Cuba

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AN EXCELLENT SURVEY - Rated
This book should be read by everyone interested in Cuba, in Fidel Castro, and in a nation whose history goes back far earlier than its modern manifestation. Richard Gott has brought a lifetime of expertise to the task, and writes, as in all his books, with wit and wisdom. He has an enviable eye for fascinating, and telling detail, and he unravels history's "granny knots" with unerring skill.

Useful account of Cuba's long struggle for sovereignty - Rated
Richard Gott is a British journalist and historian with many years' experience of covering Latin America. He has written a very useful book on Cuba's long struggle for national independence and sovereignty. The first third of the book examines the Cuban people's struggle against Spanish occupation from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The rest of the book looks at Cuba's 20th century struggle against the US empire.

The USA intervened militarily in Cuba in 1906-09, 1912, 1917-23 and 1961, always on the pretexts of establishing democracy and order. In 1902 the US state imposed the Platt Amendment on Cuba. Its seventh paragraph gave the USA the 'right' to establish permanent military bases on Cuba. It was repealed in 1934, but the dictator Batista signed a new treaty allowing the USA to keep its huge military base at Guantanamo Bay.

Gott shows how in 1959 the people defeated the US-backed dictator by relying on their own forces. He observes that the British and Yugoslavian governments armed Batista to the last moment.

Gott possibly devotes too little attention to the Cuban people's successes in developing their country. He notes, without exploring, Cuba's remarkable achievements in health and education and he fails to mention its pioneering pharmaceutical industry.

But he gives due prominence to Cuba's internationalism, particularly to its selfless military support to the Angolan people in 1988. Nelson Mandela later visited Havana to thank Fidel personally for Cuba's assistance in the struggle against apartheid. He said, "The decisive defeat of the racist army in Cuito Cuanavale was a victory for all Africa ... It made it possible for Angola to enjoy peace and establish its own sovereignty ... and for the people of Namibia to achieve their independence. The decisive defeat of the aggressive apartheid forces destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor. The defeat of the apartheid army served as an inspiration to the struggling people of South Africa."

Cuba has a proud record of upholding workers' nationalism and of practical internationalism. Whatever foreign observers hope or fear, the Cuban people will never surrender their national independence and sovereignty.