THE POSITION OF THE CUBAN ANARCHISTS SELECTED DOCUMENTS (1960-1974)

THE POSITION OF THE CUBAN ANARCHISTS SELECTED DOCUMENTS (1960-1974)

These documents spanning the course of the Cuban Revolution demonstrate the consistent approach of the Cuban anarchists toward the problems of the Cuban Revolution as summarized in the Statement of Principles (first document) and in the concluding statement, Cuba: Revolution and Counter-Revolution. All the selected documents emphasize constructive proposals and practical libertarian alternatives to dictatorship (strikingly similar to the recommendations of the noted agronomist and economist Rene Dumont and other qualified critics.  (see introduction). For the anarchists (and with them a growing number of concerned people) socialist production socialism itself- cannot as the Statement of Principles insists be viewed as a simple technical process the decisive factor is the human factor the sentiments, interests, and the aspirations of men, women, and children, considered not as mere ciphers, but as INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEINGS. [S.D.]

Declaration Of Principles of the Libertarian Syndicalist Group of Cuba (Havana, 1960)

(1) Against the State in All its Forms.

WE the Libertarian Syndicalist Group, consider that in this period of revolutionary reconstruction by the people of Cuba, it is our inescapable duty to affirm our position in relation to the pressing problems of the Cuban Revolution. We oppose not only specific acts or policies of the State, but the very existence of the State and its right to exercise supreme and uncontested supremacy over every aspect of social life. We must therefore resist any policy that tends to increase the growing power of the State, the extension of its functions and its totalitarian tendencies.

WE, Cuban Libertarian militants, as well as our comrades in other Countries, believe that it is impossible to make a Social Revolution without eliminating the State. The social functions usurped by the State must be returned to and exercised by the grass-roots organizations of the people themselves such as labor unions, free municipalities, agricultural and industrial cooperatives, and collectives and voluntary federations of all kinds; all of them must be free to function without authoritarian interference.

Politically nave worshippers of the State believe that human society was created by the State. In reality, the State owes its origin to the rise of privileged classes and the consequent degeneration of society. In spite of all its admirers both right and left may say, the State is not only the parasitic excrescence of class society, but is also itself a generator of political and economic privilege and the creator of new privileged classes. The revolutionary transformation of bourgeois into socialist society also demands the abolition of the State.

(2) The Unions as the Economic Organ of the Revolution.

WE, Revolutionary Syndicalists maintain that the labor movement is the truest expression of the interests and the aspirations of the working class. It is therefore the historic task of the unions to effect the economic revolution by substituting the government over men by the administration of things. The labor unions and the federations of industry, properly and rationally restructured, contain within themselves the human and technical elements needed for the most complete collective development and self-management of industry.

As against the revolutionary and reactionary politicians who strive only to capture power, the decisive role of the unions in this period of revolutionary organization is to become the living organisms for the direction and coordination of the economy. The subordination of the unions to the political power of the State, especially in this revolutionary period, constitutes a betrayal of the working class; a vile maneuver to assure labors defeat, in this historic moment when it should be fulfilling its most vital socialist task; the administration of production and distribution in the interests of the whole of society

(3) The Land to Those Who Work It.

WE, the men and women or the Libertarian Syn,dicalist Group, now, mare than ever before, stand by our revolutionary watchword: The Land to Those Who Work It. We believe that the classic cry of the peasants of all countries, LAND AND LIBERTY, is the truest expression of the immediate aspirations of the Cuban guajiros (peasants); their own land to till and the freedom to organize themselves and to administer agricultural production.

This may be done through family cultivation in some cases, or by organizing producers cooperatives in other cases; bur ABOVE ALL [wherever possible] through the organization of COLLECTIVE FARMS. The form of cultivation must always be decided by the peasants themselves, never imposed by the State. While the representatives of the State may, in some cases be technically capable men, they are in most cases, ignorant of and insensitive to the true sentiments, interests and aspirations of those who till the soil.

Through long experience and participation in the revolutionary struggles of the peasantry, we are convinced that the planning of agricultural production, cannot be viewed solely al a mere technical process. Although it is true that the condition of the land ald machinery of cultivation are very important, the decisive factor is for us, the human factor: the peasants themselves. We therefore declare that we favor the organization of collective and cooperative work on a voluntary basis extending to the peasant every necessary technical and cultural tools- no doubt the best means- of convincing him of collective cultivation as distinct from and superior to individual or family cultivation.

To act otherwise, to use coercion and force, would be to lay the basis for the complete failure of the agrarian revolution and consequently, THE REVOLUION ITSELF.

(4) The School Should Instruct; the Family Should Rear the Young.

WE, militants of Revolutionary Syndicalism, maintain that culture must not be the exclusive property of anyone in particular, but of the whole of humanity. Culture is a right not a privilege.

All persons regardless of class, race, religion or sex, must have compete access to the fountains of knowledge without limitations or restrictions of any kind. Education should not be monopolized by the State or any privileged group. Education at all levels must be free to all (primary and secondary schools, technical and scientific schools and the universities). The moral and political education of their children should be considered the inalienable right of the parents, with no ecclesiastical, political or Statist interference. In the final analysis, the family is the basic unit of society and its supreme responsibility is the moral and physical protection of its youngest members. This responsibility implies rights that must not be taken away; that of the formation of character, and ideological orientation of new generations within the family, the home itself.

(5) The Struggle Against Nationalism, Militarism and Imperialism.

WE are opposed to all wars. The instruments of death produced in such frightening quantities by the great powers must now be converted into instruments for the abolition of hunger and the needs of impoverished peoples; to bring happiness and well-being to all mankind.

As revolutionary workers we are fervent partisans of fraternal understanding between all peoples irrespective of all national boundaries, or linguistic racial, political and religious barriers

WE are unalterably opposed to the military training of the young, the creation of professional armies. For us, nationalism and militarism are synonymous with fascism. Less arms and more plows! Less soldiers and more teachers! Less cannons and more bread for all!

We, Libertarian Syndicalists are against all forms of imperialism and colonialism; against the economic domination of peoples, so prevalent in the Americas; against military pressure to impose upon peoples political and economic systems foreign to their national cultures, customs and social systems as is the case in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa.

We believe that among the nations of the world, the small are as worthy as the big. Just as we remain enemies of national states because each of them holds its own people in subjection; so also are we opposed to the super-states that utilize their political, economic and military power to impose their rapacious systems of exploitation on weaker countries. As against all forms of imperialism, we declare for revolutionary internationalism; for the creation of great confederation of free peoples for their mutual interests; for solidarity and mutual aid. We believe in an active militant pacifism that demands an end to the arms race and rejection of nuclear and all other armaments.

(6) To Bureaucratic Centralism We Counterpose Federalism.

WE are inherently opposed to all centralist tendencies; political, social, and economic. We believe that the organization of society should proceed from the simple to the complex; from the bottom upwards. It should begin in the basic organisms: the municipalities, the labor unions, the peasants organizations, etc. coordinated into great national and international organizations based on mutual pacts between equals. These should be set up freely for common purposes without injury to any of the contracting parties, each of whom must always retain the right to withdraw from the agreement should it at any time be felt that such action would best serve its interests.

It is our understanding that these social organizations, the great national and international confederations of unions, peasants associations, cultural groups and municipalities, will carry the representation of all without possessing any greater powers that those granted them by the component federated units at the base.

The liberty of peoples can only find adequate expression through a federalist type of organization, which will set the necessary limits to the freedom of each while guaranteeing the freedom of all. Experience demonstrates that political and economic centralization leads to the creation of monstrous totalitarian states; to aggression and war between nations; to the exploitation and misery of the great masses of the people.

(7) Without Individual Freedom There Can Be No Collective Freedom.

WE, Libertarian Syndicalists are firm supporters of individual rights. There can be no freedom for the community as a whole if any of its members are deprived of their freedom. There can be no freedom for the collectivity where the individual is the victim of oppression. All human rights must be guaranteed. These include freedom of expression, the right to work, to lead a decent life. Without these guarantees there can be no civilized basis for human beings to live together in society. We believe in liberty and justice for all persons, even for those holding reactionary views.

(8) The Revolution Belongs To Us All.

The Libertarian Syndicalist Group reiterates its will to support the struggle for complete liberation of our people. Affirming that the Revolution is not the exclusive property of any individual or grouping, but belongs to all the people.

Just as we have always done, we will continue to support all revolutionary measures that tend to remedy the old social ills. At the same time we shall, as always, continue our struggle against authoritarian tendencies within the Revolution itself.

We have fought against the barbarism and corruption of the past. We now oppose all deviations that attempt to undermine our Revolution by forcing it into authoritarian channels which are destructive of human dignity. We oppose all the reactionary groups that battle desperately to conquer their abolished privileges and we also oppose the new pseudo-revolutionary oppressive, exploiting groups that in Cuba can be already discerned on the revolutionary horizon.

We are for justice, socialism and freedom; for the well-being of all men regardless of origin, religion or race. Workers! Peasants! Students! Men and Women of Cuba! To these revolutionary concepts we will remain faithful to the end. For these principles we are willing to stake our personal freedom and if necessary our lives.

Libertarian Syndicalist Groups

La Habana, 1960

Miscellaneous Declarations 1961-1975

Statement of Cuban Libertarian Movement Addressed to its Sister Organizations of All Countries, August, 1961

The Cuban Libertarian Movement wishes to point out that whenever the Cuban people suffered the consequences of dictatorship, our movement joined hands with those who sincerely struggled against such dictatorships. In the various times that this has happened, it has cost our movement precious lives.

Long before the present revolutionary organizations did so, the Cuban Libertarian Movement fought by all means at its disposal, against all imperialism, especially against North American imperialism, since this was the one that most directly affected our personal liberties and out economic development. Thus, our movement cannot be accused at any time or for any reason of being indifferent to the sufferings of our people or tolerant towards any imperialism, either democratic or totalitarian. The Cuban Libertarian Movement feels that in each case it has taken the position that it should have taken as a revolutionary organization

Cuba is controlled by a super-statist regime based upon the most rigid Marxist school. Its planning, structure and development follow the historic pattern of similar countries, and if there is some difference between them, it is only a difference of degree.

In consequence, the Libertarian Movement of Cuba does not see in the Cuban Revolution any of the principles that can identify it with the fundamental concepts of our ideology. On the contrary, it would appear that just as in the other Marxist-Socialist countries all libertarian thought will be suppressed, man will completely lose his personality, his dignity and his rights in order to be a mere cog in the machinery of the State a process already underway. We know that Capitalist, clerical and imperialist interests are allying themselves against the Cuban Revolution. But it is also true that great numbers of workers, peasants, intellectuals and professional people maintain a virile opposition to the totalitarian regime.

The Cuban Libertarian Movement has at no time made common cause with the representatives of reaction and will not do so in the future. Nor will we accept the selfish intervention of any imperialist country in the Cuban problem. But the peoples of the Latin American continent have every right to intervene. They have a moral obligation to defend the minimum rights that have been won at so great a cost, when these rights are usurped anywhere in Latin America [or anywhere else]. In view of all we have said, the Cuban Libertarian Movement will maintain its ideological postulates under all circumstances and will struggle to the end for the freedom of the Cuban people and for the Social Revolution

The National Executive

(Names have been omitted or changed to prevent official reprisals.)

Message of theLibertarian Movement of Cuba in Exile

To The Fifth Congress of the Libertarian Federation of Argentina

(Buenos Aires, December, 1961)

The many letters we have received from individuals and from groups indicate that the international libertarian movement is not only deeply disturbed about the present situation in Cuba, but equally concerned about our general attitude with respect to Cubas problems and what the new situation would be, should the Castro dictatorship collapse or be overthrown.

We will support the revolutionary movement of the masses to solve the great problems of the country and abolish all special privileges and injustices. We will resolutely oppose all reactionary elements who today fight Castro-Communism, only because they yearn to recapture their political power and bring back the old order with all its greed and corruption. We fight against the Castro dictatorship because it signifies the strangulation of the Revolution, submitting our people to the exploitation and oppression of the new exploiting class, just as evil as its predecessor. We fight the new tyranny that placed our country at the service of Soviet-Chinese imperialism.

We must do our utmost to help the Cuban people recapture their freedom of action, by achieving the revolutionary transformation of their country in accordance with their own special interests, and in solidarity with their natural allies, the people of Latin America, who are fighting against their own feudal and capitalist regimes. We want a new Cuba, that will reorganize its social life with the most ample economic justice and most complete political freedom; because we are, above all, socialists and libertarians.

The concern of the international libertarian movement with our struggle against Castro-communism should in no way benefit nor have any connection with the sinister forces of reaction is also our concern. With all the solemnity that the critical situation warrants, with all the emphasis at our command, we, the Cuban libertarians, assure our comrades of the Libertarian Federation of Argentina that we will never make political dials with anti-Castroites to barter away our independence as a movement in its fight for freedom; nor will we subordinate the freedom of the Cuban people to the interests of Russian or American imperialism or any other foreign power.

We pledge our solidarity with all sincere underground revolutionaries struggling against the Castro tyranny. We are prepared to fight with all lovers of freedom for common aims without sacrificing our libertarian principles nor our identity as a distinct revolutionary organization.

In order to counter-balance the enormous political-economic power of the reaction which fights Castroism only because it aims to replace the Cuban dictatorship with the kind of totalitarian regime which after a quarter of a century is still oppressing the Spanish people, it will be necessary to forge an equally formidable alliance.

We do not believe that we alone, with our weak forces, can possibly overthrow Castros revolutionary government, formidably reinforced by the technical, economic, political, and military might of the socialist countries. Furthermore, the Castro government has built up so monstrous an apparatus that it cannot be dislodged by the Cuban people alone. We consider that the best (though by no means the only) allies of the Cuban people in their struggle for justice and freedom, are the other Latin American peoples who are also fighting to emancipate themselves under different circumstances- but with the same spirit and the same ideals.

To this revolutionary task we dedicate our best efforts and we urge the libertarian movement in other lands to take the initiative in uniting all libertarian forces on the basis of a general program acceptable to all.

BOLETN de Informacin Libertaria General Delegation Libertarian Movement of Cuba in Exile (Caracas Venezuela, July 1962)

The necessities of the war against the totalitarian regime in Cuba which has organized a political police apparatus along Soviet lines, impedes the creation of large concentrations operating openly. It makes necessary the creation of small, loosely connected, secret resistance groups carrying on a guerilla war of attrition, to wear down, exhaust and finally force the collapse of the dictatorship The people will make the hangmen of the revolution pay for the atrocities they have committed and give them a dose of their own medicine.

We are convinced that the line of total revolutionary action is the only viable way for the Cuban people to re-conquer their lost freedom and liquidate the Castro-communist dictatorship. We don not believe that the Cuban tragedy can be resolved by military adventures, like the invasion of April 1961. We believe that other Cuban people must learn from the methods of struggle of the Irish Republicans, the Jewish secret army of Israel, the Cyprus patriots and the Algerian resistance movements. We must adapt these methods to Cuban conditions.

For us, the principal function of the exile is to help stimulate the revolutionary action of the organizations inside Cuba, which represent the fighting will of the people. Whoever wastes time, trying to create paper organizations whose aim is to capture power, if and when the Castro-communist dictators fall is guilty of deceit and is delaying the liberation of the Cuban people.

As lifelong militant revolutionaries, we fight always for the freedom of the Cuban people to make their own revolution without becoming victims of foreign and domestic tyrants. Our main task is to agree on a plan of united action which will bring about the destruction of the Castro-communist dictatorship. While we are prepared to fight with all sincere lovers of freedom for common objectives, we will remain an independent organization and will not collaborate with the power hungry politicians who are already plotting to take over and are already creating Governments in Exile or Governments in the underground.

Agrarian Labo And The Land

(Abelardo Iglesias: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Cuba.

Boletn de Informacin Libertaria Organ of the Libertrarian Movement of Cuba in Exile; Miami, June 1966)

The root cause for political and social unrest in Cuba, dating back to centuries of Spanish colonial domination is the horribly unjust distribution of the land. A predominantly rural country, with its economy almost totally dependent on agriculture and animal husbandry must of necessity wipe out all vestiges of feudal property and place the land directly into the hands of the agricultural workers.

While the landed aristocracy allows vast areas of fertile land to remain uncultivated and great masses of peasants suffer the ravages of disease, hunger and poverty, the urban population enjoys a standard of living vastly superior to anything known in Latin-America.

For this reason the Libertarian Movement was always intensely concerned with the problem of organizing a radical, deeply rooted agricultural revolution. Following the example of the libertarian militants who in Mexico had been inspired by the epic of Emiliano Zapata, a group of valiant Cuban militants dedicated themselves to the emancipation of the peasants.

From the organization of a producers coffee cooperative in Monte Ruz over a half century ago, to the organization of the Peasant Federation of Cuba, in which dozens of our comrades fought, the Cuban Libertarians carried on the struggle against the rich landlords, inciting the peasants to forcibly seize uncultivated property and work the land collectively by organizing themselves into voluntary revolutionary collectives or similar cooperative organizations

With the triumph of the Revolution of 1959, the Cuban Libertarians urged the peasants to seize the land and organize agricultural cooperatives without waiting for orders from the new Castroite authorities. This policy was undertaken for two reasons: first, to involve actively the peasant masses in the construction and administration of the new agricultural economy through their own voluntary organizations; and second, because direct action of the peasants would place economic power in their own hands, thus preventing the revolutionary state from converting free cooperators into slaves of the totalitarian regime. After a great deal of resistance, the new dictators dislodged the peasants from the land by force and threats.

The Cuban anarchists repeatedly warned against dismissing or underestimating the vital contribution that the small peasant proprietor who works the land himself with the help of his family and does not employ hired labor can make to the Revolution (this policy also applies to artisans, small workshops, cooperatives, and the thousands of specialized services without which the economy would come to a standstill. The feasibility of this policy was amply demonstrated during the Spanish Revolution in the libertarian type rural collectives and urban socialized industry.) [To remind the reader, this extremely important point, already discussed in the article Plows, Tractors and the Guajiro (peasant) is repeated here:]

without underestimating the importance of huge cooperative farms to meet the need for agricultural products, it must be stressed that the small peasant proprietors can also contribute greatly to agricultural production by organizing themselves into collectives for the intensive cultivation of the land in common.

Joint Statement Of The Libertarians Of The Americas

(published in the U.S.S by the Cuban Libertarian Movement  - Miami, 1986)

Whereas: Libertarian principles are unconditionally opposed to all forms of human slavery

Whereas: Viewed objectively, the social and political course of the so-called Cuban Revolution which has led to the establishment of a Communist regime in Cuba has cynically frustrated the aspirations of the Cuban people.

Whereas: The Castro-Communist regime is able to maintain its control over the Cuban people thanks only to the military and economic support and backing of Russia which has turned the island into one more satellite of Red Imperialism through a policy of terror, imprisonment, and crime and inhibiting the resistance and struggle of the people of Cuba against tyranny.

Whereas: The so-called Cuban Revolution, after offering land to those who work it has instead taken the land away from its former owners including peasants- given in toto to the State. In the same way, all industrial and productive centers, transport, distribution, the press and in short all social, political and economic activity of the country has been taken over, subjecting the people to the will and authority of the Totalitarian State.

Whereas: All freedom of thought and expression is forbidden in Cuba, no citizen being permitted the free expression of disagreement with the political system and the norms established by the government in power; that all communications media are totally in the hands of the State; that all publication of books and other literary material is subject to the supervision and authorization of the State, and furthermore, that any oral or written expression of opposition or criticism of the government is a punishable offense.

Whereas: Over 90% of the Cuban people are against the political system that has been imposed on them by force and violence, it being a fact that after nine and a half years of Communist domination there are now 100,000 persons in Cuban prisons with the number increasing. Executions and murders of fighters for freedom are daily occurrences in the prisons and the total of these is already more than ten thousand. Over half a million persons have already fled from Cuba, by every means imaginable. These have been of all social classes, but mostly workers and peasants, and their leaving Cuba is a clear demonstration of the rejection by a people of the regime that enslaves them.

Whereas: The so-called Cuban Revolution does not in the least represent the aspirations of the Cuban people which fights and always will fight for its f'reedom with the fullest respect for human life and safety and for continual improvement in the search for peace and the social good. Therefore We, the organizations signing this Joint Statement of l.ibertarians of the Americas, declare:

That the Castro regime is at the service of Russia in its plans for the future domination of the peoples or the Americas: That the Cuban people have the legitimate right to combat and overthrow the political regime that now oppress them: That the present struggle of the Cuban people against their oppressors and enslavers is just, and should, therefore, have the support and help of all libertarian organizations and individuals on the American Continent and of the World: That the undersigned organizations support the Cuban people in their struggle to wipe out the Totalitarian Communist State that now oppresses and enslaves them, and take upon themselves the task of denouncing before the World by every means at their command, the criminal savagery and slavery suffered by the Cuban people, as well as giving all the collaboration and support that they can in the struggle against Castro-Communism, until the Cuban people achieve their freedom.

MOVIMIENTO LIBERTARIO CUBANA EN EL EXILIO (MLCE)

LIBERTARIAN LEAGUE (USA)

ORGANIZACINES LIBERTARIAS DEL PERU

FEDERACIN ANARQUISTA DEL MEXICO (FAM)

MOVIMIENTO LIBERTARIO DEL BRASIL

FEDERACIN LIBERTARIA ARGENTINA (FLA)

Message from the Cuban Libertarian Movement in Exile

(Miami, October 1974)

TO OUR EXILED COUNTRYMEN

TO THOSE WHO SUFFER IN ENSLAVED CUBA

TO THE PEOPLES OF LATIN AMERICA

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES

We will always remain faithful to the noble ideals which we have proclaimed and defended for so many years against all tyrants and misleaders of the people, including the Marxist-Leninists and the Castro-Communists. In defense of our principles we have always fought with equal determination against the equally bloody right-wing conservative totalitarians. For this, we have paid a very heavy price in persecution and lives.

While professing to hate tyranny, the Pope, in the name of Jesus who preached against violence and slavery, bestows his benediction on dictato Castro Fascist Spain relates well to totalitarian-communist Cuba Russia donates arms and supplies to its Cuban satellite At the same time, the great American corporations surreptitiously provide Castro with ample credit to purchase autos, buses, and other equipment. In view of the co-existence policy between the great Soviet totalitarian empire and the American-European democracies contending for the domination of Cuba, our position remains:

AGAINST BOTH POWER BLOCKS!

NEITHER THE ONE NOR THE OTHER!

ALWAYS FOR FREEDOM! ALWAYS FOR HUMAN DIGNITY!

Without a clear, convincing program of full liberty, full human rights and well-being for all, the Cubans abroad cannot stir the oppressed people in cuba to rebel, and even less, the peoples of Latin America. For, the struggle against Castroism is not only our concern. The Latin American masses, too, are also threatened with the imposition of a Castro-type dictatorship. The plight of the oppressed, downtrodden, impoverished peasants and workers renders them receptive to communist propaganda. Their weel-trained, well-paid agents promise them a better life. The masses are naive, they know nothing about the kind of despotic communism that these agents really want to impose. They feel that they have nothing to lose, and in despoair they join.

We must counteract this threat.We must reach the masses with our constructive, practical program and warn them about the real character of the phony communists. We must tell them:

you have the right to live decently. If you are a peasant, you have a right to the land you cultivate, just as you have the right to sun and air. If you are a worker, you have the right to the full product of your labor. Your children are entitled to a good education and the sick to the finest medical attention. You are a human being. You have the right to learn. To think. To act without humiliating yourself, without bowing to the will of an omnipotent, omniverous government. BEWARE! Do not follow false leaders who will enslave you, just as they enslaved your unfolrtunate fellow workers in Cuba

[The appeal concludes with a ringing call to]

. . . All the peoples of our America, of all classes, who do not wish to change one tyranny for another; to the Rebel Youth of this country; to all who realize the seriousness of the hour to join the crusade for the liberation of Cuba

Declaration of the Cuban Libertarian Movement in Exile

(published in March, 1975)

It outlines, not the maximum, full anarchist blueprint for the future society, but a minimum program as the basis for a united front of all tendencies of the Cuban revolutionary movement for the immediate task of achieving the overthrow of the totalitarian regime; It sketches the first steps toward the regeneration of Cuban society. [S.D.]

Preamble: The Cuban workers are not counter-revolutionaries yearning to restore the old order. The real counter-revoluionaries are the tyrants now wielding absolute power over our country, subjecting our people to the most brutal oppression and economic exploitation. Cuba is not a socialist society. It is a totalitarian state with a militarized economy and a militarized social system. The alleged socialist property actually elongs to the State, and the State is, in fact, the property of the oligarchy commanded by the maximum leader, Fidel Castro. All political and economic power is concentrated in the hands of this minority, which constitutes the new ruling class. Therefore, our first and most important task is to destroy the totalitarian state. Only then can we reconquer the freedom to shape our own destiny and prepare the way for a social system in which the workers and peasants will become the real masters of all the means of production, distribution and public services.

Our comrades now living in Cuba in totalitarian slavery are convinced that the Cuban problem is essentially a political problem, and that our strategy should be directed toward first recuperating the indispensable civil liberties necessary to initiate a process of social change leading to a more just, more cultured, happier and freer life. The following programmatic proposals accurately express the ideas and sentiments of our comrades in Cuba.

Political Struclure: (a) The totalitarian State must be replaced by a political structure which will guarantee unrestricted civil liberties with the most scrupulous respect for human rights [freedom of speech assemblage, movement, organization, worship, etc.]. (b) The political police must be abolished. (c) Entirely autonomous municipalities and their confederation into free provinces must be established. (d) A nationally federated system based on a new, decentralized order, must be organized. (e) Abolition of the army, maintaining only the absolute minimum of professional officers and minimum military training, is essential.

Economic Structure: We advocate (a) the land to those who work it organized and planned as the peasants themselves decide  individual or family cultivation, creation of voluntary cooperatives and collectives similar to the Israeli Kibbutzim, etc.; (b) collectivization and operation of large-scale basic industries by the workers, technicians and administrators through a system of self-management, supervised by their respective unions; where necessary for the general welfare and the economy, allowance for individual or group ownership of small craft workshops and similar small-scale enterprises by artisans, (c) overall economic planning by integrated coordinated workers' organizations, technical and administrative organization (d) in privately-owned establishments which, because of special circumstances cannot be socialized, the system of co-management, participation by the workers, shall prevail.

Social Structure: All social services shall be redered and administered by the unions, municipalities and other federated bodies, which will guarantee to all Cubans the following free services: maternity care, other medical and health services' unemployment benefits, access to cultural and entertainment facilities (b) Free ectucation shall be provided at all levels and in all areas [primary and high school, university, technical and artistic school, etc.]. (c) Free housing will be provided for all.

Conclusions: With the passage of time, and under the dictatorship, the long-suffering people of Cuba have endured profound changes in their way of life. The mentality of the young people who have come to maturity under the dictatorship differs greatly from that of the preceding generation. To try to turn back the clock to a bygone era is both utopian and absurd. If we are to succeed, we must be realistic, take into account the present situation and act accordingly: this means eliminating existing evils, retaining that which is valuable, and initiating new and progressive changes in the quality of Cuban life.

[After outlining the structure of the proposed united front of the Cuban libertarian movement of resistance in exile which would insure mutual solidarity while retaining the full independence of participating organizations, the Declaration goes on to stress that] In the new Cuba, the labor movement must be organized according to federalist principles in industrial unions totally independent of the state and of political parties. Only thus can we assure freedom of movement, initiative and creative action.

Summation: Revolution and Counter-Revolution

(Translated from Accion Lihertaria, Organ of the Argentine Libertarian Federation, Buenos Aires, July 1961)

The heroic impetus of a people that overthrows a dictatorship and expels the tyrant and his assassinsTHAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to assume absolute power in order to accomplish by dictatorial methods that which the recently liberated people should themselves do  THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To cleanse the country of the abuses of the regime that has been overthrownTHAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to establish terror for the shameless, pitiless extermination of those who will not conform to the new dictaorship THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUION.

To assume the direct participation of the peoples in all of the new creations and accomplishments THAT IS REVOLUION.

But to dictate by decree how things should be done and to canalize the accomplishments under the iron control of the state THIS IS COUTER-REVOLUION.

To seize the lands for those who work them, organizing them in free peasant communities THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to twist the Agrarian Reform, exploiting the guajiro as an employee of the National INstitute of Agrarian Reform  THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To expropriate capitalist enterprises, turning them over to the workers and technicians THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to convert them into State monopolies in which the producer's only right is to obey THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To eliminate the old armed forces such as the army and the police THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to establish obligatory militias and maintain an army subservient to the governing clique THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To oppose foreign intervention in the lives of the people, and repudiate all imperialism THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to deliver the country to some foreign powers under the pretence of defense against others THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To permit the free expression and activity of all truly revolutionary forces and tendencies THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to recognize only one single party, persecuting and exterminating as counter-revolutionaries, those who oppose communist infiltration and domination THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To make the University a magnificent center of culture, controlled by the professors, alumni and students THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to convert the University into an instrument of governmental policy, expelling and persecuting those who will not submit THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To raise the standard of living of the workers through their own productive efforts inspired by the feneral welkfare THAT IS REVOLUION.

But to impose plans prepared by the State agencies and demand obligatory tribute from those who labor THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To establish schools and combat illiteracy THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to indoctrinate the children in the adoration of the dictator and his close associates, militarizing these children in the service of the State THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To give the labor unions full freedom to organize and administer themselves as the basic organs of the new economy THAT IS REVOLUION.

But to stamp these with the seal of subordination to the dominant regime THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To sow the countryside with new constructive peoples organizations of every sort, stimulating free initiative within them THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to prohibit them or inhibit their action, chaining them to the doctrine and to the organisms of State power THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

To call on the solidarity of all peoples, of the decent men and women of the World, in support of the revolutionary people who are building a new life THAT IS REVOLUTION.

But to identify with Russian totalitariansism as a Socialist State of the type acceptable to the Soviet Empire THIS IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION.

All those forward steps that were taken by the Cuban people under the banner of liberty, which shone forth as a great hope for all the Americas and for the World, WAS THE CUBAN REVOLUTION.

The bloody dictatorship of Fidel Castro and his clique, whatever the masdk it may wear or the objectives it may claim to have, IS THE REAL COUNTER-REVOLUTION.