Fidel Castro and Cuba
Thorns in side of U.S. imperialism
The United States has a long and duplicitous history when it comes to not only attempting to assassinate the character of Fidel Castro, but also his life. The U.S. government’s unsuccessful attempts at both forms of assassination can easily be deemed as an evil obsessive. The United States (via the CIA) has tried to assassinate/murder Fidel Castro over 600 times. This number is startling due to the fact that the CIA has been so utterly unsuccessful in their nefarious attempts to eliminate Castro. However, it should not be surprising that they tried to assassinate this leader, since they have successfully (and extra-judiciously) assassinated countless humans, including government leaders throughout the globe. This diabolical track record goes back many decades.
One example that I am often reminded of is that of Congo’s Patrice Lumumba. The United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directly orchestrated the assassination of Congo’s democratically elected leader in 1961. He was murdered simply because he wanted to utilize his country’s natural resources for the best interests of his people. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the orders for his assassination. The West, including the U.S., has long been accustomed to plundering the natural resources from countries throughout the so-called Global South. They are models of shiftlessness. Much of the West’s economy comes directly from the plunder and theft of resources derived from other nations. This dates back to the days of chattel slavery when many European countries, and the United States, stole Africans from their homeland simply to have them work on land that they had also stolen.
The United States’ government, like a sharp (pun not intended) serial killer, has developed a knack for successfully destroying lives, such as Patrice Lumumba. This is why Fidel Castro’s ability to evade their murderous wet dreams is all the more impressive. Castro has even outlived many of the people who plotted, directly oversaw or approved (including U.S. presidents) assassination attempts on his life.
Why would the U.S. be so damn obsessed with murdering Fidel Castro, one might ask? Easy: Fidel Castro has long been a direct threat to the United States’ capitalist (and imperialist) stranglehold on Cuba—as well as many other nations. Dating back to the culmination of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the U.S. has had malevolent intentions for the likes of Fidel Castro.
Cuba and Castro continue to serve as paragons of resilience, liberation, and humanitarianism, despite having over 50 years of a malicious and ill-conceived blockade placed on it. This United States-initiated blockade cost the Cuban people over 100 billion dollars. In 1953 Cuban revolutionaries had the audacity to embark upon an arduous (yet necessary) journey to gain their liberation from the repressive and deadly grip of the U.S.-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. These revolutionaries, led by the likes of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, toppled the brutal U.S. backed regime on January 1, 1959, thus ending the bloody reign of Batista. The new revolutionary government would soon nationalize Cuban resources such as their vast sugar cane plantations. This warranted move ensured that Cuba’s resources would no longer benefit the rapacious U.S. corporations that had controlled them with Batista’s stamp of approval. This was to mark a new beginning not only for the vast majority of Cubans, but for other nations as well.
The Cuban revolution stood, as it does now, as an example of what can happen when oppressed people unite against U.S. backed repression. However since the defeat of the U.S. backed dictator in Cuba, the king of modern day imperialism (United States) has done everything it can to break the will of the Cuban people, their government, and their revolution. Despite United States mythology, the U.S.’s preferred forms of diplomacy are murder via assassinations, deadly sanctions, or wars of aggression. However, in the case of Cuba and Fidel Castro, their attempts to break the island nation failed miserably, time and time again.
Throughout Fidel Castro’s tenure as Cuba’s leader he helped liberate several African nations from the destructive grip of white supremacy and colonization. Angola, Namibia and Guinea Bissau, are merely three of the numerous examples of African nations that benefited from Castro’s (and Cuba’s) internationalism. While Fidel Castro was playing an active role in breaking the yoke of colonization, the United States was supporting brutal white supremacist regimes throughout Africa, including within Southern Africa.
The U.S. government has long served as the world’s consummate hypocrite. Corporate media and U.S. officials lie to the world (including their citizens), pretending they champion freedom and democracy. However behind the scene they have methodically supported brutal dictatorships and colonial regimes. Unfortunately, this practice has not ceased. The United States is no more a champion for freedom and justice than a great white shark is a vegetarian.
Only to the systematically programmed American is the myth of the United States being a beacon of freedom and justice, one that persists. Americans have a nasty habit of believing anything and everything their government and the corporate media force-feed their closed minds. This is the irony concerning Cuba and Fidel Castro; they have been the liberators while the U.S. has been the orchestrator of global oppression and carnage.
Perhaps Castro’s (and Cuba’s) greatest contribution has been their ongoing legacy with internationalist oriented medical brigades. Under Fidel Castro’s leadership, Cuba has sent tens-of-thousands of doctors and nurses throughout the globe, in an effort to help build up those nations’ under-resourced medical infrastructure. This revolutionary initiative has saved countless lives; meanwhile U.S. imperialism has taken innumerable lives.
No matter what the U.S. tries in order to assassinate the character of Fidel Castro, the history can never be erased. The history cannot be undone! Commandant Fidel Castro’s legacy can never be undone; his internationalist and revolutionary history will serve as an inspiration forever. This fact will continue to remain a thorn in the side of U.S. imperialists and their misguided supporters. A great many Americans would be better off if they studied the achievements of the Cuba Revolution, then demanded that the U.S. government implement things like universal healthcare and education. Americans also need to demand that “their” government ends its violent reign as an imperialist force. For humanity to prosper, the United States’ war machine must be dismantled. It is truly one of the world’s greatest threats to sustainable peace.
Let us always appreciate the global contributions of Fidel Castro and let his selflessness and internationalism serve as inspiration to always champion liberation, humanitarianism, justice, and resistance to oppression. And we must teach these lessons of the Cuban Revolution to the youth. This history can (and will) serve as inspiration for future generations—throughout the globe. Viva la revolucion (Long Live the Revolution)!
Solomon Comissiong (www.solomoncomissiong.com) is an educator, activist, author, and Founder of the Your World News Media Collective (www.yourworldnews.org). Solomon is the author of A Hip Hop Activist Speaks Out on Social Issues. Solomon is also the writer and producer of the documentary, Hip Hop, White Supremacy and Capitalism: Why Corporations Infiltrated RAP Music.
—Black Agenda Report, May 24, 2016