BANNEDTHOUGHT
Suppressed or Difficult to Find Information about
Cuba, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Focoism, etc.
In the case of Cuba there is suppression of news and information both within the country, and about the country from outside of it. In addition there are important political articles about Cuba, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, focoism, and other topics written from a revolutionary Marxist perspective which are very difficult to locate. It will be the goal of bannedthought.org to make all these sorts of materials available here. In addition we will also post at least a sampling of articles by the Cuban regime, Guevara and Castro themselves, showing their defense of their political line and their close association with and subservience to the social-imperialism of the Soviet Union during its last 35 years of existence.
If you know of additional documents of this type that should be posted here, please contact us at: freespeech@bannedthought.org
Cuban Revolution:
“One Hundred and Fifty Question to a Guerrilla”, by Alberto Bayo Giroud, Cuban military participant against the fascists in the Spanish Civil War, and military advisor to Fidel Castro. Sardis 2008 edition: Searchable PDF format [53 pages; 366 KB]
Cuban Government Documents:
- “The Position of Cuban Sugar in the United States”, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, 36 pages. (Havana: 1960). PDF format [7,136 KB]
- “Declarations of Havana”, two statements of the Cuban government signed by Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (President) and Fidel Castro Ruz (Prime Minister). (Peking: FLP, 1962), 50 pages. Searchable PDF format [11,869 KB]
Documents of the Communist Party of Cuba:
- “Statutes of the Communist Party of Cuba”, December 1976, 86 pages. (Havana: 1976). Searchable PDF format [6,288 KB]
- [Book:] “2nd Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba: Main Report”, presented by Comrade Fidel Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, (Havana: Political Publishers, 1980), 126 pages. Searchable PDF format [5,127 KB]
- [Book:] “2nd Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba: Documents and Speeches”, (Havana: Political Publishers, 1981), 409 pages. Searchable PDF format [28,270 KB]
Writings of Fidel Castro (1926-2016):
- “History Will Absolve Me!”, the Moncada Trial Defense Speech by Fidel Castro, Santiago de Cuba, Oct. 16, 1953, (London: 1967), 126 pages. PDF format [11,509 KB]
- “Those Who Are Not Revolutionary Fighters Cannot Be Called Communists”, speech by Fidel Castro, March 13, 1967, 76 pages. (NY: Merit, 1968) PDF format [22,073 KB]
- “A New Stage in the Advance of Cuban Socialism”, speech by Fidel Castro, April 19, 1968, 52 pages. (NY: Merit, n.d.) PDF format [18,649 KB]
- [Book:] “Fidel Castro Speaks”, a collection of documents edited by Martin Kenner & James Petras, (NY: 1969), 360 pages. PDF format [Large file: 34,256 KB]
- “14th Congress of the CTC [Cuban Trade Unions], Closing Speech”, by Fidel Castro, December 2, 1978, 60 pages. (Havana: Political Publishers, 1979). PDF format [2,947 KB]
- [Book:] “The World Economic and Social Crisis: Its impact on the underdeveloped countries, its somber prospects and the need to struggle if we are to survive”, report given by Fidel Castro at the Seventh Summit Conference of Non-Aligned Countries, 232 pages. (Havana: 1983) PDF format [7,389 KB]
- [Book:] “The World Crisis: It’s Economic and Social Impact on the Underdeveloped Countries”, digitized by the Internet Archive, (Zed: 1984), 228 pages. PDF format [27,455 KB]
- [Book:] “Capitalism in Crisis: Globalization and World Politics Today”, articles and speeches 1998-2000, ed. by David Deutschmann, (Melbourne: 2000), 308 pages. PDF format [Large file: 33,789 KB]
- [Book:] “Fidel Castro Reader”, ed. by David Deutschmann & Deborah Shnookal, (Melbourne: 2007), 572 pages. PDF format [Very large file: 60,742 KB]
- Additional writings by Fidel Castro can be found on the Marxist Internet Archive at: https://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/index.htm
Writings of Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928-67):
- “Socialism and Man in Cuba”, by Che Guevara, (Havana: Guairas Book Institute, 1967), 118 pages. With an extensive collection of photographs of the Cuban Revolution. Searchable PDF format [15,431 KB]
- “Socialism and Man in Cuba and Other Works”, by Che Guevara, (London: Stage 1, 1968), 80 pages. PDF format [21,310 KB]
- Additional writings by Che Guevara can be found on the Marxist Internet Archive at: https://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/index.htm
Tricontinental Magazine: [Published in Havana by the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, which reflects the international political line of Cuba. Started in 1966, it ceased publication from 1991-1995 because of the economic crisis in Cuba (including the shortage of ink and paper) following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It resumed publication in 1995.]
- #21-22, November 1970-February 1971, 140 pages. Searchable PDF format [12,249 KB]
- #58, January 1971, 52 pages. Searchable PDF format [3,890 KB]
- #59, 1971, 52 pages. Searchable PDF format [3,316 KB]
- #72, March 1972, 52 pages. Searchable PDF format [3,555 KB]
- #74, January-February 1981, 140 pages. Searchable PDF format [12,141 KB]
- #75, March-April 1981, 124 pages. Searchable PDF format [10,277 KB]
- #76, May-June 1981, 116 pages. Searchable PDF format [10,238 KB]
Criticism of Castro and Cuba by Foreign Revolutionaries:
- “CUBA: The Evaporation of a Myth — From Anti-Imperialist Revolution to Pawn of Social-Imperialism”, by the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. Originally an article published on Feb. 15, 1976, in the RCP newspaper Revolution, then reissued as a pamphlet in 1976. This version is the second printing, slightly revised, June 1977, 40 pages. PDF format [3,456 KB]
- [Book:]“Family Portrait with Fidel: A Memoir”, by Carlos Franqui, (English translation, 1984), 287 pages. Searchable PDF format [12,015]
- “What is Socialism?”, by Scott Harrison — A letter on Dec. 20, 2013 to Bob Weil about how one determines whether a country is a socialist one or not, and specifically focusing on Stalin’s USSR and Castro’s Cuba. 6 pages. PDF version [87 KB]; MS Word version [45 KB]
Criticism of Che Guevara and Focoism:
- “Guevara, Debray, and Armed Revisionism”, by Lenny Wolff. This important 36-page article originally appeared in the RCP’s magazine Revolution, #53, Winter/Spring 1985. As of this initial posting, it is not (so far as we know) available elsewhere on the Internet. PDF format [315 KB]; MS Word [185 KB]
Commentary On and Criticism of Cuba from Bourgeois Sources:
- “A New Direction in Cuban Socialism”, by Bertram Silverman, Current History, Vol. 68, No. 401, January 1975, 8 pages. Searchable PDF format [552 KB]
- “Cuba’s Economic Crisis Is Spurring Much-Needed Action on Reforms”, by William M. LeoGrande, World Politics Review, Nov. 18, 2020. With a summary of the economic situation in Cuba in recent years. Online at: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29222/in-cuba-economic-crisis-spurs-much-needed-action-on-reforms