Cuba

Now that the Havana Book Fair is over we can give a general overview of the event. Over half a million people attended, and for the second year running we, the Spanish Frederick Engels Foundation, were there with our publications. Again there was keen interest in Trotsky’s works. The Cuban edition of Reason in Revolt is selling very well, and there are plans for a Cuban edition of Alan Woods’ book on Venezuela.

The last leg of Alan Woods’ speaking tour of Cuba was in Santiago de Cuba. He spoke at two meetings at the Universidad de Oriente. There was keen interest and people noted the difference between genuine Marxism and the stale old Soviet manuals. A large part of the discussion was dedicated to the situation in Venezuela. Alan insisted that the revolution in Venezuela “will not be completed until a radical expropriation of the capitalist class takes place”.

More than 65 people gathered on Monday, February 13th at the Casa Don Fernando Ortiz of the Havana University for the second launch of Reason in Revolt in Havana. The launch had been jointly organised by the Spanish Marxist publishing house F. Engels Foundation and the Cuban Ciencias Sociales, which have jointly printed the first Cuban edition of the book.

On February 9th, Alan Woods was invited to speak at the Centre of European Studies (CEE) in Havana. The meeting was attended by researchers from the CEE, journalists and members of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos, ICAP). The main theme of the discussion was the state of the class struggle in Europe.

Alan Woods’ visit to Cuba has had an important echo, in particular in the official news agencies of Cuba and Venezuela, such as Prensa Latina and the Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) and Cuban TV. They refer to the book Reason in Revolt written by Alan together with Ted Grant. Significantly, they also quote key elements of Alan’s speech in which he highlights the fact that to guarantee the victory of the revolution in Venezuela it is necessary to expropriate the capitalists and landlords. To view the texts and photos that have been published by these agencies we are providing the links.

Yesterday the Cuban edition of Reason in Revolt was launched at the Havana Book Fair with Alan Woods and Adan Chavez speaking. A common thread in the discussion was that there was an urgent need for such a book, which demonstrates the validity of dialectical materialism and how it can be applied to all spheres of life, in particular scientific study. The publication of the book in Cuba is a tremendous achievement and hopefully more such publications will be forthcoming in the near future.

The Spanish Frederick Engels Foundation, after last year’s successful intervention, is once more at the Havana Book Fair, which opened over the weekend. Last year there was great interest in Trotsky’s works. This year the intervention will have an even higher profile with Alan Woods speaking at the fair, launching the Cuban edition of Reason In Revolt. He will also speak at several other meetings.

The Cuban revolution continues to resist all attempts to undermine it. This recent film shows different aspects of Cuban life today, its positive and negative sides, and although there are problems the overall impression is that a large part of the population understands the need for the revolution to survive.

Celia Hart comments on her experience with the comrades from the Spanish Marxist current El Militante, spreading Trotsky’s ideas at the Havana bookfair.

More than half a million people visited the Havana International Book Fair which has just closed. The long queues that formed in order to buy books were an impressive sight. But the Fair is not only a place for the buying and selling of books, but also an open space for debate and discussion of left wing ideas.

Around thirty-five people participated in the presentation of the book Reason in Revolt, held at the International Havana Book Fair. Celia Hart Santamaría introduced the event and pointed out this was a very courageous book of struggle, and that the book had appeared at a time when the ideas of Marxism were being vilified.

The hugely succesful book by Alan Woods and Ted Grant, Reason in Revolt, is being presented at the Havana Book fair. We reproduce an article published by the Cuban Prensa Latina media, which highlights the presence of the Spanish Fundación Federico Engels at the 15th Havana Book Fair, taking place from the 3rd to 13th February 2005. Here is the link to the official program of February 6, when the book will be presented.

Five Cuban security agents were involved in uncovering terrorist activities against Cuba. These activities were being organised by anti-Cuban Miami mafia elements based in the USA. Instead of arresting the terrorists the US authorities have arrested and handed down severe jail sentences on the security agents. This shows the double standards of Bush and his so-called war on terror!

We publish a resolution, written by the editor of Marxist.com Alan Woods, which was defended by Celia Hart in the seminar entitled "The Utopia We Need", held in Havana on Friday September 10, 2004. The conference took place in the Hispano-American Centre in Malecón.