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Vol. 81/No. 47 December 18, 2017
Hart: ‘We joined revolutionary movement led
by Fidel Castro’
Below is an excerpt from Aldabonazo: Inside the Cuban Revolutionary
Underground, 1952-58, a Participant’s Account by Armando Hart. Hart, who
was a founding member of the July 26 Movement and helped lead its urban
underground, died in Havana Nov. 26. He became a central leader of the
revolution, and of the government that took power in 1959, serving as
Minister of Education and Minister of Culture. In this selection Hart,
at the time a member of the Revolutionary National Movement led by
García Bárcena, describes the impact on him of the campaign for amnesty
for Fidel Castro and other revolutionists imprisoned for the 1953
assaults on the Moncada and Bayamo garrisons. He explains how he was won
to the program and movement led by Fidel Castro. Over the next few weeks
the Militant will run additional excerpts from the book, as well as an
appreciation of Hart’s life and revolutionary accomplishments. Copyright
© 2004 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.
BY ARMANDO HART
On October 10, 1954, a group of compañeros, including Mario and Bebo
Hidalgo, Faustino Pérez, Eloy Abella, Pepe Prieto, Enrique Hart, and I,
were meeting in the Havana Teachers College at 411 Malecón. We were
discussing how to respond to the November electoral farce and what
contacts to make in other provinces through the young people we had
political relations with. At about noon, the police broke in and
arrested us all. …
Haydée [Santamaría] came to visit us and inquired about Faustino and me.
She and Melba [Hernández], desiring to establish relations with
revolutionary groups of every type, were working to win support for an
amnesty. They were busy distributing Fidel’s main documents,
particularly History Will Absolve Me, which had begun to circulate in
October. …
As soon as I got out of prison, I contacted Melba and Haydée. They
talked to me about what Moncada represented and told me of the work
carried out by Abel Santamaría and the group of compañeros who together
with Fidel had prepared the action. They also explained Fidel’s ideas
and program to me, as well as this revolutionary leader’s fundamental
opposition to the traditional parties. …
At that time, all the political and social organizations of the
opposition began to mobilize broadly in support of an amnesty for Fidel
and the Moncadistas; it in fact became a demand of the nation. The
regime was forced to decree the amnesty in May 1955.
The people were waiting for the brave freedom fighters to be released
from their cells. Everyone knew of the spirit that had inspired the
Moncada and Bayamo combatants and had governed their actions. These
fighters had confronted the tyranny, and for that they had been sent to
prison or had fallen courageously. …
The government tried to use the amnesty to present itself as the “dove
of peace,” but its actions revealed this claim to be a total farce. The
amnesty did not represent so much as a single step to restore
tranquility to the country. Hunger was growing, unemployment still
stalked the land, dissatisfaction was increasing, and we could not put
up with any more deceit. Batista compelled us to go to war. The
government was the first and most obvious obstacle to genuine harmony. …
For the most dynamic social layers of the population, Fidel had become
the center of attraction and the most important political figure. He was
already the natural leader of the new generations of young
revolutionaries, as well as of broad sectors of the population. This was
because young people politically supported the insurrectional line and
valued the Moncadistas’ heroic conduct and determination to do battle.
Moreover, the Moncada group was not tied in with the traditional
parties, but represented their very negation. In the leader of the July
26 action we found what we had been looking for since March 10 [1952,
when Batista carried out a coup and seized power with Washington’s
backing] and even before: a political and revolutionary leader, with
deep popular and democratic roots, with no ties to the existing system,
and, at the same time, capable of organizing the masses to action.
I joined the July 26 Movement as the result of a natural process. The
Moncada program concretized for me the ethical sentiments that were
deeply rooted in the Cuban patriotic tradition.
A powerful wave of rebellious people gathered around Fidel. As the
struggle developed, this unstoppable whirlwind was transformed, over the
course of months and years, into a true revolutionary hurricane. …
From [that] moment … we were already a part of the movement led by
Fidel. Faustino and I assured Fidel that we were immediately joining him
and his compañeros.
Related articles:
1961 literacy drive in Cuba ‘transformed working people’
European Cuba solidarity conference held in Bulgaria
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