Aug. 13, 2023 | By Barry Weisleder | Socialist Action
Representatives of several organizations gathered on August 13 to celebrate the 97th anniversary of the birth of Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz on August 13 at a banquet hall in Mississauga, Ontario.
Castro led the Cuban Revolution which carried out a radical land reform, expropriated big business (including major U.S. corporations in tourism, banking and resources), instituted free literacy and health care, and shut down mobster-run gambling and prostitution. The revolution put the working class in control of the economy and society, inaugurating “the first free territory of the Americas.”
Castro was a brilliant student leader and lawyer who founded the July 26 Movement, the vanguard of the socialist transformation of Cuba that began in 1953 with the rebel raid on the Moncada military barracks, and the triumph in 1959. Revolutionary Cuba continues to be a beacon of hope for workers, farmers, oppressed and impoverished peoples, especially in the less developed countries.
The August 13 event, organized by the Cuban Consulate in Toronto, was addressed by members of the Canadian Network on Cuba, the Cuban Community in Toronto, the Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association, Toronto Forum on Cuba, Socialist Action – Ligue pour l’Action socialiste, and other organizations.
Socialist Action called on everyone to promote the current campaign to gather one millions signatures on the global petition to demand that Washington remove Cuba from its infamous list of “terrorist” countries. Lift the U.S. embargo now, first imposed by President Kennedy in 1962. Viva Fidel Siempre!
Viva la Revolution Socialista en Cuba!