[This year] the rally’s guests of honor were twenty-six young Sandinista commanders, both men and women, who had led various fronts in the offensive that toppled Somoza.

Castro’s entire speech dealt with Nicaragua. He explained some of the similarities and differences between the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutionary struggles. And he pledged that the people of Cuba would do whatever was necessary to help overcome the U.S.-backed dictator’s devastation of Nicaragua.

Castro explained that U.S. imperialism is politically weaker and more isolated today than it was twenty years ago at the time of the Cuban revolution. He pointed to the tremendous growth of anti-interventionist sentiment in Latin America today reflected in the Organization of American States refusal to go along with the Unites States proposal for a military force to intervene in Nicaragua.

“For the first time we can mention the name of the OAS without epithets, because for the first time—the first time in its history—the OAS has been the site of a real act of insubordination on the part of the Latin American states.” The OAS vote was rightly hailed as a great victory for the people of our America.  
 
August 9, 1954
DETROIT—Dodge Local 3 of the CIO United Auto Workers, whose 10,000 members went out on strike on July 16 and stayed out on strike for a full week until ordered back to work by the International, has voted overwhelmingly to authorize a new strike if their grievances are not adjusted, it was learned yesterday.

Coming only eight days after their strike was called off, by orders from above, the strike vote testifies to the Dodge workers’ determination to defend their jobs and working conditions by militant action. This time the International, seeing the workers’ angry mood, offered no objections to Local 3’s strike authorization and even expressed support for it.

The Dodge strike, which idled 45,000 Chrysler workers—and halted all auto production in the Chrysler empire for a week—began with a walkout at Dodge Main. It was provoked by management efforts to introduce more speedup.

Two workers in the trim department were disciplined for failing to keep up with new production standards and holding up the assembly line. Other workers in the department were so incensed by the high-handed action that they walked off the job for the rest of the day.  
 
 
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