The Militant (logo) 
   Vol.65/No.7            February 19, 2001 
 
 
'A weapon in our common struggles today'
Pathfinder presents copies of 'Haciendo historia' to Combatants Association at Havana Book Fair
 (feature article)
 
Below are the remarks given by Mary-Alice Waters, president of Pathfinder Press, in presenting 300 copies of Haciendo historia: entrevistas con cuatro generales de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Cuba, to the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (ACRC) at a special event on February 7 at the 10th Havana International Book Fair. The book is Pathfinder's newly published Spanish-language edition of Making History: Interviews with Four Generals of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

As Waters explains, the donation came about as a result of supporters of Pathfinder, the Militant, and Perspectiva Mundial seeing the importance of how the combatants association is using the book in Cuba. The ACRC brings together revolutionary fighters of several generations in Cuba to engage in "patriotic, military, and internationalist education work of reaching new generations with the experiences" of its members, in the words of Cuban brigadier general Harry Villegas (see report of the presentation on following page).

The Militant has carried interviews with leaders of the ACRC in two previous issues. In the issue of June 14, 1999, the article "Cuban generals: 'We're not veterans, we're combatants,'" by Mary-Alice Waters and Martín Koppel, features an interview with Brig. Gen. Gustavo Chui Beltrán and Brig. Gen. Sergio Pérez Lezcano. Beltrán was interviewed again for the article "We try to be a catalyst," by Luis Madríd and Mary-Alice Waters, published in the January 29 issue of this year. Also interviewed for that article were Brig. Gen. Harry Villegas and Brig. Gen. Delsa Esther Puebla.  
 

*****
 
First of all, a heartfelt thanks to all of you who are here this afternoon to join us in this presentation of Pathfinder's edition of Haciendo historia, and the donation of some 300 copies of this powerful book to the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution.

Almost exactly 40 years ago, the militiamen caught in the dramatic photo reproduced on the cover of Haciendo historia marched along the Malecón as they mobilized to defend their revolution against the U.S.-organized invasion that they--and the entire world--knew was coming.

Barely three months later, in less than 72 hours of combat on the beaches of Girón, Cuba's revolutionary militias, together with the fledgling Revolutionary Armed Forces recently born out of the victorious Rebel Army of the Sierras, crushed the counterrevolutionary forces armed, trained, and deployed by Washington. That historic victory, the first military defeat of U.S. imperialism in the Americas, resounds across the globe, even to this day. It slammed the door on the fevered delusions of the Yankee rulers that the first socialist revolution in this hemisphere would be rapidly or easily defeated. Washington is still living with the consequences of that defeat, and the oppressed and exploited of the world are still affected by its example.

In the United States, those who oppose Washington's imperial arrogance and insupportably brutal and oppressive course in the world drew great strength from our victory at Girón.

There could not be a more appropriate moment for Pathfinder Press to bring out its edition of Haciendo historia, the English edition of which was launched a year ago at the Havana book fair together with Editora Política's edition of the Spanish. Through the stories of Néstor López Cuba, Enrique Carreras, José Ramón Fernández, and Harry Villegas, the pages of Haciendo historia reveal the secret of the Cuban revolution that imperial Washington could never--and will never--comprehend.

In every victorious revolution, it is "the men and women from nowhere," ordinary working people in their millions, who simply say "enough," as the Second Declaration of Havana puts it so eloquently, and begin to march. As they transform the conditions of their lives, they transform themselves. The impossible becomes possible.

Why is this book important inside the United States right now? Why has Pathfinder published it?

The enormous weight of imperialism today bears down on the people of Cuba primarily through the economic warfare that is unending, and the political and diplomatic offensive that accompanies it. Similar pressures come down on working people inside the United States as well. For the large majority of working people, the deteriorating conditions of life and work, the direct consequence of the capitalist economic offensive, are generating something new, something we have not seen in decades. What we see is not only increasing resistance--strikes, work stoppages, union organizing drives, farm protests, marches in support of immigrant workers, protests against police brutality--but something of even greater importance.

Vanguard workers and farmers who emerge in the course of different struggles--irrespective of whether any particular struggle ends in victory, defeat, or a standoff--are finding ways to link up with each other, to extend the hand of solidarity from one battle to another, to test and learn from each other as they prepare for new rounds of struggle. They are searching for examples of how to fight effectively, and to win. And that is why their minds are open to seeing and learning the truth about the Cuban Revolution. As one such farmer who visited Cuba last year expressed it to his Cuban brothers and sisters, "We have come here because we think we can learn something from you about fighting, but even more important, about winning."

The self-promotion of all the imperialist agencies proclaims that world capitalism, with Washington at its head, has reached new heights of invincibility. But the men and women of Cuba have proven the opposite for 40-plus years. Through the pages of Haciendo historia we meet some of the individuals who are typical of the men and women who have made this possible. And therein lies its power.

Haciendo historia is not a book about past battles, but a weapon in our common struggles today, in the Americas and throughout the world.  
 

*****
 
Last November, in the course of an interview with leaders of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution, including generals Chui Beltrán, Teté Puebla, and Harry Villegas, reporters for the U.S.-based socialist periodicals, the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial, became aware of how this book is being used by those of you who are engaged in the patriotic, internationalist political work that is at the center of the activities of the more than 330,000 members of the Association. It is important to you for some of the same reasons that this book is important to those of us in the United States and elsewhere around the world who are fighting to advance the socialist and internationalist perspectives that are at the center of the Cuban Revolution. We learned that the Association was trying to assemble some 300 copies of Haciendo historia so that each municipal committee could have a copy to use in its work. At the same time we learned that the edition of the book published in Cuba by Editora Política was out of print and might not be available again soon.

In the United States, where growing millions of our Spanish-speaking fellow workers come from all parts of the Americas, to have the book in English but not Spanish would have been unthinkable. Even more so on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Playa Girón. At every garment factory, at every packinghouse, at every street-corner table, at every college where Pathfinder books are sold, this is a moment like no other to explain why socialist revolution, not imperialist globalization, is and will continue to be the only way forward for humanity. It is a moment like no other to use the example of the men and women of Cuba to show that we can forge the kind of leadership necessary, and prove that "si, se puede."

Our needs coincided, and the result was the decision to produce the book we are launching here today. It was accomplished in record time through the volunteer work of more than 200 Pathfinder supporters around the world who collaborate through the Internet to prepare our books for printing.  
 

*****
 
The donation of some 300 copies of Haciendo historia does not come from Pathfinder. As a small, communist publishing house that today loses money on virtually every title we publish, we have no such resources. These books come from the same place that Pathfinder receives its subsidy. From garment, and textile, and auto, and packinghouse workers, from students and miners, from struggling family farmers, from hundreds of such individuals in the United States and other countries who have for almost a decade contributed to the Books for Cuba fund of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial. This is the same fund that makes it possible for Pathfinder to be present at events here in Cuba such as the Havana International Book Fair, to make donations to dozens of libraries and institutions here, and sometimes to sell books in Cuba at prices that make them affordable.

The same workers and youth--from Chicago to Sydney, from Montreal to London and Stockholm--who sell these books at factory gates and university campuses, and who place them in bookstores across the country; the volunteers whose efforts make possible the production and reprinting of Pathfinder books--these are the women and men who offered their labor and emptied their pockets to assure that these books, these weapons of another kind, would find their way into the hands of an international vanguard defending the first socialist revolution in our hemisphere.

It is a great pleasure to be here today to present this donation on behalf of these contributors. Doing so is not primarily an act of solidarity, however indispensable that quality is as an attribute of our class; it is something we must do in order to act effectively where we live, work, and fight, day in and day out. "Those who are not capable of fighting for others will never be able to fight for themselves," as Fidel expressed it. There can be no proletarian internationalist vanguard in the United States or anywhere else in the world that does not act on this principle, as Cuban revolutionists have done throughout the entire history of their struggle.

In that spirit, we hope you will accept these books as an expression of respect and appreciation from your co-combatants.
 

 
  Books for Cuba: a special appeal

Militant readers have for many years been contributing regularly to our "Books for Cuba" Fund. The fund makes it possible for Pathfinder Press to fill the frequent requests it receives from libraries, schools, political organizations, and others in Cuba for complimentary copies of a broad range of Pathfinder titles.

The fund also makes it possible for Pathfinder to sell a large selection of titles at the Havana International Book Fair in pesos at prices most Cubans can afford.

This year the Books for Cuba Fund is helping to make possible the donation of 350 copies of Haciendo historia for distribution by the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution to each of its municipal groups.

Since December more than $2,300 has been raised for the fund, but contributions of any size are still needed.

Checks can be made payable to the Militant, earmarked "Books for Cuba Fund," and mailed to the Militant, 410 West Street, New York, NY 10014.
 
 
Related articles:
Interest in books high at fair in Havana
 Cuban generals attend book donation event  
 
 
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