July 26, 1959:Castro's "Real Democracy"
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July 26, 1959:Castro's "Real Democracy"

Fidel Castro, by Robert E. Quirk 1993

There is only one kind of person who is more vile and despicable than a demagogue: a person who accuses those who calmly and honestly seek justice of being demagogues.

Jose Marti

In front of the Capitol, units of the Rebel Army marched in review, led by young girls with a large flag and women in khaki carrying rifles and machine guns. Two bands - in loud cacophony- played two different tunes at the same time. A former president of Mexico, General Lazaro Cardenas, sat with government leaders on the platform. Osvaldo Dorticos asked the massed crowds if they desired the return to office of the rebel leader. The shouted response was overwhelming. "For the first time in this revolution," said the new president, "Fidel Castro does not command. It is the public that commands and that orders Fidel Castro to resume his position as prime minister." The Maximum Leader smiled, puffed contentedly on his cigar, and said nothing.

That evening in the Plaza Civica, Castro spoke to a crowd estimated by Cubans to be more than a million. (Foreign reporters put the figure closer to half a million.) He came back reluctantly, he said, and only "because the people are with us in the revolution and are willing to die with us in the defense of the revolution." He accepted their decision, as the "will of the people." Here was a shining example of true democracy, he said, the democracy of Abraham Lincoln - "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people." He gestured dramatically toward his audience. "This," he said, " is real democracy." In revolutionary Cuba there would be no need for formal elections or representative institutions. The will of the people was expressed in moments like this in the magical exchange between the Maximum Leader and his audiences at giant rallies.

All unchecked power exercised over a long time degenerates into a caste system. With castes come vested interests, high positions, fear of losing them, intrigues to sustain them. Castes search each other out and rub shoulders with each other.

Jose Marti