In Defense of Socialism: Four Speeches on the 30th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution (Fidel Castro Speeches, Vol. 4, 1988-89) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Fidel Castro (Author), Mary-Alice Waters (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Economic and social progress is not only possible without the dog-eat-dog competition of capitalism, but socialism remains the only way forward for humanity. He describes the decisive place of Cuban volunteer combatants in the final stage of the struggle in Angola against the invasion forces of the South African apartheid regime.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Pathfinder Press (NY) (February 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873485394
• ISBN-13: 978-0873485395
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,152,969 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an unflinching partisan, March 31, 2002

By	Martin Boyers (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This book gives you a chance to hear Fidel Castro as he rejects the "new thinking" in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In four 1988-89 speeches he champions Cuba's socialist revolution and critiques the failures of the bureaucratic regimes in the USSR and Eastern Europe.

He also reviews how these countries' examples had introduced weaknesses in Cuba's system and announces a campaign to correct these errors and reassert the principles of socialism. This collection gives you insight, not only into Cuba, but also into capitalism and socialism in general.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What future for humanity?, March 2, 2002

By	Harvey (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

These are four speeches by Cuban leader Fidel Castro, given to mass rallies and meetings in 1989. Castro gives a reasoned, factual defense of socialism as the way forward for humanity with a rich analysis of some of the sharpest conflicts in the world at that time, from the economic and social crisis in Third World countries to the U.S. war against Nicaragua and El Salvador. Especially interesting is the detailed account of the South African invasion of Angola, Cuba's response of sending tens of thousands of volunteers to fight along with the Angolans, and of the death-blow dealt to apartheid in the battle at Cuito Cuanavale.

Castro also explains some of the early history of the Cuban revolution, such as how workers and peasants, led by the Rebel Army, actually took power in 1959. He takes up some of the big questions posed to anyone interested in building a new society, based on efforts the Cubans were then making to overcome bureaucratism, corruption and inefficiency. What is the relation between the individual and society, material wages versus moral and political consciousness, the use of technology and its impact on workers lives?

Don't miss this one!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They speak to the future, February 19, 2002

By	Tony Thomas (SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Even the US government admits that Cuba has survived the "special period," the disaster brought about by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the other Stalinist governments at the hands of their own working people. Castro made these speeches at the start of the special period, speaking from the strength of Cuba's victories in Africa against South African Apartheid imperialism, from its successful defeat of those who took the bribes of Washington and the drug Cartel. These speeches show the confidence of Fidel and the Cuban revoloutionists in working people in Cuba and around the world. Though they are 11 and 12 years old as I write, when you read these speeches you will understand why they speak to the socialist future of working people, not to the past.

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