Cubans Rejoice for 61 years of Revolution
By Elio Delgado Legon
HAVANA TIMES – On January 1, 2020, the Cuban Revolution turns 61 years old. It hasn’t been smooth sailing. Throughout these years, the Cuban project has had to navigate a rough sea of US imperialism’s attacks, obsessed with ending a revolution that could be taken as an example by other Latin American countries.
A lot has been written about the methods used to try and reach this end, and they are quite well-known, but it’s important to always remind people of them so that nobody forgets and so that people who didn’t know learn the truth.
Ever since the beginning, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hasn’t skimped on efforts or money to try and make the Cuban people abort their revolutionary process. It armed and funded every counter-revolutionary it could recruit among the Battista dictatorship’s former militarymen, civilian collaborators of the overthrown regime, some people affected by the first revolutionary laws and many others who didn’t know why they opposed a revolution, which was heading towards Communism according to Imperialism’s propaganda.
Thousands of armed insurgents received ammunition and supplies, as well as money, from the US government via the CIA. They committed all kinds of atrocities such as the murder of farmers, teachers, young literacy teachers, while they sabotaged the national economy.
At the same time, they trained and armed a contingent of mercenaries so they could disembark on the Cuban coast, with the plan of taking a bit of land and deploying a puppet government that would ask for US military intervention.
However, those plans failed when they were neutralized and beaten by the revolutionary forces, the Rebel army and a Havana police squad, in less than 72 hours, when they tried to land on Giron Beach, at the Bay of Pigs, in the south of Cuba. Everybody knows how this take-over attempt ends.
Insurgents in the mountains and countryside in every province, gradually declined and some managed to escape to the US, where they were given a hero’s welcome. After these armed actions failed, the CIA’s war against Cuba resorted to terrorism; let’s remember the Cubana aeroplane that exploded mid-flight near Barbados, with 83 people on board, bombs placed at Havana’s hotels, one of which took the life of an Italian tourist, to name a few.
In their naive belief that if they did away with Fidel Castro then the Revolution would end, over 600 attempts were made on the Revolution leader’s life, but they all failed. Some would have devastating results such as blowing up an auditorium full of students at Panama University, when meeting with Fidel.
While all of this (and so much more that I can’t fit into this article) was happening, the US government was imposing an economic, commercial and financial blockade, whose sole mission is to cause shortages, hunger, disease and desperation amongst the Cuban people so as to overthrow the revolutionary government and then intervene and establish a new US-capitalist backed government in the country.
However, this plan also failed and former US president Barack Obama admitted this when he reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba.
The rapprochement process came to a standstill when Donald Trump’s government came into power, which has tightened the blockade and made it harsher than ever before. Persecution of Cuba’s financial and commercial operations is relentless.
This year, they have even gone so far as persecuting oil tanker ships traveling to Cuba, in an attempt to leave us without fuel and paralyze the country. These are desperate measures, the result of so many failed attempts in the past, but the Cuban Revolution will celebrate 61 years with great rejoicing and celebrations in every corner of the country. We have orchestras and bands to play over the entire country and to get every Cuban up dancing on their feet, thus proving that even though they tried to kill us and our spirits this year, we are very much alive and kicking.
My Aunt and her family can’t afford to buy toilet paper due to the government economic policy of a dual-currency system that favors those in power: population paid in nearly-worthless Cuban Pesos but required to pay for goods and services in the more valuable CUEC. an eye-opening example given to me by my close cousin in Varadero was that she and her family had to work an entire month in order to be able to purchase such a necessary staple as a bottle of cooking oil, sorry kids, doesn’t look like much to celebrate(and go ahead and call me capitalist if the label implies the view that my Cuban family should be able to live with such luxuries as toilet paper and cooking oil. Shall we blame that on those Imperialist Americanos?
This is nonetheless with all due respect to Mr. Delgado Legon, who apparently is of my father’s generation, and certainly gives us a powerful view additional to US-centric experiences.Gracias, Señor
Another year of oppressive communist dictatorship not much to rejoice about.
And no sign of democracy just shows how lucky we are.
Elio states many irrefutable facts.
He is also deluded.
Elio is factual when he refers to the sickening and twisted way in which the USA has stamped down it’s brutal and ruthless Jack-Boot in it’s so-called ‘back yard’.
The way in which the USA has backed up all and sundry manifestations of fascism over the years in The Americas is disgusting. The way in which the USA has stamped down upon and tried to obliterate in every possible way any hint of progressiveness is a blight upon the forlorn dream of democracy on which the USA was founded.
That it’s citizens, in their brainwashed, consumerist wallowing can still have the temerity to criticise other nations in the filthy and inglorious age of trump is a sad reflection on their levels of indoctrination. Cradle to grave indoctrination. Ultra Right Wing Capitalism has well and truly beaten down and stamped upon any lingering notions of democracy in the USA.
Having criticised the USA and it’s oh so very easily fooled sucker-fodder/populace……
I must also point out out that if Elio thinks that the entirety of Cuba’s 11 million are out celebrating the Revolution’s achievements today, then he is so very, very wrong.
No doubt you’re an ok guy Elio, but the fact of the matter is that Cuba needs a good shake up.
You gotta’ give Elio credit: He sees a pile of horse(manure) and writes “there must be a pony in there somewhere”. He repeats the same old tired stories complaining of imperialism and ignores the intervening 50+ years of Cuban economic interdependence on the USSR and later on Venezuela. He reminds me of the scene late in the movie Titanic where as the luxury cruiseliner began to sink, the orchestra continued to play. Castristas like Elio will never change. He will likely die believing there must be pony in there somewhere.
Unfortunately most of the world’s peoples design hierarchical systems of government. It could and most likely is biological, all things being equal, which they are not in societal organizations, unless enforced by people oriented leaders , the wrong side of the stick and all of that.
I have been to Cuba 14 times, and traveled from Pinar del Rio to Guantanamo. All the time with people that i met in Cuba. My impression of the country is that such a beautiful place, and the people are wonderful. Could you imagine a place where the things in life that you need were readily available. The revolution that Elio comments about is a farce. there is elitists, and the poor that’s it. The poor out number the elitists by a huge number. He must live in the elitist world, and does not have to stand in line to try and get the basics of life. He also must not see the complete mismanagement of the economy. He is living in a fantasy.