‘Washington never accepted the Cuban Revolution’

Nothing Can Stop the Course of History, one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for January, contains excerpts from an interview Cuban leader Fidel Castro gave to Professor Jeffrey M. Elliot and U.S. Congressman Mervyn M. Dymally. First published in 1985 by Editora Politica (Havana, Cuba), the nine-day interview spans dozens of topics, including U.S.- Cuban relations, the role of the individual in history, the moral and political qualities of leadership, Cuba’s fight to defend Angolan sovereignty against attacks by apartheid South Africa and more. The piece below is from the section “U.S.-Cuban relations/Cuba’s international principles and peaceful coexistence.” Copyright © 1986 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.

BY FIDEL CASTRO

In my view, the United States is responsible for the present situation. It has never wanted to accept the existence of the Cuban revolution or the establishment of a social system that is different from its own. The United States never cared about the existence of dishonest, tyrannical governments in this country — governments that killed thousands of people and stole huge sums of money. It never cared about this country’s poverty, ignorance, unsanitary conditions, or the lack of schools, hospitals, and medical services. It never really cared about the unemployment, racial discrimination, and enormous social problems in our country. It never cared. These were never reasons for concern or for blockades against Cuba.

Then, when a revolution took place that put an end to those problems, the United States set about trying to destroy the revolution in Cuba. That’s really the origin of some of the problems. It is also what, ever since the very beginning, has brought about all kinds of measures — from the most insulting and slanderous campaigns against Cuba, to plans of subversion, the organization of armed bands, acts of sabotage that killed many people, mercenary invasions, the cancellation of the sugar quota that Cuba had had for 100 years, the economic blockade, the policy of isolation, plans of aggression, and assassination attempts against the leaders of our revolution. It’s an endless list of U.S. actions against our country. Plus there is the maintenance of a military base by force, against the will of our people. That is what lies behind these divisions.

Naturally, this has caused great indignation among our people and their strong repudiation of all those policies. However, we haven’t attempted to blockade the United States or engaged in other acts of aggression against that country. No, it has been the United States which has done so against Cuba. If the United States doesn’t change those policies, I don’t see how these differences can be overcome. I state categorically that we aren’t the ones responsible for the current situation. …

I remember when, over a year ago, the representatives of the creditor governments met here. They were all given a document that attacked Cuba’s arguments for rescheduling the debt. We had a copy of that document, too, and, in our discussions with the bankers, I showed it to them and asked, “Isn’t it a shame that the United States is attempting to block all this?”

That is, the Reagan administration has implemented a constant policy. Not only does the U.S. blockade ban all trade between the United States and Cuba, it even bans trade in medicine. This is shameful! We can’t get a single aspirin from the United States; it is legally forbidden. Medicines that may save many human lives are forbidden. No medical equipment can be exported from the United States to Cuba. Trade is also prohibited in both directions. The United States has also expanded its boycott throughout the world, as part of its policy of unceasing harassment — shameful and infamous harassment — against Cuba’s economic operations. …

Cuba was the most secure, docile, and best indoctrinated colony of the United States. The Cuban people were considered to have no desire to work and no patriotic feelings and to be perfectly indoctrinated in anticommunism and antisocialism, totally impervious to a revolution by virtue of U.S. ideology and culture. I believe that, at present, the United States would have no reason to underestimate the Cuban people. During these past twenty-six years, Cuba has shown what a Latin American people is capable of doing; that this mixture of Spaniards, Africans, and Indians has far greater political, organizational, and combat capacity than the United States ever imagined.

We are no different and no better than the Central Americans, the South Americans, or the rest of the Latin Americans. No, I consider that they have the same potential qualities we had, and perhaps even more. The day came when we rebelled and resolved — despite the risks and at all costs — to follow our own independent path and carry out the social changes we have undertaken. Those problems can’t be solved by force or by arms. …

If the United States believes it is entitled to intervene in Grenada, Santo Domingo, and Nicaragua — to wage a dirty war in the latter — then we cannot be friends. If the United States feels it is entitled to overthrow the Arbenz government in Guatemala and the Allende government in Chile, or to promote the overthrow of Goulart in Brazil, then we cannot be friends. If, furthermore, the United States declares, as it did a while ago, that the Western world should be thankful to Pinochet for overthrowing the constitutional government elected by the people in Chile, thankful for the overthrow and death of Allende, for the rivers of blood shed since, and for the untold suffering it entailed for the people there, what should we do? Keep our mouths shut and not speak about those things? Not denounce those things, so as to have good relations with the United States? There are economic, political, and moral problems — all very serious — and we feel it is our duty to denounce them before the United Nations, before all international organizations everywhere.

Can we then compromise on these things? I think that there may be topics, different types of questions on which compromises can be made. But on these really basic questions which involve the reality we are witnessing, concessions are impossible.

Related articles:
Fidel Castro, Cuba’s revolution celebrated at Washington forum

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