Cuba
This collection contains materials about Cuba’s history
including the Cuban revolution, post-revolution, and international relations. Fulgencio
Batista was a major political figure in Cuba from 1933-1944 and dictator from
1952-1959. He exploited Cuban land and resources for U.S interests. The Cuban people
were unhappy with the abuse and political repression they faced on a daily
basis. A popular uprising by workers and peasants took place in 1953, which culminated
in an attack on the Moncada military base organized by Fidel and Raul Castro.
The attack was unsuccessful and Fidel was exiled to Mexico but this event
sparked the Cuban revolution. Fidel returned to Cuba in 1956 with Che Guevara
and a small guerilla force. Fidel and Che led the people in a rebellion against
the Batista regime and the government elite that controlled the people’s
resources and economic stability. Batista was successfully overthrown in 1959
and Fidel assumed power as the new leader of Cuba with the intent of building
the country around the people’s needs and distributing the wealth equally. Cuba
has been a great model and influence for other Latin American countries seeking
freedom from repressive conditions and US imperialism. Audio and paper documents
also include information on Cuba post-revolution, including its economy, health
system, and the nationalization of public services as well as U.S involvement
in Cuba starting after 1960.
Documents
The Moncada Attack: The twentieth Anniversary
Call Number: KP 061Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Lincoln Bergman, Gayle Markow, Claude MarksCollection: Cuba
A program about the attacks on the Moncada Barracks in Cuba which led to the guerrilla war and the success of the Cuban revolution. Includes historical information, interviews with female and male soldiers, traditional Cuban music and readings of Jose Marti’s poetry.
Cuban women
A native Cuban woman visits the United States and discusses the state of the women in Cuba in 1989, 30 years after the communist revolution. She speaks of the improvement of women in the job market and in politics. However she also expresses concern that the women's servant-like role in the house has not changed. Topics such as divorce and abortion in Cuba are also raised. The woman has a translator.
Cuban Youth Program
A few visitors from Cuba discuss the state of Cuba in response to the trade embargo the United States is imposing on them. They also state that the United States is trying to coerce other countries to impose embargos on Cuba. They speak of Cuban struggles and their impressions of the United States.
Ariel Ricardo on Cuba
Date: 4/6/1980Call Number: LA 088AFormat: Cass AProducers: Atlanta Committee on Latin AmericaProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Cuba
This brief interview with Ariel Recardo, the press attaché at the Cuban Interest Section in Washington DC, speaks about the issues surrounding the birth of TV Martì as well as the possibility of new US military aggression against Cuba.
Che Guevara in New York - Radio Rebelde - Fidel Castro
Che Guevara in New York City 12/18/1963
Radio Rebelde (in Spanish) broadcast by radio Havana, Cuba in 1971 - towards the end is the first victory message by Fidel Castro over Radio Rebelde
A speech by Fidel Castro (date unknown)
Cuba’s new Family Law
Lincoln Bergman on fighting machismo and sexism in Cuba and the new Cuban Family Law
Commentary about the International Human Rights Tribunal on US war crimes in Vietnam and the struggle for Blacks in the US. Appeal to Black GIs encouraging them to refuse to fight in the Vietnam War.
US POW statements from captivity in Vietnam.
Pablo Armando Fernandez
Cuban poet Pablo Armando Fernandez reads in the SF Bay Area (possibly at Stanford University) in Spanish from "Libro de los Heroes".
Discussion on Cuban Communism
Raul Gomez Treto gives talk on the status of Cuban communism.
Andreas Gomez-U.S. Policy in Cuba
Journalist Andreas Gomez gives a lecture on the Cuban revolution and U.S. Policy in Cuba. Gomez opposes U.S. Policy in Cuba and speaks about the imprisonment of 35,000 Cuban prisoners arrested and held at Guantanamo while trying to go the United States. Through his personal experiences in Cuba he recalls the state of the country from 1993 to 1995, and the progress that has been made by the revolution in that time period.
Gomez's lecture straddles traditional political bounds. He describes life in Cuba at this time as against the grain of a socialist society, of Cuban beliefs and of the national consensus. He does however discuss how these factors are necessary in order to rehabilitate Cuba. He explains that the U.S. plans not to infiltrate but use other means that will have long term negative effects, and that the U.S. retaliation has no relevance to what is actually going on in Cuba.
The overall perspective of the lecture is one that strongly opposes the U.S. destruction of the Cuban Revolution, but also that Cuba is in a state that is not optimal but to support the Cubans so they can get what they need done to change their country in a positive way.
Tour of Havana Psychiatric Hospital-Part 1
A tour of the Havana psychiatric hospital system, of which parts use a translator from Spanish to English, reveals the conditions that make these hospitals more desirable than U.S. psychiatric hospitals; also depicting the high priority that the Cuban government gave the psychiatric hospitals during post-revolution times.
One patient describes an old hospital in Havana as not having enough beds, fights occurring between patients, and not being treated well. He describes the new facility as a positive environment where they were treated like humans and they did not feel like they were in prison. Additional interviews are conducted including current patients, U.S. nurses, and the directors of the facilities. One U.S. nurse describes the difference between the U.S. and Havana. She explains that the hospitals in Havana treat the patients with dignity and the patients don't feel like they are being rejected in the hospital, which creates a positive atmosphere. She describes the U.S. hospitals as having bad food, over medicating patients, instilling fear in patients, violence between patients and an overall depressed atmosphere. A director explains that every activity that a patient is involved in has to have a point. Activities include arts and crafts, music, working on farms, and working in a carpentry shop.
