REPORT ON CUBAN PROPAGANDA -- NO.4 HAVANA'S REVOLUTIONARY PROGRAM FOR LATIN AMERICA
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Publication Date:
February 19, 1963
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REPORT
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19 FEBRUARY 1963
HAVANA?S REVOLUTIONARY PROGRAM FOR LATIN AMERICA
PART A. REVOLUTIONARY AIMS
Inevitability of Hemisphere-Wide.Revolt ... a a a a a. a a a 1
Propagation of the Cuban "Example" . a a a. a+ a?. a a a a a 5
Sense of Urgency Since the Cuban Crisis . . . . a a . . a . + 12
PART Be MAJOR PROPAGANDA THEMES
The Alliance for Progress a. s a e. e? a a a r.. a. a 16
"Imperialist Exploitation" e e . . a ? . . . . . . . . . . a o a 19
Representative Democracy . a ? . . . a ? e . e + a a a ? a . a o 22
PART C. NATIONAL PRIORITIES
Venezuela .. a a a. a a a a... a e... a.? a a a a a. 24
Central America ....?? e. a a a a. a a a a e a.. a a a 28
Dominican Republic a . a ? a a a . . a . . . ? a . . a a a . a a 30
Peru a a.. a a a.. a a a. a a a. a. a a. a a a a.. a a 31
Data on the scope and mechanics of Havana's international broadcast-
ing and on the extent of PRENSA LATINA's operations will be found on
pages 34-36.
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19 FEBRUARY 1963
HAVANA'S REVOLUTIONARY PROGRAM FOR LATIN AMERICA
Sum ar
PART A. REVOLUTIONARY AIMS
From the earliest days of the regime, Castro and his propagandists
have advertised Cuba's revolution as the model for the rest of Latin
America and the spark that will set in motion an inexorable process
of revolt. In the past year the prognosis has been carried a step
further to envision the ultimate embrace of "socialism" by all of
Latin America. The Second Declaration of Havana, proclaimed by
Castro in February 1962 as Cuba's answer to the Punta del Este con-
ference, has served as the manifesto for this movement. Keynoted by
this document, Cuban propaganda has given copious encouragement to
revolutionaries throughout the hemisphere. It has proffered militant
"support," but in terms vague enough to conceal the limitations on
Cuba's capability to provide material aid. Castro was atypically
and rashly explicit in promising in April 1960, at a time when he
was making friendly overtures to President Betancourt, that Cuba
would be ready to assist the Venezuelans with "men and weapons" if
tyranny should ever return to their country. Such promises have
been studiously avoided since Castro turned against Betancourt and
began urging the Venezuelans to rebel.
The calls to revolutionary action this year have carried a new sense
of urgency, which may be reactive in large part to Castro's loss
of face in the hemisphere during the October crisis. The statement
in the Second Declaration of Havana that the role of a revolutionary
is not to sit passively in his doorway "and watch the corpse of
imperialism go by" was revived by Castro in his 2 January speech
and has found an echo in stepped-up propaganda appeals for insur-
rection.
PART B. MAJOR PROPAGANDA THEMES
The Alliance for Progress, under constant Cuban attack since its
inception, has been used in Havana's propaganda to symbolize the
bankruptcy of a political-social system tied to the United States.
Attacks on the Alliance haveincreased since the Cuban crisis, along
with the intensification of the effort to encourage overthrow of the
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19 FEBRUARY 1963
system, Interlaced with the attacks on the Alliance, and pervading
Cuban propaganda to and about the hemisphere, is the older stock
theme of "imperialist exploitation," Representative democracy is
scorned as representative only of the exploiters, with a recent
concentration on this theme keyed to the elections in Paraguay
and Nicaragua. Threaded through the propaganda on all these themes
is the notion that only radical, revolutionary action in the Cuban
pattern can bring independence and true democracy to the hemisphere,
PART C. NATIONAL PRIORITIES
Venezuela has been singled out since the beginning of Castro's
regime as particularly close to Cuba in outlook and historical
background and hence as the country which should logically be the
first to turn to Castroism, Lavish in his praise of the Venezuelan
government in early 1959, when he was warmly welcomed on a visit to
Caracas, Castro cooled noticeably toward President Betancourt follow-
ing the San Jose OAS meeting late in 1960, Havana,-has .since_,
developed a vicious propaganda campaign against Betancourt that
has added up to the most sustained and most extensive effort at
subversion directed against any single hemisphere regime,
Central America has occupied second place after Venezuela as a
major target of incitement propaganda, with the Dominican Republic
a close third, Radio Havana currently operates special radio
services addressed to the Dominican Republic and to Peru, which
has become a target of incendiary propaganda since the October
crisis, Paraguay's government came in for considerable attack at
the time of the recent elections; and the regimes in Argentina,
Colombia, and Ecuador have been frequently censured, although there
has been little in the nature of direct incitement to revolt in these
countries. Havana's propaganda is most cordial--and most careful--
in its treatment of Mexico and Brazil, and relatively friendly to-
ward Chile, Uruguay, and Bolivia. All five countries still maintain
diplomatic relations with Castro,
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HAVANA'S REVOLUTIONARY PROGRAM FOR LATIN AMERICA
A. REVOLUTIONARY AIMS
id Inevitability of Hemisphere-Wide Revolt
The concept of Cuba's revolution as the model for the rest of Latin
America and the spark that will touch off hemisphere-wide revolt has
been propagated by Castro and regime spokesmen since the earliest days
of the revolution, From the outset Cuban spokesmen have professed confi-
dence that in time all the other countries of Latin America will follow
Cuba's example, sweep out the old governments, establish new regimes on
the Castro model, and break all ties with "U.S. imperialism." During
the past year the prognosis has been carried a step further to envision the
ultimate embrace of "socialism" by all of Latin America. In the first
year of Castroism, Raul Castro asserted that the Cuban revolution already
had had widespread repercussions throughout the hemisphere. It had
proved to Latin America, he said, that "what appeared impossible has
been achieved," Nothing, he continued, had created greater expectations
in Latin America than the Cuban agrarian reform, and all of this placed
a great moral "responsibility" on Cubas
"We are a small country with great responsibility. We are ex-
ploring historical paths of new Latin American independence.
Our revolution is a lighthouse of hope casting its beam over
our sister countries, The Cuban revolution--revolution of our
small country--has stirred 200 million Latin Americans."
In a meeting honoring 26 July martyrs on 14 March 1960, with Fidel Castro
present on the rostrum, a speaker forecast that "the Cuban revolution
will spread throughout all Latin America so that the:Latin Americans can
wage war against imperialist aggression." On 3 August 1960 Fidel Castro
declareds
All of America will one day awaken and the people of America
will take care of all these gangsters, and what happened in
Cuba will be repeated in all America some day. And if they
call us continental revolutionaries because we say this, let
them do it. If they accuse us of wanting a revolution in all
Latin America because we say this, let them accuse us. The
fate of America is clears No matter how hard the empire may
try to suffocate the revolutions in America, it will be
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In his speech on the third anniversary of victory of the revolution, on
2 January 1962, Castro announced the calling of the "Second National
General Assembly of the Cuban People" to draft Cuba?s answer to the
action to be taken by the OAS foreign ministers at the scheduled Punta
.del Este meeting, In that speech he pictured a Latin American revolutionary
movement already in process "There is today [in America] a liberation
struggle which, to our country?s honor, began in Cuba." The formal
proclamation of Cubans tutelage of Latin American revolution was issued
two days later, in the "Second Declaration of Havana" adopted at the
"Second National General Assembly" following the OAS severance of rela-
tions with Cuba at Punta del Este, The Cuban propaganda machine has
since taken its cue from these among other statements in the Declaration:
"Cuba is a special sore spot for the imperialists,,,,
The cause for this is fear, not fear of the Cuban revolution
but fear of the Latin American revolution,,,. In their
delirium the imperialists claim that Cuba exports revolution,
Their usurious, mercantile minds conceive the idea that revolu-
tions can be bought, sold, hired, loaned, exported, or imported
like any product,"
"In many Latin American countries revolutions are today in-
evitable, That does not depend on the will of anyone, It is
determined by the frightful conditions of exploitation in which
the people in the Americas live, the development of the revolu-
tionary conscience of the masses, the world crisis of imperialism,
and the universal movement of struggle of the subjugated peoples,
The unrest today is the unequivocal symptom of rebellion,"
"What Cuba can give the nations it has given already, that is?
the example. What does the Cuban revolution teach? That the
revolution is possible, that the people can make it, that in the
present-day world no force is strong enough to prevent the
liberation movement of peoples."
Two days later Cuban commentator Luis Gomez Wanguemert commented in a
television broadcast on Castro's presentation of the Declarations
Dr. Fidel Castro spoke with the voice of the Americas, with the
voice of the hemisphere, when he read those parts of the Declara-
tion that declare that revolution is possible and that in the
contemporary world there is no force capable of obstructing the
liberation movement of the peoples.
Revolutions cannot be exported. They are being made by the
peoples, according to the Second Declaration. What Cuba can
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133 FEBRUARY 1963
give to the peoples--and has already given to them--is a
luminous example that will bear fruit in the Americas and in
the world, whatever the United States might do.
Cuban Education Minister Armando Hart ex!anded on this theme in Montevideo,
at a meeting on the 1962 anniversary of the 26 July movement:
"The revolutionary vanguards and revolutionary peoples will
know, according to their own consciences, how to advance the
revolution or delay it, make it more bloody or less bloody.
But what cannot be stopped is the inevitable victory and the
advance of revolutionary progress throughout the world....
No country exports its revolution. The Cuban revolution has
not been exported. Socialism was born in Cuba because of
specific conditions and in opposition to specific criticisms,
but socialism was born in Cuba.... Cuba has only given an
example. Cuba simply points to the road, The Cuban revolution
does not transfer its example mechanically, for instance.
Each people of America, under their own conditions and in
their own situation and circumstances, will at the proper
time do what they must do."
The Second Declaration was republished in full in REVOLUCION on the eve
of this year?s anniversary of the victory of the Cuban revolution. And
a month later Havana media gave heavy play to the first anniversary of
the Declaration, with recordings of Castro reading portions of the docu-
ment broadcast repeatedly in domestic and international transmissions.
Leftist speakers and publications from various Latin American countries
were quoted on the anniversary in praise of the Declaration. A message
from the Sino-Cuban Friendship Association transmitted by PRENSA LATINA
on 5 February, commenting on the "great vitality" shown by the doctrine
in its first year, added: "It is certain that it will exert an ever-
growing influence over the Cuban revolution and the struggle of the
oppressed Latin American peoples."*
the Peking radio marked the anniversary with some 35 broadcasts relaying
militant greetings to Havana from Chinese Communist mass organizations
and "oppressed" South Americans, Peking's propaganda included publicity.
for editorials in the Cuban press and in the newspapers of pro-Peking
North Korea and Albania, all holding up the Cuban revolution as a model
for Latin America as a whole. Moscow, which had originally welcomed the
Second Declaration with some 100 broadcasts in February 1962, ignored the
anniversary entirely, More recently, Moscow failed to mention (while
Peking publicized) the "special resolution" passed by the Afro-Asian
Solidarity Conference in Moshi, Tanganyika, welcoming an invitation from
Castro to hold an Afro-Asian-Latin American meeting in Havana this year.
Moscow generally played down the Peking-dominated Tanganyika meetings at
which a Cuban "observer" was greeted with "cheers" when he called Cuba
"the fatherland of all our brothers of Africa and Asia." The Cuban
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Havana's own summation of the import of Castro's manifesto for the
hemisphere was provided by PRENSA LATINA on 4 February3
"The Second Declaration is the Communist Manifesto of our
times for Latin America, says the morning paper REVOLUCION.
The Second Declaration of Havana is still, with as much
force as the day Fidel read it.,.a guide for action and the
charter of freedom for the Latin American peoples, REVOLUCION
adds. Venezuela, Peru, and Colombia are today witnessing
the heroism of their sons, of many of their sons, imbued
with the revolutionary spirit that pervades the Second
Declaration, which is a document that gains in current value
daily because it is complemented by the revolutionary action
of our brothers in Latin America who by an irreversible
process have already begun the revolutionary struggle,
stimulated by the matchless example of the Cuban revolution."
Commentator Jerez, on Havana TV on 5 February, added some color to
REVOLUCION's summation;
"The present panorama of our continent confirms the correctness
of the Second Declaration of Havana--an historic document.,.
The Cuban people today are in the vanguard of the entire
continent. The island of American freedom is an efficient
watchtower from which the reality of the entire continent
can be seen in the light of Cuba's triumphant experience.
It is a document which tells the terrible truth about Latin
America; which points the finger at the guilty; and which pro-
claims that the revolution is inevitable."
Propagation of the Cuban "Examp1e"
Sheltered by the slogan that revolution is not for export, Havana pub-
licity media have advertised Cuban sympathy and support for guerrilla
actions, subversion, and agitation throughout the hemisphere in a
speaker's remark accorded with the language of the Second Declaration
of Havana.- "What is the history of Cuba but the history of Latin
America," the Declaration states, "and what is the history of Latin
America but the history of Asia, Africa, and Oceania?" For a discussion
of the Peking-Havana affinity on the subject of militant revolution,
and some evidence of Soviet apprehensions about Castro's approach, see
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steady flow of voluminous propaganda addressed to Latin American and
other audiences abroad,,* The principal customary format is the ostensibly
factual news report, editorialized by use of the terms "revolutionaries"
or "patriots" and by references to the governments at which the action
is directed as "puppet governments" or "tools of imperialism," The
following extract from a Havana broadcast to Latin America on 14 Feb-
ruary 1963 illustrates the inflammatory "reportage" currently concentrated
on Venezuelan
"Romulo Betancourt's government is writing one of the last
chapters in its story of bloodshed in the midst of a people
who are hoisting with anger and with courage the slogan of
freedom or death,," The tactical units of the National Libera-
tion Army in Caracas have demonstrated the insurrectional power
of the people. Seventeen great fires in Caracas bear witness
that "resistance to the dictatorship is growing, reaching
ever greater sections of the population."
The following service message, filed on 8 February 1963 by the PRENSA
LATINA office in Montevideo to the home office in Havana, sheds some
light on the reception this blatant propaganda approach has had, The
PRENSA LATINA correspondent offered, with an apology for his frankness,
his judgment that two propaganda articles sent from Havana for publica-
tion in Montevideo would be counterproductive because of their lack of
subtlety,,
"These two articles can without doubt be published in some
Cuban magazine, but it is necessary to keep in mind that they
have been sent abroad, and therefore the angle must be distinct.
One cannot speak of "our heroic people" and things like that.
One cannot give the impression of making cheap propaganda,
It is necessary to transmit abroad a picture of reality in
Cuba which has great quality,,.,. This should be done with
absolute objectivity--and objectivity does not, I repeat, does
not mean to take sides. Excuse the frankness of these judgments,
but that is the truth, and if we do not adopt that criterion
our special services will not make the pages of our clients'
newspapers here."
But Castro's propaganda machine, at least at its present stage, leaves
little room for subtlety. If anything more blatantly zealous now than
See the Appendix to this report for a review of the extent of Havana's
international broadcasting effort.
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a year ago, the propaganda directed to the hemisphere has been open in
its assertion of Castro's revolutionary mandate and has sustained the
spirit of a commentary for Latin American listeners on 4+ October 19624
in which Radio Havana responded defiantly to U0S, complaints about
Cuban propaganda1
"The UPI says that Radio Havana makes propaganda and that it
urges the people of Latin America to overthrow their govern-
ments and shake off the yoke of Yankee imperialismd Fines
In the first place it should be said that Radio Havana has taken
upon itself to disseminate. the gains made by our people in
three years and nine months. of revolution, We are sorry, but
we will continue to inform the people of Latin America and the
entire world what the Cuban revolution is doing every day.
The U,S, Government would, of course, prefer that Radio
Havana did not exist, so that the people of the world could not
know what the Cuban revolution has done,,.. On this program
we have disclosed dozens of lies which U.S. newspapers tell about
our revolution."
The mission of Havana publicity media was stated baldly by Castro at a
meeting of technical advisers in Havana on 12 February 1961s
Now they are worried about a radio transmitter Havana is going
to set up, As of today, Cuba is going to declare that if the
United States has the right to promote counterrevolution in
Cuba and in Latin America, Cuba has the right to encourage
revolution in Latin America.
In his speech presenting the Second Declaration of Havana, Castro pro-
vided his own definition of what the "imperialists" call subversions
"For the Yankee imperialists, subversion means the struggle of
the starving people for bread; it is the struggle of the peasants
for land; it is the struggle of the people against imperialist
exploitation,"
Education Minister Armando Hart, in Montevideo on 26 July 1962, spelled
out some guidelines for the "struggle"s
"When the imperialist bourgeoisie, allied with the national
oligarchies of the people of our countries, close the road
for the peaceful movement of the masses, then the masses must,
of necessity, choose the path of armed rebellion; and if
they do not, they commit a great mistake. They commit a
great mistake if they do not rebel when it is the moment for
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rebellion, just as they commit a great mistake if the
rebellion is launched when the time for rebellion is not -at
hand,,.,
Guerrilla war has the virtue of incorporating, in a definite
form of struggle, the peasantry--a historical force that, in
our undeveloped countries and in those which have not
succeeded in attaining a high level of industrial development,
will play and does play a role of extraordinary importance in
the unfolding of the revolutionary process,"
A year later, on 23 January 1963, Bias Roca was outspoken in publicly
endorsing the current guerrilla action in Venezuela, in a speech on the
fifth anniversary of the ouster of Perez Jimenez:
Romulo [Betancourt] kills students and women, workers and
peasants, He jails every representative of the people that
he can catch and tortures them, But he cannot hold back the
victory of the Venezuelan people, We honor the Venezuelan
guerrillas; the combat units; the labor unions which fight
daily; the students who fight constantly against the tyranny;
the men and women; the parties; and the National Liberation
Front, We know that the government offensive will fail and
that the Venezuelan people will win, "We shall continue to
give our support, each day in greater proportions, to the
Venezuelan people," They will not be alone in their fight.
Spokesmen for the regime have resorted to a calculated vagueness about
the extent of such "support?" The propaganda, thus appears to reflect
the actual limitations . on- Cuba's'capabili-ty to provide material aid-wand
a desire not to weaken the impact of the verbal agitation by acknowledging
the extent of those limitations, In addition, an open admission of material
support would give the lie directly to the assurances that Cuba simply
provides the "example," Castro was atypically and rashly explicit in
promising on 23 April 1960, at a time when his regime was cordial toward
the Venezuelan government, that
if we ever see the Venezuelan people threatened with a return
to the era of tyranny and oppression` the Cuban people will be
ready to assist them with men and weapons, Our success s tt~eeir
success,
Nothing has been said about Cuban material support in Havana's more recent
propaganda urging the "Venezuelan people" to step up guerrilla actions
against President Betancourt,*
The olut on of Havana?sprp ands treatment of Venezuela is traced
in detail In Part C of this report,
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Havana broadcasts customarily either ignore reports of tangible Cuban aid
to revolutionaries abroad or respond with countercharge or ridicule,
short of outright denial. The more widely publicized charges by other
Latin American governments are normally recognized by the Havana radio,
+ For example, when President Betancourt charged before OAS officials
that Cuba was responsible for the oilfield sabotage at the end of the
Caribbean crisis, Havana publicized the charges, its commentators
sneeringly remarking that all Betancourt was able to do was make
fantastic charges against Cuba "without proof,"
+ Numerous Havana broadcasts and PRENSA LATINA transmissions have
similarly acknowledged Peruvian charges in connection with the
Brazilian plane accident in Peru on 27 November 1962 in which several
Cuban officials were killed. According to the Peruvian Government,
documents carried by the Cubans revealed that Cuba was supplying money
to finance a scheduled "solidarity with Cuba" meeting in Brazil and other
subversive activities in that country, The Cuban radio has countered
these charges in three wayse (1) by casting doubt on the authenticity
of the documents, (2) by countercharging that Peru insulted Cuba in re-
fusing entry to several members of the Cuban mission sent to claim the
bodies of the Cuban victims, and (3) by giving extensive coverage to
statements by Brazilian officials discounting the importance of the
documents.
Other reports given less prominent play in Latin American broadcasts
and news agency dispatches have been ignored by Havana media, And
Havana has only indirectly countered statements--an 8 January 1963 Lima
radio broadcast, for example--to the effect that subversion of Latin
America is planned in Moscow and implemented from Havana, Ten days
after the Lima broadcast, Radio Havana declared in a broadcast to the
Americas-
Communism and its secret machinations are blamed for all
the popular demonstrations and movements of liberation.
Thus today in our America, Russian money is described as aid
coming through Cuba. When a Latin American country loses
its patience and demonstrates it, it is not declared that it
demands its rights and freedoms or that it wants to live
in an environment of humanitarianism and justice, but that
it is being agitated from Cuba and is being mobilized on
orders from Fidel Castro,
Deliberately vague about support in the form of men and money, the propa-
ganda has been more explicit in speaking of efforts to impart the lessons
of Cuba's revolutionary experience to students, intellectuals, and trade
union groups from Latin American countries, These groups were singled
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19 FEBRUARY 1963
oyut in the early days of the regime. Thus Castro declared on 2 Sep-
tember 1960, in presenting the First Declaration of Havana:
"Once this declaration has been submitted to the Cuban people
we shall ask all revolutionary organizations in America, all
the trade unions, the students, intellectual and artistic
organizations, and every revolutionary man in America to
support it."
And on 8 June 1961, addressing an International Union of Students Congress:
They are blaming us for infiltrating revolutionary ideas and
promoting revolution in Latin America--as if the germ of
revolution were not already there, as if it were not caused by
exploitation. The trip to Cuba is a good chance to witness the
revolution at first hand. You must have seen much in our
country. We do not pretend that our revolution is perfect.
We only say that we are making our revolution and other
peoples can make theirs.
"Many of you will be involved in revolutionary struggles. If not?
it was not worth the effort to travel so far. You are students
concerned with social and political problems.... The support
of the Cuban university students shows one thing: If you
go to any Latin American country you will find that the students
are against the government, but they support the Cuban revolu-
tion."
We have hope that one day we will be able to help the other
Latin American countries. We have hope that Latin America, like
Cuba, one day will be free. The Cuban revolution can give poor
Latin American students 1,000 scholarships to our universities.
The revolutionary government will grant these scholarships
to poor students for the next term.
More recent propaganda has given negligible publicity to the Cuban program
to import students from other Latin American countries, but has made no
particular effort to conceal the fact that such a program exists. A
broadcast to North America on 17 February this year, noting President
Kennedy's press conference reference to 1,200 Latin American students in
Cuba, neither confirmed nor denied the figure, The commentator retorted
that
"Latin America is not seething with unrest because of what
students learn in Cuba, but because of the poverty of its
people and because the whole economic, political, and military
strength of the United States is deployed to maintain the system
that causes that poverty."
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Later in the same broadcast, however, the commentator offered this definition
of what foreign students would learn in Cuba:
"the meaning of building a new society, the problems of
building industry under socialism, what it means to do away
with exploitation of man by man, and,..a new picture of the
road ahead for Latin America,"
PRENSA LATINA reported on 18 February that peasant leader Francisco Juliao
had left Brazil for a visit to Cuba, accompanied by two young men whose
fathers were "murdered by big landowners," These young men, PRENSA LATINA
reports, "have been awarded scholarships by the Cuban revolutionary govern.
ment,"
Publicity for the arrivals of groups and individuals from other Latin
American countries has been more extensive, particularly at times of
international front conferences or special propaganda events, Thus a broad-
cast to Latin America on 14 February 1963 announced the inauguration of
"a photographic exhibit showing the Venezuelan people?s fight against-their
national and imperialist oppressors"; one of the scheduled speakers was
Venezuelan deputy Argelia Laya, member of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Venezuela, Almost every week the Havana radio carries
a brief news note on a meeting held in the Cuban capital to develop closer
relations with other Latin American countries; visitors from these coun-
tries concerned are invariably reported present,
Reportage reflecting the extent of the travel of Latin American front
group delegations to and from Cuba is illustrated by the following itemss
On 24 January 19638 "Members of the delegations that attended
the Congress of American Women have released an important
statement signed by all of the aforementioned delegates in
support of the cause of the Cuban people,"
On 16 January 1963: A "Youth Preparatory Committee" is planning
a youth conference to be held in Chile, "It was pointed out,
as in the First Congress held in Havana, that at the.Second
Congress the theme is struggle for the freedom of the Latin
American peoples, for peace and progress."
On 15 January 1963: Representatives of the International Youth
organization now in Havana have signed a public declaration of
solidarity with the Cuban revolution.
On 31 December 19621 A fellowship dinner held in the House of
the Americas was attended by "hundreds of members of the 15 Latin
American organizations located in Cuba,"
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On 23 November 19626 "Important reference works on the basic
problems of the continent are being readied for publication
by participants in the Latin American forum, which is working
under the auspices of the House of the Americas, on under.
development in Latin America, forms of imperialist exploitation,
and the Alliance for Progress. The Latin American Forum has
specialized personnel who are now assisting the Cuban revolution
and whose research will be disseminated in printed form for the
information and service of the Latin American peoples."
On 13 October 1962: Latin American organizations in Havana on
Columbus Day issued a manifesto and "lashed out at false argu-
ments presented by the colonization powers and proclaimed the
Cuban revolution as the vanguard of the peoples of Latin America."
On 6 October 1962: Latin American exiles living in Cuba will meet
in Havana on 11 October to form the United Front of Latin
American Exiles. The event is being organized by the "Cuban
Committee for the Liberation of Paraguay."
On 4 October 1962: It was announced that of the 11 countries
to be represented in the Latin American games to be held in
the Havana stadium, all but three groups are from countries
that have broken relations with Cuba. "All in all, then, we
have a right to feel optimistic when we get a full view of the
relationship between the different peoples of the Latin American
countries."
In a special Radio Havana program for Peru on 29 January 1963, a Peruvian!
in Cuba defined the inspirational benefits derived from direct exposure try
the Cuban revolution:
"The Cuban revolution unites us and gives significance to our
struggle. It gives us energy and faith in the future. Our
debt of gratitude to Cuba is immense. We shall wage the battle
against Yankee imperialism until we have torn it to shreds."
3, Sense of Urgency Since the Cuban Crisis
The Second Declaration of Havana (4 February 1962) contained the following
passage:
"The duty of every revolutionary is to make revolution. In
America and in the world the revolution will win. But a
revolutionary must not sit in his doorway and watch the corpse
of imperialism pass by. That is not a revolutionary role."
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For nearly a year this statement was virtually ignored in Cuban propaganda
The stress was on the Cuban example and the inevitability of revolution,
The statement was revived and elaborated by Fidel Castro in his revolu-
tion anniversary speech on 2 January 1963, in the context of a discussion
of Venezuela:
"The Venezuelan people struggled and gave extraordinary evidence
of revolutionary spirit.... The imperialists were given evidence
of what revolutionary solidarity is--the active solidarity of
revolutionaries who do not sit in their doorways and wait for
the corpse of their enemies to pass by, of revolutionaries who
understand that the duty of all revolution is to recreate the
revolution."
A more militant tone has characterized the propaganda generally, and
Castro's speeches in particular, since the Cuban crisis,, Castro's 15 Jan-
uary speech to the Congress of Women of the Americas, in which he called
upon revolutionary organizations to "hurl the masses into battle," added
up to an outspoken call for hemisphere-wide revolution. An air of im-
patience with the progress of revolution in Latin America was apparent in
several passages of this speech and of Castro's revolution anniversary
address of 2 January--a sense of urgency about the need to get on with
the revolution, perhaps representing in large measure an effort to recoup
some of the prestige Castro lost in the hemisphere during the October
crisis. Havana media have displayed sensitivity in regard to the failure
of communist and pro-Castro groups in Latin America to give effective
support to Cuba during the crisis-. Numerous broadcasts following the
crisis sought to blame the inaction of these elements on the United
States, charging that U.S. embassies were used to organize security
groups to prevent sabotage and demonstrations.
The tone of impatience and urgency that marked Castro's January speeches
was echoed in statements by other regime spokesmen. Juan Marinello,
head of the University of Havana, spoke as'follows on 28 January 1963, on
the 110th birth anniversary of the Cuban revolution's "apostle," Jose Martin
"New revolutionary tasks [are] necessary in Latin American
nations. It is no exaggeration to say that we are living at
a historic crossroads that revolves around the fact of the
Cuban revolution...,, Although it is an undeniable fact that
our revolution cannot be defeated, it is also true that it will
achieve its greatest importance if in its triumph it produces
a notable advance in the liberation of the peoples of Latin
America;... In accord with our fraternal concern and our
revolutionary duty, we must ask the sister nations that are
o ressed by iMeria sm to Increase e r ac ons n eep ng
with the great times on w c we ve. Facts ave shown,
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American brothers, that imperialism, the source of our ills,
does not retreat until revolutionary action forces it to
retreat,"
"If Cuba has been able to defeat the imperialists with its
modest population and size, the Latin American peoples will
also know how to defeat it. That is why we are convinced that
in the immediate future the heroic, inexorable, and invincible
strugg e w c t e eroic people of Venezuela are waging today
will break out throughout the length and breadth of our America,,,,
sect that on the next Marti Day, 28 January 1964, we
wi salute a Latin America in invincible liberating action,
in the unbreakable determination, like ours, of achieving a
worthy homeland and dying a worthy death, Marti wrote: 'Let
us fight in Cuba to assure, along with our independence, the
independence of all America,"
Such calls to action by Cuban leaders were buttressed by radio and television
propaganda in the same vein, Thus on 8 February a radio/TV broadcast
stated:
"The tension in Latin America is increasing, The latest dis-
patches reflect the rebellious posture evident everywhere in
our America, which is mistreated, exploited, and sacrificed
by the sly and brutal imperialism to the north of us that
scorns us. Nineteen people have been killed in Colombia,
where the government placed soldiers in the streets to act
against the people, In Nicaragua the army is still at-
tacking the demonstrators protesting against the election farce,
In Paraguay the terror implanted by the bloodthirsty Stroessner
increases, In Venezuela this very afternoon the liberation
forces set fire to the U.S,, Chamber of. Commerce. America is
in flames!"
Publicity on the anniversary of the Second Declaration of Havana on 4 Feb-
ruary singled out U.S. imperialism as the chief culprit hindering revolu
tionary progress, but also displayed impatience with the behavior of
Latin America revolutionary leaders. One broadcast complained of the
sluggishness and timidity of "false" opposition leaders in Latin American
countries:
"This Second Declaration of Havana has had two groups of enemies--
one group made up of imperialists, capitalists, and exploiters,
and the other group called the pigeonholers of the Second Declara-
tion of Havana. These pigeonholers, false opposition leaders,
appear to be afraid of the message which the Declaration of
Havana contains, and that message is none other than to tell
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the exploited masses of the whole continent what path is to
be followed to put an end to this exploitation, That path
cannot be that of sitting in the doorways of their houses to
watch the corpse of imperialism pass by. That path has to be
the path of rising against imperialism and against exploitation
and gaining final liberation by the exploited masses through
the onl means indicated the means of violent struggle against
1.60
the exploiters and representatives of imperialism,"
PRENSA LATINA quoted REVOLUCION as stating in an editorial on the anniver-
sary that piecemeal reform was no longer enough. Radical revolution was
the only course for Latin Americas
"Every day the Yankee imperialists put forth greater efforts
to patch up the Latin American economy, but as the Second
Declaration of Havana proclaims, we are no longer interested
in patching up in Latin America. It is necessary to remove the
inefficient, brutal dress of imperialist exploitation of our
people and don the new dress of Latin American revolution."*
Radio comment on the anniversary also seconded Castro9s insistence in the
15 January speech on the virtual impossibility of revolutionary gains
without violence. PRENSA LATINA on 10 February, in reporting a statement
by the Communist Party of Chile, in effect acknowledged that this "truth
was not universally accepted by revolutionary groups in the hemisphere:
"The Communist Party [of Chile] is fighting for a democratic,
popular, national, anti-imperialistic, antifeudal, and anti-
monopolistic revolution and for a government that has these same
characteristics and is made up of the parties that contribute to
its creation.... We believe that there is a chance of obtaining
such a government by peaceful means, specifically. through the
196+ presidential elections."
PRENSA LATINA also reporteds
"The Chilean Communist Party hopes that its political opponents
will not resort to crime and terrorism, thereby forcing the
people to use violence. The U.S. Embassy spends millions of
dollars on anticommunist propaganda.. Chile to our knowledge has
not put out one penny to combat the aanti-imperialism& of the
Christian Democrats."
" This passage was quoted approvingly by the Peking radio in its propaganda
on the anniversary of the Second Declaration.
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B. MAJOR PROPAGANDA THEMES
1. The Alliance forP%gress
The Alliance for Progress has been a principal target of Cuban propaganda
to and about the hemisphere since the adoption of the program nearly two
years ago. Since the Caribbean crisis, there appears to have been a
heavier concentration on attacks against the Alliance. In recent
months the Cuban radio has carried an average of more than one item a day;
attacking the Alliance for Progress and pointing out to Latin American
listeners its alleged weaknesses and failures. Selected, slanted news
dispatches from various Latin American countries emphasize failures
and problems encountered by the Alliance, as well as opposition to the
program voiced by leftist leaders. Havana commentators impugn the motives
underlying the program and the methods used in carrying it out. Along
with direct criticism of the Alliance, there are suggestions that it is
doomed to failure because of fundamental errors in evaluation: The United
States, the argument runs, seeks through the Alliance for Progress to "prop
up" the existing corrupt social system in the hemisphere, when what is
first of all essential is a complete overthrow of the system and its
replacement by one patterned after Cuba's.
Commentators charge that the real aim of the United States is to attack
the Cuban revolution through the Alliance for Progress, making sure that
the Latin American peoples are kept poor and dependent; in thus "mis-
leading" the Latin American people, U.S. imperialism will of course make
sure that it reaps some benefits of its own. A broadcast on 26 January 1963
thus quotes REVOLUCION:
"The paper says: 'Their placid sleep shattered by the advance
of the liberation movement of the Latin American peoples,
following the example of the Cuban revolution, the Yankee
imperialists are desperately trying to apply formulas for
[sowing] confusion. But all these efforts are doomed to
the most resounding failure?' Referring to the Latin American
peoples, REVOLUCION says they no longer let themselves be
fooled with baubles of colored glass from the North American
bazaar. On the contrary, they bestir themselves and set out
with determination to rescue their wealth, plundered by
the monopolists and their accomplices in the oligarchies and
by the corrupt, traitorous politicians. 'Alliance' and
'progress' are masks that do not impress anybody in Latin
America."
Commentator Gonzales Perez,in a television program on 4 January 1963:
"The Alliance, [Coordinator] Moscoso said, ought to create a
political mysticism to convince the masses that evolution
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within the democratic framework is more effective than the
destructive alternative of communist revolution or military
dictatorship. The part about military dictatorship is out-
right propaganda. In one year of the Alliance military
cliques have burgeoned in America with the blessings of the
Pentagon, the White House, and Mr. Spellman. The point, or
crux, of the matter is to avoid a revolution. In Latin
America a very dangerous mysticism is being created. The
people look to Cuba and realize that it is possible to fight
and conquer imperialism....
"Mr. Moscoso discussed agrarian reform, construction of housing,
educational programs, sanitation, and industrial development.
In other words, just like Kennedy, he has promised what Cuba
has already made a reality. The Alliance is merely a somber
replica of the shining Cuban reality. It is akin to a shadow
which endeavors to darken Cuba's truth. Like the shadow it is,
it lags behind Cuba. It promises what Cuba is doing."
Although the concentration of attacks on the Alliance has increased since
the Caribbean crisis, there has been little change in the line. The
following comment was broadcast to the Americas on 7 October 19621
"The project in question, which is being built with funds from
the so-called Alliance for Progress, consists of several houses
which will be given to elements favored by the Colombian regime.
The pompous plan which Mr. Kennedy baptized with the name of
Alliance for Progress has sunk to this in Colombia, as well
as in the other Latin American countries.... All the world
agreed that the plan was merely a tool to be used to forge a solid
anti-Cuban front, and the peoples, as well as economic observers
with a certain amount of objectivity, received it with the
skepticism with which plans for an alliance between the ex-
ploiters and the exploited must be received. Nobody believes
in the Alliance for Progress any more, not even the administrator
appointed by Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Moscoso, who on several occasions
has declared that the plan has been a complete failure."
PRENSA LATINA "news" stories have been a major vehicle for propagating the
notion that the Alliance is a failure. Thus on 7 December 19621
"In Santo Domingo about 1,500 houses will be built to remedy
the lack of 150,000 homes needed immediately in the country.
In other words, the proposed measure will remedy only one
percent of the Dominican housing problem."
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Another PRENSA LATINA item, on 10 December 1962, purported to quote Brazil's
former President Kubitschek under a Rio de Janeiro datelines
"Pan-American action earmarked 130 million dollars for southeast
Brazil, but up to now not a penny has been delivered. The
North Americans do not know Latin America, and the aid
granted is merely to avoid subversion. That is an obvious
political maneuver."
"A Senate subcommittee headed by Wayne Morse will start an
investigation to determine causes for the failure of the so-
called Alliance for Progress sponsored by President Kennedy.
Senator Morse said this aid to Latin America program had not
progressed satisfactorily."
Commentator Kuchilan, in a broadcast to the Americas on 20 November 1962g
"The general strike in Chile is due to the high cost of living.
That is to say, at the end of a little more than one year of
the Alliance for Progress, in Chile there has been no solution
to the grave economic crises which affect that country, just
as they affect all the countries of Latin America as a result
of the contradictions and imbalance which always exist between
what the people receive and what the monopolies earn--especially
the foreign monopolies, which take away the greater part of
the wealth of the country."
Latin American spokesmen are quoted to demonstrate resistance to any U.S.-
directed effort. The following was broadcast to the Americas on 27 Jain
uary 1963:
"The director of the Ecuadoran committee for President Kennedy:'s
so-called Alliance for Progress declared that no one in Ecuador
believes in' that program because it is directed by the United
States. The progressive press has noted that while the Alliance
promised Ecuador loans of 25 million dollars, U.S. firms made
60 million in profits from the banana plantations."
PRENSA LATINA on 8 January 1963:
"Natal, Brazil--Miguel Arraes, governor-elect of the state of
Pernambuco, declared: 'The Alliance for Progress has a condemnable
character as far as assistance is concerned, What Brazil needs
is economic development, not protection in the form of aid."'
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Incidents attesting to popular resistance are blown up into major demonstra-
tions, On 9. October 1962, for example, Havana broadcast the following
to the Americas and repeated the item with embellishments in other broad-
casts:
"The coordinator for the Alliance for Progress, the Puerto
Rican Teodoro Moscoso, in a visit he made last week to
Bogota, was attacked by a lar egrou of youths with rotten
eggs, stones, and mud balls when was inspecting a housing
project in the Colombian capital."
The Bogota radio reported the incident as follows;
"Police captured one of the six persons" who perpetrated an
assault on Moscoso, Spectator- .rst grabbed him, striking
and kicking him. Owners of the new houses called him a com-
munist. In the confusion the other five escaped, though
Moscoso chased after them, calling for them to come back
and talk with him.
2. "Imperialist Exploitation"
The second most pervasive theme of Cuban propaganda directed to Latin America
is the old one of "imperialist exploitation." This stock theme cuts
across the comment on the Alliance for Progress, underscoring the idea
that exploitation is inherent in any contacts the United States has with
the people or governments of Latin America. In characteristically in-
temperate language, broadcasts picture the United States as an imperialist
"monster" interested only in extracting profits from Latin America and
willing to rob, murder, and assume political and military control in
order to safeguard its profits. Thus commentator Kuchilan on 3 December
19620
"Poverty and ignorance are due to the imperialist exploita-
tion that keeps these countries poor and does not give the
people access to knowledge, learning, and schools. That is
why there is ignorance, and as a result of poverty and
ignorance there is disease. This means that the enemy is only
one-, imperialism, which is active both inside and outside these
Latin American countries."
A commentary beamed to the Americas on 8 December 1962 filled in some de-
tails:
Imperialist spokesmen depict the United States as pre-
occupied with helping backward countries. Sometimes they even
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go so far as to speak of agrarian reform and a battle against
hunger, poverty, and disease. These cynical phrases hide a
monster whose head and stomach are in the United States. Its
tentacles reach all over the world. The U.S. Government is
preoccupied with deceiving the people. The U.S. Department of
Commerce has released its yearly report on investments and
profits of U.S. firms abroad. The figures, furnished by the
firms themselves, are of course reduced to cheat the tax col-
lector; but even if they are accepted as accurate, they are
eloquent. In 1961 Yankee investment abroad came to 34.7 billion
dollars, having tripled in 11 years. During that period U.S.
firms obtained a profit of 34 billion dollars, of which 23
billion was sent back to the United States.
REVOLUCION on 27 December 1962;
"According to the crafty Monroe Doctrine, America is for
Americans. In the language of the imperialists, that means for
the United States. The dollar merchants of Wall Street came
slowly, but when they discovered. that within the young state
of Chile were the richest mineral deposits in America, when
they discovered that Chilean mines held two-thirds of South
America's mineral wealth and that its lands could be exploited
through extensive cultivation, Wall Street jumped at the chance.
In 1915 U.S, investments in Chile amounted to more than 180
million, and in 1961, according to the U.S. Embassy, more than
300 million. These investments have produced for the U.S.
monopolies tremendous profits which have been freely exported."
A commentary beamed to the Americas on 17 January 19633
"The U.S. policy we are acquainted with in Latin America is in
sharp contrast to the proclaimed traditions of the northern
neighbor and its citizens, and many citizens still cannot ex-
plain why this is so. They are the ones who are unaware that
that policy is oriented solely toward giving the best service
to a few men, to certain firms and their special interests."
U0S. firms are pictured as making excessive profits in Latin America by
resorting to trickery and plunder. PRENSA LATINA reported on 13 Februa
1963-.
"Panama City--EL MIZE reports that the Panamanian state receives
only one centavo for each barrel of petroleum which the company?
which has been exempted from all taxes and enjoys other privileges,
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refines, The newspaper concludes by asserting that the U0S0
company obtained such concessions by distributing half a
million dollars among Panamanian ministers and other public
officialso"
PRENSA LATINA on 1 February 1963-,
"Buenos Aires -- The signing by Foreign Minister Muniz of a
protocol in addition to the treaty of guarantees that U,S,
investors already enjoy probably has as an objective, according
to national economists, the increase of investments in Argentina
and the recolonization of Argentina by U.S. companies,"
A Havana broadcast on 30 January 19638
"Henry Ford II arrived in Venezuela to inspect a new plant for
assembling automobiles built by his U0S0 company, The cars will
be assembled in Caracas to evade taxes,"
PRENSA LATINA on 14 January 1963:
"Rio de Janeiro--The United States is taking out thorium without
the knowledge of the Brazilian authorities, according to charges
made by Leonides Alves Silva, former secretary of economy
of Piauhy state, He says that three helicopters of the U.S,,
Air Force in a constant and secret operation are transporting
from the interior sacks that inhabitants claim contain monazitic
sand, the material from which thorium is extracted,,,, The
flights have been going on for about 60 days, The payloads are
said to be landed at a U.S,, base in British Guiana,"
The United States is further accused of cultural penetration in an effort
to control Latin America and prevent the population from accepting the
Cuban formula, According to commentator Kuchilan on 5 January 19633
"A big education campaign is going to be held in Central America,
Many books, from the first to the third grade, are going to be
distributed, The funny thing about it is that the Spanish..
language books are being printed in the United States, This
means that the books will contain the representative-democracy
orientation that suits the United States, These are books to
educate Central American children in accordance with the
mentality of the imperialists,"
Elaborating the theme that American aid is given only to benefit U0S, mo-
nopolists, commentators note that most aid is in the form of surplus goods;
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getting rid of these supplies benefits the monopolists, the argument runs,
and the supposed Latin American beneficiaries are ruined because farmers
are robbed of their markets. A broadcast to the Americas on 31 January
1963 denounced the "antinational character" of U.S. aid by quoting
statements attributed to Bolivian labor leaders. PRENSA LATINA reported
from Rio de Janeiro on 24 January 1963, quoting Foreign Ministry spokes-
men, that practically all U.S. aid to Brazil is conditional on the
purchase of U.S. goods and services? "thus helping to take up the slack
in the U.S. export industry." The dispatch claimed that "the statement
that U.S. aid burdens the U.S. taxpayers is exaggerated, because U.S.
taxpayers and consumers have benefited in recent years" from aid granted
to Brazil.
3. Re reesentative Democrja.cy
A third major propaganda target, representative democracy, has become
prominent since the beginning of 1963. The recent concentration on the
subject seems traceable in large part to the recent elections in Nicaragua
and Paraguay, and may be related more generally to the propaganda campaign
to accelerate revolutionary activity in Latin America,
Castro's statements as far back as 1960 laid the basis for the assault
on representative democracy. During the first year of his regime Castro
insistently avowed his belief in free elections and promised that they
would be held in Cuba. His statements during 1960 backed off from these:
assurances, and by 1961 he was openly ridiculing the idea of elections and
implying that representative democracies invariably failed to represent the
common citizen. The First Declaration of Havana, announced by Castro on
2 September 1960, illustrates the change in emphasis during that year?
"The National Assembly of the Cuban People expresses the Cuban
conviction that democracy cannot consist only in the exercise
of the election vote, which almost always is fictitious and
is controlled by latifundists and professional politicians,
but also consists in the right of the citizen to choose his
own destiny--as we are doing now..., The National General
Assembly of the People reiterates, and in so doing expresses
the views of all the Latin American people, that democracy
is not compatible with the oligarch of big finance,
discrimination against Negroes, the acts of the Ku Klux Klan,
and the persecution that deprived 100 scientists like
Oppenheimer of their jobs."
Recent comment, pegged to the Nicaraguan and Paraguayan elections, has
denounced the entire system of representative democracy, Commentator
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Gomez Wanguemert declared on 6 February 19631
"What is the meaning of the election in Paraguay? It is
simply that the United States has pressured the Paraguayan
dictator in an attempt to maintain the fiction of representa-
tive democracy on a continent where the overwhelming
majority of the people know nothing about real democracy..?
"We have Guido in Argentina, where the results of the
election were disavowed and scoffed at the following day by the
'gorillal officers, who represent the countryes real govern-
ment,
"On the other side of the Cordillera is Peru, where another
military junta seized power after an election that was not
what one could consider clean.
"Above Peru is Colombia, where the conservatives and liberals
alternate in power as the result of an agreement among
certain individuals from which the Colombian people were, and
are still, excluded,,
"Alongside Colombia is Venezuela, where a man who came to power
on a democratic platform has suspended national guarantees for
an indefinite period and remains in power through the use of
force."
The OAS is attacked at the same time. The following commentary was broad-
cast on 11 February 19630
Paraguay should be viewed in the light of arguments that
representative democracy is a prerequisite for OAS membership.
One year ago at Punte del Este the U.S. State Department managed
by various means and pressures to get a bare two-thirds majority
for the illegal exclusion of Cuba from the OAS, although countriies
abstaining or vetoing the expulsion comprise two-thirds of
Latin America. Democratic Cuba, where the people have power,
was forced out by the votes of corrupt, servile dictatorships
manipulated by the State Department, which now seeks to make its
allies seem to be real democracies,
Commenting on the recent elections, a broadcast to the Americas said on,
12 Februarya
"Two elections of a singular nature have recently been held in
Latin America. In both cases, everyone knew in advance who was
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going to be elected..,. Both manufactured their own opposition
because the real opponents and their parties have been out-
lawed and their militants killed, jailed, or exiled.... Thus
Nicaragua is a magnificent example of 'representative democracy'
and is worthy of every praise from the U.S. State Department
and membership in the OAS,"
4. Cuba as the Model and Guide
The concept of the Cuban "example" as the all-important guide for every
Latin American nation threads through the comment on all three of the
major themes described above. Commentaries centered on the Cuban ex-.
ample are fewer in number than those devoted to the Alliance for Progress
and "imperialist exploitation," but the notion is almost always inter-
jected in one way or another in the commentaries on those themes for
hemisphere audiences. The publicity media rely heavily on statements: made
by Cuban sympathizers in Latin America, with PRENSA LATINA devoting at
large proportion of its news stories to such statements. Thus the propa-
ganda effort to discredit everything prompted or sought by the United.
States for Latin America has as its constant corollary the effort to
keep the example of Cuba in the foreground as the practical alternative'
to alliance with the United States.
Cuban propaganda since the inception of the Castro regime has pictured
Venezuela as particularly close to Cuba in historical outlook and back-
ground, and hence as the country which should logically be the first to
adopt Cuba's social and political system. Castro's tactics at the be-
ginning were to court the Venezuelan Government with cordial overtures
for friendship. Frustration at the ineffectiveness of this approach
brought a progressive cooling of relations with President Betancourt
and the development, particularly over the past year, of a vicious propa