CASTRO!S APPEAL. FOR. EFFECTIVE AID TO VIETNAM
LIn commemoration of the martyrdom March 13, 1957, of the student leader José Antonio Echeverria and other members of the Revolutionary Directorate, Fidel Castro made an important speech in Havana which was reported in the European press under date of March 16 and referred to in World Outlook of March 19. The text of this speech now having become available we offer the following translation of the sections dealing with the situation in Vietnam and how Castro proposes it should be met.]
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The Revolution has powerful enemies -- it has in particular one powerful enemy, American imperialism. This enemy is: now threatening us and will continue to threaten us for a long time. This enemy will not easily become resigned -- although it has no other recourse -- to the revolutionary successes of our people. This enemy, not here, but thousands of miles away, attacks other peoples as it is at this moment attacking in criminal' fashion the people of North Vietnam and the revolutionary people of South Vietnam (applause).
This enemy intervenes in the Congo; this enemy sends its ships, its Marines and its planes to every. corner of the world; this enemy takes advantage of the lamentable divisions existing in the socialist camp. Unfortunately, it calculates, analyzes and profits from everything that might weaken the revolutionary front. — -
This means that present. circumstances are such that ail peoples are endangered -- our people as well as the others who, in all parts of the world, are struggling for their independence and their freedom. Thus there is no lack of dangers.
I am not going to dwell today on the problems of the divisions and discords in the socialist camp, problems which we are not yet prepared to discuss to the bottom; because the’ problem is not to talk for the sake of talking (applause), but to speak on definite things with definite objectives; the problem is to talk when something positive and useful can come from conversations and discussions and not something that is positive and useful only for imperialism and the enemies of the people.
But we, the small countries, who are not based on the armed force of millions of men, who are not based on atomic power; we, the little countries -- like Vietnam and like Cuba -- we have sufficient instinct to see calmly and to understand that these divisions and these discords that weaken the socialist camp particularly affect us who are in special situations -- here ninety miles from American imperialism, there under the attack of American planes.
We have no intention at this time of analyzing on the theore-
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tical level, the philosophical level, the questions in dispute, but of taking into account a great truth: in face of an enemy who is attacking, in face of an enemy who is becoming more and more aggressive, division has no grounds for existence, division has no sense (applause). And in every epoch of history, in every period of human-~ ity, since the first revolutionist appeared, since the time revolutions became social phenomena, since the time the masses acted instinctively up to the time they became.conscious, when tasks and phenomena became fully understood by the peoples -- which occurred when Marxism-Leninism appeared -- never has division in the face of the enemy been a correct strategy, a revolutionary strategy, an intelligent strategy.
We in this revolutionary process, we all became educated from the beginning in the idea that everything that divides weakens, that everything that disunites is bad for our people and good for imperialism, And the masses of our people understood, from the first moment, the necessity of unity, and unity became an essential question for the Revolution, unity became the unanimous cry of the masses, unity became the slogan of.-the whole people everywhere. And we ask if the imperialists have disappeared; we ask if the imperialists aren't attacking North Vietnam; we ask if men and women of the people aren't dying there (applause).
And whom can you convince, whom can you bring around to believing that this division is best, that this division is useful? Don't you see the strategy employed by. the imperialists to crush the revolutionary movement. of South Vietnam -- first attacking North Vietnam under pretext of taking reprisals, and then arrogating the right to attack whenever they please and to continue utilizing masses of planes against the combatants of South Vietnam?
What is the situation right now? Well, the imperialists are talking about a blockade, landing their Marines in South Vietnam, sending airplane carriers, mobilizing masses of planes to crush the revolutionary movement in * South Vietnam, about attacking the guerrilla fighters of South Vietnam with all the means at their disposal, while they reserve the right to attack North Vietnam whenever they please, about carrying this kind of air war to its very end, without any sacrifices on their side, by bombing missions of hundreds of planes with the luxury of following up with helicopters to.rescue the pilots brought down. It is evident that the imperialists want a very pleasant kind of war. It is evident that the imperialists want a kind of war that only involves industrial losses; that is "so many planes lost."
It is evident that the people of South Vietnam and the people of North Vietnam are the victims of all this, and that they are doing the suffering, because there are men and women who are dying there, victims of machine-gunning and victims of American bombings. And the Americans declare without the slightest hesitation that they propose to continue to the very end because even the attacks against
North Vietnam have not silenced the divisions within the socialist family. And who can doubt that this division encourages the imperialists? Who can doubt that a united front in face of the imperial-~ ist enemy would have made them hesitate, would have made them think ‘before launching these adventurous attacks and their more and more impudent intervention in this part of the world? Can they convince anyone? With what arguments and with what logic? And who are the beneficiaries? The imperialists. Who are the victims? The Vietnamese. And who suffers from it? The prestige of socialism, the prestige of the international Communist movement, the international revolutionary movement, and this is genuinely painful to us, because for us the words "freedom movement" are not demagogic words, but a slogan that we have always felt deeply.
Because we are a small country that does not aspire to become the center of the world; because we are a small country that does aspire to become a world revolutionary center. And when we speak of these problems, we speak with absolute sincerity; we are absolutely disinterested; we who gained revolutionary power not through bourgeois elections but arms in hand. We speak in the name of an. unbreakable people who for six years have resisted without the leas hesitation against the attacks and the threats of imperialism ~~ (applause); we speak in the name of a people who have not hesitated, who are for a strong revolutionary movement, for firmness and deter~ mination in defending the Revolution against the imperialists, who did not hesitate to face the. dangers of thermonuclear war, even in our country and on our territory, when, exercising our full right (which we do not disavow) and through an absolutely legitimate act of which we will never repent, we agreed on installing strategic thermonuclear projectiles,
And, in addition, not only were we in agreement that they should be brought here, but we were not in agreement that they should be taken away (applause). And I.believe that this is no secret to anyone,
-We speak in the name of a country and a people that is receiving neither American credits, nor supplies for peace, and which has no relation with the imperialists, This means that in the question of revolutionary conviction and sincerity, no one can give us lessons, just as no one could give lessons to our liberators of 1895 and-of 1868 in following the road of independence and dignity (applause), We are the people of the First and the Second Declaration of Havana, a Declaration which we didn't copy from something else, but which was the expression of the profoundly revolutionary and highly internationalist spirit of our people.
In view of the fact that these are the feelings and the 5 thought of our revolution, and that we have demonstrated it as often as necessary without hesitation of any kind, without submission of any sort, and without the least opposition, we have the right to ask -- the same as many other peoples must ask themselves -- who profits
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from these discords if it is not our enemies?
And obviously we are within our rights, it is our full right -- and I believe that no will.dare to deny it -- to proscribe from our country and from among our people these discords and these byzantine battles.
It is worth indicating that here it is our party that conducts propaganda (applause); it is our party that gives the line, that this is a question that-for us concerns our jurisdiction and that if we don't want anyone to bring the apple of discord here, no one can smuggle it in as contraband, and, finally, that our enemies, our only enemies, are the American imperialists ftapplause), our only insurmountable contradiction is with American imperialism (applause); the only adversary against whom we are inclined to cross swords is imperialism,
As for the rest, we don't understand any other language, we don't understand the language of division. And in face of the con= crete case of a country suffering the aggression of imperialisn, like Vietnam, we have one and only one position. ...
We are not the kind to-become terrorized at these happenings; on the contrary -- and our position is clear -- we think Vietnam should be given all the necessary aid (applause) ; we are in favor of aid in arms and men (applause); we are for the socialist camp risking everything required for Vietnam. (Cries of "Fidel, Fidel, give the Yankees hellt" "Cuba and Vietnam; we will wint" Prolonged applause. )
We are perfectly aware that at the least international complication, we will be one of the first targets of imperialism; but this does not disturb us and has never disturbed us; and we will not take the position of remaining silent and acting like idiots in hope they will spare us (applause).
Frankly, and in all sincerity, our reasoned, unemotional position, derives from our right to think, to reason, derives from our legitimate and inviolable right to take measures and to act as seems most correct and most revolutionary to us, and let no one be under the illusion that he can give us lessons in revolution (applause). ,
And I hope that no one will make the mistake of underestimating or ignoring the temperament of our people; because American imperialism has committed tons of errors of this kind; because one of its characteristics is to despise and underestimate small countries, and this imperialism has committed enormous errors in-underestimating our revolutionary people; it would be lamentable for others to commit similar errors. Our sincere policy has been and remains that of uniting because we are not and never will be anyone's satellite (applause). And we have maintained a very reasonable, very
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honest and very sincere position throughout this problem,
This is not the time to be rummaging in the records and archives. I believe that when imperialism is at our doors attacking us, it is ridiculous to lose time in arguing as they did in the fable about finding out if they were hares or rabbits and whether they were made out of iron or paper. Let's leave aside the historic records and archives and let History say who acted correctly or not; let History show everything that each one thought, everything that each one did and said, but let History do it. Because it is shameful to wash dirty linen in the face of the enemy, and above all enemies who are not attacking the most powerful but the smallest and the weakest (applause).
. We have much to do, We.are faced with many very hard and very difficult tasks: millions of tons of cane to cut in order to beat the American blockade, and they are not cut with paper, but with work, with sweat; they are cut with the machete.
_ Great perils threaten us, but you don't struggle against them with byzantine discords, with academic talk; no, you fight them with revolutionary firmness, revolutionary honesty, an inclination to struggle. You can't fight in an effective way against the imperialist enemy anywhere in the world with divided revolutionaries, with revolutionaries who insult each other, who attack each others; on the contrary, unity and cohesion are necessary in the revolutionary ranks to combat them, And to those who believe that this tactic is not correct for the international Communist movement, we assert that for us here, in our little island, in our territory, in the front-line trenches, ninety miles from the imperialists, it is really the most correct (applause).
And we will regulate our line and our conduct in accordance with this idea. ... © :
WILSON'S FOREIGN POLICY UNDER ATTACK
LONDON, March 29 =~ There is mounting pressure upon the Wilson administration for a change in its Tory-aping foreign policy, particularly over its shameful support of American imperialism's escalation of the dirty, reckless war against the people of Vietnam. Not only have the powerful Transport and General Workers! Union and the National Union of Railwaymen formalized the grass-roots protests, long evident within the working class, by official resolution; not only has parliamentary opposition within the Labour party crystallized around a motion now signed by some 90 members and been under= scored by the resignation.of Frank Alaun from a junior post in the Wilson government; but the pro-Labour journals long the mainstay of
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Wilson, like Tribune and the New Statesman, have become increasingly sharp in their criticism on this issue. Even The Times, that solid organ of the Establishment, has found it necessary to sound a note of caution -- lest Wilson .go too far in alienating popular support in his adjustment to “reality” -- and to-recall the social nature of the Vietnam war he is trying to gloss over, “The more liberal bour= -geois daily, the Guardian, has for some time been pressing similar arguments upon the Labour government.
The stepping-up of the arrogant and provocative bombings of North Vietnam and the boastful use of-napaim and especially of gas, banned. by international convention, has spurred the protest movement to a higher pitch in the course of the past week. Many Labour mem-" bers not associated with the usual so-called left wing, but rather with the center and even the right wing -- like Philip Noel-Baker, Reginald Paget and Arthur Henderson, including also a vice-chairman of the group, Arthur Blenkinsop and several junior ministérs -- have
participate in a petition handed in to the U.S. embassy here, as well as in a telegram setting forth these views to Michael Stewart, the foreign secretary, who had been in Washington conferring with Johnson and Rusk on the subject.
As a result, Wilson in parliament, as well as Stewart in Washington, have been forced for the first time to utter a few feeble ‘words tending to dissociate Britain from American imperialism's Vietnam war line, even as they were continuing to equivocate about their "general support" of it. No doubt, the existence of a cohesive and powerful Marxist wing in the Labour party could have organized this pressure much earlier, much more effectively and with far greater damage to the hold of Wilson's opportunism over the labour movement here. But even so the true feelings of revulsion within the working class, and the population generally, against any association with Washington's predatory war in the Far East are making themselves heard loudly and resoundingly enough to embarrass both Wilson and Co. and the Johnson administration, and perhaps to stay the hand of the latter in its nefarious escalation plans announced to come,:::: It still remains to be seen whether the masters of the Pentagon will "show decent respect for the opinions of mankind" as Stewart, citing the Declaration of Independence, urged them to do. |
Gertainly, only massive protest actions that will dramatically demonstrate the revulsion of the mass of the population to the slaughter of a people and expose the craven collusion of Wilson and Co. with its perpetrators -- as Bertrand Russell, to his honor, has taken the most prominent lead in urging and demanding -- can arouse Britain and America from apathy before the nuclear brink is reached.
The uneasiness of the British Establishment in this situation is reflected in a leading editorial in The Times, which while patting Wilson on the back for "facing realities,” reminds him of the
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speciously. motivated turnabout he has made regarding extension of . the war in Vietnam since he became prime minister, and then admon-= ishes him: "It is all too easy to over-simplify Vietnam and regard it solely as a confrontation between powers. . The origins of the war remain those of a civil war, and there can be no solution that over= looks this fact. . . Without letting the United States down, the British Government can best help by keeping the way open for negotiations which Americans do not exclude as their ultimate objective," (March 16 == our emphasis, )
'It is indeed tragic that the social root of the problem has to be pointed out to the Labour leader by an organ of the ruling class, fearful of being overwhelmed by the growing recognition of | this fact in ever wider layers.of the population here and everywhere. And this.also accounts for.the more strident tone in the hitherto pusillanimous Labour left and their press: "What is Mr. Wilson Waiting For?" (New Statesman), "Support the Americans who Speak for Peace!" (Tribune). It is only just occurring to them that the leadership is the one that is really rocking the Labour boat which they fear capsizing.