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Cuba at the Crossroads
Book by Castro, Fidel
179 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1997
1 person is currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Fidel Castro
578 books286 followersCuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959, established a Communist state, served as prime minister until 1976 and then as president of the government and first secretary of the party, in declining health passed control de facto in 2006 to Raúl Castro, his younger brother, and officially retired in 2008.
Fidel Castro led a revolutionary movement that overthrew corrupt authoritarian regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar on New Year's Day, 1 January 1959.
Raúl Castro assisted Fidel Castro, his brother, in overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959.
United States in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro trained a force of 1,500 guerrilla troops, who landed at Bay of Pigs, the site, in an ill-fated invasion on 17 April 1961.
Castro, the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics and meanwhile studied law at the University of Havana. He participated in rebellions against right wing in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, afterward failed in an attack on the barracks of Moncada, planned against the military junta, which the United States of America backed, and served imprisonment for a year in 1953. On release, he went to Mexico, formed the movement of 26 July as a group with Ernesto Guevara, his friend and doctor.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a politician, also served as the commander in chief of the armed forces. This politically Marxist-Leninist administered the socialist republic. People nationalized industry and businesses and implemented socialist reforms in all parts of society. Castro returned, ousted rivals in 1959, and brought his own assumption of military and political power.
Credentials of Castro and cordial relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics alarmed the Administrations of Dwight David Eisenhower and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who unsuccessfully attempted economic blockade, assassination, and even the invasion at Bay of Pigs of 1961 to remove him. In 1961, Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of his administration under rule of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The press and suppression of internal dissent accompanied socialist reforms that introduced central economic planning and expanded care and education.
Castro countered these threats, formed an economic and military alliance with the Soviets, allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, and thus sparked sparking the missile crisis in 1962.
Internationally, Castro also served as general of the nonaligned movement from 1979 to 1983.
Abroad, Castro supported foreign groups in the expectation of toppling world capitalism, sent troops to fight in the wars of Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angola.
Following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, Castro went into economic "special period" and afterward forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide, namely with Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, and joined the Bolivarian alliance in 2006.
Due to failing, Castro in 2006 transferred his responsibilities to his vice, who assumed in 2008.
Supporters lauded Castro, a controversial and divisive world figure, as a champion of socialism, humanitarianism, and environmentalism against imperialism; critics viewed him as a dictator, who oversaw multiple rights abuses, an exodus of more than a million persons, and the impoverishment of the economy of the country. Through actions and writings, he significantly influenced the politics of various individuals and groups across the world.
Fidel Castro led a revolutionary movement that overthrew corrupt authoritarian regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar on New Year's Day, 1 January 1959.
Raúl Castro assisted Fidel Castro, his brother, in overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959.
United States in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro trained a force of 1,500 guerrilla troops, who landed at Bay of Pigs, the site, in an ill-fated invasion on 17 April 1961.
Castro, the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics and meanwhile studied law at the University of Havana. He participated in rebellions against right wing in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, afterward failed in an attack on the barracks of Moncada, planned against the military junta, which the United States of America backed, and served imprisonment for a year in 1953. On release, he went to Mexico, formed the movement of 26 July as a group with Ernesto Guevara, his friend and doctor.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a politician, also served as the commander in chief of the armed forces. This politically Marxist-Leninist administered the socialist republic. People nationalized industry and businesses and implemented socialist reforms in all parts of society. Castro returned, ousted rivals in 1959, and brought his own assumption of military and political power.
Credentials of Castro and cordial relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics alarmed the Administrations of Dwight David Eisenhower and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who unsuccessfully attempted economic blockade, assassination, and even the invasion at Bay of Pigs of 1961 to remove him. In 1961, Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of his administration under rule of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The press and suppression of internal dissent accompanied socialist reforms that introduced central economic planning and expanded care and education.
Castro countered these threats, formed an economic and military alliance with the Soviets, allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, and thus sparked sparking the missile crisis in 1962.
Internationally, Castro also served as general of the nonaligned movement from 1979 to 1983.
Abroad, Castro supported foreign groups in the expectation of toppling world capitalism, sent troops to fight in the wars of Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angola.
Following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, Castro went into economic "special period" and afterward forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide, namely with Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, and joined the Bolivarian alliance in 2006.
Due to failing, Castro in 2006 transferred his responsibilities to his vice, who assumed in 2008.
Supporters lauded Castro, a controversial and divisive world figure, as a champion of socialism, humanitarianism, and environmentalism against imperialism; critics viewed him as a dictator, who oversaw multiple rights abuses, an exodus of more than a million persons, and the impoverishment of the economy of the country. Through actions and writings, he significantly influenced the politics of various individuals and groups across the world.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 29, 2024
A pretty easy read but pretty packed with both hope and interesting content and talking points. I also found it interesting to read Fidel Castro say something in a speech in '95 that feels as if it only hit the American political discourse recently. Which made me feel both as if Castro made extremely insightful observations about the capitalist world as well as feeling that these issues are cyclical. Great read, I can't recommend it enough
May 8, 2025
"No man is an island" - Island Man
First of all, in the age of Trump and the rise of end times fascism, it's inconceivable that a nation's leader would ever speak of their own people, of the world, with such admiration and love. It's not just Trump, imagining any political figure in the western world speak with such appreciation to people from all walks of life, it simply does not exist anymore in most parts of the world. Reading this is an experience in knowing a better world is possible. I say with all my heart that I wish we had more people like him and the loyal, hardworking and generous people of Cuba who have made it possible for a society to exist that is ran on the principles of care and nourishment, not on profit and personal gain.
---------
Tl;dr, a collection of speeches given by the Comandante himself during and regarding the economic changes and strategies during the "special period" of Cuba. The "special period" here means the time of crisis that Cuba and other socialist nations faced after the undemocratic and unwise dissolution of the USSR; and in Cuba specifically, the harm that the Helms-Burton Act and Cuban Democracy Act brought. To which, I can never iterate enough, the USSR's demise was astronomically terrible for the world. Side note, going from reading about the DPRK to this back to back, really emphasizes this point.
Anyhow, the Comandante addresses various crowds in various settings such at the UN, Cuba's National Workers Council, Youth Festivals, and a special session in Vietnam with their leadership, to talk about the current special period, how they are surviving under it without giving into to neoliberal pressures like the embargo, the IMF, etc. and tying that into the socialist victories they have achieved during certain important national anniversaries in which these speeches were made in respect to, such as the Bay of Pigs, etc.
The content of the "special period" speeches largely has to do with economic strategies implemented during this time of crisis. Implementations of capitalistic elements in small doses, joint ventures, increased tourism sector, the introduction and allowance of foreign currencies in circulation, particularly the US Dollar, in limited doses. He reminds socialists that other socialist nations have similarly done so to survive. The NEP in the USSR, Vietnam and China also doing the same to boost production. Another example not included in the book which I just learned about, the DPRK with their Koryolink phones, getting investors from Egypt to put money into the project, in order to give all their citizens smartphones (although they froze the Egyptian companies assets and stole the investments, without any paid dividends or compensation).
Many examples of adaptation are given to show what had to be done in order for Cuba to remain a sovereign nation and without having to commit to austerity programs like reducing the number of hospitals, schools and so on. He does not let anyone forget their many astounding victories: the highest teacher per capita rate in the world, highest doctor per capita rate in the world, lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America and one of the lowest in the world. Their never-ending missions abroad in terms of medical care, even military support, providing 40k soldiers to Angola and decisively facing down the nuclear rogue state of apartheid South Africa, in which they helped secure Namibia's independence and injure the standing of the apartheid regime. Peso conversion rates that even in a time of crisis, were able to remain decent and stable. Extremely high levels of voter turnout (97.5 percent plus in one election!), how quickly they were able to defend themselves in the Bay of Pigs, with limited trained recruits and other resources, just 2 years after the victory of the revolution. All these victories and more.
--------
The more I educate myself on socialism, the history of the imperialism, organizing for radicals, etc. the more I find stuff like this valuable. People need to have hope in a better life being possible. They must know the victories and gains accomplished under socialism, and those gains need to be safeguarded by any means necessary. For those who think that's a radical position, you know just as well as I do that this country would go (and is already going) berserk at the idea of social security getting axed. We all understand, even as people raised in the American capitalist core, that we can never afford to go backwards on child labor, the 40 hour workweek and other labor/economic protections that all people deserve. We celebrate those strides. We honor them. We will certainly defend them.
The lessons here are for all the Utopian Socialists, for the out of touch armchair socialists, the leftcoms, the one's infected with that infantile disorder, the people who say real socialism/communism has never happened, that all these nations aren't really Marxist because *GASP* they've still done some Capitalism! Scientific socialism is the only way forward.
It would be easy to give this a lower rating due to some of the concepts repeated, and that speeches on paper and their structure in my opinion, can get exhausting sometimes due to their structure. However, for socialists who properly know of the virtue of education, vision, strategy, this reveals itself to be essential reading for a exhibiting a myriad of socialist principles in action. This is why I love these speeches, they are digestible, yet solidly substantive. It's not just theory here, it's a clear historical documentation of praxis, the story of a small island nation that never faltered under decades of rigorous attacks, both economic and physical (it's worth reminding people the US has literally done terrorist attacks against their civilians).
It's not just about socialism, it's about human decency and love for life that we honor as precious.
To quote Che Guevara's Motorcycle Diaries, where he encounters a starving Communist couple in Chile, while they share blankets with them to fight off the cold. Here I think he perfectly distills the appeal of Communism to the common person, and tosses aside its' stigma.
"It's a great pity that they repress people like this. Apart from whether collectivism, the "communist vermin," is a danger to decent life, the communism gnawing at his entrails was no more than a natural longing for something better, a protest against persistent hunger transformed into a love for this strange doctrine, whose essence he could never grasp but whose translation "bread for the poor", was something which he understood and, more importantly, filled him with hope".
First of all, in the age of Trump and the rise of end times fascism, it's inconceivable that a nation's leader would ever speak of their own people, of the world, with such admiration and love. It's not just Trump, imagining any political figure in the western world speak with such appreciation to people from all walks of life, it simply does not exist anymore in most parts of the world. Reading this is an experience in knowing a better world is possible. I say with all my heart that I wish we had more people like him and the loyal, hardworking and generous people of Cuba who have made it possible for a society to exist that is ran on the principles of care and nourishment, not on profit and personal gain.
---------
Tl;dr, a collection of speeches given by the Comandante himself during and regarding the economic changes and strategies during the "special period" of Cuba. The "special period" here means the time of crisis that Cuba and other socialist nations faced after the undemocratic and unwise dissolution of the USSR; and in Cuba specifically, the harm that the Helms-Burton Act and Cuban Democracy Act brought. To which, I can never iterate enough, the USSR's demise was astronomically terrible for the world. Side note, going from reading about the DPRK to this back to back, really emphasizes this point.
Anyhow, the Comandante addresses various crowds in various settings such at the UN, Cuba's National Workers Council, Youth Festivals, and a special session in Vietnam with their leadership, to talk about the current special period, how they are surviving under it without giving into to neoliberal pressures like the embargo, the IMF, etc. and tying that into the socialist victories they have achieved during certain important national anniversaries in which these speeches were made in respect to, such as the Bay of Pigs, etc.
The content of the "special period" speeches largely has to do with economic strategies implemented during this time of crisis. Implementations of capitalistic elements in small doses, joint ventures, increased tourism sector, the introduction and allowance of foreign currencies in circulation, particularly the US Dollar, in limited doses. He reminds socialists that other socialist nations have similarly done so to survive. The NEP in the USSR, Vietnam and China also doing the same to boost production. Another example not included in the book which I just learned about, the DPRK with their Koryolink phones, getting investors from Egypt to put money into the project, in order to give all their citizens smartphones (although they froze the Egyptian companies assets and stole the investments, without any paid dividends or compensation).
Many examples of adaptation are given to show what had to be done in order for Cuba to remain a sovereign nation and without having to commit to austerity programs like reducing the number of hospitals, schools and so on. He does not let anyone forget their many astounding victories: the highest teacher per capita rate in the world, highest doctor per capita rate in the world, lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America and one of the lowest in the world. Their never-ending missions abroad in terms of medical care, even military support, providing 40k soldiers to Angola and decisively facing down the nuclear rogue state of apartheid South Africa, in which they helped secure Namibia's independence and injure the standing of the apartheid regime. Peso conversion rates that even in a time of crisis, were able to remain decent and stable. Extremely high levels of voter turnout (97.5 percent plus in one election!), how quickly they were able to defend themselves in the Bay of Pigs, with limited trained recruits and other resources, just 2 years after the victory of the revolution. All these victories and more.
--------
The more I educate myself on socialism, the history of the imperialism, organizing for radicals, etc. the more I find stuff like this valuable. People need to have hope in a better life being possible. They must know the victories and gains accomplished under socialism, and those gains need to be safeguarded by any means necessary. For those who think that's a radical position, you know just as well as I do that this country would go (and is already going) berserk at the idea of social security getting axed. We all understand, even as people raised in the American capitalist core, that we can never afford to go backwards on child labor, the 40 hour workweek and other labor/economic protections that all people deserve. We celebrate those strides. We honor them. We will certainly defend them.
The lessons here are for all the Utopian Socialists, for the out of touch armchair socialists, the leftcoms, the one's infected with that infantile disorder, the people who say real socialism/communism has never happened, that all these nations aren't really Marxist because *GASP* they've still done some Capitalism! Scientific socialism is the only way forward.
It would be easy to give this a lower rating due to some of the concepts repeated, and that speeches on paper and their structure in my opinion, can get exhausting sometimes due to their structure. However, for socialists who properly know of the virtue of education, vision, strategy, this reveals itself to be essential reading for a exhibiting a myriad of socialist principles in action. This is why I love these speeches, they are digestible, yet solidly substantive. It's not just theory here, it's a clear historical documentation of praxis, the story of a small island nation that never faltered under decades of rigorous attacks, both economic and physical (it's worth reminding people the US has literally done terrorist attacks against their civilians).
It's not just about socialism, it's about human decency and love for life that we honor as precious.
To quote Che Guevara's Motorcycle Diaries, where he encounters a starving Communist couple in Chile, while they share blankets with them to fight off the cold. Here I think he perfectly distills the appeal of Communism to the common person, and tosses aside its' stigma.
"It's a great pity that they repress people like this. Apart from whether collectivism, the "communist vermin," is a danger to decent life, the communism gnawing at his entrails was no more than a natural longing for something better, a protest against persistent hunger transformed into a love for this strange doctrine, whose essence he could never grasp but whose translation "bread for the poor", was something which he understood and, more importantly, filled him with hope".
May 1, 2023
Wowie - a remarkable series of speeches from Fidel Castro throughout 1994-1996 which seriously made me rethink my whole attitude and view towards Fidel Castro.
Now - the history textbooks have always painted him as a ruthless, cunning dictator - but in his speeches, he paints a very different picture of himself that now has me very much on the fence and unsure of my view of him.
He paints himself as a peaceful figure dedicated to his Cuba, against foreign oppressors - dedicated to improving the country and its peoples no matter at what cost, but not through brutal or suppressive means at all. He does not advocate for violence or a dictatorship of the proletariat, nor does he condone violations of human rights or anything of the sort.
A very strange contrast. Perhaps I'll return to it upon further reading into the internal politics and history of Cuba to obtain a more calculated perspective on the matter!
Now - the history textbooks have always painted him as a ruthless, cunning dictator - but in his speeches, he paints a very different picture of himself that now has me very much on the fence and unsure of my view of him.
He paints himself as a peaceful figure dedicated to his Cuba, against foreign oppressors - dedicated to improving the country and its peoples no matter at what cost, but not through brutal or suppressive means at all. He does not advocate for violence or a dictatorship of the proletariat, nor does he condone violations of human rights or anything of the sort.
A very strange contrast. Perhaps I'll return to it upon further reading into the internal politics and history of Cuba to obtain a more calculated perspective on the matter!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews