Cuban Culture and Cultural Relations, 1959-, Part 5: Politics and History

Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba, has a unique collection of sources on politics and history. Amassed over a period of sixty-five years, it covers both the history of Revolutionary Cuba as well as sociopolitical events and armed conflicts in the Caribbean and Latin America. The core of the collection is on Cuban political figures, notably Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and Fidel Castro.

The Archive
The so-called ‘Vertical Archive’ of Casa de las Américas was born in a somewhat haphazard way—starting with press clippings—with the aim of keeping a record of the activities organized by the institution. Gradually, the collection was expanded with material arriving from various countries, thanks to a wide network of correspondents. Much of it is ephemeral and difficult to obtain, coming from sources that have not been indexed or even been published. Other sources include Latin American newspapers and Cuban newspapers and periodicals, such as Granma, Bohemia, and Juventud Rebelde.

Che Guevara
The present collection constitutes the fifth and final part of the Vertical Archive. Particularly noteworthy is the section on Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara. Comprising eight folders of close to two thousand documents, it is by far the largest section in the collection. It contains press clippings, speeches, interviews, letters, diaries, anecdotes and photos pertaining to the famous revolutionary. This remarkable resource allows researchers to study Che’s life and legacy and his economic, political and social thought in unparalleled detail. It covers Che as minister, his travels, and his involvement in the Congo Crisis and the guerrilla in Bolivia; The identification of his mortal remains and their transfer to Cuba; The funeral honors and the worldwide responses to his death: messages, tributes, books, poems, songs, films, monuments, and posters in his memory; Biographical data on his comrades in Bolivia; Interviews with his children, and much else.

Presidents and Revolutionaries
Other historical figures featured in the archive include Pedro Albizu Campos, a leading figure in the Puerto Rican independence movement, and the American activists Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. The archive also offers information on presidents past and present, such as Hugo Chávez, Néstor Kirchner, Jair Bolsonaro, Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald J. Trump. Regional organizations are covered as well, including for instance CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), ALBA-TCP (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty), OAS (Organization of American States), the Association of Caribbean States, Mercosur, UNASUR (Union of South American Nations), the Rio Group, and the Lima Group. In addition, there are files on various Ibero-American and Americas summits.

War and Peace
The archive is strong on insurgencies and armed struggle, with coverage of a range of conflicts and (para)military groups. Among them are guerrilla wars in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, the Puerto Rican independence fighters, the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, the 1969 ‘Football War’ between Honduras and El Salvador, the 1973 coup d'état against the government of Salvador Allende in Chile, the Falklands War (1982), the Chiapas conflict of the 1990s, the Shining Path, Operation Just Cause (the 1989/90 U.S. invasion of Panama to seize General Manuel Noriega), and the peace process in Colombia (including some of its protagonists, such as FARC and the National Liberation Army, ELN). Also covered are some North-American events, for instance the September 11 attacks and the 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Cuba
When it comes to Cuba, the archive holds a rich variety of documents about people, historical events, legal, and social topics. Che Guevara and Fidel Castro figure prominently, but there is also plenty of documentation about recent and current politicians, from Raúl Castro to the current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez. Also covered are the Cuban constitution and Cuban legislation, the economy, migration agreements, women in Cuba, religion, race, human rights, and the Cuban community abroad. In addition, there are files on Operation Peter Pan (the mass evacuation of unaccompanied Cuban children to the United States in 1960–1962), Operation Carlota (the Cuban intervention in Angola), the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, the alleged sonic attacks against U.S. diplomats (the ‘Havana syndrome’), the COVID-19 pandemic, and the anti-government protests that erupted in Havana on 11 July 2021.

Jorge Fornet
Director of the Literary Research Center at Casa de las Américas; Editor of the journal Casa