Undoubtedly, and to the despair of the right who want to paint us as pacifist Stalinists (a contradiction in terms, surely?), there is a long tradition of opposing all tyrannies, and promoting liberal interventionism within the Labour party.

Recently, Iraq has thrown the concept of liberal interventionism into serious doubt. The most worrying side-effect though is for many on the left to criticise America as responsible for almost everything that is wrong with tyrannies, and when America goes aginst these tyrannies, to try and paint the dictators of these tyrannies as socialist martyrs, fighting against the horrors of US neo-liberalism.

It worries me that because Cuba is so close geographically to the US, that the crimes of Fidel and Che, for that reason, go ignored.

Che Guevara oversaw kangarro court trials after the 1959 revolution in Cuba, resulting in the deaths of hundereds of people. His fellow motercycle comrade, David Mitrani was shocked to learn that Che wanted to become an "effective, violent, selective, and cold killing machine". Che also implored the Soviets to place misslies on Cuba, even though he new the US could interpret this as an act of war: "the people [of Cuba] you see today tell you that even if they should disappear from the face if the earth because an atomic war is unleashed in their names... they will feel completely happy and fulfilled".

Of course the left here should protest about what they may see as this government infringing upon fair trials, and continuing nuclear pro-liferation, but unless they condemn far worse atrocities commited by anti-US regimes, the former criticisms may ring hollow.

As for Fidel, well, he jailed political opponents, and "his" people are still not allowed to travel abroad (and I'm trying to understand what sort of socialist is comfortable with millions of people being the property of one man, or indeed with Castro supressing trade unions). He also expelled gays and "other scum" in the '80's from Cuba, and is responsible for exiling a fifth of the Cuban population to Florida. And they most definitely were not all right-wing worshippers of the foul Batista regime. Good social-democrats and democratic socialists, like the family of the filmmakers who made 'East of Havana', owned papers supporting the Castro revolution, but were then shut down.


This is not about supporting a Bush approach, or a Kissenger approach to US foreign policy. I support lifting the embargo, the travel ban, and I too think it is good that Cuba has world-standard healthcare. However, the last point has too many paralels with the fawning over Mussolini for making the trains run on time. But I certainly hope that freedom, doesn't mean IMF imposed freedom, so that Cuba is blackmailed into privatisation and flat taxes. Of course free healthcare and education shoud be maintained. But socialists should not have to make a choice between ambitious social spending programmes, and democracy.