The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-03-01
The Situation in Cuba
BY Fred Ellis

were abolished and open terrorism
reigned. Machado is now actual die
tator of Cuba. No other political
party is allowed to exist in Cuba.
At the last elections only per cent
of the population voted, the rest alb
stained because it could not put up
any candidate against Machado. Be-
hind Machado stands large police
force and American marines who
are always in Cuba on one pretext
or another, not only at the naval
stations, but in the interior as well.
Party Illegal.
In Cuba the Party is completely
illegal. In spite of that and in spite
of the terrible conditions which face
our comrades, the Party has doubled
its strength in the past year. 30
Iper cent of the party are industrial
workers both in the city and in the
country. The Party functions reg
ularly through nuclei and fractions
and is power to be reckoned with in
Cuba.
Due to the tremendous repression
by the Machado government, the
trade union movement has been
definitely smashed and is rapidly
disappearing completely. The re-
formist influence in Cuba Is prac-
tically nil. Only the railwaymen
had Joined the Pan-American Fede-
ration of Labor in Cuba, but even
they left the Pan-American Fedora
ton of Labor. The Cuban govern
ment does not permit any union to
exist that carries on a class strug-
gle policy. Everywhere spontaneous
strikes break out. In these strikes
the Communist Party usually has
the leadership and although the
various revolutionary unions have
been smashed, still the Communist
Party has been able to build small
militant groups in different indus
tries than on moments notice can
take hold and win the support of
large mass demonstrations and strike
movements.
The comrades maintain that with
a liberal situation in Cuba the Com
munist Party would be able to have
definitely the theological leadership
over the greatest part of the work
1ingclass in Cuba. However, all such
strike movements are put down with
a great deal of bloodshed. AS
have written above, last year alone
over 500 workers have been killed,
many of them sympathizers of the
Party and actual Party members.
Today in Cuba % Party members
are in Jail. Many of them are
destined never to return because
Jail in Cuba for a revolutionist
usually ends in death.
w. Co P. Must Aid.
The bare enumeration of the FORE
going facts must cause the prole-
tarians, particularly the Communist
section of it, to blush with deepest
shame at the fact that we know SO
little of the Cuban situation and
have done so little to help out the
Cuban comrades. Every appeal
that the Daily Worker makes is re-
sponded to by Cuban emigres in the
U. S. in Florida, in the South and
in the North, but when we question
ourselves about how much we have
aided the Cuban Party, then indeed
we must see why some Cuban COM
rades still count us as a part the
imperialist forces and not as
brothers who have really helped
them in the fight.
A most vigorous campaign must
now be launched in the U. S. against
the white terror of the U. S. govern
ment through its Machado puppet
rule in Cuba.
The most energetic support must
be given by the workingclass as a
whole, and the Party in particular,
to the struggles of Cuban masses
for national independence and for
complete emancipation. In this way
we will be able to make good the
deep obligations we owe to the Cuban
masses for our criminal negligence
lin the past