In February 2008 the resignation of 81 year-old Fidel Castro as Cuban president due to his deteriorating health, and his succession by brother Raul Castro gave rise to debate over the path that Cuba was now to take. Recent economic reforms, particularly those in agriculture have fuelled speculation that Cuba may be about to make a controlled turn towards capitalism, a fate which has already become reality for millions of workers and farmers in states like Vietnam and China. Read more...

Trotskyism in Cuba had a long tradition stretching back to the early 1930s. The Oposicion Comunista de Cuba had been formed in 1932 in opposition to the sectarian line of the Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC). With a record of fierce revolutionary struggle during the revolution of 1932-33 and a membership peaking at around 500, Trotskyism established roots in the Cuban labour movement. Read more...

In the final part of his review of Cuba: a New History by Richard Gott, Stuart King explains how Fidel Castro’s July 26 Movement brought about a social revolution, but one where the working class was deprived of power Read more...

Part II: Dictatorship and National Revolution - Stuart King continues his review of Cuba: a New History by Richard Gott. Read more...

Stuart King reviews Cuba: A New History by Richard Gott, Yale Note Bene 2005, £9.99. Part I - From Spanish Colony to US semi-colony Read more...

Just over forty years ago Fidel Castro and a handful of fighters landed in Cuba. This initial nucleus, during two years of guerrilla warfare, grew until they were able to overthrow the hated US-backed dictator General Batista. Castro and the great majority of the July 26 Movement leaders were no communists. Fidel sincerely hoped to steer a middle course for Cuba between US imperialism and the Communist bloc; he wanted an “olive green” not a red revolution; a Cuba which had achieved “national independence”, no longer exploited by US imperialism but still capitalist. Read more...

A small island nation of ten million people, Castro’s Cuba has long been used to hostile encirclement. But as the Cuban Communist Party (CCP) prepares for its Fourth Congress this year, the country can rarely, if ever, have been more isolated.

The winds of popular revolt have even swept through that last bastion of Stalinist orthodoxy in Eastern Europe—Albania. But Cuba under Castro has set its face against the historic upheavals occurring an ocean and a continent away. Read more...