ATHENS, Greece — Publishing house Diethnes Vima organized a discussion on “Che Guevara’s contributions to socialism in Cuba and proletarian internationalism worldwide” as a celebration of the anniversary of the Cuban Revolution here Jan. 22. Two books were presented — Che Guevara Talks to Young People and Socialism and Man in Cuba, which are coming out in new printings in Greek.
Addressing the anniversary and the books were Zelmys Maria Dominguez Cortina, Cuban ambassador to Greece; Nikos Karandreas, president of the Greek-Cuban Friendship Society; and Magdalini Lappa and Natasha Terlexi, both from Diethnes Vima. The José Martí Cultural Association gave greetings.
The meeting was marked by the participation of a number of workers, including from the airport, steel mills, and a biscuit factory, along with half a dozen Pakistani immigrant workers, among the 45 participants.
“Fidel Castro explained that the writings of Che, his political and revolutionary thinking, will have a permanent value to the Cuban revolutionary process, as well as the Latin American one,” Ambassador Dominguez Cortina said. “His work Socialism and Man in Cuba is very important, it summarizes his thinking, his theories.”
“What comes across in these two books is that Che had confidence in the fact that solidarity would prevail. He had confidence in the capacities of ordinary working people to overcome these divisions and learn from collaboration through our work together,” Lappa, a 25-year-old machine operator and member of the Diethnes Vima editorial board, said. “And that the people transformed through the action of solidarity would be the basis of the new socialist society.”
“Che put the role of working people, workers and farmers, front and center,” said Terlexi, president of Diethnes Vima. “The Cuban leadership headed by Fidel Castro politically armed the masses to organize and fight for their rights.
“As the banks, large landholdings, and industry became the property of the Cuban people, Che was in the forefront of working out how it would be organized so that working people themselves set social priorities. He didn’t approach the task as an administrator. He acted on the fact that this could only be accomplished as the toilers learned and acquired confidence in themselves and in each other by doing; as they took more and more responsibility for their work, their lives and their society.
“For him international solidarity was not only about aid to the struggles of other oppressed people around the world, it was about advancing together with toilers worldwide,” she said. “More than that, it was about the very soul of the Cuban Revolution.”