As Profit is Capitalism's bottom line, so Total Subjugation is the
bottom line for Empires.
The end justifies the means. We Americans must rid ourselves of the
idea that we can work together with the Empire. We are not members of
this American Empire. The Working Class, most Americans, are part of
a natural resource pool maintained for the benefit of the Empire.
How we are treated can be compared to how we treat a piece of
equipment that fails to function when we need it. Often we become
angry. We might first try to coax it into action, but finally knock
it around in the hope that a good jarring will get it going. And so
it is with the Empire's Human Servants. At no time does the Empire
consider us its Equal. Our existence is based upon our ability to do
our tasks when the Empire demands them.
Carl Jarvis
On 9/2/18, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
https://themilitant.com/2018/08/24/fidel-castro-maurice-bishop-was-a-true-revolutionary/
Fidel Castro: ‘Maurice Bishop was a true revolutionary’
Vol. 82/No. 33
September 3, 2018
Maurice Bishop, left, and Fidel Castro at May Day rally in Cuba, 1980.
“Grenada had become a true symbol of independence and progress in the
Caribbean,” Fidel Castro said after Bishop was killed in
counterrevolutionary coup. “No one could have foreseen the tragedy” to
come. Maurice Bishop, left, and Fidel Castro at May Day rally in Cuba,
1980. “Grenada had become a true symbol of independence and progress in
the Caribbean,” Fidel Castro said after Bishop was killed in
counterrevolutionary coup. “No one could have foreseen the tragedy” to
come.
Below is a speech by Fidel Castro given in Havana on Nov. 14, 1983, to
more than 1 million people gathered to honor 24 Cuban volunteers who
were killed during the U.S. invasion of Grenada. It’s included in
Maurice Bishop Speaks, one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for
September. Bishop was the central leader of the 1979 Grenada Revolution,
leading workers and peasants to take political power into their own
hands. The Cuban leadership viewed Bishop and the Grenadian Revolution
as a powerful reinforcement.
In a Stalinist-inspired coup led by Bernard Coard, the workers and
farmers government was overthrown in 1983 and Bishop was murdered. The
coup killed the revolution, opening the door to a U.S. military
invasion. Copyright © 1983 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.
BY FIDEL CASTRO
In Grenada, we followed the same principle we apply to all revolutionary
nations and movements, full respect for their policies, criteria, and
decisions, expressing our views on any matter only when asked to do so. …
Bishop was not an extremist; rather, he was a true revolutionary —
conscientious and honest. Far from disagreeing with his intelligent and
realistic policy, we fully sympathized with it, since it was rigorously
adapted to his country’s specific conditions and possibilities.
Grenada had become a true symbol of independence and progress in the
Caribbean. No one could have foreseen the tragedy that was drawing near.
Attention was focused on other parts of the world.
Unfortunately, the Grenadian revolutionaries themselves unleashed the
events that opened the door to imperialist aggression. Hyenas emerged
from the revolutionary ranks. Today no one can yet say whether those who
used the dagger of divisionism and internal confrontation did so motu
proprio [for their own ends] or were inspired and egged on by imperialism.
It is something that could have been done by the CIA — and, if somebody
else was responsible, the CIA could not have done it any better. The
fact is that allegedly revolutionary arguments were used, invoking the
purest principles of Marxism-Leninism and charging Bishop with
practicing a cult of personality and with drawing away from the Leninist
norms and methods of leadership.
In our view, nothing could be more absurd than to attribute such
tendencies to Bishop. It was impossible to imagine anyone more noble,
modest, and unselfish. He could never have been guilty of being
authoritarian. If he had any defect, it was his excessive tolerance and
trust.
Were those who conspired against him within the Grenadian party, army,
and security forces by any chance a group of extremists drunk on
political theory? Were they simply a group of ambitious, opportunistic
individuals, or were they enemy agents who wanted to destroy the
Grenadian revolution? History alone will have the last word, but it
would not be the first time that such things occurred in a revolutionary
process.
In our view, Coard’s group objectively destroyed the revolution and
opened the door to imperialist aggression. Whatever their intentions,
the brutal assassination of Bishop and his most loyal, closest comrades
is a fact that can never be justified in that or any other revolution.
As the October 20 statement by the Cuban party and government put it,
“no crime must be committed in the name of the revolution and freedom.” …
It is to our revolution’s credit that, in spite of our profound
indignation over Bishop’s removal from office and arrest, we fully
refrained from interfering in Grenada’s internal affairs. We refrained
even though our construction workers and all our other cooperation
personnel in Grenada — who did not hesitate to confront the Yankee
soldiers with the weapons Bishop himself had given them for their
defense in case of an attack from abroad — could have been a decisive
factor in those internal events. Those weapons were never meant to be
used in an internal conflict in Grenada and we would never have allowed
them to be so used. We would never have been willing to use them to shed
a single drop of Grenadian blood.
On October 12, Bishop was removed from office by the Central Committee,
on which the conspirators had attained a majority. On the thirteenth, he
was placed under house arrest. On the nineteenth, the people took to the
streets and freed Bishop. On the same day, Coard’s group ordered the
army to fire on the people and Bishop, [Unison] Whiteman, Jacqueline
Creft, and other excellent revolutionary leaders were murdered.
As soon as the internal dissensions, which came to light on October 12,
became known, the Yankee imperialists decided to invade.
The message sent by the leadership of the Cuban party to Coard’s group
on October 15 has been made public. In it, we expressed our deep concern
over both the internal and external consequences of the split and
appealed to common sense, serenity, wisdom, and generosity of
revolutionaries. This reference to generosity was an appeal not to use
violence against Bishop and his followers.
This group of Coard’s that seized power in Grenada expressed serious
reservations toward Cuba from the very beginning because of our
well-known and unquestionable friendship with Bishop. …
[D]ue to our basic regard for the Grenadian people, we would not rush to
take any steps with regard to technical and economic cooperation that
could affect essential services or economic interests vital to the
people of Grenada.
We could not accept the idea of leaving the Grenadians without doctors
or leaving the airport, which was vital to the nation’s economy,
unfinished. …
The thing that placed Cuba in a morally complex, difficult situation was
the announcement that Yankee naval forces were en route to Grenada.
Under those circumstances, we couldn’t possibly leave the country. …
In Grenada, however, the government was morally indefensible. And, since
the party, the government, and the army had divorced themselves from the
people, it was also impossible to defend the nation militarily, because
a revolutionary war is only feasible and justifiable when united with
the people. We could only fight, therefore, if we were directly
attacked. There was no alternative.
In This Issue
Front Page Articles •Witch hunt by liberals against Trump a danger to
workers
•US, Turkish rulers clash over course in Mideast
•SWP: Speak out against bosses, gov't attacks, abuse
•White nationalist rally shows less support for racism in US today
•Join fight to end prison officials' censorship of the 'Militant'!
•Demand US rulers sign peace pact ending the Korean War!
Feature Articles •‘Teamster Bureaucracy’ is a must read for workers today
Also In This Issue •Working people welcome Eritrea-Ethiopia peace deal
On the Picket Line •Workers at Indiana construction site walk out
against racist firings
•Puerto Rico teachers protest ‘worst school start in decades’
•Teachers in New Zealand strike over pay, conditions
Books of the Month •Fidel Castro: ‘Maurice Bishop was a true revolutionary’
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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