Castro and the Cuban Communist Party

Extract

When Castro addressed a mass rally in Havana on the thirteenth anniversary of his unsuccessful attempt to storm the Moncada barracks, he referred with some feeling to what he called the ‘traditional communist parties’ of Latin America, attacking them for opposing his strategy of armed struggle which he claimed was the only correct way to seize power. In doing this Castro underlined the uniqueness of the Cuban situation in Latin America, and the difkulties attendant upon any attempt at classifying the Cuban revolution within the customary framework of communism in that continent.

Latin American communist movements have a poor record as insurrectionary forces. Inview of the fierce suppression of communism by governments seeking an easy target at home, and approbation in Washington, it is perhaps not surprising that the 1935 uprising in Brazil stands almost alone in the history of communist attempts at seizing power by revolution in Latin America. But the communists add themselves to the weakness of their position. Their record of dealings with dictators, including of course Batista in Cuba, however theoretically justified in the long run, discredits them in the eyes of the powerful, and growing, radical, nationalist movements.