Cuba - Left of the international Left

by U. E. Perera

The Latin American continent is in news today and Cuba is undoubtedly its focal point. Neither any leader nor any nation in this continent, situated south of the United States frontier in Rio Grande, has done so much to bring to the world a “Latin American consciousness” as Fidel Castro and Cuba.

This is the conclusion arrived by R. K. Karanjia, the leading Indian journalist, who had the rare opportunity to meet Fidel Castro, the undisputed architect of the Cuban revolution in Havana in 1960. The long conversation he had with Castro for several days gave him enough time to discuss a wide range of issues relating to the revolution. They discussed the history of Cuba, the suffering of the people under Spanish rule, US intervention in Cuba and taking over of assets and wealth of the Cubans by American monopolies and cartels, the puppet regime of Fulgencio Batista, the economic and social devastation under Batista, attack on the Moncada barracks and the birth of 26th July movement, life in Mexico, preparation for the final assault, CIA manoeuvres, direct and indirect interventions of the US to topple the people’s revolution and last but not the least the future of the Latin American continent.

Karanjia was certainly impressed by the personality of the legendary leader of the Cuban revolution and when he came back to India, he with his colleague, Ramesh Sanghvi burnt midnight oil to write down the significance of the Cuban revolution. The handy book came out in 1961 under the name and style - Castro - Storm over Latin America.

To my knowledge this is the first book written by a foreign journalist on a social revolution that originated in a little country (100,000 square kilometres) less than 40,000 square miles in size and just 75 miles away from the `super-power’.

Causes for revolution

Scientifically analyzing the historical and objective causes for the revolution and its long-term direct impact on Latin America, the author says: “The revolution in Cuba is an integral part of the new spirit which is abroad all over Latin America today. There are two aspects of the unity between the progress in Cuba and the coming revolution over the entire continent.

First, the people of Latin America, as opposed to their rulers, have never recognised the lines dividing their states as anything more than marks of political and administrative demarcation. They have believed in the collective destiny of the Latin people. As a consequence, they have fought the battle of liberty as almost one nation. Secondly, the problems which have baffled solution under the prevalent socio-economic system are the very same as Cuba has begun to solve today. The effect of this success can hardly be overemphasized. The achievements of the Cuban revolution are certain to make an indelible imprint on the minds of the Latin people, as, indeed, they are making.”

This scientific analysis made by Karanjia and his predictions have become a reality today.

During the last 50 years, the democratic social movements that took place in Guatemala, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Chile resulted in the formation of socialist oriented governments but all these regimes were unable to safeguard their victories due to military juntas and military coups backed by the United States. Jacoba Arbenz of Guatemala, Joao Goulart of Brazil, Juan Bosch of the Dominican Republic, and Salvador Allende of Chile were popular leaders who led mass movements in their own respective countries and they were democratically elected by the ballot but were not allowed to accomplish the mandate given by the people. The military rulers suppressed the mandate given by the people in these `democracies’ and the bullet replaced the ballot.

The fate of Salvador Allende of Chile is known to the whole civilized world. He was the founder of the Chilean Socialist Party (1933) and was elected in 1937 as deputy for the provinces of Quillotin and Valparaiso.

In 1938 he became the chief organiser in Valparaiso of the campaign to elect Aguirre Cerda, the Popular Front candidate to the Presidency. In 1939, he became for a brief time, Minister of Health in Cerda’s government. He sat in the Senate from 1945 to 1970 and was the vice-president of the Senate for five years and President for two. In 1970 he was elected as the President of Chile at the head of a broadly based popular front coalition. However, he was not allowed to accomplish the mandate given by the people and he died in the Presidential Palace, fighting the dark forces unleashed by the Chilean armed junta backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States.

Storm over Latin America

However, as predicted by Karanjia, the storm over Latin America has given birth to several socialist-orientated countries, which have rejected the neo-liberal path of capitalist development. Chavez’ Venezuela, Kirchner’s Argentina, Lula De Silva’s Brazil, Tabare Vazquez’s Uruguay, Martin Torrijo’s Panama, Rene Preval’s Haiti, Eva Morale’s Bolivia, Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua and Rafael Correa’s Equador have followed the path of liberation as ignited by Socialist Cuba. Further, there is a strong left movement in Mexico.

In an interview with Professor Ignacio Ramonet, (who authored MY LIFE - FIDEL CASTRO) the prominent French Journalist, Fidel Castro has outlined the current situation in Latin America in the following words - “If one analyses the economic and social situation in some countries objectively, there is not the slightest doubt that it is an explosive situation. The infant mortality rate in several of those countries, for example, is 65 per 1,000 babies born; ours is less than 6.5. That means that ten times more children die is some countries in Latin America, on average, than in Cuba Malnutrition is sometimes over 40% in Latin America, illiteracy and semi-literacy continue to be too high, unemployment affects tens of millions of adults throughout the hemisphere, and there is also the problem of abandoned children, millions of them. The President of UNICEF told me one day that if Latin America had the level of medical and health care that Cuba has, 700,000 children would be saved every year.

If a solution is not found for these problems quickly - and the FTAA is not a solution - more than one revolution may occur in Latin America when the United States least expects it. And there’ll be no one to blame for promoting that revolution’.

The White House and the State Department of the United States are jointly making an attempt to put the blame on Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia for the present tense situation in Latin America. The issue, despite the obsession of some of the American publicists on Cuba, is not of communism versus anti-communism. In the same manner and also in the same spirit as the people of Asia and Africa, the suffering people of Latin America are also struggling for the achievement of primary and basic material and spiritual needs, that are entitled for a decent life. In this context, Cuba, has achieved admirable results in the areas of human development, the abolition of racism, the emancipation of women, the eradication of illiteracy, a drastic reduction in infant mortality rates, a high level of general knowledge. In the fields of education, health, medical research and sports Cuba has recorded remarkable achievements that many developed nations would envy.

Fidel Castro who is leading the life of a soldier monk, has freed his motherland, not only from hunger, but also from illiteracy, begging, criminality and subservience to the ‘empire’. This is the secret, behind the massive influence which Cuba wields today as opposed to the United States.