He's one of my famous people I'd have round for my fantasy dinner party. He must have some interesting tales. However, I fear he would speak far too much, listen too little, and be obnoxious at the start only to apologize after when the mood has long been ruined and everyone's resting.
That's a remarkably accurate guess at my behaviour. I don't mean to be that way, it just kind of happens.. All the same, I still feel deeply honoured that you'd want me as a guest at your fantasy dinner party. Thanks comrade, it means a lot.
Haha I meant Mr Castro :p I would have you round to my real party - that is, if you were to honour me with your presence. ^^ I'm very pleased you battled through!
http://giphy.com/gifs/excited-screaming-jonah-hill-5GoVLqeAOo6PK
Today I'm seeing Cuba's involvement in Africa being cited as a point in Castro's favour - so here's a link to an article by Paul Trewhela on the Cuban role in the massacres in Angola that followed the events of 27 May 1977. I don't know whether the figure given for the number of deaths is accurate or not - though it may be. iirc Lara Pawson in her very good book on the subject was unable to come to any firm conclusion on the numbers.
Here below is one passage from chapter 24, "A Cuba connection", in Lara Pawson's book, from her interview with a Cuban doctor who saw a fraction of the massacre with his own eyes, Dr Jorge Martinez, who now lives in Miami.
"...Cubans worked in construction, education, agriculture or transport, and some were directly involved in developing the political structures of the MPLA, such as the children's and women's organisations. They performed a critical role in keeping Angola going after hundreds of thousands of Portuguese bureaucrats and technicians fled to Lisbon as independence loomed. From November 1975 to December 1977, 3,500 Cuban civilians went to Angola. Over the next twelve years that number would rise to 50,000. ... (pp.236-37)
"At about five o'clock [on the 27th of May 1977], a Soviet four-by-four pulled up outside the Cuban residence. As well as the driver, there was another man whom Dr [Jorge] Martinez referred to as ‘a bodyguard'. ‘They came to our building looking for the clinical doctor and myself. They told us we were needed to carry out a special mission.' So the two doctors got into the four-by-four and were driven to the outskirts of Luena, to a spot between the airport and the Cuban military task unit, where there was a ditch with a bulldozer parked beside it.
" ‘In front of the ditch,' explains the doctor, ‘stood seventeen Angolans. They were going to be executed for collaborating with the Nito Alves group. Among those who were about to be killed were people I knew. There was Cristina, my assistant, who was a few weeks pregnant; and David, an emergency nurse at the hospital, to whom I had given a book about paediatrics; and another, the only Angolan doctor in Luena, the director of health, whose name I cannot remember; and there was Nito [not Nito Alves], the head of the MPLA youth movement. The rest I did not know.'
"He watched as this line of Angolan men and women were shot without blindfolds. ... ‘The firing squad was made up of Angolan FAPLA troops. The Cubans who were present were limited to watching. I remember that Miguelito was there, the head of the Cuban civil mission. Also, Lieutenant Colonel Masso, the head of the Cuban regiment, and Colonel Eloy Bartos Bustos, adviser to the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, and Urbano Varela, the adviser to the JMPLA. The infamous Colonel Ramon Valle Lazo was also there.'
"When all seventeen were dead, the two doctors were called forward. ‘We were there to sign the death certificates,' says Dr Martinez, ‘but they had already been completed and filled in.' In every case, the stated cause of death was acidente de viacao - road accident. .... (p.238)
"Looking back, Dr Martinez remembers these killings coming almost out of nowhere. He is certain that in Luena there had been no demonstration or revolt of any kind - either before, during, or after the Twenty-seventh of May. He is equally certain that senior members of the Cuban military had, in his words, ‘prior information that something was going to occur'. ..." (p.239)
Apologies to Noah for the serious note but I thought this needed mentioning somewhere.
Apologies to Noah for the serious note but I thought this needed mentioning somewhere
Sorry Mark but once again the high brow nature of Libcom has left me in the intellectual quicksand. Always willing to learn though I'd be extremely grateful if you could explain the meaning of the word 'serious'. I've no idea whatsoever what serious is.
Maybe it's the wrong word - my post just seemed a bit out of line with the direction of the thread. Nothing clever or critical intended. Anyway I'm very glad you came through and I hope you don't go soft on us.
Hmmm, the truth is I kind of derailed the thread by practicing my new intention of posting without being an asshole. So really I've failed as derailing is an asshole move. Dayum.
Some proper content would be interesting here, for instance, I'd be interested in hearing more about the exploding cigar story or some informed refutals of the claims made by a number of lefties I've met that Cuba is a great place for the working class that live there.
I think the regime did have a lot of support and in some ways life for ordinary people may be better than in many other Latin American countries - not that that's a high bar to reach. I haven't actually been there though and quite a bit of my impression of it comes from a Spanish teacher who was from Cuba. He was interesting on his father's loyalty to the revolution which I think was pretty widespread in that generation. Still the history of repression is real enough. Sam Dolgoff's book is good for the early years, but I'd like to find more on this written by Cubans actually living in Cuba.
I've started reading the Sam Dolgoff book. I'm so fucking clueless! I knew nothing about the the libertarian labour movement in Latin America or the extraordinary number of anarchist publications. The most pleasing thing of all though is learning of Louisa Capitello's penchant for wearing panteloons! If we all follow her lead the revolution cannot fail.
I've started reading the Sam Dolgoff book. I'm so fucking clueless! I knew nothing about the the libertarian labour movement in Latin America or the extraordinary number of anarchist publications. The most pleasing thing of all though is learning of Louisa Capitello's penchant for wearing panteloons! If we all follow her lead the revolution cannot fail.
i'm 100% certain that we have material from cuban anarchists on this site. mods, is the search functioning?
I've started reading the Sam Dolgoff book. I'm so fucking clueless! I knew nothing about the the libertarian labour movement in Latin America or the extraordinary number of anarchist publications. The most pleasing thing of all though is learning of Louisa Capitello's penchant for wearing panteloons! If we all follow her lead the revolution cannot fail.
i'm 100% certain that we have material from cuban anarchists on this site. mods, is the search functioning?
A site search for Cuban anarchism yielded no results but a google search for the same with the word 'Libcom' added produced shitloads of Libcom articles. I always get better access to Libcom stuff through google.
Three short linked articles written over a period of time critically analysing Castro's regime in Cuba;
www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2016-11-27/fidel-castros-death-leaves-the-path-of-history-unchanged
Should be up on the front page just now apart from the listing.
I think any other year and I wouldn't have cared one way or the other but not in 2016. Just thinking of all the counter-cultural and lefty public figures who've died (Ali, Cohen, Prince, Bowie etc) on top of Trump, Brexit and the normalisation of the international far-right. What a great year to be right-wing.. :(
Oh well, at least Scalia and Shimon Peres are both dead..
another pretty awful facet of Castro's "internationalism" was his support of the Ethiopian DERG regime against its internal enemies in the mid-/end-seventies
and a song by the great Celina Gonzalez (not her best one, I prefer the original version called "Que viva Chango")
One interesting phenomenon of the past couple weeks is seeing a number of out-and-out fash giving credit to Castro for his nationalism. Kind of says it all, really
One interesting phenomenon of the past couple weeks is seeing a number of out-and-out fash giving credit to Castro for his nationalism. Kind of says it all, really
i don't doubt you at all but can you give a cite? i just haven't come across an example.
One interesting phenomenon of the past couple weeks is seeing a number of out-and-out fash giving credit to Castro for his nationalism. Kind of says it all, really
i don't doubt you at all but can you give a cite? i just haven't come across an example.
Sorry didn't see this sooner...here's one example. This guy often referred to as a leader for new gen of fascists:
https://twitter.com/MatthewHeimbach/status/802390547772145664
I just came across this: David Rovics doing a tribute song to Castro on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blIj9oeS-m0 Theres me thinking Rovics was an anarchist, though I've had my suspicions for a while that he wasn't, I guess this confirms it.
I understand he is a favourite with the spgb at their headquarters for his take on other of the tiny left groups and some anarchist elements but they have presumably missed this one!
I once attended a Rovics concert in one of the smallest folk-club venues in Edinburgh. He was several hours late due to a delay on the Stranraer ferry, not his fault, but i had the last train home to catch. So just as he was doing his intro to his first song, i got up to leave and as i said the bar was tiny so he could hardly not notice. Rovics took personal umbrage and made some sarcastic remark, thinking i was walking out on him. Over-sensitive bastard i thought, even if his songs are sometimes politically self-depreciating such as "i'm more anarchist than you"
But you right, the SPGB, the then gen-sec did contact him once to host one of his concerts but it fell through on dates.
I once attended a Rovics concert in one of the smallest folk-club venues in Edinburgh. He was several hours late due to a delay on the Stranraer ferry, not his fault, but i had the last train home to catch. So just as he was doing his intro to his first song, i got up to leave and as i said the bar was tiny so he could hardly not notice. Rovics took personal umbrage and made some sarcastic remark, thinking i was walking out on him. Over-sensitive bastard i thought, even if his songs are sometimes politically self-depreciating such as "i'm more anarchist than you"
Ha! But I'm alive!!!
Ha! But I'm alive!!!
Frankly comrades, I'd rather
Frankly comrades, I'd rather have Noah than Fidel. Warts and all!
Don't worry, they removed my
Don't worry, they removed my warts as well as my liver. From here on in I'll be a uniformly nice guy. Except when I'm not.
He's one of my famous people
He's one of my famous people I'd have round for my fantasy dinner party. He must have some interesting tales. However, I fear he would speak far too much, listen too little, and be obnoxious at the start only to apologize after when the mood has long been ruined and everyone's resting.
Wojtek That's a remarkably
Wojtek
That's a remarkably accurate guess at my behaviour. I don't mean to be that way, it just kind of happens.. All the same, I still feel deeply honoured that you'd want me as a guest at your fantasy dinner party. Thanks comrade, it means a lot.
Haha I meant Mr Castro I
Haha I meant Mr Castro :p I would have you round to my real party - that is, if you were to honour me with your presence. ^^ I'm very pleased you battled through!
http://giphy.com/gifs/excited-screaming-jonah-hill-5GoVLqeAOo6PK
Noah, that quip in post #2
Noah, that quip in post #2 may just be one of the best posts ever. :)
Today I'm seeing Cuba's
Today I'm seeing Cuba's involvement in Africa being cited as a point in Castro's favour - so here's a link to an article by Paul Trewhela on the Cuban role in the massacres in Angola that followed the events of 27 May 1977. I don't know whether the figure given for the number of deaths is accurate or not - though it may be. iirc Lara Pawson in her very good book on the subject was unable to come to any firm conclusion on the numbers.
Raul Castro, the US and the massacre in Angola in May 1977
Also The Angolan massacre of May 27 1977: A grim portent for SA
Apologies to Noah for the serious note but I thought this needed mentioning somewhere.
Edited to add:
Lara Pawson - How I stumbled across Angola's forgotten massacre
Quote: Apologies to Noah for
Sorry Mark but once again the high brow nature of Libcom has left me in the intellectual quicksand. Always willing to learn though I'd be extremely grateful if you could explain the meaning of the word 'serious'. I've no idea whatsoever what serious is.
Maybe it's the wrong word -
Maybe it's the wrong word - my post just seemed a bit out of line with the direction of the thread. Nothing clever or critical intended. Anyway I'm very glad you came through and I hope you don't go soft on us.
Hmmm, the truth is I kind of
Hmmm, the truth is I kind of derailed the thread by practicing my new intention of posting without being an asshole. So really I've failed as derailing is an asshole move. Dayum.
Some proper content would be interesting here, for instance, I'd be interested in hearing more about the exploding cigar story or some informed refutals of the claims made by a number of lefties I've met that Cuba is a great place for the working class that live there.
I think the regime did have a
I think the regime did have a lot of support and in some ways life for ordinary people may be better than in many other Latin American countries - not that that's a high bar to reach. I haven't actually been there though and quite a bit of my impression of it comes from a Spanish teacher who was from Cuba. He was interesting on his father's loyalty to the revolution which I think was pretty widespread in that generation. Still the history of repression is real enough. Sam Dolgoff's book is good for the early years, but I'd like to find more on this written by Cubans actually living in Cuba.
I've started reading the Sam
I've started reading the Sam Dolgoff book. I'm so fucking clueless! I knew nothing about the the libertarian labour movement in Latin America or the extraordinary number of anarchist publications. The most pleasing thing of all though is learning of Louisa Capitello's penchant for wearing panteloons! If we all follow her lead the revolution cannot fail.
Noah Fence wrote: I've
Noah Fence
i'm 100% certain that we have material from cuban anarchists on this site. mods, is the search functioning?
petey wrote: Noah Fence
petey
A site search for Cuban anarchism yielded no results but a google search for the same with the word 'Libcom' added produced shitloads of Libcom articles. I always get better access to Libcom stuff through google.
This interview with Octavio
This interview with Octavio Alberola is worth reading:
http://libcom.org/library/cuba-interview-octavio-alberola
DP
DP
Three short linked articles
Three short linked articles written over a period of time critically analysing Castro's regime in Cuba;
www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2016-11-27/fidel-castros-death-leaves-the-path-of-history-unchanged
Should be up on the front page just now apart from the listing.
Speaker from the Taller
Speaker from the Taller Libertario Alfredo López (TLAL) Havana
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p9jY8hMS77k
[youtube]p9jY8hMS77k[/youtube]
And here's a comment from the
And here's a comment from the AF: Anarchists on Cuba
I think any other year and I
I think any other year and I wouldn't have cared one way or the other but not in 2016. Just thinking of all the counter-cultural and lefty public figures who've died (Ali, Cohen, Prince, Bowie etc) on top of Trump, Brexit and the normalisation of the international far-right. What a great year to be right-wing.. :(
Oh well, at least Scalia and Shimon Peres are both dead..
http://inthesetimes.com/artic
http://inthesetimes.com/article/19672/fidel-castro-1926-2016-death-history-communist-party
If you follow the libcom FB
If you follow the libcom FB page, you'll find quite a bit of stuff on Cuba, and many, many pro-Castro comments...
one marginal note (which does
one marginal note (which does more speak for the shrewdness of some Miccosukee leaders than for Castro): When Mad Bear Met Fidel: How Castro’s Cuba Advanced Native Sovereignty
another pretty awful facet of Castro's "internationalism" was his support of the Ethiopian DERG regime against its internal enemies in the mid-/end-seventies
and a song by the great Celina Gonzalez (not her best one, I prefer the original version called "Que viva Chango")
[youtube]SMp2nmuDepk[/youtube]
A Cuban anarchist in exile
A Cuban anarchist in exile writes about his reaction to the news of Fidel's death:
Y se fue Fidel... (visión de un exiliado anarquista cubano)
One interesting phenomenon of
One interesting phenomenon of the past couple weeks is seeing a number of out-and-out fash giving credit to Castro for his nationalism. Kind of says it all, really
jesuithitsquad wrote: One
jesuithitsquad
i don't doubt you at all but can you give a cite? i just haven't come across an example.
petey wrote: jesuithitsquad
petey
Sorry didn't see this sooner...here's one example. This guy often referred to as a leader for new gen of fascists:
https://twitter.com/MatthewHeimbach/status/802390547772145664
thx jhs.
thx jhs.
I just came across this:
I just came across this: David Rovics doing a tribute song to Castro on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blIj9oeS-m0 Theres me thinking Rovics was an anarchist, though I've had my suspicions for a while that he wasn't, I guess this confirms it.
I understand he is a
I understand he is a favourite with the spgb at their headquarters for his take on other of the tiny left groups and some anarchist elements but they have presumably missed this one!
I once attended a Rovics
I once attended a Rovics concert in one of the smallest folk-club venues in Edinburgh. He was several hours late due to a delay on the Stranraer ferry, not his fault, but i had the last train home to catch. So just as he was doing his intro to his first song, i got up to leave and as i said the bar was tiny so he could hardly not notice. Rovics took personal umbrage and made some sarcastic remark, thinking i was walking out on him. Over-sensitive bastard i thought, even if his songs are sometimes politically self-depreciating such as "i'm more anarchist than you"
But you right, the SPGB, the then gen-sec did contact him once to host one of his concerts but it fell through on dates.
ajjohnstone wrote: I once
ajjohnstone
Thats interesting and also hilarious.