Cuba's Revolutionary World

by Jonathan C. Brown

Overview

On January 2, 1959, Fidel Castro, the rebel comandante who had just overthrown Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, addressed a crowd of jubilant supporters. Recalling the failed popular uprisings of past decades, Castro assured them that this time “the real Revolution” had arrived. As Jonathan Brown shows in this capacious history of the Cuban Revolution, Castro’s words proved prophetic not only for his countrymen but for Latin America and the wider world.

Cuba’s Revolutionary World examines in forensic detail how the turmoil that rocked a small Caribbean nation in the 1950s became one of the twentieth century’s most transformative events. Initially, Castro’s revolution augured well for democratic reform movements gaining traction in Latin America. But what had begun promisingly veered off course as Castro took a heavy hand in efforts to centralize Cuba’s economy and stamp out private enterprise. Embracing the Soviet Union as an ally, Castro and his lieutenant Che Guevara sought to export the socialist revolution abroad through armed insurrection.

Castro’s provocations inspired intense opposition. Cuban anticommunists who had fled to Miami found a patron in the CIA, which actively supported their efforts to topple Castro’s regime. The unrest fomented by Cuban-trained leftist guerrillas lent support to Latin America’s military castes, who promised to restore stability. Brazil was the first to succumb to a coup in 1964; a decade later, military juntas governed most Latin American states. Thus did a revolution that had seemed to signal the death knell of dictatorship in Latin America bring about its tragic opposite.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674971981
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	04/24/2017
Pages:	600
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Jonathan C. Brown is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Revolution and Counterrevolution in Cuba

1 How to Consolidate a Revolution 19

2 The Caribbean War of 1959 47

3 Cuba and the Sino-Soviet Dispute 73

4 The Gusano Counterrevolution 102

5 The Bandido Counterrevolution 136

6 Commandos of the Caribbean 164

7 The Export of Revolution 192

Part 2 The Secret War for South America

8 Revolutionary Diplomacy and Democracy 225

9 Venezuela's Guerrilla War 250

10 Military Counterrevolution in Brazil 280

11 Soldiers and Revolution in Peru 307

12 From Riots to Golpe in Panama 342

13 Origins of Argentina's Armed Struggle 380

14 The Last Campaign of Che Guevara 413

Conclusion 451

Appendix: Statements by Ernesto "Che" Guevara prior to His Execution in Bolivia 459

Notes 463

Acknowledgments 561

Illustration Credits 567

Index 571

Editorial Reviews

Brown adds rich detail to the international ripples of the Cuban Revolution, often in lively prose. It is fascinating to see how interrelated Latin American revolutionaries were, popping up in several national stories, and equally captivating to see how influential Cuba was.

Alan McPherson

Jonathan Brown has written a valuable, information-packed book that is refreshingly free of ideological baggage…The book is a stunning reminder of how deeply divided Latin America was in the 1960s, when so many young revolutionaries voluntarily risked their lives, and where military regimes took over brutally to repress them.

Times Literary Supplement - David Gallagher

As in the best works of history, Brown renders vividly real the various figures who appear in his pages—statesman and rogue, patriot and scoundrel. His book is both a good read and an impressive work of scholarship, shedding light on an important question: when does the effect of U.S. policy acquire a life of its own, independent of the original intentions of policymakers?

Jorge I. Domínguez

Brown’s path-breaking book carefully reconstructs virtually unknown episodes of the Cuban revolution and counterrevolution, illuminating the ‘secret wars’ of subversion, sabotage, guerrilla training, and paramilitary expeditions that shook the region in the 1960s. Briskly written, meticulously researched, and sweeping in scope, this book will be required reading for anyone interested in the Cuban Revolution and its impact throughout Latin America.

Michelle Chase

Brown is convincing that the Cuban-trained and -inspired guerrillas posed a challenge for democracies in Latin America that was difficult for their elected leaders to solve and that, as a result, created conditions favorable for the right to take dictatorial control…[This book] adds in important ways to our understanding of the world that Cuba created.

The Nation - Patrick Iber

As in the best works of history, Brown renders vividly real the various figures who appear in his pages—statesman and rogue, patriot and scoundrel. His book is both a good read and an impressive work of scholarship, shedding light on an important question: when does the effect of U.S. policy acquire a life of its own, independent of the original intentions of policymakers?

Jorge I. Domínguez

04/01/2017
Sugar and cigars were Cuba's major exports in the years before the Cuban Revolution, but the election of Fidel Castro as prime minister in 1959 changed the country's history. Closing off sugar supply through nationalization, Castro instead exported revolution, inspiring Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Panama, and Argentina to revolt in favor of democratic reforms. After Castro gained absolute authority and embraced communism, the American response was an attempt to isolate Cuba. Brown (history, Univ. of Texas at Austin) offers keen insights into how the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations dealt with these national movements. At times, this history puts readers in the same room with leaders from all sides, offering a front-row seat to diplomatic efforts intended to thwart the spread of communism and revolutionary movements in Latin America. Ubiquitous throughout the sections centering on individual nations, is the shadow of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara; the most intriguing chapters deal with his failed efforts to bring revolution to Bolivia and his eventual death. VERDICT Brown's well-written book makes for a highly immersive and engaging read.—Boyd Childress, formerly with Auburn Univ. Libs., AL

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