Scholars have historically utilized Third Worldism, the political ideology that arose from the 1955 Bandung Asian–African Conference, as a framework for examining North Korea's foreign relations with the Global South in the context of the Cold War. Moe Taylor's North Korea, Tricontinentalism, and the Latin American Revolution builds on a recent wave of scholarship aimed at understanding a pivotal shift within the Third World movement that saw the convergence of two revolutionary currents—socialist and national liberation—and a shift from the policy of non-alignment in favor of a direct challenge to the international order. With a focus on the 1966 Havana Tricontinental Conference as a critical juncture, Taylor argues for the emergence of a distinct ideology, Tricontinentalism, characterized by a more assertive and militant stance (Mahler Reference Mahler2018; Parrott Reference Parrott, Parrott and Lawrence2022).
Taylor applies this new ideological framework to the study of the relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea or DPRK) and Cuba and, more broadly, to the study of North Korea–Latin American relations. Taylor employs a threefold approach. The first sees Tricontinentalism as an anti-US stance: “This vision of the US empire as the primary obstacle to the forward march of history lies at the heart of the Tricontinentalist project spearheaded by the ruling communist parties of North Korea and Cuba in the 1960s” (p. 3). The second looks at Tricontinentalism as an alternative path to socialist revolution that deviates from orthodox Marxism. Taylor argues that the Cuban and North Korean leaders “found unity in the belief that rural guerrilla warfare was the optimal revolutionary strategy in the global South, and together advocated a radical re-think of the role of the Marxist–Leninist vanguard party in these same societies” (p. 5). The third approach looks at it as a response to the Sino-Soviet Split. Tricontinentalism, Taylor argues, “challenged the authority of Moscow and Beijing and injected an ultra-radical current into left-wing and anti-colonial movements throughout the global South” (p. 6). By situating the two countries at the forefront of Tricontinentalism, Taylor argues that each influenced the other, and both became models for the Latin American Left.
By advancing this argument and delving into the historical details, this book fills a gap in our understanding of North Korea–Latin American relations, which for years has been of peripheral interest to scholars working on North Korean relations with the Third World. Due to the paucity of scholarship on North Korea–Latin America relations, Taylor's work draws extensively on primary sources. Among the materials used are stand out Cuban publications, such as the newspaper Granma and magazines produced by the Organization of Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Organización de Solidaridad con los Pueblos de Asia, África y América Latina, OSPAAAL), as well as North Korea-related materials, whether produced by the DPRK or locally by Latin Americans.
In addition to the literature on Tricontinentalism, Taylor also brings together the literature on North Korean foreign policy produced in the Global North with contributions from scholars in Latin America. It is worth noting that (North) Korean studies in Latin America is a nascent field, and during the publication process of Taylor's book, articles were published that may have modified some of the author's arguments (Aguirre Torrini Reference Aguirre Torrini2023; Lanare Reference Lanare2023).
North Korea, Tricontinentalism, and the Latin American Revolution is organized chronologically. Chapter 1 places North Korea and Cuba at the forefront of a challenge to the structures and hierarchies of the Socialist Bloc. It traces the history of North Korea–Latin American relations from Anti-(Korean)War activism to the Cuban Missile crisis, focusing on the configuration of the North Korea–Cuba alliance and Che Guevara's historic visit to the Asian country. Chapter 2 explores the evolution of DPRK–Cuba relations under Tricontinentalism. Taylor profiles the relationship between the two socialist countries as one in which Cuba offered diplomatic support, while North Korea provided economic and technical assistance. Chapter 3 looks at the North Korean support of Latin American revolutions. This materialized in diverse ways such as training of guerrillas and arms transfer, which were coordinated during Latin American visits to North Korea. Chapters 4–6 examine North Korea as a model of development and of revolution. Compared to the previous chapters, these are more interpretative, and it is worth asking to what extent North Korea was a model, not only for Cuba but also for the Latin American Left. Chapter 7 discusses the weakening of the “anti-imperialist and anti-US front,” which Taylor attributes to several factors, including the death of Che Guevara, Cuba's rapprochement with the Soviet Union and the end of the Vietnam War. This chapter also discusses elements of friction in the North Korean–Cuban alliance, such as North Korea's participation in the Non-Aligned movement and Cuba's involvement in Africa.
Despite its innovation and thoroughness, this book, like all books, has one or two drawbacks. First is Taylor's description of the Great Economic Debate. While Taylor depicts this as tension within the Cuban leadership arising from a difference of positions in which Guevara favored more voluntarist approaches to Soviet orthodoxy (pp. 116–120), other scholars speak more openly about two factions within the Cuban government, a pro-Soviet one led by Castro and a pro-Chinese one represented by Guevara (Cheng Reference Cheng2007, 99). Considering the important role played by the Sino-Soviet split in the book's narrative, Taylor should have taken these labels further, subjecting them to closer scrutiny and debate.
Second, there is an absence of a precise delineation or clear definition of the term “Latin American Left.” Consider the following figures of the Latin American Left: Chile's Salvador Allende (1908–1973) and Uruguay's Rodney Arismendi (1913–1989). Allende attended the Havana Conference and supported Cuba, although he pursued a project of peaceful transition to socialism (vía pacífica). Arismendi, like Allende, also attended the Tricontinental conference. And amid the challenge posed by the Sino-Soviet split and Tricontinentalism to Soviet orthodoxy, Arismendi steered the Uruguayan Communist Party towards alignment with the peaceful coexistence advocated by the Soviet Union. Both figures also maintained strong ties with the DPRK. Allende offered North Korea diplomatic recognition when he assumed the presidency in 1970. Arismendi sided with the North Koreans when the Uruguayan government expelled the DPRK trade mission in 1966 and became the leader of the Uruguay's solidarity movement with Korea. The question here is where these two Latin Americans, who were part of the Tricontinental movement without embracing the armed struggle, fit into Taylor's narrative.
And if the answer is that they do not fit, are we to conclude that by “Latin American Left” Taylor refers to an extremist, militant, or insurgent left? If so, then another query arises concerning Maoist and Hoxhaist parties in Latin America, which are absent in the book. Indeed, during the Cold War, particular regional communist movements, critical of the Soviet ideology, sought inspiration from China and Albania rather than aligning themselves with Cuba and the DPRK. Despite Taylor's emphasis on Cuban and North Korean models as alternatives to the Soviet orthodoxy, there were other, competing, models that are also worth examining.
These issues do not diminish the merits of the work. Taylor's book is a necessary reference not only for scholars interested in the foreign relations of North Korea but also to Latin Americanists seeking to push the boundaries of transnational approaches to Latin America's Cold War. In its resourceful bibliography and novel archival materials, Taylor's book sets a new standard for future works on North Korea relations with Latin America, and with the Third World more broadly.
