By JACK WODDIS
Wged from World News
(London)
cl Jan. 1, 1959, the Cuban
fe beet dictator, Batista,
mt the country — and Fidel
TO with his heroic army
fed the capital, Havana.
8 Opened a new chapter
the history not only of
® but of all Latin
AMericg,
(0, during’ little more
; ea three years, and facing
“edible odds, the brave
| ble of Cuba, -numbering
i Some 6,500,000 have
yp stully safeguarded
a national sovereignty
Stinst the colossus of the
» and have wrought
Pand fundamental chang-
MN the political, social and
Momic structure of their
try.
pa tese changes have trans-
yc the state power out
the hands of the old, cor-
the Tulers into the hands of
‘od Uban working people.
e al relations on the land
© been destroyed. Ameri-
domination of Cuba’s

Abr

mn u ended, and. all
a industrial and com-
ake enterprises taken
Tang the hands of the people
Wa heir new state.
Nig, STREET
HTMARE

if a, in consequence, has
ae the first socialist
hep in the Western Hemi-
hen ®. This historic achieve-
‘ain; Is inspiring the re-
Tne t® 19 states of Latin
by to follow in Cuba’s
Mhig, &§ — and it is this
hw IS causing nightmares
| hy all Street and panic in
| > hite House.

|i me vent Kennedy raves
to, M¥thical “Russian
ke." Cuba and “Soviet

i: anon”? hurt eect hn
at twas wav -Wilat LT

ate fears are the Cuban
ts and peasants, and,
behina them, the work-
peasants of Brazil,

=)

3

Me, %, Uruguay, Panama,
Mnee indeed, of all Latin
tea.

eo Over 60 years, from
I StY beginnings of U.S.
hay Nalism, Latin America
fy qn a victim of Ameri-
ay 8Ditalist greed. Yet, for-
) » Sbeaking, there were
thi, “ftican governments in
“yy? continent.
lie, scans apparently ruled
ae Brazilians ruled
Ven, a Venezuelans ruled
Cubs Nela, and Cubans ruled
he But everywhere it was
Sj.g mighty ‘dollar which
thy the tune, which was
ron Power
e

»

behind the

hua, Eatin America’s most
*inep le Natural riches, her
fn a Wealth, her best
‘uy, €r agricultural re-
the Were gathered up
Aen 8reedy arms of the
yh, “S82 monopolies. Oil,
Yay “ver, copper, coffee,

be 3s, Meat, leather, tim-

My, Sar — ‘all were pro-

Mt the Y the labor and sweat

* me ool of Latin Amer-

ling -Y to be loaded onto

Nd transported to the
tates,

ay, Argentine, Venezuela,

CORRUPT TYRANTS

And to safeguard these
profits, to ensure an unin-
terrupted flow of wealth
from the countries of Latin
America, American imperial-
ism fostered, financed, train-

ed and armed the most
vicious. social classes, the
feudal landlords and _ the

collaborating capitalists.
Cuba’s great victory in
toppling Batista has a signif
icance for all Latin Ameri-
can countries and even be-
yond; it is at once a blow
against neo-colonialism and

an example to the people of

Latin America, Asia and

Africa.
But the example goes
deeper than __ this, for the

Cuban achievement has not
rested with the overthrow of
a tyrant.

The clearing away of the
old regime has been but a
‘prelude to a radical recon:
struction of the economic and
social order. So much has
been achieved in three short
years, so significant have
been the changes wrought in
the pattern of the old society
that one can but touch on the
major transformations.

In brief, what Castro and
the Cuban revolution have
done is to destroy the former
despotic state, arm the work-
ers and peasants, break up
the old feudal estates and na-
tionalize the vast imperial-
ist undertakings — mainly
U.S.—on Cuban soil.
INDUSTRIALIZATION

From a reliance on one

“Strength of the peoples
united more and more every

- day.”

‘crop, sugar, together with a
parasitical tourist industry,
Cuba is turning to a policy
of industrialization and of
diversification of agriculture.
When these plans are ful-
filled, Cuba will grow most
of her own food require-
ments and will manufacture
many of the consumer goods
and industrial items she
needs.

At the same time, the peo-
ple of Cuba are being given
a new life. Wages have been
raised, prices cut, barracks
turned into schools, an all-
out attack made on illiteracy,
luxury hotels transformed
into workers’ rest - homes,
freedom restored to the trade
unions, cultural facilities ex-
tended, new housing schemes
undertaken and a network
of medical centres and clinics
established. | ‘

The people of other Latin

American countries, most of
whom live in miserable pov-
erty and under repressive
rule, have not been slow to
understand the _ significance
of these deep changes.

It is not lost on them—nor
will it be on the people of
Africa and Asia — that in
the new Cuba the head of
the air force is a Negro, the
head of the army, a Negro,
and the chief of the Oriente
contingents of the army, a
Negro.

It is in keeping with the
socialist and humanist spirit
of the Cuban revolution that
it should set itself, as one
of its tasks, the complete
eradication of racial segrega-
tion and discrimination.

Of cnarial cionifieance. nas

TRE ET

been the land reform and the
nationalization of U.S. prop-
erties. There is not a single
country in Latin America
where these two steps have
not been greeted with ex-

“ceptional enthusiasm by the

workers and peasants, and,
indeed, by alk patriots. ~

In essence, the situation in
former Cuba — one crop eco-
nomy, the land owned by
feudal landlords and by big
American plantation com-
panies, mineral resources
and other major enterprises
in the hands of United States
monopolies, the lack of real
industrialization — is the sit-
uation throughout Latin
America.

It is, therefore, not sur-
prising that in the past two
years there has been a great
movement throughout this
rich sub-continent to  na-
tionalize U.S. properties, es-
pecialy in oil and other min-
erals, in banking, public
utilities, and in transport.

Parallel with this there
has developed in many Latin
American countries a grow-
ing demand for a radical land
reform, both to end feudal-
ism and to break the power
of United Fruit and other
U.S. plantation companies. °

HAVANA DECLARATION

Cuba’s histcric achievement

ON GUARD AGAINST AGGRESSORS.
Photo shows the commanding officer of the
Oriente military area inspecting a tank unit
of the Cuban people’s army. A recent agree-

and goal is enshrined in the
Havana Declaration, adopted
by the Assembly of the Peo-
ple of Cuba, Sept. 2, 1960. In
this important and inspiring
document is set forth a pro-
gram not for Cuba alone, but
for all Latin America:

- The right of peasants to the
land; of workers to the fruit
of their work; of children to
education; of sick people to
medical and hospital atten-
tion:

Of youth work; of students
to free, experimental and
scientific education; of In-
dians and Negroes to the
“full dignity of man”;

Of women to civil, social
and political equality: of the
aged to secure old age: of in-

featlactuste avtiets ana ontan.

cweewwemuseos Gasaces Gssun ovuscas

tists to fight, with their
works, for a better world.
The right of states to na-

tionalize imperialist monop-

olies, thus rescuing their
wealth and national re-
sources; the right of nations
to trade freely with all peo-

_ ples of the world: the right

of nations to their full sov-
ereignty;

The right of nations to
turn fortresses inte schools,
and to arm their workers,
their peasants, their students,
their intellectuals, the Negro,
the Indian, the women, the
young and the old, the
oppressed and exploited peo-
ple, so that they may defend,
by themselves, their. rights
and their destinies.

If U.S. President Kennedy
hoped, by his ‘scarcely-con-
cealed aggression against
Cuba last year to intimidate
Latin America, he failed dis-
mally.

Equally, U.S. imperialism’s
attempt to use the meeting
of the Organization of Amer-
ican States (with the “Alli-
ance for Progress’ bribe of
hundreds of millions of dol-
lars in the background) to
produce a counter-revolution-
ary front against gallant
Cuba failed.

Such powerful Latin Ame-

rican. states .as_ Argentina,

e

ment with the Soviet Union has provided
arms to help the Cuban people ensure their
peaceful labor and crush new attempts to
invade the island republic..

Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Ecua-
dor, Mexico, which together
total threee-quarters of the
population of Latin America,
refused to play the Washing-
ton game.

U.S. MISCALCULATIONS

It is precisely because of

this set-back that the United
States rulers, consumed with
hatred for Cuba and every-
thing it now stands for, have
taken measures to step up
the economic blockade
against Cuba while intensify-
ing their preparations for an-
other armed attack.

But the American rulers,
as so often in the past, are
miscalculating. Last year,
after Cuba had beaten off
the counter-revolutionary at-
tent <1 > Halera — Ferguson-

vay, ve

-——--- <= Sean ey

writing in the Observer,
made the significant comment
that the average~-man in'
Latin America today reasons
as follows:

“Fidel is on the-side of the
poor. The Russians backed
Fidel. The Americans are
against Fidel. Viva Russia!’

Yes, Cuba is not alone. The
socialist world, Asia and
Africa are with her. .

Cuba, a little people with
a great heart, has shown the
way to all Latin America. If
Cuba, on the very doorstep
of the United States, can de-

fy the mightiest imperialist .

power, the United States, and
can build a new life for her
people, who can doubt that
the remaining 200 million
people of Latin America
will follow suit?

We live at a time when
the old capitalist order is go-
ing down to its doom. The
world has entered its epoch
of transition to socialism.
This is a law which applies
equally to Europe, Asia,
Africa and Latin America.

If today Latin America’s
200 million people cry tri-
umphantly: “Cuba si, Yan-
quis no!” this is not merely
an expression of their? sup-
port for Cuban independence
and against United States in-

tervention, _

i RSCTA ASR