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Title: Anarchism in Cuba Author: Dana M. Williams Date: 2009 Language: en Topics: Cuba, history Source: Retrieved on 22nd November 2021 from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp0049 Notes: Published in The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest.
Anarchism in Cuba predominantly took the form of anarchosyndicalism and
was largely indistinguishable from the militant labor movement.
Anarchism influenced the independence movement, the growth of the labor
movement, and general strikes in particular during the early 1900s.
Anarchists were continuously repressed by Cuba’s dictators, and
particularly in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, which
caused many to go underground, into prison, or into exile.
The first trace of anarchism in Cuba may be found in the 1850s and
1860s, when followers of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon created a mutual aid
society. Some of the first worker newspapers and organizations were
created at this time; the first anarchist paper, El Obrero (The Worker),
was started by anarchists Enrique Messonier and Enrique Roig San Martin
in 1872, as well as the Centre de InstrucciĂłn y Recreo (Instruction and
Recreation Center). A flurry of anarchist activity occurred during the
1880s. Messonier was the secretary of the CĂrculo de Trabajadores
(Workers’ Circle), which was dominated by anarchist participation. Roig
San MartĂn began another newspaper called El Productor (The Producer), a
weekly anarchist paper that was Cuba’s most important labor periodical
and lasted until 1890, when it was closed. Alianza Obrera (Workers’
Alliance) helped to coordinate anarchist activity in Cuba as well as
Cuban communities in Florida, especially Key West and Tampa.
The influences upon Cuban anarchism are diverse and unique. Spanish
anarchism was influential within Cuba, particularly the ideas and
writings from Catalonia, Spain. Commercial trade between Catalonia and
Cuba aided in the transportation of anarchist periodicals from Spain to
Cuba during the late 1800s. Spanish workers in Cuba also helped to
transmit ideas from Europe. Yet Cuban anarchism was not strictly
analogous to Spanish anarchism. A major Spanish anarcho-collectivist
organization – Federación de Trabajadores de la Región Española
(Workers’ Federation of the Spanish Region) – continued to be an
important model for Cuban anarchists, even after it folded in Spain. The
influence of slavery and colonialism also created distinct conditions
that separated the Cuban experience from the Spanish one. According to
Casanovas (1998), most of the island’s first anarchists initially came
from reformist labor organizations and made the eventual transformation
to anarchism, often due to interactions and experiences within the labor
movement. Reformist labor leaders such as Saturnino MartĂnez were
relentless in their critique of anarchism, going so far as to
characterize “anarchism [as] an evil spreading throughout Europe ...[and
that to] avoid social upheaval, workers had to become small property
owners” (Casanovas 1998: 155). Still, anarchism took deeper root in
Cuba’s labor movement than reformism or Marxism did. The inability to
influence colonial elections stymied reformist labor efforts for power,
and thus encouraged collectivism and unionism independent of political
parties.
After Spain outlawed slavery in 1886, Cuban anarchists allowed
ex-slaves, called Afro-Cubans, to enter their organizations following
anarchist congresses in 1887 and 1892. Anarchists also used the imagery
of slavery to their advantage to characterize other exploitive
relationships as akin to slavery. Anarchists considered Cuban society to
be rife with a “slavery” (namely industrial and colonial capitalism)
that transcended the abuse of Afro-Cubans and affected those of all
races. In order to strengthen the position of labor groups, anarchists
tried to incorporate workers of all races into the Alianza Obrera and
other groups, since all workers were needed in order to exercise labor
strength during strikes. While most labor leaders remained white, the
1888 cigar-makers’ strike brought some Afro-Cuban labor leaders to the
forefront, including Fernando Guerra and Eduardo González. The Alianza
even demanded in 1889 that a particular factory allow workers of all
races to work there. Thus, racism became an important target for
anarchist organizers in the post-slavery period of the early labor
movement.
The Alianza was the first union to criticize and focus upon the unique
oppression and exploitation faced by women workers in the tobacco
industry. The poor treatment of tobacco workers also included sexual
abuse of women. Even though the increased employment of women had begun
to depress male wages, the largely male labor movement still fought for
improved working conditions for women. There were paternalistic
attitudes expressed by some labor and anarchist leaders – such as Roig
San Martin, who thought women should support their husbands and sons –
but the movement largely supported women’s efforts. Female worker
grievances were aired in newspapers (even when the focus was upon
abusive male workers) that also promoted the unionization of women
workers. The anarchist-led labor movement was unable to unionize women,
even though female leaf-stemmers went on strike in 1889 to demand higher
wages and a stop to sexual abuse by foremen, as well as joined other
strikes led by men. Instead, anarchist-feminism in Cuba tried to
encourage women to take an active role in public life. It also advocated
“free love,” argued for the right of women to choose their romantic
partners, and criticized the exploitation faced by housewives.
As Cuban nationalists advocated for independence from Spain, they met
growing resistance from workers influenced by anarchism’s socialist
ideas about socioeconomic independence from capitalism and the
bourgeoisie (Spanish or Cuban) more than just independence from a
colonial power. JosĂ© MartĂ, the leader of the independence movement,
modified his rhetoric to address the anarchist emphasis upon class
struggle by incorporating demands for a classless society and other
matters of social justice into his propaganda. Anarchists distributed
literature to Spanish soldiers, encouraging them to not fight against
the Cuban independence movement and to instead join anarchists fighting
for freedom. Separatists, including anarchists, planted bombs to destroy
pipelines and bridges, and tried to assassinate the Spanish officer
Valeriano Weyler – who was also the governor of Cuba at the time and had
imprisoned hundreds of thousands of Cubans in concentration camps.
Spanish repression followed these efforts, with the closing of labor
organizations, forbidding of certain political events, and the
deportation of Spanish anarchists.
However, anarchists were torn over participation in the independence
movement. Proponents of joining the struggle for independence saw
greater opportunities for freedom in a strictly Cuban polity. Others
believed in MartĂ and his rhetoric of a future classless Cuba after
independence. However, MartĂ died before independence, so the accuracy
of such promises cannot be ascertained. Opponents of the independence
movement noted the participation (and active funding) of Cuban
bourgeoisie elements that were sometimes the target of labor movement
struggles. An independence movement led by Cuba’s wealthy would be
unlikely to end in freedom for the Cuban working class, with just a
replacement of one system of domination by a more indigenous leadership.
The eventual independence from Spain led to control by the United
States. The US immediately exerted its influence over Cuba as well as
other lands formerly controlled by Spain (Puerto Rico, Guam, and the
Philippines), after paying $20 million to Spain for the islands.
American business interests invested heavily in Cuba and the US military
itself occupied the island from 1898 to 1902, and subsequently
intervened from 1906 to 1909, 1912, and 1917 to 1922. These repeated
interventions, justified by the US Congress’s Platt Amendment and the
Cuban Constitution itself, fueled Cuban nationalist sentiment, called
cubanĂa, as well as anarchist opposition to US imperialism.
After independence, anarchists began to organize Cuba’s most profitable
industry: sugar. Anarchist influence spread throughout the rest of Cuba
as well, with anarchosyndicalism being the ideology of choice within
much of the labor movement. The Cuban republic’s first general strike,
in 1902, was led by Gonzalez Lozana and other anarchist tobacco workers,
who aimed to end the system of apprenticeship that kept apprentices
bound to employers in exploitive ways that amounted to indentured
servitude. The strike was crushed by the threat of US intervention, but
it set the pattern for growing strike activity up to World War I. During
this period, anarchists assisted in the formation of worker cooperatives
throughout the island; 200,000 people were members of the cooperative
system, who paid dues to have access to recreation and cultural
facilities, and medical services. In addition to producer and consumer
cooperatives, anarchists also led a movement for the creation of
agrarian cooperatives (such as the later AsociaciĂłnes Campesinas),
although these were later largely replaced with state farms by the
Castro government.
Government repression beginning in 1913 by General Mario GarcĂa Menocal
– the island’s first dictator – was severe. Anti-anarchist laws were
passed in the years prior to World War I. Spanish anarchists in Cuba
were deported before and after the war began. During the war, despite
Cuban anarchists’ neutrality, general strikes provoked a response by the
US, which sent the navy to Havana. Cuban law enforcement gave the US
government a list of Cuban unions and leaders’ names. The Centre Obrero
was closed and anarchist publications were prohibited.
During the postwar lull, Cuban anarchists convened a workers’ congress,
which decided to form the ConfederaciĂłn Nacional del Trabajo (National
Confederation of Labor; a similarly named organization existed in
Spain). Many anarchist periodicals began during this period. For
example, ¡Tierra! (Land!), which had been Cuba’s longest-running
newspaper at the time, in print from 1899 to 1915, began a second run.
Alfredo LĂłpez, a key member of the FederaciĂłn Obrera de La Habana
(Workers’ Federation of Havana), helped begin an anarchosyndicalist
campaign to unite all worker and campesino organizations into a single
organization, regardless of ideology.
The Bolshevik victory in Russia created a schism in the Cuban Left. As
in countries around the world, many anarchists in Cuba were initially
sympathetic to the socialist-led revolution and some began to change
their ideological affiliations to communism. According to Shaffer
(2005), during the 1920s, anarchists debated the merits of aligning with
the Marxists, with anarchosyndicalists in greater favor of such a move
than anarchocommunists.
During the 1920s the Machado government cracked down on anarchists,
closing the Sindicato de la Industria Fabril Industrial, arresting
anarchosyndicalist leaders Margarito Iglesias, Enrique Varona, and LĂłpez
(all of whom were later murdered or “disappeared”), deporting strikers,
and prohibiting all strikes. In response to repression the anarchist
movement went underground. Militants formed various groups, including
Espártaco (Spartacus), Los Solidarios (Those in Solidarity), and the
FederaciĂłn de Grupos Anarquistas de Cuba (Federation of Cuban Anarchist
Groups). Anarchists struck alliances with university students and some
politicians, fought against the government in street battles, and failed
in a number of attempts to assassinate Machado. In 1933 a US-backed
military coup forced Machado from office. In the wake of Machado’s
overthrow, communists and anarchists aligned with the FederaciĂłn Obrera
de La Habana engaged in a gun-battle after anarchists denounced the
Partido Comunista Cubano (Cuban Communist Party) for its assistance in
ending a general strike that year that was started by transportation
workers. Thus, the tentative relationship between the communists and
anarchists was permanently torn asunder. Fulgencio Batista became the
dictator of Cuba and the PCC subsequently created an alliance with his
government.
In 1940 anarchists formed the AsociaciĂłn Libertaria de Cuba (Libertarian
Association of Cuba), which involved itself in labor organizing,
publishing Rumbos Nuevos (New Paths), and distributing anarchist
propaganda, and which even gained leadership within certain major
unions. Anarchosyndicalists during this time had near-control over
transport, culinary, construction, and electric utility unions. Through
the end of the Batista dictatorship, the Solidaridad GastronĂłmica
(Culinary Workers’ Solidarity) was able to keep publishing its
anti-communist, anticapitalist, anti-imperialist, and anti-fascist
views.
Some anarchists fought with Castro’s Movimiento 26 de Julio (July
26^(th) movement) and when Batista fled in late 1958 all anarchists –
and most everyday citizens – rejoiced. However, the Castro government,
having taken over the major labor federation, ConfederaciĂłn de
Trabajadores de Cuba, expunged leading anarchosyndicalists from their
strongest unions, issued authoritarian dictates for the unions and
stacked union meetings with pro-Castro non-members, suppressed a
critical pamphlet by German anarchist Augustin Souchy, and arrested
“counter-revolutionary” critics. The suppression and restriction grew
pronounced after Castro declared his government to be Marxist-Leninist
and moved toward closer relations with the Soviet Union. While some
anarchists tried to join in guerilla actions against Castro, some
anarchists joined the Castro government and others fled into exile in
Florida (where many Batista supporters had gone). Since this time there
has been no active anarchist movement within Cuba itself.
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REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Casanovas, J. (1998) Bread, or Bullets! Urban Labor and Spanish
Colonialism in Cuba, 1850–1898. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh
Press.
Dolgoff, S. (1976) The Cuban Revolution: A Critical Perspective.
Montreal: Black Rose Books.
Fernández, F. (2001) Cuban Anarchism: The History of a Movement. Tucson:
See Sharp Press.
Poyo, G. E. (1985) The Anarchist Challenge to the Cuban Independence
Movement, 1885–1890. Cuban Studies 15, 1: 29–42.
Shaffer, K. R. (2005) Anarchism and Countercultural Politics in Early
Twentieth-Century Cuba. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.