Fidel the Guerrilla in 2015–16 and Beyond

August 15, 2016

Fidel the Guerrilla in 2015–16 and Beyond

by Arnold August



Presentation on the panel “A Tribute to Fidel Castro on His 90th Birthday,”
World Social Forum Montreal 2016, August 12, 2016.

During Obama’s historic visit to Cuba on March 20–23, 2016, I was commentating on the event with Cuban colleagues for the Caracas-based TeleSUR television network. On the Cuban side, the event was overshadowed by Cuban diplomacy skillfully led, in a complex situation, by President Raúl Castro and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From the Obama administration’s perspective, the trip also consisted of diplomacy. However, it was tainted by a heavy dose of speeches and talks that promoted U.S. Cuba policy, which is very self-serving. The resistance in Cuba by Cubans and some foreigners, including myself, to this U.S. cultural, political and ideological assault seemed to have taken a backseat. However, on March 27, only a few days after Obama’s departure from Cuba, Fidel Castro shared his reflections, ironically titled “Brother Obama.” It hit Cuba and the world like a bomb. We will soon analyze it.

Allow me for the moment to share with you my immediate reaction. When I read “Brother Obama,” my first thought was, “Fidel Castro remains the guerrilla he always was.” A guerrilla such as Fidel leading his Sierra Maestra comrades is mobile and waits for the appropriate moment to go on the offensive. In hiding, the revolutionaries allow the enemy to wonder where the July 26 Movement is camped out. Gathering ammunition and forces among the population, the counteroffensive is mapped out and prepared in detail. No stone is left unturned. Not too early, and not a moment too late. However, all of these preparations are worked out in harmony with the people, taking into account their needs and level of preparation, including their strengths and weaknesses. The key ingredient is also the unwavering courage of the leaders, such as Fidel, who are ready to lay their lives on the line to achieve victory. Fidel the guerrilla leads by example. Taking into account all the above-mentioned ingredients, this is how, among other factors, the July 26 Movement led all the other revolutionary forces in Cuba to the Triumph of the Revolution on January 1, 1959. This watershed in Cuban and Latin American history was carried out against the overwhelmingly superior forces of the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship.

This is the Fidel, the eternal guerrilla, whom I recognized on March 27, 2016, when he wrote “Brother Obama,” using his pen as his arm for a surprise counterattack at the moment it was most needed, in order to respond to the needs of the Cuban resistance to the U.S. offensive. He thus contributed to the depth and expansion of the growing intransigence by the majority of Cubans. It took enormous daring to challenge the international imperial tide that was seeking to engulf Cuba with the notion of the U.S. as the saviour of Cuba. The Empire immediately threw up its hands in despair and disappointment. They erroneously thought that the U.S. Cuba policy had “wrapped things” up in Cuba and internationally. Thus, once again the U.S. and the Western establishment zeroed in on Fidel as they have done without let-up since the 1950s, but this time as a spoiler in the new situation.

In preparing for this panel for today, I decided to re-read all that Fidel had written since the historic joint announcement by Presidents Raúl Castro and Barack Obama on December 17, 2014. I concentrated on those texts that touched on, even as a secondary theme, foreign affairs and especially Cuba–U.S. relations. There are six such texts. In reading them again, this time with the hindsight of “Brother Obama,” I saw in them as well the guerilla’s firmly stamped mark. This perspective was something that I had not detected at the time of their publications, and is thus the reason for my choice of title for this presentation: “Fidel the Guerrilla in 2015–16 and Beyond.” How and why beyond? We will see. I would like to begin by sharing with you my experience in reviewing these texts.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/08/15/fidel-the-guerrilla-in-2015-16-and-beyond/