Vol. 25 - No. 13 
Monday, March 27, 1961

Conference in Mexico Hails Cuban Example
By Joseph Hansen

MEXICO CITY, March 9 — The Latin-American Conference for National Sovereignty, Economic Emancipation and Peace, which hied yesterday, reflected in the moot vivid way the depth and intensity
%slty of desire among the
,000,000 people below the Rio Grande to break out of poverty
stagnation and win their tful place in the modern world technological and cultural prog-

he delegates were unanimous their opinion that U.S. imperialism is the main obstacle to the swift and rounded development of Latin America which could bring prosperity to the masses. They were likewise unanimous on the need to defend the Cuban Revolution against counterrevolutionary attack and American aggression. The revolutionary course of the Cuban people was held to point the road to victory for every Latin-American country in seeking political independence and economic freedom.

A most significant development — so far as the pattern of "peace"

Righ

conferences is concerned — was the general realization, repeatedly voiced by the delegates in their deliberations, that the way to a world of enduring peace lies through revolutionary struggle against imperialist reaction and its native allies and agents.

This linking of the concepts of peace and revolution lifted the conference out of the realm of pious declarations about the need to end war. True, some of the delegates proudly displayed bulky petitions containing thousands of

• "peace" signatures which they had

collected, but this did not become the business of the conference.

Instead, the delegates preoccupied themselves with the main economic and political problems of Latin America. They related the solutions to the struggle between U.S. imperialism and the Cuban Revolution. The theme of peace thus took on revolutionary content. In Latin America, it is clear from this conference, the opposition to a war of nuclear destruction is moving toward the channels of political and social revolution.

All the Latin-American cow tries were represented. Mexico, course, had the largest deleg• tion — some 2,000 — but thei were impressive delegations froi countries like Argentina and Chi: where long trips had to be mac at considerable expense.

(The counterrevolutionary pre: claims that the conference co; $400,000, of which half was lai out by the "Cuban Embassy" an half by the "Soviet Embassy." Th truth is that each delegation cov ered its own expenses. The Mexi

(Continued on Page 3)

Henry Ford Its and John F. Ken nedys do it. day.

The real tradition in this coun try is for workers to try to shorte: the week and for bosses to try t maintain or lengthen it. The bosse have always cried that shorte hours for labor would mean dis aster and economic stagnation. 1 the workers of the past had lis tened to the Kennedys of the pas' we'd still be working a 70-hou week. Fortunately, they didn listen, but fought for their need;

That's what has to be done not too. Kennedy says he hopes "w can have employment high fiv days a week and 40 hours." Bu pious hopes don't fill foodbasket or pay rent. The fact is that th profit system is becoming less an less able to provide full employ ment, and that the reserve arm of permanently uni nairinyetl gel bigger utter every receg__Yll._~

r Something

a "ten-point, ten-year" ram" for Latin America of peril, but bright with eralities. One point is a )0.000 for Latin America. prized last September at 0.000.000 was authorized Lake areas in Chile.

:ing in Havana, analyzed de under the siege laid ?st imperialist power on to be expected, he said. Lpply soon after the eco-

s will become unobtainct maintenance of many 'wn of the economy will jet bloc and other counrtion since the 1959 vicwill not go hungry; in sta's time are now guar-

iese are most promising, a have become outlived

ig." Castro declared. "A 2e United States before

4 italism and toward the Rro cited the impressive ilding after the devastach a rate that it is only United States. America, ation. which has not lost

~e.....,• ......Ie........e..

(Continued from Page 1) cans, as hosts, paid for the hall and conference organization. These costs, amounting to some $15,000, were met through rank-and-file efforts of organizations that supported the conference.)

In political coloration, the conference extended from the left-bourgeois radicalism of former President Lázaro Cárdenas to the terrorist inclinations of underground revolutionary fighters carrying on armed struggles against such dictators as Stroessner of Paraguay.

Much of the organizational work was done by adherents of the Communist party or related tendencies. It should be added, however, that this did not signify Stalinist domination of the conference. The influence of Cárdenas, a firm believer in the principles of democracy, kept the discussion free and open. It should be noted, in addition, that the former Stalinist monolithism in Latin America has been shattered. In Mexico alone at least five split-off currents are vying with the eroded official CP for leadership.

Wanted United Front

In view of the wide political differences among the delegates, it was to be expected that as the discussion on economic and political tasks became more and more concrete, the cleavages would sharpen. The natural inclination of the delegates was to press their individual positions, or the positions of the tendencies they represented. They did this in resolutions, in caucuses, in conversations. At the same time all of them, without exception, were eager to present a united front against U.S. imperialism and in defense of the Cuban Revolution. They were similarly eager to reach common understanding on at least the great basic historic tasks facing all of Latin America.

The contradiction between the limitations of the conference and the political aims of the various

After considerable debate, the view prevailed that the conference represented essentially a forum of Latin-American opinion as it exists at the moment; that it could realistically seek to express many common views that would serve notice on the State Department and the Cuban counterrevolution; but that it would be unwise to attempt to set up a continuing body with any political or discriplinary mandate.

Vote of Confidence

In appreciation of their contribution in making the conference possible and as a kind of vote of confidence, the three sponsors, Lázaro Cárdenas of Mexico, Alberto T. Casella of Argentina and Domingo Velasco of Brazil, were named as a continuing body entrusted with publication of the resolutions of the conference, the handling of correspondence, and preparations for another gathering to be called in a year or so.

The Cuban Revolution dominated the conference from beginning to end. This was not due to any organizational power plays of the Cuban government in relation to the gathering. The Cuban delegates, in fact, did everything possible to avoid monopolizing attention and leaned over backward lest they be accused of unduly influencing the deliberations.

The effect of this policy was to underline the impact of the Cuban Revolution on the thinking of the delegates. They vied to appear as the best defenders of the Cuban Revolution and as the most alert to its implications for freedom struggles throughout the rest of the hemisphere and the colonial world.

The head of the Cuban delegation, Vilma Espín de Castro, the wife of Raul Castro, did not take the floor until the second day. As she stepped toward the microphone, she was given a tremendous ovation. It was a spontaneous response to the way she symbolized the Cuban Revolution — this vibrant 25-year-old woman, veteran of the heroic under- ground struggle against dictator Batista, now about to speak for the victorious revolutionary government before this first parliament of 200,000,000 people.

She told how Cuba won its freedom from Spain in 1898 only to become a semicolony under American imperialism. The island, she said, was converted into an immense sugar plantation and the Cubans became "slaves of the dollar."

Through revolution the Cuban people were finally able to destroy latifundism and the mercenary army, the basis of the dictatorship. Now an armed people is defending its revolution. She affirmed the conviction of the Cubans that the counterrevolution will be defeated: "It is possible to struggle against a class, against a dominant group, but it is absolutely impossible to defeat an entire people which has taken possession of the land, which it waters with its blood and sweat, and which has in addition more than enough courage and arms to defend it."

A New Consciousness

She reported the rise of "a new consciousness" in Cuba. People are now able to face both friends and foes on an equal basis. "Now we are able to speak without having our replies dictated. On foot, and not on our knees, which is an undignified posture, in addition to being very uncomfortable for conversation."

"We don't export revolutions," she said. "But neither are we able to prevent the example of Cuba. from extending beyond our frontiers and revealing to brother peoples of our America and of the world that imperialism is not invulnerable and that when a united people decides to obtain its full liberty and its total independence there are no forces that can stop it."

Resolutions were passed opposing the Monroe Doctrine and the "Pan-Americanism" of imperialism. The struggle for Puerto Ricos independence received strong support as did the movement for the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama.

The State Department's "Hemispheric Defense" was denounced along with American military missions and bases.

Some of the appeals for action were addressed to the United Nations, but the main theme of the conference was that the Latin Americans must rely on their own efforts to win their freedom.

As a delegate from Honduras put it, "In Latin America the hour is one of revolution. Cuba shows it . . . One big question faces us: How to make a revolution at the

...Mexico Conference Hails Cuba

$16,000 Socialist Fund

Lagging —Six Weeks to Go

l i71+ lYliLl 1 41.11 .L

THE MILITANT

Editor: JOSEPH HANSEN
Managing Editor: GEORGE LAVAN Business Manager: KAROLYN KERRY

Published weekly, except from July 11 to Sept. 5 when published biweekly, by the Militant Publishing Ass'n., 116 University Pl., New York 3, N.Y, Phone CH 3-2140. Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y. Subscription: $3 a year; Canadian, $3.50; foreign, $4.50. Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily represent the Militant's views. These are expressed in editorials.

Vol. 25 - No. 13 345 Monday, March 27, 1961

Castro Tells Kennedy Something

On March 13 Kennedy announced a "ten-point, ten-year" economic and social "development program" for Latin America .o meet "the challenge" of "a future full of peril, but bright with hope." Nine points consist of pious generalities. One point is a request to Congress to appropriate $600,000,000 for Latin America. Of this amount, $500,000,000 was authorized last September at Eisenhower's request. The remaining $100,000,000 was authorized for "long-term" rehabilitation of earthquake areas in Chile.

On the same day Fidel Castro, speaking in Havana, analyzed the perspectives facing the Cuban people under the siege laid on the small island by the U.S., mightiest imperialist power on earth. Many hardships and difficulties are to be expected, he said. Some consumer goods went into short supply soon after the economic blockade was applied; other goods will become unobtainable. The denial of spare parts will affect maintenance of many ;rinds of machines. But no major breakdown of the economy will occur, thanks to timely aid from the Soviet bloc and other countries. And the rise in agricultural production since, the 1959 victory assures the Cuban people that they will not go hungry; in fact, ordinary people who starved in Batista's time are now guaranteed all the basic necessities.

As to the long-range perspectives, these are most promising, Castro said. Colonialism and imperialism have become outlived and are doomed.

"We can tell Mr. Kennedy something," Castro declared. "A victorious revolution will be seen in the United States before a victorious counterrevolution in Cuba."

Mankind is moving away from capitalism and toward the establishment of planned economies. Castro cited the impressive performance of the Soviet Union in rebuilding after the devastation of World War II and going on at such a rate that it is only a question of time until it overtakes the United States. America, on the other hand, which escaped devastation, which has not lost a screw in the past fifty years, "unless it be screws in the heads of its leaders," is unable to run its economy at anywhere near capacity.

"What Kennedy does not tell us is why, why the industrial capacity possessed by the country has produced much less than it could have produced; what he does not tell us is that this crisis of hunger, this increase in poverty, is simply the consequence of mlperialism ..."

This telling reply to Kennedy received but scant attention in the venal American press. At best only isolated sentences were reported and these were torn out of context, garbled and misrepresented as part of an unwarranted "attack" on the tiny, defenseless United States. But in the eyes of the majority of mankind, the U.S. government is a conscienceless bully trying to crush a valiant people that want only to be left in peace.

Laos - Another Korea?

"Will American military units be fighting in Laos next week or next month?" begins an editorial in the March 22 New York Times.

Alarming though the question is, it is put seriously by a capitalist newspaper noted for its avoidance of sensationalism. For the fact is, though the American people are not aware of it, this country has once again been taken to the brink of war — this time by President Kennedy over the Laos situation.

The American people were not consulted about the decision which has perched us on the brink of war in Laos nor will they have a voice or means of affecting the next decision rapidly corn-mg up — the commitment of U.S. land. sea and air forces to actual battle. That decision will be made by Kennedy, if it hasn't been

..

Mexico Conferen

In political coloration, the conference extended from the left-bourgeois radicalism of former President Lázaro Cárdenas to the terrorist inclinations of underground revolutionary fighters carrying on armed struggles against such dictators as Stroessner of Paraguay.

Much of the organizational work was done by adherents of the Communist party or related tendencies. It should be added, however, that this did not signify Stalinist domination of the conference. The influence of Cárdenas, a firm believer in the principles of democracy, kept the discussion free and open, It should be noted, in addition, that the former Stalinist monolithism in Latin America has been shattered. In Mexico alone at least five split-off currents are vying with the eroded official CP for leadership.

Wanted United Front

In view of the wide political differences among the delegates, it was to be expected that as the discussion on economic and political tasks became more and more concrete, the cleavages would sharpen. The natural inclination of the delegates was to press their individual positions, or the positions of the tendencies they represented. They did this in resolutions, in caucuses, in conversations. At the same time all of them, without exception, were eager to present a united front against U.S. imperialism and in defense of the Cuban Revolution. They were similarly eager to reach common understanding on at least the great basic historic tasks facing all of Latin America.

The contradiction between the limitations of the conference and the political aims of the various

(Continued from Page 1) cans, as hosts, paid for the hall and conference organization. These costs, amounting to some $15,000, were met through rank-an(,1ile efforts of organizations that supported the conference.)

tendencies came most cl the fore in the commis considered what kind of ing body should be set up.

After considerable deba view prevailed that the ence represented essen forum of Latin-American as it exists at the .momen it could realistically seek press many common views would serve notice on the Department and the Cuban terrevolution; but that it w unwise to attempt to set continuing body with any or discriplinary mandate.

Vote of Confidence

In appreciation of their bution in making the conf possible and as a kind of of confidence, the three Lázaro Cárdenas of Mexico berto T. Casella of Argenti Domingo Velasco of Brazil, named as a continuing bod trusted with publication of resolutions of the conferen handling of correspondence, preparations for another ga ing to be called in a year

The Cuban Revolution do the conference from begin end. This was not due to any ganizational power plays of Cuban government in relatici the gathering. The Cuban ei gates, in fact, did everything 1 sible to avoid monopolizing tention and leaned over backw lest they be accused of unduly fluencing the deliberations.

The effect of this policy to underline the impact of Cuban Revolution on the thi ing of the delegates. They 1 to appear as the best defers of the Cuban Revolution and the most alert to its implicati for freedom struggles through the rest of the hemisphere the colonial world.

The head of the Cuban del( tion, Vilma Espín de Castro, wife of Raul Castro, did not 1 the floor until the second day. she stepped toward the mic