Cuba: A New History

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Summary: Cuba Revealed In Lucid, Often Surprising Terms
Review: For many, Cuban history started with Fidel Castro's political ascent in the 1950's. Nothing before seems relevant and sadly anything after has been a virtual black hole. Since the revolution of 1959, most writing about the island has been polarized, either ardently sympathetic or passionately hostile. But author Richard Gott, a British journalist and specialist in Latin American history, keeps a level head, guiding us from the first attempt at colonization by the Spanish in 1511 to the present day. By providing a full historical context, the author gives a much needed contextual understanding of an island only ninety miles from the Florida Keys, yet a world away in almost every other respect.

Gott dispels many convenient myths, such as the timing of the Communist influence. It didn't start with Castro but actually in 1907 with the Independent Party of Color, when socialists banded together to try to relieve themselves from the oppression they felt from U.S. occupation after the Spanish-American War. The group fomented into an embryonic Communist Party in 1925, which went unabated for years afterward. They even launched their own newspaper and promised then-revolutionary Fulgencio Batista the political support he needed to become Cuba's president during World War II. So, contrary to popular belief, Batista welcomed Communists into his government. But Batista became cruelly repressive during the 1950's, which triggered Castro to launch a failed armed attack on the Moncada fortress barracks in Santiago. It was at this time that Castro met Che Guevara, and Gott vividly describes their first meeting. The two men initially got on very well, brothers in arms. Guevara badly needed a political cause, while he gave Fidel valuable insights into other revolutionary experiments around Latin America. For those who have read and seen the recent movie version of "The Motorcycle Diaries", Guevara's sociopolitical evolution now becomes clear from Gott's account. As we all know, Castro and Guevara combined forces, which led to Batista escaping and Castro taking control in January 1959.

What is enlightening in this book is how Castro's energy inspired some of the greatest Latin American novelists of the 20th century, including Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes. He charmed not only Russian politicians like Nikita Khrushchev and African revolutionaries such as Ahmed Ben Bella, but also French intellectuals such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Castro had a falling out with Pablo Neruda when he implied that Castro may be taking too much credit for the revolution, and one begins to see the megalomania that induced fissures in his power base. Nonetheless, Gott is very thorough when it comes to describing Castro's acumen as a politician, especially as he faced the challenge of becoming more estranged from Guevara, who saw himself as a political visionary compelled to spread the word about the revolution globally. But Castro started seeing Guevara as a loose cannon and wanted no part of the armed struggle Guevara desired. As we know, this all ended with Guevara's assassination in Bolivia in 1967, which has been attributed at various times to the CIA and even Castro himself. Gott was actually on hand himself to identify Che's body after the murder.

The author explores Castro's perceived political softening recently, for example, his cautious attitude to the Sandinista overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua in 1979. According to Gott, Castro even suggested that the Sandinistas should establish a mixed economy and a pluralistic political system. Likely the most intriguing portions of the book focus on the continuing interest the U.S. has in usurping the power structure within Cuba. Gott handles these episodes lucidly, for instance, taking the drama out of historical watermark events like the 1962 Bay of Pigs missile crisis. Perhaps his most surprising assertion is that virtually all of the most ruthless acts of U.S. political interference and military aggression in the 20th century have been the work of Democrat rather than Republican Presidents - Wilson's deployment of marines to occupy Cuba in 1917; FDR's interventions to crush the 1933 revolution; JFK's 1961 invasion; LBJ's immigration scheme; and the Torricelli and Helms-Burton Acts under Clinton. In fact, plans have been underway since the Clinton administration to suborn the Cuban officer corps after the departure of Castro. Gott also describes the Miami power base of Cuban-Americans, who contemplate with satisfaction the recovery of properties lost long ago. But the author leaves us with the most revealing of conclusions - that he expects little change in Cuba in the years ahead even after Castro dies. Gott believes Castro has become a mere figurehead and that a post-Castro government has been in place for several years. And despite images exalted by popular culture, reintegration of Cuba into the international community may not be such a harmonious affair. This has to be the definitive book on Cuba's history and current political situation and consequently, essential reading for those who want to take a harder look at where things will evolve there.

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Summary: Good account of Cuba's struggle for national independence
Review: Richard Gott is a British journalist and historian with many years' experience of covering Latin America. He has written a very useful book on Cuba's long struggle for national independence and sovereignty. The first third of the book examines the Cuban people's struggle against Spanish occupation from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The rest of the book looks at Cuba's 20th century struggle against the US empire.

The USA intervened militarily in Cuba in 1906-09, 1912, 1917-23 and 1961, always on the pretexts of establishing democracy and order. In 1902 the US state imposed the Platt Amendment on Cuba. Its seventh paragraph gave the USA the `right' to establish permanent military bases on Cuba. It was repealed in 1934, but the dictator Batista signed a new treaty allowing the USA to keep its huge military base at Guantanamo Bay.

Gott shows how in 1959 the people defeated the US-backed dictator by relying on their own forces. He observes that the British and Yugoslavian governments armed Batista to the last moment.

Gott possibly devotes too little attention to the Cuban people's successes in developing their country. He notes, without exploring, Cuba's remarkable achievements in health and education and he fails to mention its pioneering pharmaceutical industry.

But he gives due prominence to Cuba's internationalism, particularly to its selfless military support to the Angolan people in 1988. Nelson Mandela later visited Havana to thank Fidel personally for Cuba's assistance in the struggle against apartheid, "The decisive defeat of the racist army in Cuito Cuanavale was a victory for all Africa ... It made it possible for Angola to enjoy peace and establish its own sovereignty ... and for the people of Namibia to achieve their independence. The decisive defeat of the aggressive apartheid forces destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor. The defeat of the apartheid army served as an inspiration to the struggling people of South Africa."

Cuba has a proud record of upholding workers' nationalism and of practical internationalism. Whatever foreign observers hope or fear, the Cuban people will never surrender their national independence and sovereignty.