‘Cuban Revolution is sustained in power by working people’
https://themilitant.com/2020/12/05/cuban-revolution-is-sustained-in-power-by-working-people/
December 14, 2020
Fidel Castro presents Second Declaration of Havana to million-strong
assembly, Feb. 4, 1962. Cuban working people transformed themselves
through the fight to take political power, making first socialist
revolution in the Americas and defending it from U.S. aggression ever since.
Fidel Castro presents Second Declaration of Havana to million-strong
assembly, Feb. 4, 1962. Cuban working people transformed themselves
through the fight to take political power, making first socialist
revolution in the Americas and defending it from U.S. aggression ever since.
Fidel Castro: Nothing Can Stop the Course of History, one of
Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for December, is a wide-ranging
interview given by the central leader of the Cuban Revolution in 1985.
His interviewers were Jeffrey M. Elliot, a U.S. journalist, and Mervyn
M. Dymally, a U.S. congressman. The excerpts are from the section where
Castro explains that the revolution — from the battles in the mountains
in the 1950s to today — has never engaged in repression or reprisals
against those with different views, but relies entirely on a people “who
had ideals, thoughts, revolutionary fervor, and strong ideological
motivations for supporting the revolution.” This enabled Cuba’s workers
and farmers to take political power into their own hands and defend it
over decades from Washington’s implacable hostility. Copyright © 1986.
Reprinted by permission of Pathfinder Press.
JEFFREY M. ELLIOT: The U.S. press has reported, on numerous occasions,
that Cuba’s prisons are filled with a large number of political
prisoners — men and women who dared to criticize your regime. And many
in the U.S. believe this to be true. Do you deny this charge?
FIDEL CASTRO: There was a time, naturally, when there were a lot of
counterrevolutionary prisoners. But there were reasons for that. During
the first few years after the triumph of the revolution, when U.S.
hostility against our country began — when the CIA began infiltrating
weapons, explosives, saboteurs, and established armed gangs in all
provinces and dozens of counterrevolutionary organizations, giving them
not only material aid but also political and moral support — how could
we help having a lot of prisoners? For instance, we captured over 1,200
invaders immediately after the Playa Girón mercenary invasion. Ask those
invaders — whom we later returned to the United States in a ship loaded
with “heroes” — if any of them were beaten, if any of them were
tortured, if any of them were ill-treated. …
Our courts hand down verdicts based on laws to punish
counterrevolutionary actions. The idea that anyone is punished in our
country for professing belief other than those of the revolution is
absolutely ridiculous. There are tens of thousands of people whose
political and religious concepts and beliefs differ from those of the
revolution. They have full legal guarantees. …
[N]o matter what our enemies may say, or how much they may lie and
slander us, the history of the revolution is free of cases of physical
abuse or torture. All the citizens in this country, without exception,
know this. We waged a hard campaign against these practices throughout
the underground struggle and the war. Our cadres, our soldiers, and our
people became very aware of and opposed to these methods. I might ask
whether any other revolution has maintained the serenity,
coolheadedness, firmness, and consistent respect for laws and ethical
principles that has typified the Cuban revolution. Not even in the most
difficult moments during the war did we depart from those principles!
Why did we triumph in our struggle against the counterrevolution,
against the CIA with all its experience? Because our people knew more
than the CIA. The CIA worked on the basis of mercenaries, high pay, and
accounts in U.S. banks. We worked on the basis of people who had ideals,
thoughts, revolutionary fervor, and strong ideological motivations for
supporting the revolution and for infiltrating the counterrevolutionary
organizations both inside the country and abroad. Our police couldn’t
use torture, so they developed their intelligence and became very
effective in the struggle against elements which lacked sound moral
convictions. We often knew more about what they were doing than they
did. They might not remember what they had done seven months earlier on
a specific day, but we did, because it was on record.
We have defended ourselves with the support of the people and the
cooperation of the masses. We’ve never had to resort to anything illegal
— to force, torture, or crime. Throughout the entire history of the
revolution, no one can point to a single case of torture, murder, or
disappearance, which are common, everyday occurrences in the rest of
Latin America.
Another thing: never has a demonstration been broken up by the police!
Never in twenty-six years has a policeman used tear gas, beaten a
citizen during a demonstration, or used trained dogs against the people.
Never has a demonstration here been repressed by the army or the police
— something that happens every day everywhere else in Latin America and
in the United States itself. …
[W]e have never told a lie. Never! This tradition dates back to the war.
Throughout the war, all the information we released on the fighting —
the number of casualties, the munitions captured — was all strictly
accurate. We didn’t add one single bullet or rifle. That same tradition,
initiated by the first rebel column, was followed by the rest. These
columns would arrive at the central part of the island, or the northern
part of Oriente Province, and establish a radio station. We knew that
when they reported an action, that report was accurate. That is, not
even war justifies a lie or the exaggeration of a victory. This has been
a very important element in our revolution. Whenever surrender
conditions were negotiated, the enemy soldiers and officers of any
encircled unit were absolutely confident that those conditions would be
strictly observed.
Then there is another objective element which explains our relationship
with the people. Who forms the immense majority of our population? First
and foremost, the working people. The workers and the peasants, the
manual and intellectual workers, have many reasons to support the
revolution. Women, who constitute half of the population — be they
workers or housewives — the country’s black population, and the students
and young people in general also have many reasons to support the
revolution. …
The phenomenon of the revolution cannot be understood if you don’t
realize that it is sustained in power by the support of the people and
not by force.
I repeat, if one day the revolution did not have the support of the
overwhelming majority of the people, it could not endure. This
revolution cannot be sustained in power by force.
Miami caravan: ‘End US economic war against Cuba!’
MIAMI — A successful caravan of well over 100 participants in more than
80 cars and bikes took place here Nov. 29 demanding an end to the U.S.
economic sanctions against Cuba. The march was organized by a number of…
Front Page Articles
Working people need our own party, a labor party
Key question for workers is the need to be on the job
Victory won in fight against curbs on right to worship
Welcome to our 1,315 new readers of the ‘Militant’!
Nursing home workers in Illinois strike for more staff, pay and safety
Key picks for Biden cabinet have long record advancing Washington’s wars
Feature Articles
Miami caravan: ‘End US economic war against Cuba!’
Also In This Issue
Support fight to defend victory won by Ohio small-shop owners
Brazilians protest store guards beating black man to death
Conflict continues as Ethiopian troops seize capital of Tigray
Protests in France hit racist cop attack, repressive law
Moroccan gov’t attack rekindles Polisario independence struggle
Protests, regime’s repression continue in Belarus
Fall Campaign to sell Militant subscriptions and books (final chart)
Socialist Workers Party Fund Drive (final chart)
On the Picket Line
Washington doctors, health care workers strike for patient safety
Coles warehouse workers in Australia fight lockout, closing
Sydney hospital walkout protests inadequate hospital staffing
Books of the Month
‘Cuban Revolution is sustained in power by working people’
25, 50 and 75 years ago
© Copyright 2020 The Militant - 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor - New
York, NY 10018 - themilitant@xxxxxxx
Cookies
This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Learn more.
Okay, thanks
--
Carl Sagan
“Why do we put up with it? Do we like to be criticized? No, no scientist enjoys
it. Every scientist feels a proprietary affection for his or her ideas and
findings. Even so, you don’t reply to critics, Wait a minute; this is a really
good idea; I’m very fond of it; it’s done you no harm; please leave it alone.
Instead, the hard but just rule is that if the ideas don’t work, you must throw
them away.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
