BY GREG McCARTAN
At picket lines, protests, and emergency Militant Labor
Forums, socialists and supporters of Pathfinder have
introduced hundreds of people to revolutionary books and
literature as part of defending Cuba against Washington's
latest aggressive actions. At plant gates; on the job in
mines, mills, and factories; and among striking workers such
as the Ontario public employees, communist workers got out the
truth about Cuba and imperialism's military threats.
With four weeks to go, we are now past the half-way point in the campaign to sell 1,550 copies of Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War: 1956-58, by Ernesto Che Guevara. This week an additional 96 copies were sold, bringing the total to 826, or 53 percent, slightly ahead of schedule.
This past week supporters also focused on sales of To Speak the Truth: Why Washington's `Cold War' against Cuba Doesn't End, speeches by Cuban president Fidel Castro and Guevara before various bodies of the United Nations. While no figures are available for this week's sales of the latter title, Pathfinder in New York reports an increase in orders for the book of speeches by the two revolutionary leaders.
Two reviews in London papers
Two major papers in London, The Times and the Sunday
Observer, ran reviews of Episodes. "Taking Havana," is the
title of the review in The Observer, which says "Che Guevara's
account of fighting with Castro seems the ultimate insider's
guide to revolution."
Rachel Campbell-Johnston, writing in The Times, explains Guevara describes the "landing on Cuban shores of Castro and his 81 revolutionaries...[and] traces the ensuing skirmishes and struggles which tempered a ragged group of idealistic rebels into a proficient guerrilla force.
"He charts the political evolution of Castro's July 26 Movement," Campbell-Johnson explains, "from the establishment of the first free territory high in the Sierra Maestra, through the emergence of its new social structures centering on land reform, its developing legal system and industries, to its overthrow of President Batista's brutal dictatorship on January 1, 1959."
Pathfinder supporters are working to get other reviews in local papers and college press, as well as planning meetings to celebrate the book's publication.
Sales at Militant Labor Forums
In Miami, three copies of the book were purchased by
activists attending a Militant Labor Forum demanding "U.S.
Hands Off Cuba!" The forum was attended by 40-50 people,
reports Seth Galinsky, and was covered on the nightly news by
several local TV stations. "Two workers at the United Airlines
flight kitchen here at the Miami airport have also purchased
copies," he said.
Another three copies were sold the week before at a forum featuring Galinsky, who gave a report back from the Havana book fair, where he was part of a reporting team for the Militant.
A similar protest forum was held in Boston, where 45 people came, including several high school students who invited those attending to join an action the next day against Patrick Buchanan, reports Andrea Morell. A member of the International Association of Machinists who works at the Boston airport purchased a copy of the book, as well as a young person interested in joining the Young Socialists.
"We've sold seven more copies of the new book since last week," John Hawkins said in a phone interview from Birmingham. "A member of the United Auto Workers union who works at a war plant here bought a copy, and a young Black worker who identifies with the Cuban revolution decided to get one too. He is a member of the United Steelworkers of America."
As dozens of socialists returned to the New York Pathfinder bookstore early Sunday evening after a day of campaigning, Ruth Robinett reported that day she had sold her eighth copy of Episodes on the job, along with Teamster Rebellion, by Farrell Dobbs, and a membership in the Pathfinder Readers Club. Robinett is a member of the United Transportation Union who works at Amtrak. Six copies were sold by socialists over the weekend in Brooklyn.
Joan Paltrineri, a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees who works at a Kmart distribution center in Greensboro, North Carolina, writes that socialists on the job "sold seven books and a Pathfinder Readers Club membership in the month of February. With Cuba in the headlines the last week there is a lot of discussion and interest in Cuba. This has been reflected in the fact that we sold two copies of the Episodes book, Cuba for Beginners, and two Spanish-language books on Cuba by Pathfinder.
"One co-worker who bought Episodes said during a lunch discussion that the Cuban government had shown a lot of patience with these flights by opponents of the Cuban revolution. He noted that the U.S. government had been told many times of the illegal flights and did nothing. He said the Cubans had a perfect right to shoot down the planes."