Fidel Castro Reader

Couverture
Ocean Press, 2007 - 525 pages
An outstanding new anthology of one of history’s greatest orators

Here, at last, is a comprehensive anthology presenting the voice of one of history’s greatest orators, Fidel Castro. Love him or hate him, there is no denying he is a “master of the spoken word,” as Gabriel García Márquez has described him.

Emerging in the 1960s as a leading voice in support of Third World anticolonial struggles and continuing to play a role in the antiglobalization movement of today, Fidel Castro remains an articulate and penetrating—if controversial—political thinker and leader, who has outlasted ten hostile US presidents.

His direct, forthright approach, his incredible grasp of diverse economic, historical, and cultural topics, and his idealism stand in stark contrast against the spin and superficiality of most political leaders.

Covering five decades of Fidel’s speeches, this selection begins with his famous courtroom defense (“History will Absolve Me”), and also includes his speech on learning of Che Guevara’s death in Bolivia, his analysis of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and his response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. With his declining health and the emergence of new leaders such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia, this book sheds light not just on Castro’s mighty role in Latin America’s immediate past, but also on his legacy for the future.

The Fidel Castro Reader includes a chronology of the Cuban Revolution, an extensive glossary and index as well as 24 pages of photos. As the first anthology of Castro’s speeches to be published in English since the 1960s, this is an essential resource for both scholars and general readers.

“Fidel’s devotion to the word is almost magical.” — Gabriel García Márquez

 

“Fidel is the leader of one of the smallest countries in the world, but he has helped to shape the destinies of millions of people across the globe.”
Angela Davis

 

“Fidel Castro is a man of the masses… The Cuban revolution has been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people.”
Nelson Mandela

 

“Fidel’s is a singing and dancing intellect.”
Alice Walker

 

“The editors] have done an admirable, even heroic, job of editing and excerpting this reader [which] serves a purpose for both historians and politicos.”  —Foreword magazine

 

 

Table des matières

Chronology
1
Fidels Virtues
29
1 History Will Absolve Me
45
2 On the Triumph of the Revolution
107
3 At the United Nations General Assembly
137
4 The Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Proclamation of the Socialist Character of the Revolution
189
5 Words to Intellectuals
213
The Second Declaration of Havana
241
12 Revolution and Counterrevolution in Allendes Chile
359
13 On behalf of the Movement of Nonaligned Countries
387
14 Rectifying the Errors of the Cuban Revolution
417
15 Cuban Internacionalism and the Collapse of the Socialist Bloc
431
16 Return of Che Guevaras Remains to Cuba
443
The Battle of Ideas
447
18 Response to the US Declaration of the War Againts Terrorism
477
19 Assessing Half a Century of the Cuban Revolution
483

7 The October Missile Crisis
269
8 Formation of the Cuban Communist Party and Ches Farewell Letter
275
9 On the Latin American Revolution
293
10 The Death of Che Guevara
315
11 One Hundred Years of Struggle for Cuban Independence
327
Letters to President George W Bush
499
Fidel Castro on the Cuban Revolution After Fidel
511
Further Reading
519
Index
521
Droits d'auteur

Autres éditions - Tout afficher

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À propos de l'auteur (2007)

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926 in province of Oriente, Cuba. He entered the University of Havana's law school in 1945 and became involved in radical politics. After receiving his law degree, Castro briefly represented the poor, often bartering his services for food. In 1952, he ran for Congress as a candidate for the opposition Orthodox Party. However, the election was rushed because of a coup staged by Fulgencio Batista. Castro's initial response to the Batista government was to challenge it with a legal appeal, claiming that Batista's actions had violated the Constitution. The attempt failed. On July 26, 1953, Castro led a group of radical students in an attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Many of the rebels were killed. He was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. To show the people that he was not a dictator, Batista released Castro and his followers in an amnesty after the 1954 presidential election. Once Castro returned to Cuba after an exile in Mexico, he began a campaign of harassment and guerrilla warfare against Batista. Batista fled Cuba on January 1, 1959. Under Castro's rule, more than 500 Batista-era officials were brought before courts-martial and special tribunals, convicted, and shot to death. Castro cut ties with the United States after President Dwight D. Eisenhower cut the American sugar quota and turned to the Soviet Union for assistance, eventually becoming a Communist. The Escambray Revolt, led by peasants and anti-Communist insurgents against the Castro government, lasted from 1959 to 1965, before it was crushed by Castro's army. Cuban exiles arrived in the United States by the thousands. The Central Intelligence Agency helped train an exile army to retake Cuba by force. On April 17, 1961, 1,500 Cuban fighters landed at the Bay of Pigs. Castro was waiting for them and most of the invaders were either captured or killed. Castro was the leader of Cuba until stepping down in 2006 due to diverticulitis. He died on November 25, 2016 at the age of 90.

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