Fidel Castro, Hero of the Disinherited

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.8.2.0151
• Pages: 151-168
• Published date: 01 December 2016
• Date: 01 December 2016
• Author: Salim Lamrani,Translated by Larry R. Oberg

IJCS Produced and distributed by Pluto Journals www.plutojournals.com/ijcs/

SPECIAL ARTICLE

FIDEL CASTRO, HERO OF THE

DISINHERITED

Salim Lamrani

University of La Réunion (DIRE), France

Introduction

A controversial figure in the West where he is strongly criticised, Fidel Castro is

however revered by the peoples of Latin America and the Third World. They

consider him a symbol of resistance to oppression and a defender of the aspira-

tions of the countries of the south that struggle for independence, sovereignty

and self-determination. A legendary rebel during his own lifetime, he has entered

the pantheon of the great liberators of the Americas. The prestige of the former

guerrilla of the Sierra Maestra has overflown the continental borders of Cuba to

become the archetype of twentieth century anti-imperialism and a vector of a

universal message of empowerment.

What is it that explains this discrepancy between the negative Western media

image of Fidel and the enthusiasm he generates in Latin America and the Third

World? Is it not to be expected that his commitment to the poor and his fight for

the preservation of Cuban and Latin American identity might be perceived by

the peoples of the south as a universal struggle? Did his commitment to Latin

American integration through the creation of ALBA in 2004 not reflect the

efforts of Simón Bolívar and José Martí to unite a continent in solidarity in order

to build the ‘Patria Grande’?

Three aspects characterise the figure of Fidel Castro. First of all, he is the

architect of national sovereignty, the person who restored dignity to the people

of the island by realising the dream of the Apostle and National Hero José Martí

for an independent Cuba. Secondly, he is a social reformer who has taken up the

cause of the humble and the humiliated. Finally, he is an internationalist who

extends a generous hand to needy people everywhere and places solidarity and

integration at the centre of Cuba’s foreign policy.

152 SPECIAL ARTICLE – SALIM LAMRANI

InternatIonal Journal of Cuban StudIeS 8.2 WInter 2016

The Architect of National Sovereignty

The triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, led to the most

important social transformation in the history of Latin America. By overturning

the existing order and the established structures, Fidel Castro challenged the

power of the Batista oligarchy and the power of money. By dedicating national

resources to the people, he placed human beings at the centre of the new social

project.

The principal conquest of the Cuban Revolution remains independence and

sovereignty, something desired by the Cuban people since the nineteenth century

and for which Martí had sacrificed his life in 1895. By ending more than six

decades of US domination of the island, Fidel Castro has given back to Cubans

the dignity they had lost during Washington’s intervention in the Cuban war of

independence in 1898 and the military occupation that had transformed the

island into nothing more than a mere protectorate. President John F. Kennedy

was not wrong when he said, ‘Fidel Castro is part of Bolivar’s legacy. We should

offer a warm welcome to the fiery young rebel in his triumph.’1

To grasp the symbolic importance of Fidel Castro in Cuba’s history, it is nec-

essary to go back to the early nineteenth century, when the island began to stir

the lust for possession of its ‘powerful and ambitious neighbor.’2 Cuba is, indeed,

one of the oldest foreign policy obsessions of the United States. In 1805, Thomas

Jefferson spoke of the importance of the island, noting that its ‘possession [was]

necessary for the defense of Louisiana and Florida because it [was] the key to the

Gulf of Mexico. For the United States, conquest would be easy’.3 In 1823, John

Quincy Adams, Secretary of State and future president of the United States,

alluded to the subject of Cuban annexation, developing the famous ‘ripe fruit’

theory: ‘Cuba, separated by force from its unnatural connection with Spain, and

unable to stand by itself, will necessarily need to gravitate around the North

American Union, and only around it.’4 Thus, during the nineteenth century, the

United States tried to buy Cuba from Spain six times.

During the first war of independence, from 1868 to 1878, Cuban insurgents,

plagued by deep internal divisions, were defeated by the Spanish army. The

United States supported Spain by selling them the most modern weapons and

resolutely opposed independence by hunting down Cuban exiles who sought to

contribute to the armed struggle for independence.5 On October 29, 1872,

Secretary of State Hamilton Fish sent Daniel Edgar Sickles, then US ambassador

in Madrid, his ‘best wishes for Spain in its suppression of the revolt’. Washington

opposed the independence of Cuba and wished to take possession of the island.6

During the second war of independence between 1895 and 1898, Cuban rev-

olutionaries, united around their leader José Martí, had once again to face the