The Legend of Fidel Castro: From 'Moncada' to 'Siahkal'

On November 25, 2016, Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban Revolution and the last remaining legend of the 20th-century communist movement, passed away. In the temple of the remnants of a powerful political current that swept through most of the last century, Castro's statue will stand alongside those of Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Ho Chi Minh, and other great and small leaders of the 'Red Revolution.' This temple no longer sees the massive crowd of former admirers around it, but the dwindling and exhausted number of devotees of the faded statues will continue to circle around it for at least a few more decades. The Romanticism of RevolutionIn the history of human civilization, no political ideology has been able to spread as widely as communism, in its various narratives, across almost the entire globe and, within a relatively short period, mobilize so many people for its goals. At the heart of this global movement were countless martyrs, hoping for a final struggle for freedom and equality, rising to establish a new order. The life and fate of Fidel Castro once again demonstrated that those who claim to establish paradise on this earthly soil lead their poor followers to hell. Castro's emergence on the world political stage realized the most dreamlike pages of a revolutionary novel that began with the heroic uprising of this young lawyer against Batista's dictatorship on the island of Cuba. His failed attack on the 'Moncada' barracks in 1953, his arrest and trial, exile to Mexico, secret return to Cuba, guerrilla warfare in the Sierra Maestra mountains, and ultimately his triumphant entry into Havana in 1959, constitute one of the most romantic chapters of the 'Third World' revolution, which, with the help of American media, including The New York Times and CBS, attracted a large part of public opinion worldwide. Since then, Fidel Castro, alongside his famous Argentine friend Ernesto Che Guevara, became one of the most attractive models for young revolutionaries around the world. Most importantly, within a very short time, with the official recognition of the communist essence of the revolutionary system, the small and sparsely populated Cuba was named the third pole of Marxism-Leninism in the world, alongside giants like the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. One of the first writings that captivated Iranian revolutionaries in the 1960s was 'The Tempest Over Sugar' by the renowned French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, which was published in Tehran shortly after under the title 'The Sugar War in Cuba.' Iran and its young revolutionary generations, who were insatiably following the events of the 'Third World,' were not immune to the irresistible allure of the 'Castroism' myth and the bearded men of the 'Sierra Maestra.' Especially those who were not pleased with the experience of the 'socialist camp' led by the Soviet Union and feared that Maoist China, despite its disagreements with Moscow, would adopt the same methods as the Kremlin leaders, found a new direction in Fidel Castro's Cuba that they believed could bring fresh air to the communist atmosphere left by Lenin and Stalin. The small but proud Cuba, and the strategy of its young leaders to spread the seeds of rebellion across three continents—Asia, Africa, and Latin America—became the focus of the most fervent revolutionary circles in Tehran in the years leading up to the Islamic Revolution. One of the first writings that captivated Iranian revolutionaries in the 1960s was 'The Tempest Over Sugar' by the renowned French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, which was published in Tehran shortly after under the title 'The Sugar War in Cuba.' In February and March 1960, a few months after the victory of the Castroist revolution, Sartre, along with his friend Simone de Beauvoir, who was also a famous writer, visited Cuba for a month. At that time, Jean-Paul Sartre was considered the world's most famous philosopher, and a large part of the Iranian intellectual community revered his writings. Fidel Castro, relying on the experiences of Stalin and Mao Zedong, had learned that to globalize and make a mark in the public opinion of Europe and America, there is no more effective tactic than to enlist prominent Western intellectuals. It was customary for communist powers to invite Western writers and artists to visit the achievements of the revolution, lavishly host them, and show them 'decorations' that they liked, far removed from the realities of the communist revolution. Some of these intellectuals, upon returning to their countries, sometimes became fervent advocates of their hosts. However, individuals like André Gide, the great French writer, did not fall into this trap. Instead, many other Western intellectuals became justifiers of the most horrific revolutionary massacres in the world. ConcealmentSartre's travelogue, written after his month-long visit to Cuba, is essentially a eulogy for the Castroist revolution. In this writing, there is no mention of the horrific crimes committed after Castro's victory in 1959 against the remnants of the Batista regime and also against revolutionary forces critical of or rival to Castro. Che Guevara, in that very prison, is quoted as saying similar things to what Iranians frequently heard after the Islamic Revolution. He commanded the revolutionary torturers, who had taken over the management of the 'La Cabana' prison instead of the torturers of the previous regime, saying: 'Do not prolong the trials. This is a revolution. Do not use bourgeois methods. These are a bunch of criminals.' He does not mention that as soon as the revolutionary forces entered the city of Havana, Ernesto Che Guevara was appointed head of 'La Cabana' prison and the Attorney General of the revolution, and there, calmly, with a cigar in his mouth, organized the execution of hundreds of supporters of the overthrown regime and also non-communist revolutionary forces. Fidel Castro and his comrades seized power in 1959 under the pretext of freedom and democracy. Where did that claim lead? The reality before us is clear: the leader of the revolution held absolute power for about fifty years, and after his physical abilities waned at the age of eighty-five, he handed it over to his eighty-year-old brother. Here, only one very simple question arises: In this country of eleven million people, was there no one else worthy of leadership besides these two old men? 'The Sugar War in Cuba' influenced the emergence of the Castroist spectrum in the communist movement in Iran. The Persian translation of Ernesto Che Guevara's writings under the title 'Guerrilla Warfare' and especially Régis Debray's book 'Revolution in Revolution,' both inspired by the Cuban revolution, formed the theoretical foundation of a very significant part of the revolutionary guerrilla movements in Iran in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Massoud Ahmadzadeh's book titled 'Armed Struggle, Both Strategy and Tactic' and Amir Parviz Pouyan's writing called 'The Necessity of Armed Struggle and Rejection of the Theory of Survival' were largely inspired by the works of the leaders or theorists of the Cuban revolution. Both Guevara and Debray recommended the establishment of revolutionary centers in rural areas by small revolutionary groups (the 'Foco' theory, derived from the Spanish root 'foco' meaning center). The guerrilla operation in 1970 in the northern forests of Iran, which led to the attack on the gendarmerie post in Siahkal on February 19, was inspired by the same theory. Since the beginning of the 1980s, the star of Castroism lost its luster even more. The fervent and ambitious Cuba of the 1960s and 1970s, which sought to create dozens of Vietnams around the world, became similar to other countries of the 'socialist camp' and fell into the grip of bureaucracy and the dominance of the privileged. The revolutionary Cuba that sought to free itself from absolute dependence on sugar production and export could no longer rely on sugar for its survival. The Castro regime gradually became an appendage of Soviet global policy, including sending troops to Angola and Mozambique in service of this superpower's objectives in Africa. In return, the Soviet Union ensured the survival of the Castro regime by providing oil, weapons, and food. A very simple questionIn the wake of the collapse of the 'socialist camp' and the changes in China's policy, Fidel Castro increasingly fell into isolation and crisis. Under the pressure of this isolation, the Havana regime, after years of resistance, was finally forced to open the country's doors to tourism and to set aside some of its traditional dogmas in areas such as foreign investment and trade. At that time, with the rise of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, and his decision to grant more or less free oil to his Cuban counterpart, a new opportunity for breathing was provided to Havana. However, currently, the severe economic crisis in Venezuela and this country's inability to continue its oil assistance to Cuba has posed new challenges for Havana. Under the pressure of aging and illness, Fidel Castro was finally forced to step down from the position of First Secretary of the Communist Party and, in fact, the leadership of Cuba in 2011, handing it over to his brother. The very backward form of power transfer in a familial manner challenges the entire philosophy of the Cuban revolution. Some still defend the record of the Castroist revolution and consider its overall balance positive. Others blame all the troubles on the United States, attributing Cuba's difficulties to the economic sanctions that Washington has imposed on Havana all these years. Addressing these issues requires a very lengthy discussion. Instead, the autocratic nature of the regime that has held the fate of this small Caribbean country in its grip since 1959 is hardly deniable. Fidel Castro and his comrades seized power in 1959 under the pretext of freedom and democracy. Where did that claim lead? The reality before us is clear: the leader of the revolution held absolute power for about fifty years, and after his physical abilities waned at the age of eighty-five, he handed it over to his eighty-year-old brother. Here, only one very simple question arises: In this country of eleven million people, was there no one else worthy of leadership besides these two old men? In the pursuit of the ideals of 'Castroism,' thousands of young people around the world, including Iran, lost their lives. Fidel Castro, however, lived for ninety years. He spoke for hundreds of hours about the necessity of remaining faithful to 'revolutionary purity,' but he himself enjoyed a happy life on the island of Cayo Piedra, which was his personal property, surrounded by pools, boats, guards, and servants. The privileged of his regime were not particularly bound by 'revolutionary purity' either. The people of Cuba, however, whenever they had the opportunity, displayed their desire to escape from the 'paradise of the workers.' Outside of Cuba, the leader of the 'Sierra Maestra' guerrilla wars no longer had the past allure. Fidel Castro lived long enough to see his own legend fade.