Statement by Lea Sherman, Socialist Workers Party candidate for New Jersey General Assembly, released Sept. 27.
There is no better example of what workers are capable of accomplishing than Cuba’s socialist revolution. The power of that example for workers here and worldwide is the reason the U.S. rulers have pursued their six-decade-long economic, trade, financial and political war against the people of Cuba. This has been the policy of every Democratic and Republican administration.
The fight to end Washington’s brutal embargo is a key demand for the working class, especially in the U.S. We need to press for more unions to join this fight, to tell Washington, Hands off Cuba!
Led by Fidel Castro, Cuba’s Rebel Army organized the exploited and oppressed toilers to overthrow the U.S.-backed tyranny of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Then they ousted all capitalist ministers from the government and established their own class rule.
The leadership of the Cuban Revolution mobilized the toiling population to seize the factories, the land and banks from Cuban and U.S. property owners, and began running them in their own interests. They organized the peasants to carry out a far-reaching land reform. They mobilized tens of thousands of youth to go all over Cuba and wipe out illiteracy. They expanded the unions into every enterprise in Cuba. They built child care centers, medical centers and schools. They outlawed racial discrimination and organized the Federation of Cuban Women. They built a new army, starting with veterans of the revolutionary struggle.
In short, they established a workers state.
“The Cuban Revolution — that’s a real revolution,” Malcolm X said in 1963. “They overturned the system.”
This historic accomplishment lives today. It was made possible because of the caliber of the leadership forged by Castro. Through their actions, millions understood they were carrying out a socialist revolution. And they successfully defended it from the U.S.-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.
On these foundations the Cuban government has offered unstinting solidarity with struggles against imperialism in Africa, Latin America and worldwide. Tens of thousands of Cuban toilers fought in Angola to defend its independence against apartheid South Africa.
The Cuban Revolution opened the door to the renewal of communist leadership in the U.S. and around the world. By embracing the revolution and fighting to defend it, the Socialist Workers Party was transformed into what it is today.
The SWP exists to emulate Cuba’s example in the U.S. It is building a party to lead millions to overturn the dictatorship of capital we live under; to establish workers power; to uproot exploitation and oppression; and to join the worldwide struggle for socialism.
Join the fight!