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A large crowd gathered to hear Indian Marxist and writer Vijay Prashad at the New South Wales Teachers Federation hall on October 29. 

Prashad is touring the country to promote his new book , co-authored with Noam Chomsky. 

He offered insights into Cuba’s revolutionary significance and the role of leaders Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez in leading their sovereignty projects.

“Noam and I produced this book as a love letter to the Cuban Revolution, which was one of the most fundamental acts of liberation in the American continent,” Prashad said. 

“The book addresses the question of why the United States is so freaked out about Cuba, when 320 million people live in the US and only 10 million in Cuba.

“The US President’s targeting Cuba goes way back, from when President John Adams said ‘Cuba will fall into our hands like a ripe apple from the tree’ in 1823.”

He spoke about how the US took power after Cuba won its independence from Spain in 1898. “Cuba became a gangster's paradise, a playground for capitalists,” Prashad said.

“The Cuban revolution came on the back of the US assault on Guatemala’s liberal democracy project, led by Jacobo Árbenz and Iran’s experiment led by Mohammad Mosaddegh.”

Mosaddegh and Árbenz were ousted by US-backed coups in 1953 and 1954, respectively. 

“In 1957, Haiti was taken over by the François Duvalier dictatorship, then, in 1959, the Cuban revolution liberated the country from the US-backed Fulgencio Batista dictatorship.

“The US treated Haiti like a liberated country, but tried to overthrow Cuba hundreds of times.

“The US has no problem with Cuba but with the Cuban Revolution. They consider it a disobedient child. They invaded, blockaded and attacked Cuba because they didn't want the revolution to spread. It is contagious. If Cuba can get away with being disobedient so can other countries.

“Cuba is still being suffocated by the US,” he said. “But they still have such an appetite to learn, to give solidarity to other countries. 

Prashad spoke about Cuba’s effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which it developed five vaccines, providing them to poor countries which could not afford Western vaccines. 

“The US blockade prevents third-party companies from doing trade with Cuba.” Countries such as Mexico and Venezuela, who do trade with Cuba, are a lifeline, he said.

Prashad also spoke about his friendship with Chomsky: “Noam and I didn’t agree about everything … but US imperialism brings the left together. “During the US occupation [of Iraq] I would report from Iraq to Noam and he would send me updates about New York Times headlines. We would talk for two to three hours every day.”

Prashad said his discussions with Chomsky highlighted how the corporate media distorts reality: “They can’t even say ‘Israel bombed Palestine’. Everything is in the passive voice — ‘Palestinians died’ — when clearly Palestinians are being killed by Israeli bombs, compare this to ‘Israelis killed by Hamas’.”

“Chomsky has a prodigious memory, even as he got older. He would remember an article he read years back … but he would have no idea about music!”

Prashad said the Cuban revolution helped topple Apartheid in South Africa, it has sent literary brigades to outback communities in Australia and it has helped the Third World during the pandemic.  

“It is a revolution to defend,” he concluded.

[Vijay Prashad is speaking in Boorloo/Perth on November 6.]