BY ERIC SIMPSON
MIAMI - "Secretos de generales [Secrets of generals] is a book about the Cuban socialist revolution today. It tells us how millions of working people, in making a revolution, have transformed society and themselves. It's about the proletarian character of the leadership of Cuba's revolution.

"Secretos is about what it means to be a revolutionary, about why socialism is a necessity today. It is not a theoretical explanation, but a practical one. And for those of you who hate capitalism and want to change the world, it is important reading," Martín Koppel explained to a meeting of 50 people hosted by the Militant Labor Forum here September 12. Koppel, a staff writer for the Militant and editor of Perspectiva Mundial, was in Miami to introduce Secretos de generales, which for the first time is available in this area through the Pathfinder Bookstore. The book, published last year in Cuba, includes interviews with 41 top officers of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Several people came to the event for Secretos de generales after reading a prominent announcement for it in the calendar column of the popular Miami weekly New Times. One woman was especially interested in the link between Cuba and Puerto Rico, responding to the announced participation in the meeting of the Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War of Orlando, Florida. At the last minute, the committee was unable to send a representative and sent greetings to the meeting instead.

Leading up to the program, Koppel conducted a wide-ranging interview in Spanish with Alvaro Sánchez-Cifuentes, on his program "En alta voz", aired on Radio Progreso, announcing the book's availability. Cifuentes probed Koppel's views for an hour on the Cuban revolution, the world capitalist economic crisis, and what socialists do in the United States, in a live broadcast that has an estimated 14,000 listeners daily.

Several listeners called the Pathfinder bookstore to thank Koppel for telling the truth about the Cuban revolution on the air. Several more stopped by to buy the book, while others attended the book celebration Saturday night. Only two people called to complain about the sale of Secretos de generales.

The book itself is known to many in Miami, but has never been available here. Last year, a column on the editorial page of El Nuevo Herald was devoted to an attack on the book. This followed an exchange of letters to the editor praising and condemning it. And a front-page article in the Miami Herald on Cuban president Fidel Castro's recent trip to the Dominican Republic cited the publication of Secretos de generales as proof that Cuba has not abandoned its support for revolutions internationally.

Koppel pointed to Cuba's role in world politics today. He said that when Fidel Castro speaks out in world forums, denouncing capitalism, as he did recently in South Africa, he is talking to fighters looking for an alternative to the capitalist system. Cuba is that living class alternative, Koppel said, one that follows the political continuity of the 1917 Bolshevik-led Russian revolution.

Koppel highlighted some of the accounts by the revolutionary leaders in Secretos de generales, who explain how U.S. imperialism suffered its first defeat in the Americas at the hands of Cuban working people at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. They describe how when the Kennedy administration brought the world to the brink of nuclear war during the 1962 missile crisis, it was the mobilization of millions of Cubans that stopped Washington's murderous hand.

Virtually every general in Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces has taken part in voluntary internationalist missions around the world, joining with others in national liberation struggles and fights against imperialist-sponsored attacks, from Angola to Argentina to Syria.

In Secretos de generales, Koppel noted, these proletarian leaders, who are today the leadership of Cuba's armed forces, speak to the new generation of Cubans, seeking to win them to their communist perspective.

At the Saturday event, Koppel was joined by Andrés Gómez of the Antonio Maceo Brigade and Walfrido Moreno of the Association of Workers of the Cuban Community (ATC).

One forum participant drove several hours from Tampa on a motorcycle to be at the forum. He arrived too late to hear the program, but was able to be part of a breakfast discussion with Koppel the next morning.

Koppel also discussed the Cuban revolution with Claude Aubry on his show "Voix du peuple" on Haitian radio Plus-Pep AM 1320. Aubry invited Koppel back to tape two further interviews on world politics. And on September 11, Koppel spoke for about 15 minutes and answered questions at the regular meeting of the Haitian rights organization Veye-Yo.

Koppel also addressed 40 people at the regular meeting of the ATC, a Cuban-American group that opposes the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba. Two copies of the book were bought by ATC members, and several people spoke to Koppel after the meeting.

According to representatives of the Miami Pathfinder bookstore, the initial shipment of 18 copies of Secretos de generales has sold out, and orders are being taken for the next consignment of books.  
 
 
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