Old Pals Together Again

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Part two/of a review by Tony Richardson of "Dyna Cuban Revolution-the Trotskyist View". by Joser published by Pathfinder Press in paperback. 968-Castro endorsed the Kremlin intervention Castro with Angolan President Neto Excited by the appearances of the revolutionary overthrow of the Batista dictatorship in Cuba and the steps towards nationalisation that followed, leaders of the US Socialist Workers Party devised the concept that Fidel Castro had "naturally'" become a Marxist-even an "unconscious Trotskyist"

Ignoring , the close interplay between Castro's policies and the powerful political and economic support given to the new Cuban regime by the Soviet Union, the SWP leadership seized on his left demagogy, and , the progressive measures taken within Cuba to stamp out vestiges of support for US imperialism, to hold Castro up as an anti-Stalinist.

They ceased to call for the construction of an independent Trotskyist party in Cuba -and instead sought to play a role as a pressure group within Castro's political movement.

Appearance

Such positions were wrong at the time, and can. be, seen more clearly to be wrong now.

But they did fit in with the superfícial appearance of events in Cuba-even though failing to grasp. the real content of those events.

But now, nearly 20 years later, SWP leaders are still vigorously defending. Castro and his policies against criticism, insisting, in spite of even the most obvious facts, that Cuban policy in Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular is:

"an internationalist policy, a policy that aids the African revolution, and by axtension the world socialist revolution"

These words, by SWP 'theoretician' Ernest Harsch, were written even while Cuban troops were using Soviet arms to back up the reactionary Derg military dictatorship and crush the Eritrean liberation Papered over But these positions are the official position of the SWP_ whose leaders have now papered over their political differences with the leadership of the 'United' Secretariat of the Fourth International (USFI) from which they are prevented from affiliation by reactionary US legislation.

A 300 page book just published by Pathfinder Press contains collection of writings by leading swP member Joseph Hansen all of which contain this false position on Castro.

During the 1960s the SWP not only printed Castro's speeches but consistently defended them against criticism:

'Each speech serves definite olitical purpose connected aways with mobilising support for the defence o deepening of the Stalinist tank ablaze in Prague revolution. Each point in each speech is logically placed. workers' movement.

Every explanation and every illustration is admirably chosen to drive the points home."

The SWP: went even qualitatively new force to the further, however, and ¡olonial revolution, to the suggested that Castro offers a solution to the working class :ountries against imperialist fighting capitalism or the Stalinist bureaucracy. In a vorld -wide socialism." passage ironically and crushingly refuted by the course of events, Hansen argued in 1960: i was hardly surprising that in "With such a relationship 967 Hansen could write of forces, the fear that Cuba nthusiastically in support of may fall like a ripe fruit into he Havana conference of the the hands of Kruschev does Irganisation of Latin not seem well founded. It is imerican Solidarity (OLAS)more likely that the Cuban example will prove to be a 3 group together guerrillaists fresh source of inspiration to no 'revolutionary' organisathe Russian workers in their ons from Latin America, and own struggle to win back the ttended by delegations from democracy they knew under ther workers' states and Lenin and Trotsky." (p.54) iternational organisations.

wrote:

"They have done well, too, in inspiring defence of the Cuban revolution on the 'LAS conference as "an continent. From Mexico to couraging achievement and Chile and Argentina, Cuba has become a key issue in public ivolution". And in reply to next revolution in any of the hich had said that Castro was Latin American countries will fectively launching a 'Fifth tend to follow the militant ternational' Hansen replied example of Cuba rather than "y that OLAS: that of Guatemala, where a compromising attitude ish before the claim can towards the old ruling circles riously be advanced that it and their armed forces institutes new facilitated restoration of ternational." (p.226) riaction." (p.60). Raising criticisms on the And on a world scale, estion of the industrial prolCuba was held up as ariat, the Stalinist bureauanswer to the problems of the cracies, the revolution in Western Europe and demo.

"A highly dynamic revol- cratic centralism, he went on: ution, it can, by following the "It is to be hoped that natural lines of its defence OLAS will take up these through revolutionary politics problems. I think that it is in the international scene, add completely in the logic of the progress already made by the Tricontinental and OLAS conJefence of the Soviet ferences to turn towards serious consideration of these ittack, and to the struggle for problems". (p.227)

(p.77)

Holding these impressionist ind anti-Trotskyist positions, With not only Hansen, but the whole USFI leadership finding itself swept along with this "current" , and drawing up great schemas through which the Castroite forces would provide ready-made Cuban-sponsored initiative revolutionary parties, it is Hansen described the step forward for the world .. has much to accomCastro's chosen ally in Ethiopia-Derg leader Mengistu.

Hansen, small wonder that at the 1969 USFI World Congress guerrillaism was actually adopted as the policy of the Latin American sections.

In arguing against this policy Hansen found himself tied hand and foot by his earlier false positions. Far from realising his dreams of Castro coming over Trotskyism, the real world had seen the "Trotskyists" of the USFI effectively going over to Castro!

It was at this point that Hansen came out with his first real attack on Castro, dropping for a while the approach of seeking ..to persuade this "natürat Marxist" to adopt SWP policy.

Pointing out the attractive power of the Cuban revolution for the youth, and the failure of the Castroites to understand Stalinism, he declared:

"All of this fostered ultraleftism and even an antipolitical attitude among the youth drawn into the orbit of the Cuban revolution, particularly in Latin America' He claims it is necessary to go through the experience with the youth. But the SWP actively misled youth into illusions on Castro and It was, in particular, Hansen himself who continuously praised Castro, even after his 1966 attacks on Trotskyism as "a vulgar instrument of imperialism and reaction" at the Tricontinental conference.

with the treacherous teaderships whose advocacy' of "peaceful coexistence" really signifies a line of maintaining the status quo and doing everything possible to block the masses from taking the, road to revolution".

OLAS

It was Hansen who said that OLAS would "facilitate a regroupment of revolutionary forces in Latin America and speed up their development along programmatic lines [!]' Yet in 1969 Hansen, with no explanation, tried to turn round and argue that:

"In short, the Cubans have not yet settled accounts with Of course between 1967 and 1969 a whole number of major changes-both in the USA with the emergence of the anti-war movement, and internationally, with the 1968 French General Strike and the "Prague Spring"

had taken place.

The Stalinist intervention in Czechoslovakia had in fact drawn out the most obvious evidence that Castro had become integrated into the Kremlin's political orbit.

Regretted

•Yet in a 23 page article dealing with Castro's speech defending the Soviet intervention, Hansen does not once condemn Castro. Instead, making the point that the Czech invasion was one of the worst crimes of Stalinism, Hansen lamely adds:

"It is to be regretted that Castro does not see this. Perhaps he will come to this view as more facts accumulate." (p.378)

And though his general introduction does offer mealy-mouthed criticism of some of the regimes that Castro has supported-such as Allende's Popular Front, Neto's regime in Angola and the Mengistu dictatorship in EthiopiaHansen still talks of:

... the efforts made by the Cuban leadership to defend their revolution by extending it." (p.8).

And Hansen concludes by arguing against' a political revolution in Cuba for the overthrow of the Castro bureaucracy. Instead he calls vaguely for a "Leninist-type party that guaranteed internal democracy"

Dogmatism Despite nearly twenty years in which practical experience has exposed the hollowness of their analysis and refuted the impressionist ideas on which it. was based, the USF! leaders, still cling rigidly to their false position on Cuba.

Pabloite empiricism has thus turned to a form of stubborn dogmatism whose mirror image is to be found in the Workers Revolutionary Party leadership -who insist to this day that Cuba remains a capitalist state in which Castro is a new Batista!

Hansen's collection of misleading and confused writings on Cuba are, in short, further eloquent testimony to the need to reconstruct the Fourth International on the basis of a return to the Marxist method and the principles of the Transitional Concluded

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On Latin America, Hansen •Step forward

life. In all likelihood, the le magazine Monthly Review,