January 18, 1999
At 2:00 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1959, Fulgencio Batista, the U.S.-backed dictator of Cuba, fled the country in face of the advancing forces of the Rebel Army. Speaking over Radio Rebelde from the outskirts of the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, Rebel commander-in-chief Fidel Castro denounced Batista’s attempt to turn power over to a military junta, and called for a nationwide general strike. Cuban workers responded to this revolutionary appeal with a massive uprising. By the time the main Rebel Army columns arrived in Havana January 8, the revolution had triumphed, opening the door to Cuba’s independence from U.S. imperialism and the road to the first socialist revolution in the Americas.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of this victory, the Militant will publish speeches and other materials documenting the revolutionary acts of Cuba’s workers and farmers in power.
January 18, 1974
ST. PAUL — A crowd of 2,000 turned out for leaders of the American Indian Movement who are on trial here for their participation in last year’s Wounded Knee, S.D., occupation. Dennis Banks and Russell Means face a 10-count federal indictment, which their lawyers say is merely a cover for the government’s real purpose: the destruction of AIM.
A focus of the trial will be the 1868 treaty signed by representatives of the Sioux nation and the U.S. government. The treaty makes the government the trespasser during the Wounded Knee confrontation last year rather than the Indians. “Our land is inviolate from outside forces, be it the U.S. government or any other power,” Means said.
Already the government has managed to tie up AIM in what may amount to years of litigation. Indictments could total 300 before the government completes its dragnet.
January 17, 1949
The first victims of the Smith Gag Act were the 18 leaders of the Socialist Workers Party railroaded to prison in the infamous Minneapolis Trial of 1941. At the time the Stalinists cheered the persecution and stood idly by while the government forged a weapon that could be used against any party or political grouping that differs with the party holding office.
Today the Stalinists are being prosecuted under this same law. Many trade unionists who have had firsthand experience with Stalinism are cheering this persecution.
This is a fatal course. Without the slightest sympathy for their poisonous politics, labor must come to the defense of the 12 Stalinists. Labor is fighting for its rights against Taft-Hartleyism, the current witch-hunt and “loyalty” purge. Success requires an uncompromising defense of democratic rights.