By Sean Malloy
On July 26, 1953, 131 young Cubans attacked the Moncada military garrison in Santiago de Cuba, while a smaller group attacked army headquarters at Bayamo. The events were the beginning of a mass movement that would end of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, culminating in the revolution of January 1959.
Since 1959 the Cuban people have been working to build a socialist society under extremely adverse conditions of underdevelopment, military aggression from the United States and a long economic embargo, also led by the United States.
Green Left Weekly spoke to Dr Marcelino Fajardo Delgado, the Cuban consul general in Australia, about the significance of July 26 and the attack on the Moncada barracks.
"With the Moncada barracks attack we began the struggle for the definitive independence of Cuba", Fajardo explained.
"During the first half of this century Cuba was under the umbrella of the United States, a neo-colony. Although formally we were acknowledged as a republic, it was in fact American ambassadors who decided which politician would be in parliament."
The revolutionary struggle for independence from Spain, led by José Martí, involved thousands of Cubans and provided an anti-imperialist basis for the struggle for independence in the 20th century, said Fajardo.
Fifty-three years of struggling on all fronts, he continued, to improve the conditions of life in Cuba led finally to the Moncada attack, as all other avenues for change were closed by the Batista regime.
"In the 1950s it was the only channel, the only way Cubans had to counter the dictatorship and to be independent from being a neo-colony of the United
States ... all of the democratic doors were closed.
"The attack, militarily speaking, was not a success. Most of Fidel Castro's comrades were killed, not during the attack, but as prisoners of the army. But politically and morally, the attack was a success."
Fajardo explained that the July 26 attack was a catalyst in the development of the mass movement that ousted Batista.
As a result of that movement taking power, radical changes have taken place in Cuba that make the country very different from the Cuba of 1953.
"The content, the character, the structure of this society has been changed definitively and forever", says Fajardo. "Before we were neo-colonised, ruled by the Americans, with a class division and with a big gap between working class people and the wealthy. All the deficiencies that you can still find in any third world county, in Africa, Asia or Latin America, were more or less the conditions we were in before 1959.
"We are now in a different condition. We are building a new society that is quite different from the one in 1953. It is a socialist society we are building in an underdeveloped country, with an aggressive imperialist machine, the United States, against us.
"We are doing something that is completely new for humanity. Although there are difficulties, the most relevant achievements of the revolution are in the economic area. The most important means of production are in the people's hands. In Cuba there still exist 60-70,000 small peasants, and in the urban areas there are some people who are carpenters, hairdressers etc.
"The difference that existed between professionals, artists etc and the working class does not exist from a social, political or economic point of view. A difference does exist in terms of their participation in society according to their capacity and their work. But there is not social, cultural or political discrimination.
"All of the processes in Cuban society are aimed to benefit people."
Among the most important changes, Fajardo says, are those in the education system.
"Education is free. No-one has to pay anything, not for enrolment, not for books, not for uniforms, not for fees. You can study from primary school to university and have a doctor's degree without having to pay a cent. That explains the boom of science in Cuba, because everybody has the opportunity to study."
Socially, the revolution has brought "equality among people. Before the revolution workers were discriminated against, blacks were discriminated against, women were discriminated against, peasants were discriminated against. It was a typical capitalist society in a third world country ruled by a foreign power. Now there is no discrimination. Everybody has the same rights and everybody senses this."
Acknowledging that nothing is perfect, Fajardo says, "We have made some mistakes. There is always the possibility of making mistakes, because we are human beings. We still have to develop methods of mobilising people; we have to be aware we are very close to US society with its propaganda."
International solidarity has always been important, says Fajardo. "It means first of all that we are not alone and that the cause of Cuba, the flag of revolution, is understood by millions and millions of people.
"Material donations, financial donations, letters to the UN requesting the lifting of the economic blockade, flying to Cuba, breaking the economic and political blockade or defending Cuba in discussions in the neighbourhood or the classroom, or maybe greeting Cuban officials, are all part of solidarity for Cuba.
"The solidarity movement in Latin America is very strong, because of historical and geographical reasons. Every day a ship, an airplane or someone with something arrives in Cuba from other countries. For
instance in Australia, a country 18,000 km from Cuba, there is an amazing solidarity movement that this year raised $85,000 cash and $310,000 of medical supplies.
"In Australia — I could say the farthest country from Cuba — we find a huge support among many sectors of society. Without the solidarity support, my task here would have been very very difficult ... If this is the level of solidarity in Australia you can imagine the level in Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina — countries that are nearest and have cultural and historical links with Cuba."
The economic blockade was first imposed by the United States in 1960. Since that time the US and other first world countries, including Australia, has accused Cuba of being ruled by a dictatorship. Ironically, the US supported the Batista regime as "democratic".
"Democracy is a very manipulated category or concept", argues Fajardo. "Everybody likes to use the concept of democracy to justify interfering in the internal affairs of a country. In Cuba we have socialist democracy.
"They say Cuba is not democratic because there isn't a multiparty system. I would say that I do not relate democracy with the existence of one or two parties. In Cuba before 1959 we had a wide crop of parties that you can find everywhere nowadays: democrats, republicans, conservatives, liberals, radicals, orthodox, authentics, socialist, trotskyist. But with that multiparty system we were still the most undemocratic country in the world because decisions were being taken in the US embassy or the White House.
"In Cuba, one Sunday every month, the territorial militia, which includes millions of people, undergoes military training with weapons and live bullets. That is the proof of our democracy. I would challenge the US administration to give to all the blacks, Chicanos, Indians and other minorities a rifle and five bullets and see what will happen!
"We had elections [this year] not because of US pressure but because we have a process whereby every four years we have elections."
Cuba's electoral system provides a secret ballot and a range of checks and guarantees for electoral fairness. 95% of Cubans voted in this year's elections.
"Although Cuba is a very small country and the population is only 10 million, I would say Cuba shows, mainly for the third world, that there is a possibility of being independent and improving the level of life.
"Secondly, from a theoretical and practical point of view, socialism can be built, no matter if it is blocked, no matter the proximity of the United States. If we can build socialism in the most difficult conditions that any country has experienced in the history of humanity, then other countries can build socialism too.
"Cuba reflects the aspirations, ideas and dreams of working-class, professional and intellectual people who are honest, decent and really democratic.
"Cuba is not only resisting, but also developing. In the last instance we would rather die than give up. But that is not the example; the example is that this project can work because we not only resist but also develop."