Was there an “August Mistake”? How to assess the role of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Comintern in the anti-Machado revolution of 1933

Abstract

The article examines the little–studied nature of relations between the III International, its Caribbean Bureau and the Communist Party of Cuba in connection with the so-called "August mistake" - the attitude taken by the Cuban section of the Comintern during the anti-Machado revolution of 1933. The role of the informal leader of the party Ruben Martinez Villena is analyzed and the evolution of assessments of his activities during this period by the international Communist Party is shown. While originally as the Comintern emissaries as also the structures of the Executive Committee of the Comintern condemned sharply Martinez Villena’s activities during the overthrow of the dictatorship of G.Machado, finally this attitude was shifting and Moscow was ready to come to terms with him on condition of admitting a “mistake”. Later, as the authors showed, Moscow partially (but not publicly) came to conclusion that it was wrong to bet on the seizure of power in Cuba by the forces of exclusively communists and their affiliated structures. This recognition was part of the Comintern's “historic turn” to the policy of the Popular Front, which in Cuba meant the transition of the Communist Party to a broad alliance. This alliance laid the foundations for the subsequent expansion of communist influence.