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To Speak the Truth: Why Washington's 'cold War' Against Cuba Doesn't End
Castro and Guevara explain why the U.S. government is determined to destroy the example set by the Cuban revolution and why their effort will fail.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1991
About the author
Fidel Castro
601 books305 followersCuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959, established a Communist state, served as prime minister until 1976 and then as president of the government and first secretary of the party, in declining health passed control de facto in 2006 to Raúl Castro, his younger brother, and officially retired in 2008.
Fidel Castro led a revolutionary movement that overthrew corrupt authoritarian regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar on New Year's Day, 1 January 1959.
Raúl Castro assisted Fidel Castro, his brother, in overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959.
United States in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro trained a force of 1,500 guerrilla troops, who landed at Bay of Pigs, the site, in an ill-fated invasion on 17 April 1961.
Castro, the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics and meanwhile studied law at the University of Havana. He participated in rebellions against right wing in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, afterward failed in an attack on the barracks of Moncada, planned against the military junta, which the United States of America backed, and served imprisonment for a year in 1953. On release, he went to Mexico, formed the movement of 26 July as a group with Ernesto Guevara, his friend and doctor.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a politician, also served as the commander in chief of the armed forces. This politically Marxist-Leninist administered the socialist republic. People nationalized industry and businesses and implemented socialist reforms in all parts of society. Castro returned, ousted rivals in 1959, and brought his own assumption of military and political power.
Credentials of Castro and cordial relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics alarmed the Administrations of Dwight David Eisenhower and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who unsuccessfully attempted economic blockade, assassination, and even the invasion at Bay of Pigs of 1961 to remove him. In 1961, Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of his administration under rule of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The press and suppression of internal dissent accompanied socialist reforms that introduced central economic planning and expanded care and education.
Castro countered these threats, formed an economic and military alliance with the Soviets, allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, and thus sparked sparking the missile crisis in 1962.
Internationally, Castro also served as general of the nonaligned movement from 1979 to 1983.
Abroad, Castro supported foreign groups in the expectation of toppling world capitalism, sent troops to fight in the wars of Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angola.
Following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, Castro went into economic "special period" and afterward forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide, namely with Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, and joined the Bolivarian alliance in 2006.
Due to failing, Castro in 2006 transferred his responsibilities to his vice, who assumed in 2008.
Supporters lauded Castro, a controversial and divisive world figure, as a champion of socialism, humanitarianism, and environmentalism against imperialism; critics viewed him as a dictator, who oversaw multiple rights abuses, an exodus of more than a million persons, and the impoverishment of the economy of the country. Through actions and writings, he significantly influenced the politics of various individuals and groups across the world.
Fidel Castro led a revolutionary movement that overthrew corrupt authoritarian regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar on New Year's Day, 1 January 1959.
Raúl Castro assisted Fidel Castro, his brother, in overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959.
United States in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro trained a force of 1,500 guerrilla troops, who landed at Bay of Pigs, the site, in an ill-fated invasion on 17 April 1961.
Castro, the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics and meanwhile studied law at the University of Havana. He participated in rebellions against right wing in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, afterward failed in an attack on the barracks of Moncada, planned against the military junta, which the United States of America backed, and served imprisonment for a year in 1953. On release, he went to Mexico, formed the movement of 26 July as a group with Ernesto Guevara, his friend and doctor.
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a politician, also served as the commander in chief of the armed forces. This politically Marxist-Leninist administered the socialist republic. People nationalized industry and businesses and implemented socialist reforms in all parts of society. Castro returned, ousted rivals in 1959, and brought his own assumption of military and political power.
Credentials of Castro and cordial relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics alarmed the Administrations of Dwight David Eisenhower and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who unsuccessfully attempted economic blockade, assassination, and even the invasion at Bay of Pigs of 1961 to remove him. In 1961, Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of his administration under rule of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The press and suppression of internal dissent accompanied socialist reforms that introduced central economic planning and expanded care and education.
Castro countered these threats, formed an economic and military alliance with the Soviets, allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, and thus sparked sparking the missile crisis in 1962.
Internationally, Castro also served as general of the nonaligned movement from 1979 to 1983.
Abroad, Castro supported foreign groups in the expectation of toppling world capitalism, sent troops to fight in the wars of Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angola.
Following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, Castro went into economic "special period" and afterward forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide, namely with Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, and joined the Bolivarian alliance in 2006.
Due to failing, Castro in 2006 transferred his responsibilities to his vice, who assumed in 2008.
Supporters lauded Castro, a controversial and divisive world figure, as a champion of socialism, humanitarianism, and environmentalism against imperialism; critics viewed him as a dictator, who oversaw multiple rights abuses, an exodus of more than a million persons, and the impoverishment of the economy of the country. Through actions and writings, he significantly influenced the politics of various individuals and groups across the world.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 31, 2026
Today with “cancel culture” people are trained to think that anything that happened before they were born was probably “racist,” “sexist,” and a whole litany of other forms of “political incorrectness.” Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Malcom X are all dead, but their ideas live on!
When Fidel made his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly (September 1960), the US government attempted a provocation—arranging for him and his Cuban comrades to be thrown out of their hotel. But as usual, Fidel turned the tables on them and went up to Harlem where he was welcomed. One of the few people he met with at the Hotel Teresa, besides Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was Malcolm X, then still in the Nation of Islam, who helped make the arrangements there. This volume includes both the speech Castro made at the UN and also an article from a Black newspaper at the time giving an account of the dialog between the two outstanding leaders.
All the major speeches given at the UN by Fidel or Che are in this book, including what is perhaps the most outstanding—Fidel’s speech as head of the Non-Aligned Movement in October 1979. This was a time when revolution was on the rise in Grenada, Nicaragua, and elsewhere.
By the time Ernesto Che Guevara spoke at the UN General Assembly in December 1964, Malcom X had left the Nation of Islam, was more open about his revolutionary ideas, and arranged for Che Guevara to speak at the Audubon Ballroom to a rally of the recently formed Organization of Afro-American Unity. Because during Che’s UN speech, counterrevolutionaries fired a bazooka at the UN, Che felt it was advisable to cancel, but he sent a message to the meeting (see Malcolm X Speaks,“At the Audubon”).
These were people who made history, and everyone interested in changing the world should read what they had to say.
In 1990, when the US wanted UN approval for a war against Iraq, Cuba happened to occupy a rotating seat in the UN Security Council, and they used this as an opportunity to warn the world what the US was going to do. Cuba was against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and was trying to convince Saddam Hussein to withdraw, but they knew that the US/UN plan would only bring death and destruction, primarily to the working class of the region. The record of this is in the book U. S. Hands Off the Mideast!: Cuba Speaks Out at the United Nations. For why the war was fought and the results, see New International no. 7: Opening Guns of World War III: Washington's Assault on Iraq.
When Fidel made his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly (September 1960), the US government attempted a provocation—arranging for him and his Cuban comrades to be thrown out of their hotel. But as usual, Fidel turned the tables on them and went up to Harlem where he was welcomed. One of the few people he met with at the Hotel Teresa, besides Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was Malcolm X, then still in the Nation of Islam, who helped make the arrangements there. This volume includes both the speech Castro made at the UN and also an article from a Black newspaper at the time giving an account of the dialog between the two outstanding leaders.
All the major speeches given at the UN by Fidel or Che are in this book, including what is perhaps the most outstanding—Fidel’s speech as head of the Non-Aligned Movement in October 1979. This was a time when revolution was on the rise in Grenada, Nicaragua, and elsewhere.
By the time Ernesto Che Guevara spoke at the UN General Assembly in December 1964, Malcom X had left the Nation of Islam, was more open about his revolutionary ideas, and arranged for Che Guevara to speak at the Audubon Ballroom to a rally of the recently formed Organization of Afro-American Unity. Because during Che’s UN speech, counterrevolutionaries fired a bazooka at the UN, Che felt it was advisable to cancel, but he sent a message to the meeting (see Malcolm X Speaks,“At the Audubon”).
These were people who made history, and everyone interested in changing the world should read what they had to say.
In 1990, when the US wanted UN approval for a war against Iraq, Cuba happened to occupy a rotating seat in the UN Security Council, and they used this as an opportunity to warn the world what the US was going to do. Cuba was against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and was trying to convince Saddam Hussein to withdraw, but they knew that the US/UN plan would only bring death and destruction, primarily to the working class of the region. The record of this is in the book U. S. Hands Off the Mideast!: Cuba Speaks Out at the United Nations. For why the war was fought and the results, see New International no. 7: Opening Guns of World War III: Washington's Assault on Iraq.
June 16, 2009
This is another book of fidel castro that talks about him during the cold war. This showed some very good info to add to my school project. Some parts were to descriptive.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews