At Stake in Cuba
Alexander, Robert J .
At Stake in Cuba Listen, Yankee, by C. Wright Mills. McGraw-Hill. 192 pp. $3.95 (cloth). Paper (Ballantine Books), 50 cents. Reviewed by Robert J. Alexander This is a highly interesting...
...These talks included three days spent in almost continuous discussion with Fidel Castro...
...As presented here, the full blame for the bad turn in Cuban-American relations rests with the United States government and the nefarious "monopolies...
...He offers the Castro government's justification of its growing tendencies towards totalitarianism and its exceedingly violent anti-Yankee-ism...
...nor to regiment labor, abolishing all collective bargaining and making it impossible for a worker to get a job except through the government employment service, in order to get an agrarian reform, economic development, and a greater degree of effective national independence...
...Mills presents the accomplishments of the Castro regime in terms of education, economic development, and reorganization of the agrarian economy...
...This is not the case...
...The arguments over the attitude of Castro towards this country are debatable...
...There is no doubt that the eight "letters" present a pretty accurate statement of the point of view of unquestioning supporters of the Castro regime...
...Using a novel technique, which may give rise to some misunderstanding among readers and critics, C. Wright Mills has sought to present what he conceives to be the voice of the Cuban revolutionaries...
...Mills implies that the Cubans really don't know what freedom is, or what democracy is, and they don't value them...
...But the challenge is not that one must go the way of Castro's Cuba or give up all thought of social revolution and economic development...
...Nor is it necessary, as Mills thinks, to establish a one-man dictatorship and impose totalitarianism, destroying all freedom of press, speech, and organization...
...Although Mills admits that he is not an "expert" on Latin American or even Cuban affairs, his book is based on personal observation...
...The book consists of three parts...
...Reviewed by Robert J. Alexander This is a highly interesting contribution to the growing shelf of books about the Cuban Revolution...
...Perhaps Mills himself does not believe all that he has his fictional correspondent write...
...Criticism is made somewhat difficult by the peculiar form of this book...
...During a survey of Cuba in July and August, 1960, he traveled from one end of the island to the other and spoke with people from all levels of society...
...Perhaps its acceptance comes from lack of historical perspective on the part of the author—and the Fidelis-tas...
...The real question raised by the Castro experience is whether democratic elements in both parts of the hemisphere will be able to rally behind social revolution with democracy before a large part of the hemisphere follows the Cuban example and opts for social revolution without democracy...
...Then follow eight "letters," written as if coming from a participant in the Cuban revolutionary regime...
...Finally, there is a kind of postscript, in which Mills sums up his own impressions of the Cuban Revolution...
...it is difficult to tell when he is expressing his own opinion, and when he is merely reflecting the feelings and ideas which he heard in Cuba...
...First is an introduction in which the author speaks directly to his audience...
...In a word, this thesis is that social revolution cannot be achieved in Cuba, or anywhere in Latin America, without totalitarianism...
...Such an argument docs little credit to the Cuban people for their century-long struggle for freedom and democracy...
...There is little doubt that the Castro revolution presents a challenge to all America — the United States as well as the Latin American nations...
...It is a fact that though Cuba has enjoyed democracy only infrequently, its people, or large segments of them, have not ceased to struggle for it since the first revolt against the Spaniards in 1868...
...However, I do not think that the thesis of the book with regard to the Castro regime's political evolution is defensible by anyone who believes in political democracy and social revolution...
Vol. 25 • January 1961 • No. 1
