The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.5           February 9, 1998 
 
 
Humanity's Future, And Past  
 The conduct of Cuban president Fidel Castro and of hundreds of thousands of Cuban people during the Pope's visit to the Caribbean nation provided a joyous glimpse of what it means for the proletariat to be in power with a firm, communist leadership. It showed the strength of the Cuban revolution and the confidence of the working class in itself and its vanguard. From the moment the head of the Catholic Church hit the tarmac of the José Martí International Airport, the contrast was striking. On one side stood a trim and fit Castro, addressing the toilers of the world in his welcoming speech, inviting them to join their Cuban brothers and sisters in building a world on new foundations, free of class exploitation, racism, and war. That was humanity's future. On the other side stood the feeble pontiff, representative of reaction and scientific obscurantism, an advocate of banning abortion and returning women to the oppression and darkness of feudalism. That was humanity's fading past.

Castro's welcoming speech (which readers can find in its entirety on page 9) was a marvelous example of proletarian courtesy, communist conduct, and self-esteem.

In 10 minutes the Cuban president presented quite a popular lesson in historical materialism. To begin with, Castro pointed out to His Holiness that he would not find in Cuba the native people who were exterminated by cross-bearing conquistadors. He pointed to the uncompromising struggle against colonialism by the Cuban people and their determination today, after winning independence through the 1959 revolution, to stand up to the mightiest imperialist power on earth. He tactfully described his experience in the Catholic schools of pre-1959 Cuba, which promoted racism. He praised the pontiff's "courageous statements on what happened with Galileo, the well-known errors of the Inquisition, the bloody episodes of the Crusades." And he ended by explaining that there is no other country better equipped than Cuba to understand that the equitable distribution of wealth and human solidarity must be spread around the globe.

One of the main points Castro made is that religious freedom, that is respect for believers and nonbelievers alike, has been one of the pillars of the Cuban revolution from its triumph. This stands in stark contrast to the intolerance and violence of the conquistadors the Catholic Church is so well associated with.

Castro presented his remarks with respect, dignity, and imbued with the hospitality of the proletariat in power. Tens of thousands of people who heeded the revolutionary leadership's call to turn out in large numbers to hear the Pope didn't seem interested in the pontiff's lectures on promiscuity and against divorce and abortion. Castro's farewell speech was another confirmation of why Cuba is not and will not be another Poland or Russia. There is a world of difference between the Bolshevism of the Cuban leadership - its confidence in the capacities of workers and peasants to transform society and themselves - and its counterfeit, Stalinism. This is what Washington and other imperialist rulers have a hard time understanding.

The events surrounding Pope's visit to Cuba provide further encouragement to supporters of the Cuban revolution to step up activities in defense of Cuba and in opposition to Washington's economic war. The year 1998, the 100th anniversary of the struggle against Yankee imperialism from Cuba to Puerto Rico and the Philippines, provides additional openings to do so.  
 
 
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