Castro lived true to his cause as a revolutionary

A photograph of Cuba's former president Fidel Castro is seen during a tribute ceremony following the announcement of the death of the revolutionary leader in La Paz, Bolivia, last weekend. Picture: David Mercado/Reuters

A photograph of Cuba's former president Fidel Castro is seen during a tribute ceremony following the announcement of the death of the revolutionary leader in La Paz, Bolivia, last weekend. Picture: David Mercado/Reuters

Published Dec 4, 2016

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For those who understand what it means to struggle for a just cause, Fidel Castro remains the greatest revolutionary, writes Shannon Ebrahim.

Among the wisest words ever uttered were those of Nikolai Ostrovsky. They are particularly pertinent this week as we bade farewell to Fidel Castro.

Ostrovsky is best known for saying: Man’s dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past, (so) on dying, he might say: “All my life, all my strength was given to the finest cause in all the world, the fight for the liberation of mankind.”

Castro believed that the liberation struggle in southern Africa was the most beautiful cause of humankind, and there is no doubt that he lived his life by Ostrovsky’s creed. Castro can rest in peace in the knowledge that he died having given not only his country, but many other peoples suffering under the yolk of oppression, the courage to believe that their oppressors were not invincible.

Castro proved that it takes only a handful of good men and women to stand up for justice to defeat an unjust system, backed even by the most overwhelming military might. Not only did Castro defeat the oppression of Cuba’s predatory elite led by Fulgencio Batista in 1959, but he defeated American imperialism in Cuba, and proceeded to defy, and in many cases outlive, 11 US presidents. He also survived more than 600 assassination attempts on his life.

To one US president after another, Castro personified evil incarnate. He was abhorred for having the audacity to defy the US, and for nationalising US assets when for decades wealthy Americans had treated Havana as their playground. Just as the French had done when the Algerians had dared to defy them in the late 1820s, the Americans were intent on starving Castro and the Cuban people into submission.

The economic blockade which the US imposed on Cuba in 1962 was by all accounts inhumane. How could a small island nation which relied largely on sugar and tobacco exports be deprived indefinitely of basic medicines and every consumer and manufactured good imaginable? The blockade is still in place today after 54 years.

The Americans had learnt from the tactics of the French, who had imposed a 3-year blockade of the Algerian coastline in 1827 when Algerians started to demand payment for French debts on wheat exports.

The strategy was to starve the nation into submission. When that failed, they invaded Algeria in 1830 declaring it a colony, and thought they could quell resistance by starving the population.

The Algerian national museum in Algiers exhibits photos of the emaciation and malnourishment brought about by the “submit-or-starve” tactic.

It has been a theme of Western imperialism, but it was fiercely resisted by the victims it sought to subdue. Algerians endured the most brutal torture documented in the colonial period, and a vicious French campaign to suppress the liberation struggle.

But in the end the French were ousted from Algeria in 1962 by the sheer determination of the Algerian resistance.

The Cubans also succeeded in expelling US interests from their country, and have never relinquished their right to an independent foreign policy no matter how severely the US economic blockade ravaged their economy.

The tragic reality is that despite a plethora of UN resolutions calling for the blockade on Cuba to come to an end, and near unanimous consensus within the UN General Assembly, Cuba continues to suffer under the embargo.

Cubans can still not access essential life-saving medicines, credit from US banks, or carry out trade in dollars. The victory of president-elect Donald Trump threatens to reverse even the minimal changes made by US President Barack Obama.

But the lesson in all this is that Castro died undefeated. As much as he may have been demonised by West, he was revered by the developing world, whose cause he championed until his dying day. From the early resistance campaign of the Algerians against French rule, Castro was integrally involved in sending Cuban fighters, doctors and weapons to Algeria. Even following Algeria’s declaration of independence, Castro and Che Guevara met with Algeria’s new independent leaders to strategise on the way forward. Castro did the same for the revolutionaries of Guinea Bissau, Angola, South Africa and many others.

The Western media have failed to reflect on the humanity and generosity of Castro’s Cuba. The narrative of Castro’s legacy has largely been framed through an American paradigm of self-righteous indignation. But for those who understand what it means to struggle for a just cause, Castro remains the greatest revolutionary.

* Ebrahim is Independent Media’s group foreign editor

The Sunday Independent

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