As Washington became an imperialist power at the turn of the century, it began to organize political and military intervention against the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean. It seized Cuba and Puerto Rico in 1898, as well as the Philippines and Guam, as the workers and peasants in these territories were winning independence from Spain.

Cuba was the last country to free itself from the Spanish colonial rule, after peasants and former slaves fought off 500,000 Spanish troops in two wars of liberation that spanned 30 years. José Martí, Cuba's national hero, who was killed in battle, founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party with the immediate purpose of fighting for the independence of Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Activities can be organized to learn more about battles against Washington's rise as an imperialist power on the blood- soaked soil of other lands, such as the 1901 Balangiga Massacre in the Philippines, where U.S. troops wiped out thousands of civilians in a reprisal to their struggle against U.S. domination.

The Cuban revolution in 1959 established the first free territory in the Americas. The struggle to overthrow the U.S.- backed Fulgencio Batista tyranny was built on the shoulders of resistance by the Native Americans against their exterminators, the Africans against the slave owners, the workers and peasants against the colonizers, as well as against the local capitalists and landlords. As Washington turned its imperial wrath against the workers and farmers government that came to power, the leadership of the revolution mobilized the toilers to carry through the expropriation of the Cuban and foreign bourgeoisies, establishing the first workers state in the hemisphere.

"Our struggle was the eternal struggle of all oppressed people; our enemies were and are the same enemies; our victories are the victories of all progressive humanity today and tomorrow," explained Cuban president Fidel Castro, speaking at a 1978 mass rally marking the continuity of Cuba's socialist revolution with the battle for independence.

Today, Cuba has turned a corner in conquering the "special period" of economic crisis precipitated by the collapse in trade with the Soviet Union and exacerbated by Washington's decades-long economic war. The revolutionary leadership there has launched an effort to win a new generation to communism, drawing on this revolutionary history. For Cuban communists and other revolutionaries around the world, 1997 was the "Year of the Heroic Guerrilla" - the year of the 30th anniversary of the combat in Bolivia by Che Guevara and his comrades. In the same way, 1998 is the "Year of the 100th anniversary of anti- imperialist struggle in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines."

The meetings celebrating Che's combat that were held in Cuba, the United States and elsewhere in recent months were not just an exercise to mark an historical event. They opened the door for young rebels to learn about the Cuban revolution, Che Guevara, and his fellow combatants, and seek to emulate their internationalist example today. Working-class fighters have ample political openings to work with these kind of fighters, supporters of Puerto Rican independence, and defenders of the Cuban revolution to build meetings on campuses, with workers, and organize events in cities around the world to continue the revolutionary struggle for full equality for all human beings and solidarity among all peoples of the world.  
 
 
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