January
1, 2020, the Cuban Revolution turns 61 years old. It hasn’t been smooth
sailing. Throughout these years, the Cuban project has had to navigate a rough
sea of US imperialism’s attacks, obsessed with ending a revolution that could
be taken as an example by other Latin American countries.
A
lot has been written about the methods used to try and reach this end, and they
are quite well-known, but it’s important to always remind people of them so
that nobody forgets and so that people who didn’t know learn the truth.
Ever
since the beginning, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hasn’t skimped on
efforts or money to try and make the Cuban people abort their revolutionary
process. It armed and funded every counter-revolutionary it could recruit among
the Battista dictatorship’s former militarymen, civilian collaborators of the
overthrown regime, some people affected by the first revolutionary laws and
many others who didn’t know why they opposed a revolution, which was heading
towards Communism according to Imperialism’s propaganda.
Thousands
of armed insurgents received ammunition and supplies, as well as money, from
the US government via the CIA. They committed all kinds of atrocities such as
the murder of farmers, teachers, young literacy teachers, while they sabotaged
the national economy.
At
the same time, they trained and armed a contingent of mercenaries so they could
disembark on the Cuban coast, with the plan of taking a bit of land and
deploying a puppet government that would ask for US military intervention.
However,
those plans failed when they were neutralized and beaten by the revolutionary
forces, the Rebel army and a Havana police squad, in less than 72 hours, when
they tried to land on Giron Beach, at the Bay of Pigs, in the south of Cuba.
Everybody knows how this take-over attempt ends.
Insurgents
in the mountains and countryside in every province, gradually declined and some
managed to escape to the US, where they were given a hero’s welcome. After
these armed actions failed, the CIA’s war against Cuba resorted to terrorism;
let’s remember the Cubana aeroplane that exploded mid-flight near Barbados,
with 83 people on board, bombs placed at Havana’s hotels, one of which took the
life of an Italian tourist, to name a few.
In
their naive belief that if they did away with Fidel Castro then the Revolution
would end, over 600 attempts were made on the Revolution leader’s life, but
they all failed. Some would have devastating results such as blowing up an
auditorium full of students at Panama University, when meeting with Fidel.
 |
While
all of this (and so much more that I can’t fit into this article) was
happening, the US government was imposing an economic, commercial and financial
blockade, whose sole mission is to cause shortages, hunger, disease and
desperation amongst the Cuban people so as to overthrow the revolutionary
government and then intervene and establish a new US-capitalist backed
government in the country.
However,
this plan also failed and former US president Barack Obama admitted this when
he reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba.
The
rapprochement process came to a standstill when Donald Trump’s government came
into power, which has tightened the blockade and made it harsher than ever
before. Persecution of Cuba’s financial and commercial operations is
relentless.
This
year, they have even gone so far as persecuting oil tanker ships traveling to
Cuba, in an attempt to leave us without fuel and paralyze the country. These
are desperate measures, the result of so many failed attempts in the past, but
the Cuban Revolution will celebrate 61 years with great rejoicing and
celebrations in every corner of the country. We have orchestras and bands to
play over the entire country and to get every Cuban up dancing on their feet,
thus proving that even though they tried to kill us and our spirits this year,
we are very much alive and kicking.
