Hubert Humphrey March 4. In a 2,400-word speech, the voluble darling of the top AFL-CIO officialdom wove, ducked and dodged, averring that the commission's conclusion about the U.S. moving toward a racially separated and unequal society "may be true" but "is open to some challenge."
On the findings of the commission, Humphrey said: "We have known about those needs for some time. Why haven't we done something? The answer is that we have been doing something."
Besides the good deeds of the Johnson administration in this field,
Humphrey found other favorable things
that had not been noticed by the commis-
sion. Hundreds of businessmen, he said,
"WEAVING, DUCKING AND DODGING"
are responding to the call of the govern-
ment to provide jobs and recreation for
youth next summer.
There is a "new willingness," too,
among businessmen to provide jobs, hous-
ing and financial backing to slum resi-
dents. And the building trade unions have
promised to open up their apprenticeship
training programs to disadvantaged young
adults.
And that's not all. "On college
campuses across the country," said John-
son's good left arm, “once you tune out
the angry shouts of a noisy few, you see
an unprecedented sense of social respon-
sibility."
There were no reports on how well
Humphrey's oratorical performance had
satisfied his commander in chief.
REPORT BY MAJOR RAUL CASTRO ON ACTIVITIES OF ANIBAL ESCALANTE GROUP
[Continued from last week. ]
@ Another Quesada manuscript
Manuscript No. 2 of Dr. Quesada.
(I'll pass over several pages and concentrate on the more important aspects.)
(He began here:) "Anibal was seen as a figure symbolic of our stand, so that his rehabilitation would represent the longed-for rectification, although that was not the only possible way. I believe there were three trends: one, recognition by history; two, expectation of rectification coming from Fidel himself through his facing reality; three, one which wished to do something to help things along. This last was the trend represented by Anibal, and it explains the origin of the whole issue; others certainly saw the situation in another light. Throughout, there was thought of the risk that the Revolution was running if the rectification were not effected soon.
"In the course of this situation, political prejudices and obsessions were accentuated which prevented things from being seen in perspective and did not permit our arriving at the most objective conclusions. Actually, I don't remember any profound analysis of things.
"This prejudice led us to exaggerate the negative elements in the Revolution's work, and to lack a positive attitude toward things. Minds working in the midst of such contradiction could not generate enthusiasm in carrying out the tasks of the Revolution, nor, absurdly enough, perhaps, could our very conception of things.
"How to work with Fidel, a thing historically necessary for the progress of the Revolution, without ridding oneself of these prejudices?
"As to the persons in the leadership of the Revolution, the group had confidence in Fidel and Rail, and I also had faith in Dorticés, whom I respected. Regarding other comrades, in general, we underestimated them and denied the possibility of their developing.
"But in the area of concepts the question of personalities did not matter; what mattered was the general conception of things. I was unable to have a true personal opinion owing to lack of knowledge, but let myself be led by. the general consensus, my baseline being the political position. That explains conversations where, in the heat of political passion, rather unelegant things were said.
"As for some comrades, they were considered Communists because they shared
those ideas, regardless of their human
weaknesses. They were considered firm in
their convictions, and the rest was tol-
erated.
"In this process revolutionary
fervor was lost and we fell into the
morass of these contradictions, forget-
ting that the process was leaving us be-
hind.
"Regarding the figure of Anibal,
we thought that the European socialist
countries, especially the USSR, viewed
him as a guarantee that Cuba would con-
tinue to follow a policy that coincided
with theirs; that they had more confi-
dence in him than in Fidel, and this
would force the 'rectification.'
"In general, we saw an upward
swing in the initial stage of the Revo-
lution because Fidel was incorporated
into the Party. Later, this trend, hav-
ing been broken in the process against
sectarianism, could only be restored by
a return to the same path.
"Many long-time militants who did
not accept these things were viewed as
opportunists who had adopted such posi-
tions to retain their posts and their
comfort, who were insincere in their
convictions and denied their own past."
(Those whom they accused of being trai-
tors and sell-outs.)
(And Quesada continued:) "The
anticommunist is defined by its position
in the face of the enemy. All who strug-
gle against imperialism, whatever their
ideology be, serve the cause of commu-
nism; that is essential, and we lost
track of that truth and created preju-
dices. The general (correct), strategy
of communism is peace, but it entails
tactical sacrifices, engenders new forms.
(We were unable to understand this.)
"1. The enemy and the real possi-
bility of aid from friends are what de-
termine tactics. To understand what is
happening in the socialist camp (and the
internal forces, also).
"2. To employ the flanking tactic
against imperialisn.
"3. We have gotten lost as to the
form and not as to the essence of the
issue in international and domestic af-
fairs.
"4, A concept that prevented mu-
tual confidence and brought about nega-
tive results.
"S. Understanding of why the Rev-
olution had to act as it did with Anibal.
"a. Recognition of the historic process. "b. To see, he said, the future of the Revolution.
"ec. To have the sectarians destroy sectarianisn.
"The Revolution needs its own theory. Our group never made a profound analysis of all elements; it was enmeshed in an old formula that was unrelated to historical reality and had no possibility of success. Serious analysis was replaced by passion; we remained in the past, unable to see the future in perspective. I have understood that it was an antihistorical conception and a chimera to force that situation. I was unable to arrive at an understanding in time, since I was blinded by passion, and only when confronted with the reality of the process was I able to see that it was a blind alley. Passion prevented me from seeing things otherwise.
"The true communist attitude would have been to contribute to Marxism, to stimulate the task of building communism and to struggle against imperialism, to liquidate the residue of this chimera and to contribute to the strengthening of domestic unity, to be able to arrive at the point at which prejudices didn't hinder sincere collaboration by those who could contribute to the construction of communism, and endeavor to have the image of Fidel emerge pure, as that is what history requires.
"1. To understand that the maintenance of this kind of illusion has been a chimera.
"2. That these illusions have danaged the Revolution.
"3. To facilitate their total liquidation.
"4. The only communist attitude is to understand that one must give unconditional help to the Revolution. Not to hide behind resentment or distrust, because that hinders work and leads to errors. "5. Not to lose sight of the fundamental thing.
"Centering about Anibal, we thought in terms of a systematic escalation of political promotions, a thing which did not permit more profound analysis. One must understand that there was a contradiction between this conception and the strategy of the leadership of the Revolution that had to be resolved in favor of the strategy of the Revolution's leadership.
"The lack of understanding of the Revolution's strategy, which, since we could not explain it to ourselves, generated passionate political distrust."
(Here he sreates a formula:) "System of reactivation plus contradiction with the strategy of the Revolution = the need to paralyze the phenomenon.
"Revolution imperialisn.
strategy = counter-
"Revolution - strategy = confuses certain revolutionaries."
(We quote textually.)
Manuscript No. 3 of Dr. Quesada.
“Analysis of the conception of the problem of sectarianism; role of the USSR; Anibal, activities, my contact abroad, my concrete contacts, forms of contact, ori-~ entation that came from higher up, articles and