But even in 1956 it was clear that some sort of confrontation with the United States was inevitable if Cuba was to experience real liberation.
The role of the radical student movement in the Cuban Revolution is often overlooked for example. Frank Pais, the vice-president of the student federation in Oriente province, effectively coordinated rebel activities throughout the entire region of Eastern Cuba on behalf of Fidel Castro and the July 26th Movement when the guerrilla war began in December 1956. He was only 23 years old at the time. Faustino Perez (37) and Armando Hart (27), likewise played leading roles in the July 26th Movement after having organized student opposition to Batista on various university campuses.
Celia Sanchez, who was 37 in 1956, had been active in the campaign to free Fidel and his fellow prisoners in the wake of the failure of the 1953 Moncada barracks uprising. She had been a part of the July 26th Movement since its founding, mobilized its supporters to assist with the Granma landings in December 1956 and also recruited the first peasant supporters of Fidel's guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra.
Haydee Santamaria, who was 25 at the time of the Granma landings, had fought in the Moncada Barracks uprising and had been jailed for seven months afterward. She was also a founding member of the July 26th Movement and had joined in the failed November 1956 uprising that Frank Pais had organized in support of the Granma landings.
Vilma Espin, 27 in 1956, had likewise been a member of Frank Pais' student federation in Oriente and had joined the July 26th Movement from there, she too participated in the November 1956 uprising before joining the guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra.
All of these men and women played huge roles in organizing underground activities in support of the guerilla struggle against Batista - recruiting new members, obtaining arms, smuggling weapons and volunteers into the Sierra Maestra, raising money, gathering supplies, spreading propaganda, conducting foreign relations, urban sabotage, and even coming up with a political platform for the movement.
The same was true of Harry "Pombo" Villegas, who passed away this past weekend at the age of 79, an Afro-Cuban who would take part in the student movement before joining Che Guevara's Ciro Rodondo column of the rebel army in the Sierra Maestra in 1958, becoming Che's friend and fighting alongside him at the decisive Battle of Santa Clara. A revolutionary internationalist, he earned the nickname "Pombo" in 1965 while serving alongside Che in the Congo. "Pombo" coming from the Swahili word for "leaf". He joined Che again in 1966-67 in the guerilla struggle in Bolivia, and was one of only five guerrillas to survive the battles that would ultimately see Che captured and executed on orders from the CIA on October 7 1967. "Pombo" continued to serve in the Cuban armed forces, supporting the socialist government of Angola against Apartheid South Africa as a military advisor and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua against the American-backed contras. He attained the honor of "Hero of the Republic of Cuba" and reached the rank of Brigadier General, which would have been unthinkable for a black man in Cuba prior to the revolution.
Quilapayun - El Pueblo Unido
Silvio Rodriguez - Te Molesta Mi Amor
Michael Parenti - On the Cuban Revolution
