The Fertile Prison — Fidel Castro in Batista's Jails
By Mario Mencía
Melbourne: Ocean Press. 241 pp. $22.95
Reviewed by Sean Malloy
Honesty is the vigour with which one defends one's beliefs. — José Martí
La Prisión Fecunda (The Fertile Prison) first appeared in Cuba as a five-part series published in Bohemia magazine in 1980. Enormously popular, the series was published as a book which sold more than 350,000 copies in Cuba, and was printed in a range of languages in other countries. The original English version, called Time was on our side, was published by Editoria Politica in Havana in 1982.
This English version of The Fertile Prison has been updated by Mario Mencía and includes a glossary and chronology he prepared. The book itself will become part of a five-volume set by Mencía on the Cuban revolutionary movement between 1952 and 1956.
On July 26, 1953, 167 revolutionaries, including Fidel Castro, Raul Castro and Juan Almeida, attacked the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. They aimed to spark a popular uprising against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had come to power through a military coup in 1952.
The raid was a military failure. Some militants escaped, but many were caught by the army and summarily tortured and executed. The defiant act, however, provided a focus for Cubans to begin to organise against the Batista regime.
Mencía describes how those captured survived the backward prison conditions by organising collectively. The regime attempted to isolate these prisoners, eventually putting Fidel Castro in solitary confinement for over a year.
These revolutionaries made the most of their time in prison. They organised to improve their diet, using contributions from supporters. They organised a school, the Abel Santamaría Ideological Academy.
"We have organised an academy for the purpose of raising our educational level. We have named it after Abel Santamaría, in honor of that late compañero. Our subjects are philosophy, world history, political economy, mathematics, geography and languages.
"We have also founded a modest library, which we have named in posthumous tribute to Compañero Raúl Gómez García. It is composed mainly of books generously and patriotically donated by numerous friends. Mainly they are on political, economical, and social subjects ...
"We have a very rigid class schedule, and we are all really motivated to learn. We believe we should make the best possible use of the time we have to spend here", they wrote collectively to their defence attorney, Baudilio Castellanos.
Mencía weaves the letters of the prisoners, particularly of Fidel Castro, into his history of the events inside and outside prison during those years. The letters give a remarkable insight into the political development of these people and their principled stand against the dictatorship.
"What a tremendous school this prison is!", wrote Fidel Castro in a 1953 letter. "Here, I have rounded out my view of the world and determined the meaning of my life. I don't know if it will be long or short, fruitful or vain, but my dedication to sacrifice and struggle has been reaffirmed. I abhor being tied to petty trifles of comfort and self-interest."
During his time in prison Castro developed his political knowledge and outlook. He read as much as he could on a diverse range of subjects. Two books requested by Castro, Trotsky's Stalin and Curzio Malaparte's The Techniques of Coups d'etat, were confiscated by prison officials. Mencía reprints the letter written by Castro which convinced prison authorities to change their decision.
Despite solitary confinement, Castro was able to set up channels of communication between the other July 26 prisoners and the network of revolutionaries and supporters outside prison. Over time he passed the
text of "History will absolve me" to Melba Hernandez and Haydée Santamaría, through pedestrian letters that included lemon juice writing or were written in code. The manuscript was then printed and distributed through clandestine methods by a growing network of activists who used the pamphlet to organise and educate others.
The Fertile Prison is inspiring to say the least. The letters and thoughts of the July 26 prisoners reflect their honesty and commitment to a free Cuba, even at the price of their lives or liberty.
"Our enthusiasm and fervor remain as great as ever", wrote Castro in 1955, "as does our readiness for sacrifice and our desire for struggle. While politicians who were never revolutionary — even though they tried to pass themselves off as such — try to use Cuba as a stepping stone for their base ambitions, we are preparing ourselves for great revolutionary action on the very altar of sacrifice. For us, prison is our academy of struggle, and when the time comes, nothing will be able to stop us."