1. Introduction¶
Core Argument¶
The introduction establishes the Cuban Revolution of 1959 as a singular event in the Western hemisphere: the overthrow of capitalist relations and the establishment of a workers’ state under the nose of US imperialism. Its novelty lay in the fact that it was led throughout by a group that considered itself radical bourgeois democrats, not by a Marxist party. The chapter’s core argument is that the revolution’s leaders were forced to rediscover a fundamental lesson — that demands for national independence, social equality, and liberation from imperialist domination could not be realised within a capitalist Cuba. To achieve these goals, the revolution had to take the first steps towards socialism and create a workers’ state.
The text draws on the broader historical context of ex-colonies where the local bourgeoisie and landlords, inherited from colonial times, have failed to accomplish the main tasks of the democratic revolution: genuine national independence, land reform, a democratic state, and equality for women and black people. In 1959, these tasks were still pending in Cuba and throughout Latin America. The chapter argues that the decisive element in the revolution’s victory was the leadership provided by Fidel Castro and his team, who succeeded in overcoming the long default in revolutionary leadership caused by Stalinist domination of the world labour movement, by-passing the Cuban Stalinists from the left.
A notable polemic runs against Stalinism, described as essentially counter-revolutionary and a block on the growth of mass Marxist parties in advanced capitalist countries. The chapter contrasts the Cuban leadership with the Stalinists, arguing that the guerrilla leaders possessed the qualities Farrell Dobbs identified in left-wing reformists who adopted revolutionary positions under pressure: commitment to the working class, honesty, vision, willingness to try new things, foresight, and most importantly, “guts”. The background was propitious: a highly unstable world situation after WWII, with US imperialism weakened by Korea, the Soviet Union risen to second power, and national liberation movements challenging imperialism globally, including the Chinese Revolution. Yet the growth of Stalinist parties obscured their counter-revolutionary nature and blocked the development of mass Marxist parties. The Cuban leadership, largely untainted by Stalinism and imbued with revolutionary determination, was hailed with immense enthusiasm by the masses and young people worldwide.