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Title: Authoritarian Demonization of Anarchists Subtitle: Cuba and the Gaona Manifesto Date: February 2012 Source: Originally published in Spanish in Tierra y Libertad. Translated into English by Charlatan Stew and friends, June, 2014. Notes: Tierra y Libertad original: http://www.nodo50.org/tierraylibertad Authors: Rafael Uzcategui Topics: Cuba, authoritarian left, anarchist opposition, political repression Published: 2014-07-16 19:41:50Z
The possibilities anarchism points toward have many enemies. Its fiercest opponents, however, are those authoritarian regimes which, distorting and subverting the ideas of socialism, have promoted themselves historically as embodying the values of liberty, equality and fraternity. In every situation, state capitalist governments, applying religious categories to secular contexts, have over-simplified conflicts by defining them as being between âthe faithfulâ--those who support them, and âhereticsâ--those who oppose them. In this alleged confrontation between the two positions (in religious terms the struggle of âgoodâ against âevilâ), the authoritarians need to claim that all the worldâs revolutionaries are with them confronting the forces that oppose them--even though this isnât certain.
As we know, ever since the Russian Revolution of 1917, nationalists and authoritarian leftists who have come to power have developed various strategies to dismantle, co-opt, and fragment whatever revolutionary organizations remain. They do this precisely because such groups constitute opposition to their plans from the left, because they denounce the contradictions and abuses of the ongoing process of the centralization of power. In the case of anarchism--an attitude and way of thinking which is highly resistant to bureaucratic reorganization of power and authority--tragic examples abound. In Russia (and later the Soviet Union), China, Spain, and dozens of other examples, statists have systematically persecuted and exterminated anarchists. The killing, however, has been accompanied by lies, misrepresentation, and the creation of nonexistent support to confuse and paralyze the international anarchist movement.
Those who know the history of anarchism in Latin America know that Cuba developed, along with countries like Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay, an anarcho-syndicalist movement that played an important role in the labor conflicts of their times. As is well documented in the book El anarquismo en Cuba by Frank FernĂĄndez, [1] anarchists on the island were prominent in several unions, published newspapers and magazines for discussion, propaganda, and agitation, as well as providing social centers for people to meet and interact.
The Cuban anarchists, as interested people can confirm, joined the popular struggle against the dictator Fulgencio Batista and, his ouster in 1959 aroused in them the same positive expectations about the future of the island as in the rest of society. As FernĂĄndez relates, the anarchist publications of the day, Solidaridad Gastronomica and El Libertario, expressed a favorable and hopeful attitude regarding the new government, while not trusting it unthinkingly. [2] But, in late 1959, any criticism of the government, no matter its source, began to be labeled âcounterrevolutionaryâ in the new language of power. At the same time, the Castro clique began inviting representatives from all the revolutionary tendencies of the world to the island in order to convince them of the regimeâs goodness.
Among those invited was the German anarchist Augustin Souchy, who visited Havana in the summer of 1960 to learn about the experiments with land reform. His inquiry resulted in a lengthy article, printed in an official publication, reporting on what he had seen during his visit. Souchy also wrote a pamphlet entitled Testimonies on the Cuban Revolution [3], which was published without going through official censorship, and had a tone different from what the regime had hoped for. In this pamphlet Souchy warned of the authoritarian turn the new administration was taking. Soon after he left Cuba, the entire print run of the pamphlet was seized and destroyed by the government, following a recommendation by the Cuban Communist Party (PCC). But the pamphlet was made available outside the country thanks to an edition published by Reconstruir of Buenos Aires. The anarchists could not be easily convinced by the Castro governmentâs propaganda. A new strategy was needed.
Many Cuban anarchists of the time belonged to the AsociaciĂłn Libertaria de Cuba (ALC). In 1961 its Secretary of Relations, Manuel Gaona Sousa, was in charge of maintaining contacts with the international anarchist movement. However, from early on, Gaona was enthusiastic about both the July 26 Movement (M26J) and Fidel Castro. Gaonaâs prestige and record of participation within the anarchist movement, his key role in communications with the outside world, and his desire to cooperate with a government that he supported were used to maximum effect by the Cuban authorities. Gaona wrote a manifesto, âA clarification and a statement of the Cuban anarchistsâ [4] which asserted that ânearly all anarchist activities are now integrated in the various agencies of the Cuban Revolution.â It also denied that anarchists were being imprisoned for their activism. Both assertions were contradicted repeatedly by anarchist publications on the island.
Gaonaâs manifesto, which was sent to all anarchist publications of the time, contained five key ideas: The first that there were no anarchists arrested for their convictions; second, that there was no political or religious persecution in Cuba; third, that anarchists supported Castroâs government; fourth, that Castroâs government represented the ideals for which the anarchists fought; and the fifth part was a crude and literal copy of the governmentâs propaganda about the purported political and economic benefits delivered by the Castro regime. Finally, the document stated: âWe want to alert fellow anarchist Movements in Mexico, Latin America, and the world, and fellow Spanish-speaking exiles in America, so that they wonât be taken unawares by the malicious and deceitful information sent out by people who serve, consciously or unconsciously, the Cuban counterrevolution.â Although the manifesto claimed to express the position of Cuban anarchism, it was signed by just 25 individuals, and it later became known that some signatures were collected by Gaona through deception. Many anarchists who he asked refused to sign a text that they regarded as renouncing the basic principles of anarchism. Among them was the well-known comrade Marcelo Salinas y Lopez; they were persecuted and sooner or later forced into exile.
Gaonaâs manifesto brought about several dire consequences for the anarchist movement of the island. From the point of view of the Cuban authorities, it divided the anarchists into âgood,â the small group that supported Gaonaâs position, and âbad,â the rest. It also sowed confusion in anarchist organizations outside Cuba, especially in Latin America.
At this time there was also a U.S. government offensive against Cuba. And in this context, on the left there was a lot of admiration for the bearded July 26 Movement (M26J) as a model for guerrilla insurgencies in Latin America. On the other hand, there was poor communication with the anarchist activists on the island. Under the circumstances, the manifesto literally paralyzed anarchist criticisms and questioning of the new regime. In fact, the isolating of the Cuban anarchists promoted their persecution and extermination. To give a few examples: Augusto SĂĄnchez was imprisoned and murdered; Rolando Tamargo and Ventura SuĂĄrez were shot; Sebastian Aguilar Jr. was shot; Eusebio Otero was found dead in his room; RaĂșl NegrĂn was burned alive. Casto MoscĂș, Modesto Piñeiro, Floreal Barrera, Suria LinsuaĂn, Manuel GonzĂĄlez, JosĂ© Aceña, Isidro MoscĂș, Norberto Torres, Sicinio Torres, JosĂ© Mandado Marcos, PlĂĄcido MĂ©ndez and Luis LinsuaĂn were arrested and sentenced to prison. Some comrades could not stand the torture in prison, such as: Francisco Aguirre, who died in his cell; Victoriano HernĂĄndez, sickened and blinded by the abuse, committed suicide; and JosĂ© Ălvarez Micheltorena, died a few weeks after his release.
Manuel Gaona was actively involved in promoting the persecution of his former comrades. Although the accusations against the genuine anarchists employed the typical Stalinist epithets--such as labeling them âCIA agentsâ among other things--they proved to be effective. According to FernĂĄndez, âThe confusion in the international anarchist camp regarding the Cuban situation was promoted by the Cuban governmentâs propaganda machine, which had enormous resources, talent, imagination, and great political skill.â Even exiled Cuban anarchist groups, like the Cuban Libertarian Movement in Exile (MLCE), [5] were accused by other anarchists and anti-authoritarians of being âcounterrevolutionariesâ. For example, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, at the International Anarchist Congress of Carrara in 1968 accused the MLCE of âbeing funded by the CIA.â The abandonment of Cuban anarchists by their peers is one of the worst mistakes in the history of the anarchist movement. It was not until 1978, with the publication of **The Cuban Revolution: A critical perspective** by Sam Dolgoff, [6] that the worldâs anarchists began to understand what really had happened on the island. But it was too late.
Fifty years after the Gaona manifesto, there are attempts to use the same strategy again. At a time when various self-described leftist and progressive governments have come to power in Latin America, the new bureaucracies are trying to spread the idea that all revolutionaries, including anarchists, are on their side. Some converts, inventing phantom organizations and initiatives, spread the idea through the Internet that the âtrue anarchistsâ support the governments of Rafael Correa, Evo Morales, Cristina Kirchner, and Hugo ChĂĄvez, among others, and that those who criticize them are âfalse anarchistsâ, and are âfar from the popular struggles.â One of the most extravagant attempts has been made by a freewheeling âRevolutionary Anarchist Federation of Venezuelaâ, which in its first statement expresses support for the Bolivarian government of Hugo Chavez and affirms the need to join in its electoral coalition, the Gran Polo PatriĂłtico, contending in the upcoming presidential elections. However, there is a big difference between now and Manuel Gaonaâs times. Information technologies nowadays make it almost impossible for people to lack information in the way that allowed ignorance of the real nature of Fidel Castroâs government in the past. Anyone interested and concerned can now research and find out the different opinions and initiatives in the popular and revolutionary milieus which expose the contradictions of these governments and their increasing involvement with todayâs globalized capitalism. They can learn about these regimesâ criminalization of those who are involved in social struggles, and the protection of the new bourgeoisie through state capitalism. History repeats itself--the first time it is tragedy, the second time it is farce.
Originally published in Spanish in **Tierra y Libertad**. Translated into English by Charlatan Stew and friends, June, 2014.
There is an earlier English translation by Christie Books, titled Authoritarian Chimeras, Cuba, and the Gaona Manifesto, posted on the Christie Books website (February 5, 2012): http://www.christiebooks.com/ChristieBooksWP/2012/02/authoritarian-chimeras-cuba-and-the-gaona-manifesto-by-rafael-uzcategui/
Tierra y Libertad original: http://www.nodo50.org/tierraylibertad
[1] Published in English as **Cuban Anarchism The history of a movement**. San Francisco: See Sharp, 2001. Available online at http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/frank-fernĂĄndez-cuban-anarchism-the-history-of-a-movement
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See especially Chapter 4: Castroism and Confrontation (1959â1961), and Chapter 5: Exile and Shadows (1961â2001)
[2] In **Cuban Anarchism: the History of a Movement**, Chapter 4, FernĂĄndez relates how the anarchists in Cuba decided to issue a DeclaraciĂłn de Principios (Declaration of Principles), in the summer of 1960, accusing the Castro regime of strengthening government centralization, and moving toward a Marxist dictatorship. The eight points of the DeclaraciĂłn also outlined the ways in which their anarchist perspective differed from the policies of the regime: â1) it defined, in accord with libertarian ideas, the functions of unions and federations in regard to their true economic roles; 2) it declared that the land should belong âto those who work itâ; 3) it backed âcooperative and collective workâ in contrast to the agricultural centralism of the governmentâs Agrarian Reform law; 4) it called for the free and collective education of children; 5) it inveighed against ânoxiousâ nationalism, militarism, and imperialism, opposing fully the militarization of the people; 6) it attacked âbureaucratic centralismâ and weighed forth in favor of federalism; 7) it proposed individual liberty as a means of obtaining collective liberty; and 8) it declared that the Cuban Revolution was, like the sea, âfor everyone,â and energetically denounced âthe authoritarian tendencies that surge in the breast of the revolution.â http://www.illegalvoices.org/apoc/books/cuban/front.html
[3] Augustin Souchy, **Testimonios sobre la revoluciĂłn cubana**. Buenos Aires: Editorial Reconstruir, 1960. Available online at http://issuu.com/ellibertario/docs/testimonios_souchy2
[4] For a discussion of the use of the terms âlibertarianâ and âanarchistâ interchangeably, especially in places outside North America, see: An Anarchist FAQ (02/17), The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective, Published June 18, 2009. Version 13.1 http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/print/The_Anarchist_FAQ_Editorial_Collective__An_Anarchist_FAQ__02_17_.html
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See Section A.1.3, Why is anarchism also called libertarian socialism?: âAnarchists have been using the term âlibertarianâ to describe themselves and their ideas since the 1850âs. According to anarchist historian Max Nettlau, the revolutionary anarchist Joseph Dejacque published Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social in New York between 1858 and 1861 while the use of the term âlibertarian communismâ dates from November, 1880 when a French anarchist congress adopted it. [Max Nettlau, **A Short History of Anarchism**, p. 75 and p. 145] The use of the term âLibertarianâ by anarchists became more popular from the 1890s onward after it was used in France in an attempt to get round anti-anarchist laws and to avoid the negative associations of the word âanarchyâ in the popular mind (Sebastien Faure and Louise Michel published the paper **Le Libertaire**--The Libertarian--in France in 1895, for example). Since then, particularly outside America, it has always been associated with anarchist ideas and movements. Taking a more recent example, in the USA, anarchists organised âThe Libertarian Leagueâ in July 1954, which had staunch anarcho-syndicalist principles and lasted until 1965. The US-based âLibertarianâ Party, on the other hand has only existed since the early 1970âs, well over 100 years after anarchists first used the term to describe their political ideas (and 90 years after the expression âlibertarian communismâ was first adopted).â
[5] âUna aclaraciĂłn y una declaraciĂłn de los libertarios cubanosâ, available online at http://issuu.com/ellibertario/docs/manifiestogaona
Frank FernĂĄndez notes that Gaonaâs manifesto was dated and signed in Marianao on November 24, 1961, and clearly denounced the Cuban anarchists who didnât share his enthusiasm for the Castro regime.
[6] Montreal: Black Rose Books (1976). Available online at http://libcom.org/history/cuban-revolution-critical-perspective-sam-dolgoff