Cuba and The Recentering of African History

Abstract

Victor Dreke. From the Escambray to the Congo: In the Whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution. New York: Pathfinder Press, 2002. 182 pp. Photographs. Maps. Notes. Glossary. Index. $17.00. Paper. Armando Choy, Gustavo Chui, and Moises Sio Wong. Our History Is Still Being Written: The Story of Three Chinese-Cuban Generals in the Cuban Revolution. New York: Pathfinder Press, 2005. 216 pp. Photographs. Maps. Charts. Notes. Glossary. Index. $20.00. Paper. These books are the kinds of books historians are always hoping for, but that very rarely see the light of day. Their value for average readers and for scholars cannot be overstressed, for several reasons, the most important being the historical process of reconnecting Cuba and Africa at a time when such reconnecting continues to be fiercely discouraged by the powers-that-be. It is plausible that potential readers might dismiss the books as mere Cuban propaganda; such readers might even, to their own detriment, find in the books confirmation of their own ideological blinders. However, anyone making a sober assessment of what Cuba has had to go through since the overthrow of Battista (1959) would find it difficult not to be impressed not just by Cuba's survival, but by its having thrived following the collapse of the Soviet Union (1989). The relentless destabilization schemes from various U.S. administrations seems to have had the exact opposite effect on the Cuban political leadership: it never stopped learning from its successes and its failures, from its enemies and its alleged allies. In retrospect, Cuba's survival can be seen as one of the greatest feats of the generic resisters to capitalism since the overthrow of slavery in Haiti 1804. As in Haiti, the costs of contesting the written and unwritten rules of capitalism have been extremely high, inside and outside of Cuba. One has to remember the pressures on Nelson Mandela not to visit Cuba after he was released from jail to understand the extent to which the United States in particular (and any willing associate) will go to prevent the reconstruction of African societies on the basis of self-reliance and solidarity.1 In the aftermath of the Cold War, it would be too easy to dismiss these witnesses as ideological proxies eager to say what the Cuban leaders want to hear. Others will not like the advocacy approach of Mary-Alice Waters-the introducer, interviewer, editor, and president of Pathfinder Press, publisher of these texts-while minimizing the fact that such questioning is rarely raised when the opposite line, nay, the demonization of anything Cuban, is pushed. Victor Dreke, the author/interviewee of From the Escambray to the Congo, was the number-two person in the Cuban group sent to the Congo in 1965 to fight on the side of the rebels in Eastern Congo (the group then led by Laurent-Desire Kabila). The episode is well known and extensively documented, but with Dreke's story we are finally offered a first-hand account by Che's most trusted aide during their seven months in the Congo between April and November 1965. In addition to the details of Dreke's role in assembling the right kind of persons for a mission then understood to be the most important Cuban mission since 1959, the reader gets a clear glimpse of some of the principles that allowed Cuba to do so much in the face of such constant threats to its own survival. Dreke's admiration for the Cuban leadership is evident, and reminiscent of Che's own sentiments expressed in his farewell letter to Fidel just before leaving for the Congo. At times Dreke is aware that readers will not believe him-as when he lists the shortcomings that afflicted the mission on its way to the Congo and during its mission. For a mission considered a high priority by both Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, it is astounding, even from hindsight, to find out that it was based on almost nonexistent intelligence and very little advanced preparation: in retrospect, Che's vision of what was to be accomplished was based largely on wishful thinking (namely, Che's foco theory of voluntarism: start something and, by osmosis, a revolution will follow). …