On the anniversary of the birth of Che Guevara we recommend our readers to read or re-read this article written 11 years ago about the life and ideas of Che.

The US embargo and constant imperialist aggression for over 55 years against Cuba have failed in the aim of destabilizing the Cuban government. Instead, the Cuban people have shown remarkable courage and steadfastness in resisting all of the maneuvers of American imperialism and in defending the numerous gains of Cuban revolution—gains ranging from Cuba's often praised medical system, to the literacy campaigns of the revolution's early days, and, of course, the planned economy that made them possible.

On Wednesday December 17, the United States admitted that its attempt to bully Cuba into submission had failed. This should be seen as a victory for the Cuban Revolution and its resilience against the relentless onslaught of the most powerful imperialist power on earth only 90 miles away from its shores. However, US imperialism has not given up on its aims: the restoration of the rule of private property and the destruction of the gains of the revolution. It has just changed the means to achieve the same result.

Cuban author Leonardo Padura Fuentes visited Denmark in September to present his latest book, The Man that Loved Dogs, recently published in Danish. The IMT in Denmark, Socialistisk Standpunkt, interviewed him, asking what led him to write the book and his views on the present situation in Cuba.

The long delayed VI Congress of the Cuban Communist Party took place on April 16-19 in Havana and discussed the Guidelines on Economic and Social Policy for the Party and the Revolution. The Congress was timed to coincide with the 50^th anniversary of the attempted Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, when Fidel Castro proclaimed the “socialist character of the revolution”.

The Cuban Revolution had always caught my attention. How was it possible for a planned economy to survive on a small island, less than 90 miles from the most powerful imperialist country on earth? Why didn't Cuba fall in the early 1990's together with the Soviet Union? What is the current situation in the island and what are the perspectives for the future?

Wednesday 3 November in Havana marked the start of a three day conference on “Socialism in the XXI century” organized by “Cuba, theory and society” under the auspices of the Havana Institute of Philosophy. Among a small number of foreign guest speakers was the editor of Marxist.com, Alan Woods. We publish here the report written by Alan on his return.

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 5 (acn) British journalist and writer Alan Woods described the whole judicial process against the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters -incarcerated in the United States for more than 12 years now- as shameful for the US legal system.

We are publishing this article which we have received from the Cuban Communist Frank Josué Solar Cabrales as a contribution to the debate over the future of the Cuban revolution and the changes that are presently being proposed. See also Jorge Martín's article Where is Cuba going?

On September 13, a statement by Cuba’s trade union (CTC) published in Granma announced a whole series of sweeping changes in the country’s economy. These measures are the result of the serious economic crisis affecting Cuba, which has been hit hard by the recession in world capitalism. This underlines Cuba’s dependence on the world market and the impossibility of “building socialism in one country”.

We republish this interesting article from Cuba about the aniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky, which shows the growing interest in his ideas in the Caribbean island.

The Cuban revolution is once more being attacked by the imperialists. They raise a hue and cry about “democratic rights”, but what they are really concerned about is a country where private property of the means of production has been abolished, where the revolution has survived, in spite of many mistakes and difficulties, and which continues to be a point of reference for the downtrodden masses of Latin America. In this, the International Marxist Tendency stands firmly in support of the Cuban revolution against the attacks of imperialism.

The Mexican comrades of Militante held a demonstration against the coup in Honduras and for the freedom of the Cuban Five in front of the US embassy in Mexico City last week. Prensa Latina reported about the picket.

In 1998 five members of Cuba’s intelligence agency were arrested in Miami and indicted on 26 counts. Their crime? Risking their lives to prevent the deaths of innocent civilians at the hands of unscrupulous murderers. In May 2009, on behalf of President Barack Obama, Solicitor General Elena Kagan filed a brief asking that the review of their trial be denied and on June 15th, 2009 the Supreme Court denied the review.

We have received this article from Ron Ridenour, which was originally published in the Havana Times. The article is a report on a series of workshops that have been held in Cuba, such as one held under the title, "The significance and meaning of the revolution in our lives", where different opinions are expressed. We publish it for the interest of our readers.