Once again I am deeply impressed by the strength of a people living
just off the shore of the world's most bloated Empire, and surviving
even the economic boycotts placed upon it.
Although politics and world events were not often discussed among the
women workers in the Drapery Factory where I worked, whenever Cuba or
Fidel Castro was mentioned, most of the workers, workers who were
slaving for $1.25 an hour, wage minimum at the time, they immediately
took up the cry that Castro should be captured and hung.
I asked what these under paid workers had against a man who took from
the rich and shared with the down trodden. But they knew that Castro
was a dictator and just seeking power. They read it in the daily
papers and watched it on the evening news. And none of them ever
questioned just who it was that owned the papers or the TV companies.
I clearly remember a discussion with one angry woman, damning Castro.
"They say Castro's men are raping women and little children" she
ranted.
"Where are you hearing this?" I asked. "It's all over the news!" she
insisted.
"How do we know if it isn't made up by Batista's supporters?"
"What are you, a Commie?" she shouted at me.
Okay, it wasn't a discussion after all.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/9/19, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
https://themilitant.com/2019/08/03/cuban-revolution-shows-workers-can-win/
Cuban Revolution shows workers can win
??Editorial
Vol. 83/No. 29
August 12, 2019
Sixty-six years ago on July 26, workers and youth, led by Fidel Castro,
attacked the Moncada military barracks in Santiago, Cuba. The brutal
regime of Fulgencio Batista had seized power, cancelled elections and
arrested or murdered those who challenged his rule. The attack ??? aimed
at galvanizing popular opposition to the dictatorship ??? was defeated and
many of the combatants, captured alive, were tortured and murdered by
the regime???s thugs. But it signaled the opening of the Cuban Revolution
and the forging of a revolutionary leadership.
Five and a half years after the attack, the July 26th Movement led
working people to overthrow Batista, deepen their struggles and go on to
establish their own government, beginning the transformation of society.
U.S. imperialism was shocked that the program of the revolutionary
movement ??? put forward by Fidel during his trial for the assault on
Moncada and widely promoted throughout the island ??? was not just pretty
words, it was carried out.
The large agricultural estates were nationalized and put under workers
control or distributed to landless peasants. Factories were taken over
by workers. A massive literacy campaign was launched to teach workers
and farmers to read and write. Working people became masters of their
own destinies. Hundreds of thousands have volunteered for
internationalist missions to advance the struggles of workers and
farmers elsewhere around the world, acting on Castro???s explanation that
???those not willing to fight for the freedom of others will never be able
to fight for their own.???
The U.S. rulers have never forgiven working people for not just changing
the faces of those in power but transgressing against capitalist
property and profits ??? especially of U.S. bosses. And they have never
given up on their dream of restoring U.S. domination of the island.
That???s why Washington???s economic war on Cuba never ends.
What working people from the U.S. to Puerto Rico and across the globe
can learn from the experience of the Cuban Revolution is as important
today as the day workers and farmers in Cuba took power.
As Jack Barnes put it in Cuba and the Coming American Revolution,
working people of Cuba showed us ???that with class solidarity, political
consciousness, courage, focused and persistent efforts at education, and
a revolutionary leadership of a caliber like that in Cuba ??? a leadership
tested and forged in battle over years ??? it is possible to stand up to
enormous might and seemingly insurmountable odds and win.???
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NEW YORK ??? ???The Cuban people are determined to withstand the U.S.
government???s policy of aggression,??? said Ana Silvia Rodr??guez Abascal,
Cuban deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, at a July
27 meeting here to celebrate the Cuban Revolution.???
In This Issue
Front Page Articles ???Colonial rule, capitalist crisis fueled Puerto Rico
protests
???Airline, auto bosses target workers to boost profits
??????Amnesty for immigrants is in interest of all workers???
??????Cuban people will resist US embargo and violations of our
sovereignty???
???Democrats??? Mueller expos?? falls flat as clashes in party sharpen
???Florida prison officials??? ban on ???Militant??? attacks Bill of Rights
Feature Articles ???Yazidis in Iraq still displaced two years after
Islamic State???s defeat
Also In This Issue ???Joyce Meissenheimer was ???on right side of
history???
???US gov???t plans to restart death penalty, target workers
???Black lung at highest rate in decades among miners
???Ohio college posts bond over ???racism??? smear of bakery owners
Editorials ???Cuban Revolution shows workers can win
Books of the Month ???How capitalism is revolutionizing parts of Africa
25, 50 and 75 years ago
?? Copyright 2019 The Militant?? -?? 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor -?? New
York, NY 10018?? -?? themilitant@xxxxxxx
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Okay, thank
--
---
George Carlin
??? Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the
universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is
wet, and they have to touch it to be sure. ???
??? George Carlin