The Cuban Revolution: An example for us today

Black liberation, workers’ stake in defending due process and how cops and courts serve capitalist rule
Vol. 85/No. 21 - May 31, 2021
Fidel Castro, left, addresses crowd in Colón, Cuba, Jan. 7, 1959, as Freedom Caravan crosses Cuba on way to Havana after overthrow of U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Cuba’s socialist revolution, along with struggle to bring down Jim Crow segregation, helped us “understand the kind of revolutionary transformation of ourselves necessary to defeat capitalist rulers,” said Mary-Alice Waters at Midwest Socialist Workers Party meeting April 24.

“Cuba and the Coming American Revolution: The 60th Anniversary of Two Historic Victories of the Cuban Revolution and Their Significance for Building a Revolutionary Party in the United States — Then and Now” was the featured talk at the Socialist…


Quebec meeting celebrates Cuba’s socialist revolution

Vol. 85/No. 19 - May 17, 2021
Mara Bilbao, Cuban consul general in Montreal, speaking at Montreal celebration of Cuban Revolution April 17. Other speakers, from left, Philippe Tessier, Communist League candidate for mayor in Montreal borough of Ville St-Laurent, and Consul official Eduardo Escandell.

MONTREAL — “We’re here to celebrate the 60th anniversary of three historic turning points in the Cuban Revolution,” said Communist League leader Michel Prairie, welcoming some 40 people to an April 17 meeting organized by the Communist League and supported…


April 1986 Chernobyl disaster and Cuba’s internationalism

Vol. 85/No. 19 - May 17, 2021
Cuban President Fidel Castro, left, greets children arriving from Ukraine, March 29, 1990. Over 25,000 affected by Chernobyl radiation poisoning, mainly from Ukraine but also Belarus and Russia, received free medical treatment under internationalist program of Cuban Revolution.

Thirty-five years ago, the worst nuclear disaster in history occurred at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, with devastating and long-lasting social and environmental consequences. On April 26, 1986, a test went terribly wrong.…


Mobilizing working people, Cuba defeats Bay of Pigs invasion

Vol. 85/No. 16 - April 26, 2021
José Ramón Fernández walks ahead of Cuban soldiers aiding captured mercenary in April 1961. U.S.-backed invasion was “well organized, well armed and well supported, but lacked a just cause to defend,” Fernández said. “Firm support for the revolution and Fidel was decisive.”

This week’s special book feature is Playa Girón/Bay of Pigs: Washington’s First Military Defeat in the Americas by Fidel Castro and José Ramón Fernández, marking the 60th anniversary of this historic event. Fernández was one of a group of army…


Cuba’s int’l solidarity vs. US bosses’ drive for vaccine profits

Vol. 85/No. 15 - April 19, 2021

There are two different class approaches to the vaccination efforts against COVID-19 confronting workers and farmers around the world today. One ensures the profits of the ruling capitalist families, who own the giant for-profit pharmaceutical and medical insurance monopolies. The…


Chinese Cubans: Indispensable strand of Cuba’s revolution

Vol. 85/No. 14 - April 12, 2021
“Resident Chinese support the Cuban Revolution and its leader, Fidel Castro!” is banner of Chinese New Democracy Alliance as they join a million people in Havana, Sept. 2, 1960. Rally approved Declaration of Havana, affirming duty of oppressed peoples to fight for liberation.

Our History Is Still Being Written: The Story of Three Chinese Cuban Generals in the Cuban Revolution by Armando Choy, Gustavo Chui and Moisés Sío Wong, is one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for April. It covers how these…


Fidel Castro’s call to ‘fight for free Cuba’ at Playa Girón

Vol. 85/No. 14 - April 12, 2021

On April 17-19, 1961, U.S. imperialism suffered what Fidel Castro called its “first great defeat in the Americas” at the hands of the workers and peasants of Cuba. Millions were mobilized arms in hand to defend their newly proclaimed socialist…


Cuban farmers, students expand support to medical centers

Vol. 85/No. 13 - April 5, 2021

Many farmers in Cuba are organizing to donate fresh produce to social institutions as part of the battle by the Cuban people and their revolutionary government against the COVID-19 pandemic and the U.S. rulers’ embargo. It’s a reaffirmation both of…


Lessons of Cuba’s revolution can help us emulate its example

Vol. 85/No. 11 - March 22, 2021
University students march in Havana against Fulgencio Batista’s U.S.-backed dictatorship, April 6, 1952, a month after he overthrew the elected government in a coup. Armando Hart is sixth from left, looking at the camera. Behind, waving Cuban flag, is Raúl Castro.

One of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for March is Aldabonazo: Inside the Cuban Revolutionary Underground, 1952-58, a Participant’s Account by Armando Hart. He was a central organizer of the urban underground and one of the historic leaders of the…