Tuesday, December 02, 1980

1961: The day that Fidel Castro said: “Yo soy un Marxista Leninista”!



 

For much of the first two years of the so called “revolution,” Fidel Castro denied that he was a communist.  In fact, he did it on “Meet the Press” when he visited the U.S. in 1959.     Nevertheless, there were many people who had serious doubts, from Vice President Richard Nixon to many Cubans in the island.

On this day in 1961 Fidel Castro made it official:    

“”I am a Marxist-Leninist and shall be one until the end of my life.”He went on to state that, “Marxism or scientific socialism has become the revolutionary movement of the working class.”He also noted that communism would be the dominant force in Cuban politics:“There cannot be three or four movements.””   

And that was it!   It happened about seven months after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and ended any hopes of a multiparty election or restoration of the freedoms that the regime had eliminated by executive decree.  

Last, but not least,  Cubans were thrown in jail or executed in 1959-61 for calling Castro un “comunista.”   None of those people were ever released after Castro confirmed that he was “un communista.”  They stayed in prison, along with thousands of others.  

As my late father used to say, communists lie and then lie so more!  

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1823: The Monroe Doctrine


 
It all started as a message to Congress and became one of the most important foreign policy doctrines in US history.   We know it as The Monroe Doctrine.   

The declaration, drafted by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams intended to keep European powers from colonizing territory in Central and South America.   The US was also looking westward and did not want to compete with Europeans in North America.

"America for Americans" was the message.    Naturally, it had its critics and supporters over the years.   On balance, it worked well and kept European powers out of America, from North to South.

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.




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