Early Reforms: Land, Rights, Services

In this episode, part 2 of our new series on Cuba, we're joined again by Manolo De Los Santos for a conversation on Cuba's revolution.. Manolo De Los Santos is a founder of the People's Forum and a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is the co-editor Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War, Comrade of the Revolution: Selected Speeches of Fidel Castro, and Our Own Path to Socialism: Selected Speeches of Hugo Chávez.

The conversation picks up where part 1 left off, in the early 50s, setting the stage for lead up to 26th of July Movement and introducing some of the main characters of the revolution, including of course Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Manolo tells us about the attack on the Moncada Barracks, Fidel's exile to Cuba where he meets Che and begins training, and their return on the Granma to Cuba's Sierra Maestra mountains where they reignite the revolutionary guerrilla army of the 26th of July Movement. We talk about the Battle of Santa Clara which led to Batista's overthrow on January 1st, 1958 and the triumph of the revolution.

We explore the role of political education in the revolution and the role that the United States played in resisting the revolution. We then talk about the reforms that were initiated immediately after the revolution, the largest and most significant being land reform and de-privatization as well as some of the complexities of the early revolution such as elections. We analyze the Guantanamo Naval Base, notions of nonviolence and Cuba's material support of revolutionary movements across the globe.

Further resources:

• The People's Forum
• Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
• Let Cuba Liva: Donate
• Support the Nuestra América Flotilla to Cuba

Related episodes:

• Listen to our ongoing series on Cuba

Intermission music: "Que Se Vayan" by El Guajiro

Upstream is entirely listener funded. No ads, no promotions, no grants—just Patreon subscriptions and listener donations. We couldn't keep this project going without your support. Subscribe to our Patreon for bi-weekly bonus episodes, access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, and for Upstream stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. Through your support you'll be helping us keep Upstream sustainable and helping to keep this whole project going—socialist political education podcasts are not easy to fund so thank you in advance for the crucial support. patreon.com/upstreampodcast

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.