Batista was exceedingly unpopular and there is a material gain from the national bourgeoisie to stop being a comprador state. the reality of the bourgeoisie is they want to be independent when under a comprador arrangement because they will make more profits that way.
It was for this reason that fidel and the broader revolutionary movement did not initially present itself as marxist but as an independence struggle. because of this some online “marxists” think that fidel was never a communist because he didn’t spell it black on white. Despite this the first thing he did when he took power was to publicly announce the nationalization of all industry, including the united fruit company (now chiquita). The event was televized, it’s on youtube somewhere, and you can audibly hear boos in the audience.
A lot of this characterization of their own struggle was due to the history of cuba. it had been colonized by columbus in the 1500s, became a spanish cash crop colony, then switched hands between colonial powers, then the US appointed a governor in the late 1800s, even after Cubans fought for the US against Spain as they were promised autonomy, then let a series of puppet presidents take office when occupation proved difficult. Batista himself was put in power in place of his own superior in the police. The series of cuban presidents starting from the 1900s is kind of a mess.
The US was initially happy to court fidel and even made PR for him because they didn’t really care who was in charge as long as they could continue to exploit cuba under a compradorship. So there was also a point there to try and get the US out of the way early on.
There was similar history in Vietnam and the revolutionary struggle there also took on a patriotic appearance over an explicitly communist appearance. I say appearance but that’s not quite true, it’s not “dressing up” your struggle, it’s just the best way to struggle in these conditions. That is to say this is not a universal method but it works in some more specific situations.
Thank you for a comprehensive overview. I knew they didn’t outright announce they were Marxist, and I remember seeing old US news interviews with Che in an old black and white documentary a long time ago, but either don’t recall or it never mentioned financing. Are there any good books you’d recommend regarding Castro, Guevera, and the revolution (not separately, although that’s fine too) you’d recommend?
Batista was exceedingly unpopular and there is a material gain from the national bourgeoisie to stop being a comprador state. the reality of the bourgeoisie is they want to be independent when under a comprador arrangement because they will make more profits that way.
It was for this reason that fidel and the broader revolutionary movement did not initially present itself as marxist but as an independence struggle. because of this some online “marxists” think that fidel was never a communist because he didn’t spell it black on white. Despite this the first thing he did when he took power was to publicly announce the nationalization of all industry, including the united fruit company (now chiquita). The event was televized, it’s on youtube somewhere, and you can audibly hear boos in the audience.
A lot of this characterization of their own struggle was due to the history of cuba. it had been colonized by columbus in the 1500s, became a spanish cash crop colony, then switched hands between colonial powers, then the US appointed a governor in the late 1800s, even after Cubans fought for the US against Spain as they were promised autonomy, then let a series of puppet presidents take office when occupation proved difficult. Batista himself was put in power in place of his own superior in the police. The series of cuban presidents starting from the 1900s is kind of a mess.
The US was initially happy to court fidel and even made PR for him because they didn’t really care who was in charge as long as they could continue to exploit cuba under a compradorship. So there was also a point there to try and get the US out of the way early on.
There was similar history in Vietnam and the revolutionary struggle there also took on a patriotic appearance over an explicitly communist appearance. I say appearance but that’s not quite true, it’s not “dressing up” your struggle, it’s just the best way to struggle in these conditions. That is to say this is not a universal method but it works in some more specific situations.
Thank you for a comprehensive overview. I knew they didn’t outright announce they were Marxist, and I remember seeing old US news interviews with Che in an old black and white documentary a long time ago, but either don’t recall or it never mentioned financing. Are there any good books you’d recommend regarding Castro, Guevera, and the revolution (not separately, although that’s fine too) you’d recommend?
I’m terrible at recommending specific books, but I can recommend prolewiki’s Cuba category as a starting point, see if anything seems interesting! https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Category:Library_works_about_Cuba
Thank you! 🫡